After four decades of upping the irons, we may think we know Iron Maiden. Turns out, we don't. Iron Maiden's anthemic rockers don't get nearly as much shine as the metal band's glorious shred fests, so here's "The Writing on the Wall," led by a desert-swept twang that bucks throughout the six-minute epic. Co-written with guitarist Adrian Smith, the track finds Bruce Dickinson – who has always explored the histories, victories and ravages of war, and the dangers of fascism – singing about changing tides and warns what happens to those who get left behind progress. In songwriting that stretches our notions of Iron Maiden, "The Writing on the Wall" signals hope for after the apocalypse, with an animation just as epic, featuring the band's mascot Eddie as a robo-samurai and tons of Easter eggs that warrant multiple views.
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
