Iron Maiden's new album Book Of Souls is due out September 4 and we haven't heard a lick of music. On the flip side, we know that the album will consist of 2 CDs and the whole ordeal will clock in at 92 minutes. There are also some incredibly long songs on the record topping off at 18-minutes, which has left fans anxiously and excitedly scratching their heads. So what the hell gives? Maiden guitarist Janick Gers clears things up a little bit in an interview with Glide Magazine.
It just ended up we had 11 songs in 92 minutes, which is quite too long for a single album. I think it’s good; we just come in and try different things, and we never restrict ourselves in terms of melodies and tunes. If it’s long it ends up long, and it’s as simple as that. If it feels right, that’s what it is. This album just dictates where we are right now in 2015. We’re not a band that looks backwards, we always look forward and we’re always trying to develop new ideas, new strategies, new attacks of songs, and taking songs down different pathways. And I think this album proves that we’re still valid; the songs are powerful and edgy. There’s all types of different songs on this album and there’s almost something for everybody – classically influenced, jazz influenced, rock and blues influenced – it’s all there and it’s just indicative of what the band’s about.
So basically Iron Maiden wants to progress naturally as Iron Maiden and not what its individual members think Iron Maiden should be. Isn't that the way music should be anyway? Artists being artists in the capacity they feel as though their art should be presented to the world? Speaking of Book Of Souls, Gers also reveals why we haven't heard any music from the record yet.
Well we didn’t want anything out while Bruce was recuperating. The album would’ve been out earlier in the year, but we pulled everything and we pulled the tour because we wanted Bruce to get better. To me that’s more important than anything, so we just held everything back. He’s clear now and the idea was to wait until September. I like the idea of getting an album when it’s released. Is that passé now? I don’t know, but isn’t it good to wait for something and get it all at once? That whole Internet thing has kind of spoiled it a little bit because it’s nice to wait for something and get it all at once as opposed to bips and bops at a time.
Love it! I say "oh well" if we end up not getting a single from the record. I've got this bad sum'bitch pre-ordered anyway and you better believe I'm going to listen it into the ground when it gets to mailbox. Lastly, Gers touched on the speculation that this is the band's last record.
Truthfully, every album we do I think might be the last. With The Final Frontier we did quite a long tour. I don’t think we hit America with it but we hit everywhere else in the world, so you’re looking at a six or seven month tour and who knows what’s going to happen. You could fall out, some people in the band might not enjoy it anymore, so you always think this might be the last tour. We’re a band that’s been around a long time now, and just looking at what’s happened to Bruce, that shocked me to the core, I was devastated. That was a huge shock to everybody, so you never know when the last tour is. I hate these bands that go “this is our last tour” and they come back a year later with a new album and another tour. We go on as long we’re enjoying it and who knows when the last tour will be. You just make the best album that you can at that moment in your career. That’s why I never come out and say this is the best album we’ve ever made. You hear a lot of bands say that, but you should never say that! You say this is the best album at this point in time that we could make and I’m really proud of it.
Do it until you can't, right?
