Album · 20 years old this year
A Matter of Life and Death
A Matter of Life and Death is Iron Maiden's fourteenth studio album, released through EMI in August 2006. Not a concept record, it keeps returning to war and religion, themes that also run through its cover artwork. The sound sits in heavy metal with a strong progressive streak.
It follows Dance of Death and comes before The Final Frontier. It was the first Iron Maiden album to reach the top 10 of the US Billboard chart, and it did well in many other countries too. On the tour that followed, the band played the whole record live, a bold move for a group with such a deep back catalogue. That says plenty about how much they believed in it.
A Matter of Life and Death: tracklist, credits and charts
10 tracks · 1:11:52Tracklist
- 1Different WorldSteve Harris and Adrian Smith4:17
- 2These Colours Don't RunHarris, Smith, Dickinson6:52
- 3Brighter Than a Thousand SunsHarris, Smith, Dickinson8:44
- 4The PilgrimJanick Gers and Steve Harris5:07
- 5The Longest DayHarris, Smith, Dickinson7:48
- 6Out of the ShadowsBruce Dickinson and Steve Harris5:36
- 7The Reincarnation of Benjamin BreegSteve Harris and Dave Murray7:21
- 8For the Greater Good of GodSteve Harris9:24
- 9Lord of LightHarris, Smith, Dickinson7:23
- 10The LegacyJanick Gers and Steve Harris9:20
- Produced by
- Steve Harris, Kevin Shirley
- Recorded at
- Sarm West (London)
- Recorded
- March 2006 – May 2006
- Mixed by
- Kevin Shirley
- Engineered by
- Drew Griffiths, Kevin Shirley
- Label
- EMI
- Length
- 1:11:52
Line-up
- Janick Gers · electric guitar
- Steve Harris · electric bass guitar, keyboard
- Nicko McBrain · drums (drum set)
- Dave Murray · electric guitar
- Adrian Smith · electric guitar, guitar synthesizer
- Bruce Dickinson · lead vocals
Singles
- “The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg” · 14 August 2006
- “Different World” · 14 November 2006
Peak chart positions
| Chart | Peak |
|---|---|
| UK Albums Chart · 2006 | 4 |
| US Billboard 200 · 2006 | 9 |
| Croatian International Albums (HDU) · 2006 | 1 |
| Finnish Albums · 2006 | 1 |
| German Albums · 2006 | 1 |
| Italian Albums · 2006 | 1 |
| Polish Albums · 2006 | 1 |
| Swedish Albums · 2006 | 1 |
| UK Rock & Metal Albums · 2006 | 1 |
| Canadian Albums (Billboard) · 2006 | 2 |
All 27 charts
| Hungarian Albums · 2006 | 2 |
| Norwegian Albums · 2006 | 2 |
| Swiss Albums · 2006 | 2 |
| Austrian Albums · 2006 | 4 |
| Scottish Albums · 2006 | 4 |
| Spanish Albums · 2006 | 4 |
| French Albums · 2006 | 5 |
| Ireland 2 · 2006 | 5 |
| Belgian Albums (Wallonia) · 2006 | 7 |
| Dutch Albums · 2006 | 7 |
| Belgian Albums (Flanders) · 2006 | 8 |
| Danish Albums · 2006 | 8 |
| Japanese Albums (Oricon) · 2006 | 11 |
| Portuguese Albums · 2006 | 11 |
| Australian Albums (ARIA) · 2006 | 12 |
| New Zealand Albums · 2006 | 16 |
| Greek Albums (IFPI) · 2010 | 63 |
Certifications
| Region | Certification |
|---|---|
| Brazil · 2007 | Gold |
| Canada · 2006 | Gold |
| Finland · 2006 | Platinum |
| Germany · 2010 | Gold |
| Greece · 2006 | Gold |
| Ireland · 2007 | Gold |
| Norway · 2006 | Gold |
| Sweden · 2006 | Gold |
| Switzerland · 2006 | Gold |
| United Kingdom · 2006 | Gold |
From MusicBrainz, Wikipedia and Wikidata. Only what the sources record is shown.
64.9
Popularity (0–100, vs the whole vault)
2.5k
ListenBrainz listeners
90k
Wikipedia views, last 12 months
18k
Deezer fans (all editions)
Released the same week
Also released on 25 August
Every year →
More from Iron Maiden
Full discography →
The Soundhouse Tapes
1979
Iron Maiden
1980
Live!! + One
1980
Killers
1981
Maiden Japan
1981
The Number of the Beast
1982
Iron Maiden Lo mejor de Iron Maiden 1983
Lo mejor de Iron Maiden
1983
Iron Maiden No me puedes dejar así / Decídete 1983
No me puedes dejar así / Decídete
1983
Piece of Mind
1983
Powerslave
1984
Iron Maiden Christmas EP 1984
Christmas EP
1984
Live After Death
1985
Iron Maiden Audio Pieces 1986
Audio Pieces
1986
Somewhere in Time
1986
Iron Maiden Maiden Mania 80–87 1987
Maiden Mania 80–87
1987
Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
1988
Maiden England
1989
The First Ten Years
1990
No Prayer for the Dying
1990
Fear of the Dark
1992
A Real Live One
1993
A Real Dead One
1993
Live at Donington: August 22nd 1992
1993
The X Factor
1995
Best of the Beast
1996
Iron Maiden An Introduction to… Virtual XI 1998
An Introduction to… Virtual XI
1998
Virtual XI
1998
A Real Live Dead One
1998
Ed Hunter
1999
Brave New World
2000
Rock in Rio
2002
Iron Maiden Eddie's Archive 2002
Eddie's Archive
2002
Edward the Great
2002
BBC Archives
2002
Beast Over Hammersmith
2002
Dance of Death
2003
No More Lies: Dance of Death Souvenir EP
2004
The Essential Iron Maiden
2005
Death on the Road
2005
Somewhere Back in Time
2008
Somewhere Back in Time: The Best of 1980–1989
2008
Iron Maiden Flight 666 2009
Flight 666
2009
The Final Frontier
2010
From Fear to Eternity: The Best of 1990–2010
2011
En Vivo!
2012
Maiden England ’88
2013
The Book of Souls
2015
The Book of Souls: Live Chapter
2017
Nights of the Dead, Legacy of the Beast: Live in Mexico City
2020
Senjutsu
2021
The best of 2006
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Christ Illusion
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Skin and Bones
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Kiss of Death
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Yeah!
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Operation: Mindcrime II
Queensrÿche · 2006
The Essential Alice in Chains
Alice in Chains · 2006
More on EMI
The label →The Number of the Beast
Iron Maiden · 1982
A Night at the Opera
Queen · 1975
Piece of Mind
Iron Maiden · 1983
Powerslave
Iron Maiden · 1984
Fear of the Dark
Iron Maiden · 1992
Hot Space
Queen · 1982
Somewhere in Time
Iron Maiden · 1986
Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
Iron Maiden · 1988
The Works
Queen · 1984
A Kind of Magic
Queen · 1986
13
Black Sabbath · 2013
Queen II
Queen · 1974
Releases and pressings
How we know the release date wikipedia 2006-08-25; musicbrainz + wikidata 2006-08-28 (3 days apart, likely another territory)
| Source | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|
| MusicBrainz | 28 August 2006 | |
| Wikipedia infobox | 25 August 2006 | |
| Wikidata | 28 August 2006 | worldwide |
| Wikidata | 5 September 2006 | United States |
| Wikidata | 5 September 2006 | Japan |
| Wikidata | 5 September 2006 | Canada |
| US release | 5 September 2006 | earliest US date |
| UK / Europe release | 28 August 2006 | earliest UK or European date |
19 editions
| Date | Country | Label | Barcode | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | XW | Parlophone | 190295524098 | remaster |
| 2006 | BR | EMI | 094637233122 | other |
| 2006 | XE | Parlophone | 094637232125 | other |
| 2006 | XE | EMI | 094637232125 | other |
| 2006 | AU | EMI | 094637233122 | other |
| 2006 | US | Sanctuary Records | 060768476820 | other |
| 28 August 2006 | XW | Parlophone | 881034134547 | original |
| 28 August 2006 | GB | EMI | 094637232125 | original |
| 28 August 2006 | XE | EMI | 094637232118 | original |
| 28 August 2006 | XE | EMI | 094637232422 | original |
| 29 August 2006 | CA | EMI Music Canada | 094637233122 | other |
| 5 September 2006 | US | Sanctuary Records | 060768476820 | other |
| 5 September 2006 | US | Sanctuary Records | 060768478121 | other |
| 6 September 2006 | JP | EMI | 4988006845572 | other |
| 20 December 2006 | JP | EMI | 4988006953017 | other |
| 25 May 2015 | XW | Parlophone | 825646128280 | remaster |
| 23 June 2017 | XE | Parlophone | 0190295851958 | other |
| 22 November 2019 | US | BMG | 4050538442342 | other |
| 22 November 2019 | XE | Parlophone | 190295567606 | other |
Cover art sources
itunes · native: native 3000x3000
| Source | Size | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| itunes ✓ | 3000×3000 | native: native 3000x3000 |
| coverartarchive | 2824×2787 | cropped |
| deezer | 1200×1200 | upscaled |
| fanarttv | 1000×1000 | upscaled |