Brave New World (Iron Maiden album)

Brave New World
Studio album by Iron Maiden
Released 30 May 2000 [1]
Recorded Summer 1999 - April 2000
Guillaume Tell Studios, Paris
Genre Heavy metal
Length 1:06:57
Language English
Label EMI
Sony, Portrait (United States)
Producer Steve Harris and Kevin Shirley
Iron Maiden chronology
Virtual XI
(1998)		 Brave New World
(2000)		 Dance of Death
(2003)
Singles from Brave New World
  1. "The Wicker Man"
    Released: April 2000
  2. "Out of the Silent Planet"
    Released: 23 October 2000

Brave New World is the twelfth studio album by British heavy metal band Iron Maiden, released on 30 May 2000. 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) in 1999, as well as the band's first studio recording with their current three guitar line-up, as Janick Gers remained with the band.

The album art and title song are 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 songs "The Wicker Man" and "Out of the Silent Planet" were both released as singles. "The Wicker Man"'s promotional radio release featured extra vocals in the chorus, not present in any other versions of the song.

The Brave New World Tour was the tour in support of the album, during which the show at Rock in Rio was recorded and later released as a live album and video.

Brave New World peaked at No. 7 in the UK Albums Chart, and has since been certified Gold.[2] In the United States, it debuted at No. 39 in Billboard 200,[3] and registered over 307,000 sales on the Nielsen SoundScan system in 2008.[4]

Contents

Songs and composition

Most of the songs were written before The Ed Hunter Tour and were later recorded at Guillaume Tell Studios, Paris. It was the first album the band would record with producer Kevin Shirley, and the first that they would record live in the studio.[5]

"The Nomad", "Dream of Mirrors", and "The Mercenary" were originally written for Virtual XI, according to an interview with Adrian Smith. There was also a fourth, but Adrian couldn't say which it was, explaining that Steve Harris couldn't remember. Apparently, former singer Blaze Bayley also provided lyrics for "Dream of Mirrors", but wasn't credited.[6]

"Brave New World" was the release's only song to reappear on the Dance of Death World Tour, the next tour in support of a studio release. None of the album's songs were played during the A Matter of Life and Death Tour, although many returned throughout The Final Frontier World Tour, with "The Wicker Man", "Ghost of the Navigator", the title track and "Blood Brothers" being played during the 2010 leg.

The song "Blood Brothers", written by Steve Harris for his late father, was dedicated to Ronnie James Dio throughout the 2010 leg of The Final Frontier World Tour, following his death on 16 May. On the 2011 leg of the tour starting in Australia, "Blood Brothers" would then be dedicated to the victims and friends and family of the band members and audience who have been affected by the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake on 22 February. As the tour progressed, the song was also dedicated to the victims of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami as well as the revolts in Egypt and Libya and, later, the victims of the 2011 Norway attacks.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [7]
Classic Rock [8]
Kerrang! [9]
Metal Underground [10]
Sputnikmusic [11]

Reviews for the album were generally positive. Critics were especially warm towards the return of Bruce Dickinson and Adrian Smith to the band compared to the previous two releases which featured Blaze Bayley on vocals.[11] Kerrang! described it as "truly towering. Majestic. Bombastic. Titanic. So gloriously in-yer-face you can almost feel its hot breath up your nostrils."[9] Sputnikmusic described it as "one of the band's top albums; along side the likes of Powerslave, Somewhere in Time, and Piece of Mind" and "definitely the easiest album to get into since the band's glory days."[11] Metal Undergound exclaimed that Brave New World is "the best album since 1988's "Seventh Son of a Seventh Son,"" calling it "a significant turning point" which "set a precedent for... the next upcoming two albums that are equally as outstanding."[10] Classic Rock stated that, while "it may not take too many strides forward," it "certainly succeeds in reeling back the years to Iron Maiden's heyday."[8]

Allmusic were more critical of the album, describing it as "no Number of the Beast," although going on to say that "as comeback albums go, its excellence was undeniable."[7]

Track listing

No. Title Writer(s) Length
1. "The Wicker Man"   Bruce Dickinson, Steve Harris, Adrian Smith 4:35
2. "Ghost of the Navigator"   Dickinson, Janick Gers, Harris 6:50
3. "Brave New World"   Dickinson, Harris, Dave Murray 6:18
4. "Blood Brothers"   Harris 7:14
5. "The Mercenary"   Gers, Harris 4:42
6. "Dream of Mirrors"   Gers, Harris 9:21
7. "The Fallen Angel"   Harris, Smith 4:00
8. "The Nomad"   Harris, Murray 9:06
9. "Out of the Silent Planet"   Dickinson, Gers, Harris 6:25
10. "The Thin Line Between Love & Hate"   Harris, Murray 8:26
Total length:
 1:06:57

Personnel

Additional Personnel

Production

Chart performance

Album

Chart (2000) Peak
position
Austrian Albums Chart 10[12]
Finnish Albums Chart 2[13]
German Albums Chart 3[14]
Japanese Albums Chart 13[15]
Norwegian Albums Chart 4[16]
Swedish Albums Chart 1[17]
Swiss Music Charts 9[18]
UK Albums Chart 7[19]
US Billboard 200 39[3]

Singles

Single Chart (2000) Peak
position
"The Wicker Man" Canadian Singles Chart 4[20]
Dutch Singles Chart 45[21]
Finnish Singles Chart 11[22]
French Singles Chart 39[23]
German Singles Chart 38[24]
Italian Singles Chart 4[25]
Norwegian Singles Chart 9[26]
Swedish Singles Chart 5[27]
Swiss Singles Chart 83[28]
UK Singles Chart 9[29]
"Out of the Silent Planet" Dutch Singles Chart 87[21]
Finnish Singles Chart 13[22]
French Singles Chart 72[23]
German Singles Chart 66[24]
Italian Singles Chart 10[25]
Swedish Singles Chart 35[27]
UK Singles Chart 20[29]

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Brazil (ABPD)[30] Gold 100,000*
Canada (Music Canada)[31] Gold 50,000^
Germany (BVMI)[32] Gold 150,000^
Poland (ZPAV)[33] Gold 50,000*
Sweden (GLF)[34] Gold 40,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[2] Gold 100,000^

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

  1. ^ "Iron Maiden Official Website - Brave New World". Ironmaiden.com. 2000-05-29. http://www.ironmaiden.com/index.php?categoryid=22&p2_articleid=320. Retrieved 2010-11-09. 
  2. ^ a b "British album certifications – Iron Maiden – Brave New World". British Phonographic Industry. http://www.bpi.co.uk/certifiedawards/search.aspx.  Enter Brave New World in the field Search. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Click Go
  3. ^ a b "Artist Chart History - Iron Maiden". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/retrieve_chart_history.do?model.chartFormatGroupName=Albums&model.vnuArtistId=4887&model.vnuAlbumId=792220. Retrieved 2008-07-07. 
  4. ^ "Iron Men". Billboard 120 (20): 51. 2008-05-17. http://books.google.com/books?id=8hIEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA51. Retrieved 2010-01-01. 
  5. ^ "Maiden's Back, With Familiar Voice". Billboard 112 (17): 12. 2000-04-22. http://books.google.com.br/books?id=8A4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA12#v=onepage&q=&f=false. Retrieved 2010-01-01. 
  6. ^ Blabbermouth.net "IRON MAIDEN Guitarist Admits Band Used Leftover Ideas - Sep. 13, 2004". Blabbermouth.net. 13 September 2004. http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=26808 Blabbermouth.net. Retrieved 16 August 2010. 
  7. ^ a b Rivadavia, Eduardo. Brave New World (Iron Maiden album) at Allmusic. Retrieved 2011-06-18.
  8. ^ a b "Iron Maiden: Brave New World". Classic Rock (15): 68–69. 2000-06-01. 
  9. ^ a b "Kerrang! Brave New World review". http://www.ironmaiden.com/index.php?categoryid=8&p2_articleid=585. Retrieved 2011-06-18. 
  10. ^ a b "Metal Underground Brave New World review". http://www.metalunderground.com/reviews/details.cfm?releaseid=2347. Retrieved 2011-06-18. 
  11. ^ a b c "SputnikMusic Brave New World review". http://www.sputnikmusic.com/album.php?albumid=1857. Retrieved 2011-06-18. 
  12. ^ "Brave New World- Austrian charts". http://austriancharts.at/showitem.asp?interpret=Iron+Maiden&titel=Brave+New+World&cat=a. Retrieved 2011-09-26. 
  13. ^ "Brave New World- Finnish charts". http://finnishcharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Iron+Maiden&titel=Brave+New+World&cat=a. Retrieved 2011-09-26. 
  14. ^ "Iron Maiden > Longplay-Chartverfolgung" (in German). Musicline. PhonoNet GmbH. http://www.musicline.de/de/chartverfolgung_summary/artist/IRON+MAIDEN?sort=entry&type=longplay. Retrieved 13 June 2011. 
  15. ^ "メガデス-Oricon Style ミュージック" (in Japanese). Oricon. http://www.oricon.co.jp/prof/artist/32233/ranking/cd_album/. Retrieved 15 November 2008. 
  16. ^ "Brave New World- Norwegian charts". http://norwegiancharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Iron+Maiden&titel=Brave+New+World&cat=a. Retrieved 2011-09-26. 
  17. ^ "Brave New World- Swedish charts". http://swedishcharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Iron+Maiden&titel=Brave+New+World&cat=a. Retrieved 2011-09-26. 
  18. ^ "Brave New World- Swiss charts". http://swisscharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Iron+Maiden&titel=Brave+New+World&cat=a. Retrieved 2011-09-26. 
  19. ^ "UK Top 40 Chart Archive, British Singles & Album Charts". everyHit.com. http://www.everyhit.co.uk/. Retrieved 2008-07-06. 
  20. ^ "Allmusic singles". http://www.allmusic.com/artist/iron-maiden-p4560/charts-awards/billboard-singles. Retrieved 2011-09-26. 
  21. ^ a b "Dutch Singles Charts". http://www.dutchcharts.nl/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Iron+Maiden. Retrieved 2011-09-26. 
  22. ^ a b "Finnish Singles Charts". http://finnishcharts.com/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Iron+Maiden. Retrieved 2011-09-26. 
  23. ^ a b "French Singles Charts". http://lescharts.com/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Iron+Maiden. Retrieved 2011-09-26. 
  24. ^ a b "German Singles Charts". http://www.musicline.de/de/chartverfolgung_summary/artist/IRON+MAIDEN/single?sort=entry. Retrieved 2011-09-26. 
  25. ^ a b "Italian Singles Charts". http://italiancharts.com/search.asp?cat=s&search=Iron+Maiden. Retrieved 2011-09-26. 
  26. ^ "Norwegian Singles Charts". http://norwegiancharts.com/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Iron+Maiden. Retrieved 2011-09-26. 
  27. ^ a b "Swedish Singles Charts". http://swedishcharts.com/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Iron+Maiden. Retrieved 2011-09-26. 
  28. ^ "Swiss Singles Charts". http://swisscharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Iron+Maiden&titel=The+Wicker+Man&cat=s. Retrieved 2011-09-26. 
  29. ^ a b "UK Singles Chart". http://www.chartstats.com/artistinfo.php?id=464. Retrieved 2011-09-26. 
  30. ^ "Brazilian album certifications – Iron Maiden – Brave New World" (in Portuguese). Associação Brasileira dos Produtores de Discos. http://abpd.org.br/certificados_interna.asp?sArtista=Iron+Maiden&tmidia=1. 
  31. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Iron Maiden – Brave New World". Music Canada. http://www.musiccanada.com/GPSearchResult.aspx?st=Brave+New+World&sa=Iron+Maiden&smt=0. 
  32. ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Iron Maiden; 'Brave New World')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. http://www.musikindustrie.de/gold_platin_datenbank/?action=suche&strTitel=Brave+New+World&strInterpret=Iron+Maiden&strTtArt=alben&strAwards=checked. 
  33. ^ "Polish album certifications – Iron Maiden – Brave New World" (in Polish). Polish Producers of Audio and Video (ZPAV). http://www.zpav.pl/rankingi/wyroznienia/zlote/index.php. 
  34. ^ "Guld- och Platinacertifikat − År 2000" (in Swedish) (PDF). IFPI Sweden. http://www.ifpi.se/wp/wp-content/uploads/ar-20002.pdf.