Somewhere in Time
| Somewhere in Time | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by 
|
||||
|
Publication |
September 29, 1986 |
|||
| Label (s) | EMI | |||
|
Format (s) |
CD, LP, MC |
|||
|
Title (number) |
8th |
|||
|
running time |
51:26 |
|||
| occupation | ||||
|
Studio (s) |
||||
|
||||
Somewhere in Time ( English for "Somewhere in Time") is the sixth studio album of the British heavy metal band Iron Maiden , and the first, on the bass guitar and her synthesizer were used.
Emergence
While a new studio album was released every year before, the live album Live After Death was released in 1985 . Iron Maiden, at the height of their success, took two years for Somewhere in Time . The recordings began in early 1986 like the two predecessors in Compass Studios, Nassau in the Bahamas . There bass and drums were recorded first. Adrian Smith , however, insisted on working in the Wisseloord Studios in Hilversum , Netherlands . Guitar and vocals were recorded there. The final mix was then carried out in the Electric Lady Studios in New York City .
"It was mad, but we were so determined to make sure absolutely every little thing was right about the album, and we'd never been given the chance to spend any real time on anything before, so we just went for it!"
Adrian Smith took over the sole songwriting on several songs for the first time on this album . In return, Bruce Dickinson wrote no song on the album. He wanted to go more in the acoustic direction, but the band refused.
“It wasn't just that the songs Bruce brought in were acoustic, I wasn't against having maybe one acoustic number, maybe. The truth is, we just didn't think the songs were strong enough. "
Another special feature is the use of guitar synthesizers, which did not make the sound of the album more poppy, but rather turned it into gloomy.
Cover design
The front cover of the CD / LP shows band mascot Eddie in a futuristic setting. The picture continues on the back of the booklet . There the band can be seen in the same area (a big city). The special thing about the cover picture by Derek Riggs is that there are small references to earlier albums and songs by the band, as well as other terms that are associated with the band. From left (back) to right:
- Neon sign "Aces High Bar"
- Above it is a WW2 bomber
- Neon installation "Sand- Dune Nightclub and Grill" with Egyptian motif ( To Tame a Land )
- In the background there are pyramids in power slave optics
- Tardis, left above the rainbow sign = Dr. Who, English scifi series
- Rainbow, Ruskin Arms, Marquee = well-known metal clubs, Ruskin Arms was already on the Killers cover
- Cinema sign “Live After Death” plus “ Blade Runner ” in the Philip K. Dick Cinema
- Advertisement: "Phantom Opera House"
- Digital clock "23:58" ( 2 Minutes to Midnight )
- Steve Harris' favorite football club West Ham United beat Arsenal 7-3
- vertical: "Long Beach Arena" (most of the Live After Death album was recorded there)
- Advertisement: "Ancient Mariner Seafood Restaurant"
- Advertisement: "Pizza Hut"
- Band members:
- Nicko wears aviator goggles (he got his pilot's license shortly before "Somewhere in Time" / Aces High )
- Bruce Dickinson holds a brain in his hands ( Piece of Mind )
- Maggies Revenge - allusion to Women in Uniform / Margaret Thatcher
- Falling Icarus ( Flight of Icarus )
- Cat with a Halo ( Live After Death )
- Lantern with trash can (first album)
- Street sign "Acacia" (Avenue) ( 22 Acacia Avenue )
- Concert poster "Iron Maiden" (with illustration from the first album of the same name)
- Batman can be seen on the building above the bridge
- In the background you can see a building labeled Asimov Foundation (see Foundation cycle )
- In front of it is a building on which Tyrell Corp. stands, a manufacturer of human-like robots in the movie " Blade Runner "
- Bradbury Towers Hotels International is written on the central building . A reference to the " Bradbury Building " in Los Angeles and the movie " Blade Runner "
- Next to the band is the street sign Upton Park , a London train station
- On the front there is a banner behind a pane on the lower left of the picture. There it says - but from right to left: "This is a very boring painting".
- In the pyramids on the back of the LP, as in so many other drawings by Riggs, the Grim Reaper can be recognized
- The room window, which is lit in red, is a nod to 22 Acacia Avenue and Charlotte the Harlot
- Eddie just dueled ( The Duellists )
Track list
- Caught Somewhere in Time (Steve Harris) - 7:25
- Wasted Years (Adrian Smith) - 5:07
- Sea of Madness (Adrian Smith) - 5:42
- Heaven Can Wait (Steve Harris) - 7:21
- The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (Steve Harris) - 6:31
- Stranger in a Strange Land (Adrian Smith) - 5:44
- Deja-Vu (Dave Murray, Steve Harris) - 4:56
- Alexander the Great (Steve Harris) - 8:37
Song information
- Caught Somewhere in Time begins with a synthesizer intro. The song was inspired by the movie Blade Runner .
- Wasted Years , Adrian Smith's first solo song, is the only Somewhere in Time song that does not contain a synthesizer.
- Heaven Can Wait is about a near death experience . Several guests from a nearby bar (“Tehe's Bar”) were hired for the background vocals. The bar is also on the album cover as a thank you.
- The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner is based on the short story of the same name (German: " The loneliness of the long distance runner ") by Alan Sillitoe .
- Stranger in a Strange Land is the title of a book by Robert A. Heinlein (German: "Stranger in a Strange World"), but the text has nothing to do with the work. The song is about a man who was trapped in the ice and who was thawed again years later.
- Alexander the Great deals with the life story of Alexander the Great . On the whole, the historical events are described correctly, the only mistake is the passage when Alexander's army refuses to go with him to India. The historic Alexander the Great advanced as far as India with parts of his army. The cause of death described in the song, a fever that he contracted in Babylon , is also controversial.
Single releases
Wasted years
The single was released on September 6, 1986. The cover of Wasted Years shows the display and controls of a time machine, while the band's mascot Eddie can be seen on the monitor. The monitors contain references to previous albums by the band, e. B. the pyramid from Powerslave . In the window there is a wormhole that attracts a TARDIS from the British TV series Doctor Who . The single reached # 21 on the UK charts. As a B-side were with Reach Out and Sheriff of Huddersfield two non-album tracks selected. Reach Out comes from a jam session by Adrian Smith, Nicko McBrain and several friends who called themselves "The Entire Population of Hackney". The song was written by Dave Colwell , who later played for Bad Company . The jam project would later develop into Adrian Smith's group ASAP . Sheriff of Huddersfield was written as a swipe at Iron Maiden manager Rod Smallwood .
- Wasted Years (Adrian Smith) - 5:06
- Reach Out (Dave Colwell) - 3:31
- Sheriff of Huddersfield (Iron Maiden) - 3:35
Stranger in a Strange Land
The single was released on November 22, 1986. The cover is based on the Heinlein novel. It reached # 22 on the UK charts. B-side That Girl was co-written by Andy Barnett, another ASAP member, and is a cover version of FM , a British AOR and hard rock band. Juanita , the second song on the B-side, is again from "The Entire Population of Hackney" and is a cover version of the band Marshall Fury .
- Stranger in a Strange Land (Adrian Smith) - 5:45
- That Girl (Andy Barnett, Goldsworth, Jupp) - 5:04
- Juanita (Steve Barnacle, Derek O'Neil) - 3:47
reception
The album became the most successful of Iron Maiden's career to date. It reached # 3 on the album charts in Great Britain, # 23 on the US Billboard charts in the USA and # 8 in Germany. In the same year it achieved a gold record in the USA , and in 1992 the band was awarded a platinum record . The album achieved gold status in the UK and Germany
Individual evidence
- ^ The Iron Maiden Commentary ( Memento of March 31, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ a b The Iron Maiden Commentary ( Memento from April 3, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ a b c UK Top 40 Chart Archive, British Singles & Album Charts everyHit.com
- ↑ Billboard placement l allmusic
- ↑ Chart surfer
- ^ Gold / Platinum RIAA - Recording Industry Association of America
- ↑ BPI
- ↑ Search the gold / platinum database ( memento of September 30, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) ifpi.de