The Book of Souls is the sixteenth studio album by Iron Maiden, released on September 4, 2015. It is the band’s first studio double album, and also their longest 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 14, 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 16, 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 Frontier‘s 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.
Tracklist:
SIDE A
- If Eternity Should Fail (Dickinson)
- Speed Of Light (Smith, Dickinson)
SIDE B
- The Great Unknown (Smith, Harris)
- The Red And The Black (Harris)
SIDE C
- When The River Runs Deep (Smith, Harris)
- The Book Of Souls (Gers, Harris)
SIDE D
- Death Or Glory (Smith, Harris)
- Shadows Of The Valley (Gers, Harris)
SIDE E
- Tears Of A Clown (Smith, Harris
- The Man Of Sorrow (Murray, Harris)
SIDE F
- Empire Of The Clouds (Dickinson)
Iron Maiden
Bruce Dickinson: vocals, piano on “Empire of the Clouds”
Dave Murray: guitars
Janick Gers: guitars
Adrian Smith: guitars
Steve Harris: bass, keyboards
Nicko McBrain: drums
Additional Musicians
Michael Kenney: keyboards
Jeff Bova: orchestration
Technical personnel
Kevin Shirley: production, mixing
Steve Harris: co-production
Denis Caribaux: engineering
Ade Emsley: mastering
Chris Bellman: additional vinyl mastering
Stuart Crouch: art direction, design
Mark Wilkinson: cover illustration
Anthony Dry: disc illustrations
Julie Wilkinson: Maya codex drawings
Simon Martin: Maya hieroglyphs
Jorge Letona: Maya font design
John McMurtrie: photography
Rod Smallwood: management
Andy Taylor: management
Dave Shack: management
