IRON MAIDEN – Brave New World (2015 Remaster for iTunes)

With the success of the last IRON MAIDEN album, some are requesting more from the band’s catalogue recently remastered for iTunes. We already presented many of these (available HERE) basically covering the best Maiden era; the ’80s. After those, their albums are not that relevant.
But there’s one record that we think deserve a fresh look: the underrated 2000’s “Brave New World“.

First of all, “Brave New World” worth this remaster because it was their first studio release since the return of longtime lead singer Bruce Dickinson (who left in 1993) and guitarist Adrian Smith (who left in 1990), as well as the band’s first studio recording as a six-piece, as Janick Gers, who replaced Smith in 1990, remained with the band.

“Brave New World” is called their ‘comeback’ album for a reason; the band took a return to their original roots. One thing you notice right away is Dickinson’s voice. It seemed that his solo project had resuscitated his voice back from the dead. Unlike the subsequent releases, “Brave New World” has tracks that are truly memorable.
Even the album art is great, with references to the novel of the same name, written by Aldous Huxley. The upper half of the artwork was created by Derek Riggs, with the bottom half by digital artist Steve Stone.

The lead track and single “The Wicker Man” is one of the best songs that Iron Maiden has ever composed. The song has a memorable riff that is reminiscent of a mid-tempo guitar work from the ’80s. The title track is where I am very impressed. In the beginning, you would think that this song is going to be a midtempo, but just explodes though, which caught me by surprise. The solo is incredible and not forced upon the song, like the last two albums with Bruce Dickinson. When the song nears the end, it returns to the initial ballad riff, which is a great way to end it. The chorus is catchy as hell too.

In fact, almost all of the choruses on the album are classic Iron Maiden.
I would compare “Brave New World” to Piece of Mind with a dash of Somewhere in Time. Best of all, there are no fillers like the majority of the albums throughout the ’90s.

The sound of the guitars is as good as ever now, with Adrian Smith returning to where he was needed. The solos from Dave Murray flow just like during the prime years of Iron Maiden, all feels more harmonious, just like in the classic era.
The album is diverse in the sense that it combines power ballads like “Blood Brothers” (a highlight composed by Harris after his father’s death) and groove heavy songs reminiscent of the ’80s such as “The Wicker Man,” “The Nomad,” and “The Mercenary.”

Originally produced by master Kevin Shirley, “Brave New World” always sounded really good to me, this remaster for iTunes add a little more bass and middle range perfect to listen with headphones.
All these albums have been freshly mastered from their original analog sources with iTunes in mind, delivering the music to listeners exactly the way the artist and recording engineer intended.

Steve Harris said: “Tony Newton and Ade Emsley, who worked closely with me on the project, did a terrific job recapturing everything from the original masters, and together we’ve re-mastered them all digitally and I’m really happy with the results.”

Tony Newton adds: “The process started with locating all of the original album mix tapes (or whichever format they were mixed to). Then the choice of analogue to digital convertor was chosen for the most accurate capture to make it as close as possible to the sound of the mix as it was intended by the band.
When a lot of these tapes were last captured it was in the 1980s, early days of digital and only 44.1khz/16bit files were possible. On top of this, the new A/D convertors are far superior now, and, of course, it is possible to produce files of far higher resolution.
The result of this is that the songs now sound more defined with added depth and warmth.

Steve Harris ends; “I was very excited to be asked to be part of this project. I honestly feel that there is a massive improvement in the quality of these classic albums.”

All these new Iron Maiden’s remasters for iTunes sound great in the car and with headphones the sound is wider, dynamic.
To me, “Brave New World” has a melodic foundation under a heavy flow, and the band did a perfect job of keeping the same great tone through all the songs, but yet each one sounds different than the last.
A really good record and a really good fresh mastering treatment.

01 – The Wicker Man
02 – Ghost of the Navigator
03 – Brave New World
04 – Blood Brothers
05 – The Mercenary
06 – Dream of Mirrors
07 – The Fallen Angel
08 – The Nomad
09 – Out of the Silent Planet
10 – The Thin Line Between Love and Hate

Bruce Dickinson – lead vocals
Dave Murray – guitar
Adrian Smith – guitar
Janick Gers – guitar
Steve Harris – bass, keyboards, co-producer
Nicko McBrain – drums

BUY IT !
itunes.apple.com/gb/album/brave-new-world/id980114883
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