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Empire of the Clouds

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"Empire of the Clouds"
Single by Iron Maiden
from the album The Book of Souls
B-side"Maiden Voyage"
Released16 April 2016 (2016-04-16)
RecordedSeptember–December 2014
StudioGuillaume Tell, Paris
GenreHeavy metal, progressive metal
Length18:01
LabelParlophone
Songwriter(s)Bruce Dickinson
Producer(s)Kevin Shirley
Iron Maiden singles chronology
"Speed of Light"
(2015) 		"Empire of the Clouds"
(2016) 		"The Writing on the Wall"
(2021)

"Empire of the Clouds" is a song by the English heavy metal band Iron Maiden from their sixteenth studio album, The Book of Souls. The song was issued as a single on 16 April 2016, tying in with Record Store Day.[1]

Background, writing and recording

"Empire of the Clouds", at 18 minutes in length, is Iron Maiden's longest song to date, overtaking "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" from their 1984 album, Powerslave.[2] The track tells the story of the British R101 airship, which crashed in northern France on 5 October 1930 during its maiden voyage.[3] The song was written entirely by the band's lead vocalist, Bruce Dickinson, who initially intended it to be about "World War I fighter aeroplanes." Dickinson abandoned the idea after using the same theme for the song "Death or Glory," also from The Book of Souls.[4] At the time of recording, Dickinson was reading "a big, sort of encyclopedic crash report" of the R101, entitled To Ride the Storm, which gave him the idea for the song's eventual subject.[4] Dickinson describes it as "A very poignant story, a very human story, a story of ambition and dreams."[5]

Dickinson largely composed "Empire of the Clouds" during The Book of Souls' recording sessions at Guillaume Tell Studios, Paris.[6] According to one of the group's guitarists, Adrian Smith, Dickinson "was working on it for about a month on his own" in a sound-proof booth.[7] The track features Dickinson's debut on piano, as he used the studio's Steinway grand piano to write the song,[8] although he used a keyboard on the actual recording, thereby making it easier to edit out his mistakes.[3][4]

According to Smith, the song was a challenge for the rest of the band as they had to play along to Dickinson's piano track while following his and producer Kevin Shirley's instructions.[6] In addition to the band's parts, additional orchestration was added to the song afterwards,[7] while Nicko McBrain experimented with a variety of percussive instruments, including a bowed gong, to recreate the airship's crash.[4]

On 11 March 2016, the band announced that the song would be released as a 12" picture disc single for Record Store Day limited to 5,500 copies, using the front cover of the Daily Mirror from 6 October 1930 as the cover artwork.[9] The single's B-side features an interview with Dickinson and McBrain, entitled "Maiden Voyage", in which they recount the song's creation.[10]

Reception

The song received critical acclaim. PopMatters called it a "masterpiece" and "every bit as spellbinding as 1984’s 'Rime of the Ancient Mariner'",[11] while AllMusic described it as "a heavy metal suite, unlike anything in their catalogue".[12] While Blabbermouth.net and NME did not agree that it matches "Rime of the Ancient Mariner", the former stated that it is "worth every single minute as a cinematic-sounding encapsulation of the band's career",[13] and the latter called it "the pièce-de-résistance".[14] It also received a positive response from Classic Rock, who deemed it "stunning piece of work",[15] while Billboard labelled it "a highlight".[16] Sputnikmusic rated it "a significant improvement" on the closing tracks from the band's two previous studio records ("The Legacy" from 2006's A Matter of Life and Death and "When the Wild Wind Blows" from 2010's The Final Frontier), calling it "cerebral and evocative".[17] The Guardian, however, argued that it is unlikely to appeal to enthusiasts of the band's older material, although they did say that "said [fans] might be mollified by Harris’s 'The Red and the Black'".[18]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Empire of the Clouds"Bruce Dickinson18:01
2."Maiden Voyage – The Story Behind Empire of the Clouds"
21:07

Personnel

Production credits are adapted from the picture disc cover.[19]

Iron Maiden
Additional personnel
Production
  • Kevin Shirley – producer, mixing
  • Ade Emsley – mastering
  • Paul Anthony – producer, mixing ("Maiden Voyage")
  • Tony Newton – mastering ("Maiden Voyage")
  • Hervé Monjeaud – cover illustration

References

  1. ^ DiVita, Joe (8 March 2016). "2016 Record Store Day: Guide to Rock + Metal Read More: 2016 Record Store Day: Guide to Rock + Metal". Loudwire. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
  2. ^ Grow, Kory (18 June 2015). "Iron Maiden Announce New Double Album The Book of Souls". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 19 June 2015. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  3. ^ a b Lombardelli, Tiphaine (12 August 2015). "Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden) : la générosité dans l'âme". Radiometal.com (in French). Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  4. ^ a b c d Ives, Brian (11 September 2015). "Bruce Dickinson Talks Iron Maiden's 18 Minute Epic 'Empire of the Clouds'". Radio.com. Archived from the original on 26 March 2016. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
  5. ^ Henne, Bruce (12 March 2016). "Iron Maiden prepare epic Record Store Day release". Metal Hammer. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
  6. ^ a b Sword, Harry (12 August 2015). "Death Or Glory: Iron Maiden Interviewed". The Quietus. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  7. ^ a b Laing, Rob (14 August 2015). "Interview: Iron Maiden's Adrian Smith and Dave Murray on The Book Of Souls". MusicRadar. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
  8. ^ McCabe, Kathy (2 September 2015). "Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson feared he would beat cancer but lose his voice". News.com.au. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
  9. ^ "Iron Maiden Contribute Historic Package For 2016 Record Store Day". BraveWords.com. 11 March 2016. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
  10. ^ "Iron Maiden reveal full details of Record Store Day release". Planet Rock. 15 April 2016. Retrieved 15 April 2016.
  11. ^ "Iron Maiden: The Book of Souls". Retrieved 28 March 2017.
  12. ^ "The Book of Souls - Iron Maiden - Songs, Reviews, Credits - AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
  13. ^ "The Book of Souls - IRON MAIDEN". 26 August 2015. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
  14. ^ "Music & Film Reviews - NME.COM". NME. 8 September 2015. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
  15. ^ "Iron Maiden: The Book Of Souls". 11 August 2015. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
  16. ^ "Iron Maiden Goes Big on Ambitious Double-Disc 'The Book of Souls': Album Review". Billboard. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
  17. ^ "Review: Iron Maiden - The Book of Souls -". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
  18. ^ Petridis, Alexis (3 September 2015). "Iron Maiden: The Book of Souls – raw and punchy". Retrieved 28 March 2017 – via The Guardian.
  19. ^ "Empire of the Clouds" Picture Disc Single (Media notes). Iron Maiden. Parlophone. 16 April 2016.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
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