IRON MAIDEN
Brave New World
Portrait/Sony

HALFORD
Resurrection
Metal Is/Sanctuary/BMG

My buddy, Fredrik, was disappointed that I neglected to review both the latest Halford and Maiden CDs in my last installment of reviews, so I allowed him to do the honors of reviewing both releases. So, here are reviews of Maiden's Brave New World and Halford's Resurrection in the eyes and ears of Fredrik Hjelm....

When I saw Iron Maiden at the two sold-out shows at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City during the "Ed Hunter" re-union tour (with Bruce Dickinson and Adrian Smith back in the band) in the summer of '99, I couldn't even dream of a new studio-album, especially one with the musical quality that Brave New World holds. Dickinson sounds better, and more mature, than ever - the inspiration and the magic of the greatest British Heavy Metal band of all-time is back!

Iron Maiden reached legendary status over twenty years ago, and has survived and prevailed through three changes of frontmen, as well as the decline of Metal during the nineties. Maiden even came out stronger after all that, and now that Dickinson and Smith are back, there's no stopping the fire-breathing dragon Iron Maiden has always been, and always will be.

Tracks like "The Mercenary," "Out Of The Silent Planet," and "Brave New World" underline Maiden's greatness. You can clearly tell that bass-player and founder of the band, Steve Harris, stepped aside to let the Beast in Dickinson out! This time around, Dickinson gets enough space for his personal touch, and isn't held back as much as in the old days, before he left the band to pursue his solo career. On this album, we face some new classics that satisfy the old, hard-core Maiden fans (such as myself) as well as the newer generation that thought that Blaze Bailey "was" Maiden - well, fans, think again - The Air Raid Siren is back with a vengeance!

Halford - A Metal God resurrected! Previous solo material released by Halford (Fight and Two) doesn't come close to what he put together for us this time. Very "heavy" titles like "Made In Hell", "Silent Screams" and "Locked and loaded" are included. Halford actually manages to vary the sound of his incredible voice in a very impressive way on this record. In the old Priest days, Halford would have the tendency to "show off" his voice in an almost annoying way (he would often stay on top of his lungs for too long and to be too technical.) On Resurrection, Rob satisfies all listeners needs by switching from very raw, basic rock, to the Halford we know so well - the "one-of-a-kind" sound that once made Judas Priest the biggest Metal band at the time.

With one of the top new producers of Metal, Roy Z, who has also worked closely with Bruce Dickinson, the sound on Halford's "Resurrection" is all what the fans could ever expect and hope for. The sixth track on the CD is a "duet" with Bruce Dickinson, which is what you might call a feast for all the fans of British Metal. The roaring sounds of the Metal God and the Air Raid Siren, put together on one track, is pure artistry. When are we gonna see these two gentlemen perform together? Maybe next year, maybe never - though, let's keep our fingers crossed!

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