A Matter of Life and Death (album)

A Matter of Life and Death is the 14th studio album by English heavy metal band Iron Maiden. It was released on 25 August 2006 in Italy and in Finland, 28 August worldwide, and 5 September 2006 in the United States and Canada. It is the first album in Iron Maiden's almost 30 year career to enter the U.S. Billboard charts in the top 10, and has seen significant chart success in many other countries.^[2]

While the album is not a concept album,^[3] war and religion are recurring themes in the lyrics throughout the album, as well as in the album's artwork.

The band, still consisting of the same lineup as their previous two studio albums, started to write the songs near the end of 2005 after their hugely successful appearances in the U.S. and Europe. By the end of the year, the songs were done and they started rehearsing at Sarm West Studios in London.

At 72 minutes, A Matter of Life and Death is the band's longest album to date (exceeding 1995's The X Factor by approximately one minute) and its average song length (7:12 per track) also makes it the longest Iron Maiden album by song average. The album is their most progressive approach taken since Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, with lengthy instrumental sections and numerous time changes.

This is the band's fourth studio album that is not named after a specific song on the album, following Piece of Mind, The X Factor and Virtual XI. It is their third studio album where bassist and founder Steve Harris has been credited in writing all of the songs, the previous two being Killers and Brave New World.

The album cover was created by Tim Bradstreet, an American artist, currently best known for his covers on the Punisher comics.

During their North American and Japanese tours, they have performed the entire album in full.

The first single to be released from the album was "The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg". It was released on 14 August 2006. The video for the single can be streamed from the official Iron Maiden website. On 10 August 2006, "Different World" was put on the official website for everyone to hear [1]. The following day "Brighter than a Thousand Suns" was also put on the official site for public streaming [2], and on August 23 2006 the whole album leaked to the Internet.

The second track on the album, "These Colours Don't Run", is about being a soldier in the war zone. According to lead singer Bruce Dickinson in an interview with Kerrang! magazine; "the song was an effort to put a human face on people who go out and fight wars. They call it 'peacekeeping', but these people put themselves in harm's way, and whether or not you agree with the reasons why they're doing it, they're just doing their job". Drummer Nicko McBrain told Rhythm Magazine the title was inspired by the incident with Sharon Osbourne during Maiden's last performance on Ozzfest 2005 (August 202005 at the Hyundai Pavilion at Glen Helen in San Bernardino, CA) when Sharon and friends threw eggs at Iron Maiden during their performance: "I can't remember verbatim what he [Bruce] said, but he hurled a load of abuse and said, "These colours don't fucking run", meaning we weren't gonna leave the stage."

"Different World" will be the second single released from the album[3]; it has already been receiving airplay on many rock radio stations.

In addition to the standard CD release, A Matter of Life and Death was also released in a limited edition version which contains a bonus DVD. The DVD, which has a total runtime of nearly one hour, contains a half-hour documentary, plus videos and photos all shot whilst the band were making the album. The documentary "The Making of A Matter of Life and Death", directed by Matthew Amos (also director of The Early Days and Death on the Road DVD documentaries), features candid video footage shot largely by Kevin Shirley himself during the recording of the album giving a behind-the-scenes look at life in the studio. The bonus DVD also features the full 7:21 minute video promo for "The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg", and a special intimate filming of the band recording "Different World" in the studio. The album is also available as a limited edition double picture disc vinyl in gatefold sleeve, and as a digital download. [4]

1. "Different World" (Music: Adrian Smith/Steve Harris, Lyrics: Steve Harris) – 4:17
2. "These Colours Don't Run" (Music: Smith/Harris, Lyrics: Bruce Dickinson) – 6:52
3. "Brighter than a Thousand Suns" (Music: Smith/Harris, Lyrics: Harris/Dickinson) – 8:44
4. "The Pilgrim" (Music: Janick Gers/Harris, Lyrics: Harris) – 5:07
5. "The Longest Day" (Music: Smith/Harris, Lyrics: Dickinson) – 7:48
6. "Out of the Shadows" (Music: Dickinson/Harris, Lyrics: Dickinson) – 5:36
7. "The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg" (Music: Dave Murray/Harris, Lyrics: Harris) – 7:21
8. "For the Greater Good of God" (Music & Lyrics: Harris) – 9:24
9. "Lord of Light" (Music: Smith/Harris, Lyrics: Dickinson) – 7:23
10. "The Legacy" (Music: Gers/Harris, Lyrics: Gers) – 9:20

• Bruce Dickinson - vocals
• Dave Murray - guitar
• Janick Gers - guitar
• Adrian Smith - guitar, guitar synth
• Steve Harris - bass guitar, keyboard
• Nicko McBrain - drums
• Kevin Shirley - producer

The album went gold in Finland in its first week.^[4] This gold record became Maiden's 8th from Finland. The album sold over 220,000 copies worldwide in its first week of release and sold over 500,000 copies worldwide in 3 weeks. It entered at no. 4 in the world album chart, no. 1 in ten countries, no. 4 in the UK charts, no. 2 in Canada, no. 4 in India , and for the first time entered the U.S. top 10 at no. 9 with sales of over 56,000. An update on Iron Maiden's official website states that "In just the first week the new album has shipped over a million copies worldwide and impacted on the charts pretty well everywhere in the world". In doing so it has charted in the top 20 in 34 countries worldwide.

The album went Platinum in Finland (30,000+), and gold in : UK (100,000+), Sweden (30,000+), Greece (10,000+), Canada (50,000+), and Italy (40,000+).

• A Matter of Life and Death: Commentary
• A Matter of Life and Death: Lyrics
• A Matter of Life and Death: Review [5]