Somewhere in Time is the sixth studio album by the English heavy metal band Iron Maiden. It was released on 29 September 1986 in the United Kingdom by EMI Records and in the United States by Capitol Records. It was the band's first album to feature guitar synthesisers.
Since its release, Somewhere in Time has been certified platinum by the RIAA, having sold over one million copies in the US. Somewhere on Tour was the album's supporting tour. In 2023, it was made the focus of the Future Past World Tour, alongside 2021's Senjutsu.
Background
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". 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. Smith wrote the songs due Dickinson temporarily stepping aside after having his ideas in changing musical direction being shut down, which allowed other members of the band to pick up the compositional slack.
Following the World Slavery Tour, the group were given four months to recuperate, with Harris, Smith and guitarist Dave Murray spending the time experimenting with new equipment. The result was a marked change in sound for Iron Maiden, as it was their first to use guitar and bass synthesisers, although on their next release, 1988's Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, the effects were provided by keyboards instead. Given their time off, this was their first studio album not to be released a year after their previous one, the band insisting that they have more time "to get it right without hurrying for a change", comments Harris.
The 2008 tribute CD Maiden Heaven: A Tribute to Iron Maiden, released by Kerrang! magazine, features covers of two of the album's songs; "Wasted Years" by DevilDriver and "Caught Somewhere in Time" by Madina Lake.
Songs
Although "space and time" are common themes throughout the release, with songs such as "Wasted Years", "Caught Somewhere in Time", "Stranger in a Strange Land" and "Deja-Vu", the band never intended for it to be a concept album, with Harris stating, "We certainly never went in there and said, 'Right let's write a load of songs on the subject of time.
The album opener and demi-title track "Caught Somewhere in Time", written by Harris, is narrated from the point of view of the Devil (or a demon) offering a man the opportunity to travel in time, in exchange for his soul. Adrian Smith's "Wasted Years", the album's leading single, deals with the themes of homesickness and alienation and was partially inspired by Smith's own experiences during the seemingly-unending World Slavery Tour, and is followed by "Sea of Madness", an up-tempo song by the same author; speaking of those, Harris highlighted their "optimistic message". "Heaven Can Wait" was one of the first songs completed during the writing process, and Harris stated that it is about a person having an out-of-body experience and fighting it with their determination to live. The album's second single, "Stranger in a Strange Land", was inspired to Smith by the true story of a sailor who disappeared during an expedition to the North Pole and found years later perfectly preserved in ice, and draws its title from a 1959 Robert Heinlein book.
- Below "Acacia" is a poster of Eddie from the first album, with graffiti reading "Eddie lives" written on it.
- To the right of Eddie's left leg there is a rubbish bin attached to a lamppost, identical to the one seen on the cover of the Iron Maiden album. It also reads "Live After Death", the name of their 1985 live album.
- On the walkway above the clock is an electronic sign that says "LATEST RESULTS.......WEST HAM 7........ARSENAL 3", a nod to Steve Harris who is a West Ham United supporter.
- Above and slightly to the right of the cloaked character reads more Hebrew lettering, "ג'ין" (Gin, in English).
- On the right side of the walkway and just above the "Latest Results" sign is the bracket that holds Eddie's skull together from the Piece of Mind album onwards, which Riggs drew as a cartouche.
Tour
Somewhere on Tour was the official tour held in support of the album. It was the band’s first tour since their grueling World Slavery Tour which was picked on by Bruce Dickinson for being long. Due to this the band cut down this tour and booked 157 shows 32 less than the World Slavery Tour. The band performed across the globe, in countries including Poland, Italy, the United States and England. The tour lasted 253 days, during which the band performed 151 shows. The tour was a success and commenced in Belgrade, Serbia, Yugoslavia, and ended in Japan which seen them play at the Budokan venue for the first time.
| rev2 = Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal
| rev2Score = 7/10
| rev3 = Kerrang!
| rev3score =
| rev4 = Sputnikmusic
| rev4score =
| rev5 = The Daily Vault
| rev5Score = A
| rev6 = Metal.de
| rev6score = 10/10
| rev7 = Metal Hammer
| rev7score =
| rev8 = Ultimate Guitar
| rev8score = 9/10
| noprose = yes
Somewhere in Time received positive reviews, German reviewer Metal.de game the album a 10/10 rating stating "Somewhere In Time" is another shining moment in heavy metal from the house of Iron Maiden. Rather than treading water, the metal flagship consistently evolves, paying no heed to scene conventions. In doing so, the band delivers perhaps their finest record to date—and one of the greatest metal albums of all time." Mikesn of Sputnikmusic also gave the album a nearly perfect rating writing "For a band that had hardly changed its style over 5 albums, Somewhere in Time was an adventurous release. Though not as powerful as Powerslave, Somewhere in Time is an excellent effort from Iron Maiden. From the brilliant cover art to the last riff on Alexander the Great, Iron Maiden continued to impress the world with their amazing releases" A reviewer from Ultimate Guitar added "When analyzed alone, it's a good album. When you see how much it influenced their followup, "Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son", it's an exceptional album."
Steve Huey of AllMusic gave the album a more neutral review stating "Somewhere in Time will appeal more to the metal diehard who's already suspicious of too much overt melody; there's plenty of progressive complexity here to impress that type of listener. For the rest of us, even though fully half of the album is still excellent, Somewhere in Time is the first Maiden record that's less than godlike."
Metal Hammer dubbed Somewhere in Time Iron Maiden’s most underrated release of the 1980s.
Track listing
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Personnel
Production and performance credits are adapted from the album liner notes.
Iron Maiden
- Bruce Dickinson – lead vocals
- Dave Murray – guitars, guitar synthesiser
- Adrian Smith – guitars, guitar synthesiser, backing vocals, lead vocals on "Reach Out"
- Steve Harris – bass, bass synthesiser
- Nicko McBrain – drums
Production
- Martin "Masa" Birch – producer, engineer, mixing, tape operator
- Bruce Buchhalter – second engineer
- Sean Burrows – assistant engineer (Compass Point Studios)
- Albert Boekholt – assistant engineer (Wisseloord Studios)
- Ronald Prent – assistant engineer (Wisseloord Studios)
- George Marino – mastering engineer
- Derek Riggs – sleeve illustrations
- Aaron Rapoport – photography
- Rod Smallwood – sleeve concept
- Hugh Gilmour – reissue design (1998 edition)
Charts
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! Chart (1986–1987)
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! scope="row"| Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)
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! scope="row"| Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts)
| align="center"| 1
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!scope="row"|Italian Albums (Musica e dischi)
| style="text-align:center;"|14
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!scope="row"|Japanese Albums (Oricon)
| align="center"| 16
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