Iron Maiden – Somewhere in Time (2014 Reissue on 180g Vinyl)

Somewhere in Time is the sixth studio album by Iron Maiden. It was released on 29 September 1986. It was the band’s first album to feature guitar synthesisers.

Somewhere in Time is the band’s first studio effort following the extensive World Slavery Tour of 1984–85, which was physically draining for the group, lasting 331 days and comprising 187 concerts.The resulting exhaustion is credited as the main factor in the complete lack of songwriting contributions from lead vocalist Bruce Dickinson, whose material was rejected by the rest of the band.

Dickinson had written several ‘acoustic-based’ songs, explaining that ‘I felt we had to come up with our Physical Graffiti or Led Zeppelin IV… we had to get it onto another level or we’d stagnate and drift away’, although bassist and primary writer Steve Harris ‘thought he’d lost the plot completely’, surmising that ‘he was probably more burnt out than anyone at the end of that last tour’.

On the other hand, the record is also notable for the number of ‘fully formed’ songs written by guitarist Adrian Smith, who wrote both of the album’s singles: Wasted Years and Stranger in a Strange Land, the former of which is the only song on the record not to feature synthesisers.

Since its release, Somewhere in Time has been certified platinum by the RIAA, having sold over one million copies in the US.

Track Listing

Side One

1. Caught Somewhere in Time
2. Wasted Years
3. Sea of Madness
4. Heaven Can Wait

Side Two

1. The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner
2. Stranger in a Strange Land
3. Deja-Vu
4. Alexander the Great