MIST, IS IN THE TREES
STONE SWEATS WITH THE DEW
THE MORNING SUNRISE,
RED BEFORE THE BLUE
HANGING AT THE MAST,
WAITING FOR THE COMMAND
HIS MAJESTY'S AIRSHIP
The Book of Souls
is the sixteenth
studio album
by English
Heavy Metal band
released on
September,4th 2015.
It is the band's
first studio
double album
on CD
their first
studio double LP
being
Fear of the Dark in 1992;
it is also their
longest album to date,
with a total length of
92 minutes and 11 seconds.
Its launch and
supporting tour
were delayed to
allow vocalist
Bruce Dickinson
time to recover
from the removal
of a
cancerous tumour
in early 2015.
It is also their
first album
to be released on
Parlophone,
since the end
of their
30-year relationship
with EMI Records.
Produced by
long-time
Iron Maiden
collaborator
Kevin Shirley,
The Book of Souls
was recorded at
Guillaume Tell Studios, Paris
from September
to December 2014,
which they had
previously used
for 2000's
Brave New World.
The band wrote
and immediately
recorded many tracks
in the studio,
resulting in a
spontaneous live feel.
The album's first single,
"Speed of Light",
was issued as a
music video
on
August 14th,
and simultaneously
as a
digital download
and
CD single
exclusive
to Best Buy.
In addition to being
their longest studio record,
it also contains the band's
longest song to date,
"Empire of the Clouds",
at 18 minutes in length,
which was also issued
as a single for
Record Store Day
on April,16th 2016.
While not a concept album,
references to the soul
and mortality
are prominent,
realised in
the Maya-themed
cover artwork,
created by
Mark Wilkinson.
A critical and
commercial success,
The Book of Souls
topped the
album charts
in 24 countries.
It earned the band
their fifth
(first consecutive)
UK No. 1,
following 1982's
The Number of the Beast,
1988's
Seventh Son of a Seventh Son,
1992's
Fear of the Dark
and
2010's
The Final Frontier.
In the US,
it matched
The Final Frontiers' success
on the
Billboard 200,
repeating the group's
highest placement
at No. 4
until it was
surpassed by
2021's
Senjutsu
at No. 3.
At the time
of its release,
The Book of Souls
marked the
longest gap
between studio releases
in the group's
entire career;
at five years,
following
The Final Frontier.
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