The first time I heard this I felt a bit jilted feeling that Iron Maiden had fallen in love with synths and electronic music. Although it does have a strong existentialist tone that will do you're head in if you listen to it too much, it's one of Iron Maiden's most listenable albums. The music definately has a more polished sheen to it than you might be used to from them and the last song carries a bitter edge but in an appreciable way (unlike Fear of the Dark.)
Apart from a short moment at the end of Seventh Son of a Seventh Son it's devoid of any cheezy lyrics that occasionally plague the band. The music might not be as good as you've been led to expect but this album is definitely solid if not quite as good as some of their more daring releases.
