Album
The Book of Souls
The Book of Souls is Iron Maiden's sixteenth studio album, released on 4 September 2015. It is also their first studio double album on CD and their longest record, running to just over 92 minutes. It arrived five years after The Final Frontier, the longest wait between albums in their career, and its launch and tour were pushed back while Bruce Dickinson recovered from surgery to remove a cancerous tumour.
Kevin Shirley produced, and the band recorded in Paris at Guillaume Tell Studios, where they had made Brave New World. Many tracks were written and recorded on the spot, which gives the album a loose, live feel. Souls and mortality run through the songs, echoed in Mark Wilkinson's Maya-themed cover. "Empire of the Clouds" is the band's longest song at 18 minutes. The album topped the charts in 24 countries and gave Maiden a UK No. 1, and it reached No. 4 in the US.
The Book of Souls: tracklist, credits and charts
11 tracks · 1:32:11Tracklist
- Disc 1
- 1If Eternity Should FailBruce Dickinson8:28
- 2Speed of LightBruce Dickinson and Adrian Smith5:01
- 3The Great UnknownSteve Harris and Adrian Smith6:37
- 4The Red and the BlackSteve Harris13:33
- 5When the River Runs DeepSteve Harris and Adrian Smith5:52
- 6The Book of SoulsJanick Gers and Steve Harris10:27
- Disc 2
- 1Death or GloryBruce Dickinson and Adrian Smith5:13
- 2Shadows of the ValleyJanick Gers and Steve Harris7:32
- 3Tears of a ClownSteve Harris and Adrian Smith4:59
- 4The Man of SorrowsSteve Harris and Dave Murray6:28
- 5Empire of the CloudsBruce Dickinson18:01
- Produced by
- Steve Harris, Kevin Shirley
- Recorded at
- Guillaume Tell (Paris)
- Recorded
- September–December 2014
- Mixed by
- Kevin Shirley
- Engineered by
- Denis Caribaux
- Label
- Sanctuary Records
- Length
- 1:32:11
Line-up
- Janick Gers · electric guitar
- Steve Harris · electric bass guitar, keyboard
- Michael Kenney · keyboard
- Nicko McBrain · drums (drum set)
- Dave Murray · electric guitar
- Adrian Smith · electric guitar
- Bruce Dickinson · lead vocals, piano
Singles
- “Speed of Light” · 14 August 2015
- “Empire of the Clouds” · 16 April 2016
Peak chart positions
| Chart | Peak |
|---|---|
| UK Albums Chart · 2015 | 1 |
| US Billboard 200 · 2015 | 4 |
| Argentinian Albums (CAPIF) · 2015 | 1 |
| Austrian Albums · 2015 | 1 |
| Belgian Albums (Flanders) · 2015 | 1 |
| Brazilian Albums (ABPD) · 2015 | 1 |
| Colombian Albums · 2015 | 1 |
| Croatian Albums · 2015 | 1 |
| Czech Albums · 2015 | 1 |
| Dutch Albums · 2015 | 1 |
All 39 charts
| Finnish Albums · 2015 | 1 |
| German Albums · 2015 | 1 |
| Greek Albums (IFPI) · 2015 | 1 |
| Hungarian Albums · 2015 | 1 |
| Israeli Albums (Media Forest) · 2015 | 1 |
| Italian Albums · 2015 | 1 |
| Mexican Albums (Top 100 Mexico) · 2015 | 1 |
| Norwegian Albums · 2015 | 1 |
| Polish Albums · 2015 | 1 |
| Portuguese Albums · 2015 | 1 |
| Scottish Albums · 2015 | 1 |
| Serbian Albums · 2015 | 1 |
| Slovenian Albums (SloTop30) · 2015 | 1 |
| Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE) · 2015 | 1 |
| Swedish Albums · 2015 | 1 |
| Swiss Albums · 2015 | 1 |
| UK Rock & Metal Albums · 2015 | 1 |
| Australian Albums (ARIA) · 2015 | 2 |
| Belgian Albums (Wallonia) · 2015 | 2 |
| Canadian Albums (Billboard) · 2015 | 2 |
| French Albums · 2015 | 2 |
| Irish Albums · 2015 | 2 |
| New Zealand Albums · 2015 | 2 |
| US Top Rock Albums · 2015 | 2 |
| Danish Albums · 2015 | 3 |
| Turkish Albums (Turkish Music Charts) · 2015 | 3 |
| South African Albums (EMA) · 2015 | 4 |
| Japanese Albums (Oricon) · 2015 | 6 |
| Korea · 2015 | 28 |
Certifications
| Region | Certification |
|---|---|
| Austria | Gold |
| Brazil | Platinum |
| Canada | Gold |
| Croatia (HDU) | Gold |
| Finland · 2015 | Gold |
| France · 2015 | Gold |
| Germany | Gold |
| Hungary · 2016 | Platinum |
| Italy | Gold |
| Norway · 2018 | Gold |
| Poland · 2016 | Gold |
| Sweden · 2016 | Gold |
| United Kingdom · 2015 | Gold |
From MusicBrainz, Wikipedia and Wikidata. Only what the sources record is shown.
72.4
Popularity (0–100, vs the whole vault)
2.7k
ListenBrainz listeners
93k
Wikipedia views, last 12 months
92k
Deezer fans (all editions)
Released the same week
Also released on 4 September
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More from Iron Maiden
Full discography →
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1979
Iron Maiden
1980
Live!! + One
1980
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1981
Maiden Japan
1981
The Number of the Beast
1982
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1983
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1983
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Christmas EP
1984
Live After Death
1985
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Audio Pieces
1986
Somewhere in Time
1986
Iron Maiden Maiden Mania 80–87 1987
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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
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1998
Virtual XI
1998
A Real Live Dead One
1998
Ed Hunter
1999
Brave New World
2000
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2002
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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
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The Essential Iron Maiden
2005
Death on the Road
2005
A Matter of Life and Death
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Somewhere Back in Time
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The Final Frontier
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Releases and pressings
How we know the release date wikipedia + musicbrainz + wikidata
| Source | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|
| MusicBrainz | 4 September 2015 | |
| Wikipedia infobox | 4 September 2015 | |
| Wikidata | 4 September 2015 | |
| Deezer | 4 September 2015 | |
| Apple Music | 4 September 2015 | |
| US release | 4 September 2015 | earliest US date |
| UK / Europe release | 4 September 2015 | earliest UK or European date |
14 editions
| Date | Country | Label | Barcode | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 September 2015 | US | Sanctuary Records | 4050538151428 | original |
| 4 September 2015 | XW | Parlophone | 0825646089178 | original |
| 4 September 2015 | JP | Parlophone | 4943674220946 | original |
| 4 September 2015 | GB | Parlophone | 0825646089239 | original |
| 4 September 2015 | AU | Parlophone | 9397601003914 | original |
| 4 September 2015 | US | BMG | 4050538151404 | original |
| 4 September 2015 | GB | Parlophone | 0825646089246 | original |
| 4 September 2015 | XW | Parlophone | 825646089192 | original |
| 4 September 2015 | XE | Parlophone | 0825646089208 | original |
| 4 September 2015 | US | BMG | 4050538153514 | original |
| 4 September 2015 | US | BMG | 4050538151381 | original |
| 4 September 2015 | JP | Parlophone | 4943674219803 | original |
| 4 September 2015 | CA | Parlophone | 0825646089246 | original |
| 22 November 2019 | GB | Parlophone | 190295567583 | other |
Cover art sources
coverartarchive · native: native 2400x2400
| Source | Size | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| coverartarchive ✓ | 2400×2400 | native: native 2400x2400 |
| itunes | 2400×2400 | native |
| deezer | 1800×1800 | native |
| fanarttv | 1000×1000 | upscaled |