Warthur There's little doubt in my mind that Somewhere In Time isn't quite as good as the preceding Powerslave, but at the same time it's still a very good Maiden album which is somewhat underrated in the band's catalogue. The main sticking point for me is probably Wasted Years, a flirtation with a more commercial style of metal which, whilst it doesn't actually stray into hair metal territory, often seems as though it's threatening to. Beyond that song, however, the band do a decent job of incorporating synthesisers into their sound and present more epic, progressive songwriting of the sort that by this point was what we all expected of them.

Stephen It's 1986 and Iron Maiden can't deny the fact that the world is consuming a more pop-oriented heavy metal. Without stripping down the core, this is the first time they tried to adapt to the change by introducing the usage of synthesizer. Although ironically Dickinson rejected that idea, I think Maiden successfully moved one step further. "Somewhere In Time" wrapped tight the clever songwriting of Steve Harris and friendlier musical environment, but doesn't sound cheesy and the aggressive twin axe attack is still there.

"Caught Somewhere In Time" was brought to the front as the opener. The power of the song lies on the punchy chorus and those intense guitar duels. "Wasted Years", which was written by Adrian Smith, has the killer and memorable intro that never got out off your head after all these years. Probably their most melodic song and not a single wasteful moment you can find here. "Heaven Can Wait" and "Deja-vu" are another fave of mine. "The Loneliness of The Long Distance Runner" is an underrated gem with a dynamic tempo and blazing guitars, watch Dickinson's playful vocal technique here, perhaps one of his finest moments. The grand closer, "Alexander The Great", started slow then they build up the tempo to create a monstrous heavy metal epic.

Iron Maiden seized another victory with "Somewhere In Time". A very special album that I personally consider their best of all time and I still cheer it to this day.

Time Signature Not wasted years...

Genre: heavy metal

Interestingly this album has a quite high rating on MMA at the moment of me writing this review. What is interesting about that is that, when it came out, a lot of disliked it because of the use of synths and guitar synths (Judas Priest did the same with "Turbo", which has also received a lot of flak) - and a lot of rock fans of that generation still think it's one of the worst Maiden albums from the first Bruce era. However, to many people of my generation, "Somewhere in Time" is a very defining album.

In my case, it was the first metal album I heard, and the first metal album I owned. My mother even went down to the local record store with me so I could buy it. Knowing what kind of music Maiden made, she asked me if I was sure that I wanted to buy it, I said that I was absolutely certain, because I'd hear the album before, as I'd gone fishing with one of my friends' older brother the weekend before that, and he'd brought a boom box, but forgotten to bring any tapes other than "Somewhere in Time" which was just lying around in his jacket pocket. My life changed on that fishing trip because I heard "Somewhere in Time". Yes, somewhere in time is the album that changed my life. So, it was important for me to buy it. Once I told my mother that I was certain, she encouraged me to follow my tastes in music (even if she liked Bon Jovi and 80s pop music) - fortunately, my parents have always supported me, and they never took any issues with the music I listened to - I first experienced that with Iron Maiden which was my first independent journey into music.

I loved "Somewhere in Time" then. And I still love it today. It's my all time favorite album by my all time favorite artist.

There was just something about the music with its guitar harmonies, the chugging rhythm guitars, the straight but sometimes totally offbeat drumming, and the magnificent vocals that caught me. I'd never heard that sort of music before, but I was completely hooked upon first listen.

The opening track "Caught Somewhere in Time" is very much an epitome of Maiden metal, starting out with an epic sounding intro which is based on a melodic twin guitar pattern before exploding into a fully fledged glory of galloping and harmonic guitar patterns, a powerful chorus and straight solid drumming interrupted by a couple of syncopations now and then. "Wasted Years" is a more melodic affair with a very syncopated drum beat and the catchies chorus in the world, and then there's the easily recognizable guitar intro; this is easily one of my favorite Maiden tracks. "Sea of Madness" starts out with an aggressive riff which creates a nice contrast to "Wasted Years". It is one of the more obscure tracks on this album, but I think it's an amazing rocker and totally on par with many of the band's most loved classics. "Heaven Can Wait" is a sort of anthem because of the soccer-fan oh-oh-oh-oh sing-along choir in the bridge, but it is also a fast and hard-hitting metal song with a sort of uplifting lyrical message. Then there is "The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner", which was the first Maiden track I ever heard (on that fishing trip, we started with side B for whatever reason), and this song is really a cornucopia of all things Maiden - to the extent that Steve Harris once stated in an interview that he thought it was perhaps a bit too over the top; well, it's not over the top for me - it's just right. "Stranger in a Strange Land" is a midtempo melancholic track with an almost bluesy feel to it, while "Deja Vu", one of the more obscure tracks, is a fast paced track with an extremely catchy chorus. "Alexander the Great" is an epic track, and while it is not the best of its kind (there are many epic Maiden track that work much better), it is still a captivating track.

For my money, the best album ever!

Pekka Two times had Maiden come very close to crafting the masterpiece worth all five full stars, but there was always the track or two to keep it from happening. But then came 1986, a big metal year with Master of Puppets and Reign in Blood coming out and me being born, so Maiden saw that this is the moment to finally do it.

Somewhere in Time is notable for containing three songs solely penned by Adrian Smith, two of which were released as singles, and obviously for introducing guitar synths to the band's sound. While on some metal albums at the time synths may have seemed just a tacky add-on, Maiden managed to incorporate them tastefully, with their help creating a radiant future-like sound. Bruce Dickinson's song material was left off the album, but his vocal performance is perhaps my favourite from all the Maiden albums he's appeared on. Very clear and powerful with no sign of struggling to hit all the notes.

But this is Adrian Smith's album. Both of the singles, Wasted Years and Stranger in a Strange Land I rank among their very finest tracks ever, as I do their guitar solos. Rather light rock songs both of them, Wasted Years features one of the most memorable Maiden riffs ever and the solo in Stranger... I've got no words. And the way they keep driving the track still higher and higher after the solo with Harris' bass work is phenomenal.

I remember this album being very hard to get into when I first got my hands on it, but before long I grew to love each and every track. Songs like Sea of Madness, The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner and Deja Vu have been for no reason forgotten, but these songs that someone could see as filler I find to be of brilliant quality, the band on full force brimming with gorgeous melodies. Ending the album is one of my favourite Maiden album closers ever, despite the somewhat history-lesson-for-kids sort of lyrics and some forced lines an extremely enjoyable epic battle trip with Alexander the Great.

Five stars, finally. An extremely strong album from beginning to end, with a few highlights still peaking through. A must have, definitely.

Negoba This was the first actual metal I owned, after hearing Wasted Years and being impressed by the opening guitar lead riff. While Bruce Dickinson is a focal point of sorts, this album showcases all of the band members on the top of their game, well balanced, executing well, and full of energy. Where some of the earlier albums may have rocked harder, they always had a looseness to them that didn't appeal to my musicality (Run to the Hills is a great example), and the subsequent album was almost poppy to my ears, Somewhere in Time struck the right balance.

Iron Maiden influenced thrash and prog metal bands perhaps more than any other. Certainly my old favorite, Queensryche, started as Maiden clones, and in fact one of the classic riffs from Eye of a Stanger resembles the signature riff from Somewhere in Time to a suspicious degree.

This album showcases the band well oiled, well practiced, a little adventurous (using guitar synths), and still very metal. The dual guitars are classic, Dickinson's pipes are in full effect. Though a few songs get a little long (Long Distance Runner) this album has its own sound that fits well within the band's discograpy. What a great intro to real metal it was for me, 14 years old, so many Wasted Years ago.

My favorite songs from this album: Caught Somewhere in Time, Wasted Years, Stranger in a Strange Land

Least favorite Deja Vu

Windhawk Iron Maiden's sixth studio album "Somewhere in Time" is a heavily discussed album by fans of this legendary English band. It was very original in its day, as the band switched to synth guitars on this album and were among the first band to use that instrument in a way that enhanced their sound. At the same time the synth sounds alienated many fans, of which quite a few would say that this album showed a band in creative and musical decline.

Musically the band has perfected their sound on this album. The playing is tighter than the proverbial duck's arse, and the band members are experienced enough to add the extra touches to ordinary tunes to make them sound good, adding small nuances and touches in turn to make the songs sound interesting; as can best be heard on opening track "Caught Somewhere in Time". Adding the synth sounds to the music also elevates many tracks from the realm of the ordinary to something better, where the slightly softer edges of the synth guitar riffs adds flavout and atmosphere to Iron Maidens trademark harmonic and melodic soloing and riffing, and giving a warmer touch to Maidens pacey songs, where the fast paced bass guitar and drumming do sound better accompanied by the slightly softer synth guitars.

A new aspect to Iron Maiden's sound on this album, or at least an aspect much developed here, are several examples of songs where Bruce Dickinson's vocals are used as a melodic instrument in itself. These songs are rather monotone and repetitive apart from the soloing, and Dickinson's vocals carry as good as all melody in the singing parts of these songs. "Wasted Years" is a very good example of this. If this is planned or more an indirect result of the synth guitars slighter fuzzy sound is of course something that only can be speculated upon.

The influence from progressive rock continues on this album as well; an aspect of their music surfacing on their previous studio album "Powerslave". As with that album, in many songs the progressive elements are more to be found in structure than in actual playing; and the elements are most noticeable in the long, epic tracks on this release.

The individual songs on "Somewhere in Time" are a rather mixed affair. Although musically at their peak now in my opinion, the songs as such aren't as good as on previous albums. The creative well seems to have run dry; with fewer songs than normal containing original or really captivating elements.

The addition of the synth guitars to their sound as well as the band members ability to play on individual and collective strengths are the factors that elevate this album to an interesting, albeit varied, release.

Personal favourites: "Sea of Madness", "Deja Vu", "Alexander the Great"

The Truth It had been such a long time since I'd given this album a listen, years even, but I'm so glad I had the incredible urge to go on an Iron Maiden binge which is something I hadn't done in even longer.

The magic of the band is with me yet again. Somewhere In Time was perhaps the album that struck me the most when I gave all my Maiden records a listen again, it being a bit more energetic and full of a sort of raw power. Dickinson's vocals are top-notch (as always) and tracks like "The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner" are just really great tunes.

I guess that's what Maiden does, they keep a strikingly similar formula through most of their albums and it really works for them. Especially on this album, the band's true epitome is indefinable because of how many solid records they released but if I was held at gunpoint, I'd say this was it.

Simply a record with some great energetic tunes that aren't achieved by any other band.

friso Iron Maiden - Somewhere in Time (1986)

In a time 'progressive' was a cursed word Iron Maiden changed their direction in exactly that direction. This somewhat strange move for one of the most popular metal band of their times wasn't perceived as a progress by the fans, but in the progressive community it was seen as a pleasant career-move. Might Harris had always intended to extend his melodic and inventive ideas for the band? Perhaps the roots for this new style can be found in the new technology of it's time (synth-bass and synth-guitar). I don't know, but I learned to like this one-of-a-kind album in their discography.

On the Somewhere in Time album the metal-sound got some electronic edge to it and there now was a frequent use of synthesizers, albeit guitars-synths. The vocals of Dickinson are less close to the listener due to the use of reverb effects. The sound of this album is also a bit more abstract and perhaps a bit spacey to some. The drums are still recognizable Maiden style.

The songs. The album opens with the title track and to be honest, it's not my favorite track of the album. I know a lot of people who really like it, but I think it sounds un-interesting and the melodies just don't seem to work. Even some of the guitar-solo's don't work for me, usually a strong part of the Maiden title tracks. A pity. The next track, Wasted years, is a stronger track with a nice guitar theme and a catchy refrain. It's slight electronic sound works really well here. Sea of Madness is a bit more progressive and has a great bridge and refrain. The lyrics are bit dull IMHO.

Heaven Can Wait is the first masterful Maiden track on the album. This epical track about a near-death-experience has many parts put together in an intelligent and fresh way. The many guitarsolo's work well and the atmosphere works pretty well with the lyrics. Great! The Loneliness Of A Long Distance Runner is a song with a lot of instrumental guitar parts that work very well with the up-tempo approach. I used to think of this song as a real treat: the more melodic guitar parts the better. Stranger In A Strange Land is a simple but effective song like Wasted Years. Somehow the simplistic rhythmical approach (one might say kind of eighties-rock like) works very well. It give focus.

Déjà Vu is an up-tempo track with again a lot of melodic guitar parts and a good lyrical theme. This albums keeps getting stronger! Alexander The Great is the big epic of the album. It has all of the epic ingredient Maiden has to offer: many melodic instrumental parts, a story-line, some more development with instrumental parts (this time even in an odd time- signature!) and a good conclusion.

Conclusion. A strange Maiden album with synths and a slight progressive approach. This new slightly progressive sound is established by it's sound, Iron Maiden already had lot's of inventive songwriting and many melodic parts. Somehow I can understand this album is not for every-one and it might not even be appreciated by all fans of the band. I myself like it, though I think side two is better then side one. Four stars. A lot of guts to make experimental metal like this in the mid-eighties!