Happy 25th Birthday to Somewhere In Time

(A quick grab and photo taking of some of the related items I can find in my messy collection to make this blog posting better looking haha. Click all photos to enlarge.)

This posting may make a lot of Maiden fans since those days who were gleefully savouring the cassette tape/vinyl of this album which first came out in 29 September 1986 feel really OLD. Cue song - Alphaville Forever Young haha.

Nevertheless, I also want to join in fans worldwide celebrate 25 years of a magical album that brings sunshine to my younger innocent uncorrupted school boy days. haha.

I still remember this was my first original EMI cassette tape I bought from saving every single coin I have by skipping canteen break at school. Unfortunately, the bloody original cassette do not have lyric sheets, so back then, the only way to get the lyrics sheet was to look for the Indonesian bootleg cassette tape under the label of Rockshot.



Firstly a super fantastic album cover, which is maybe the most detailed Derek Riggs work ever with a lot of hidden items you have to find all over the artworks. You can spend a long time going thru every thing and you will still miss out some hidden stuff.

His Run For Cover book includes the pencil sketches of how he wants the Somewhere In Time cover and also Eddie itself, which appears as a cyborg to look like for this album.


The Eddie Cyborg as Clint Eastwood Spaghetti Western role in a Star Wars Ep 4 New Hope niteclub scenario is one of my favourite Eddie ever. Maybe 2nd favourite right behind the Trooper Eddie.


The songs... and yesterday I transfer SIT into my mp3 player and I listen to it on the MRT on my way to work. I think people will find me crazy because I was like smilling and grinning away at the beauty of every song in this album. It has been so long since I listen to the studio version songs from the album in sequence.
Maximum hearing volume of 30/30 never feel this good. haha.
Ooo I rip it from the original pressing , not the pathetic remastered version of the late 90s. I still think the 90s remastered repacking old Maiden albums is still an embarassment. Though having the whole remastered set on the 25,000 only Eddie head skull box is still a neccessity haha. Fuck!, the day I start to become a Maiden fan as a little primary school boy is a curse moneywise haha.


Caught Somewhere In Time has a great intro and guitar solos, Wasted Years is easily one of the most romantic lyrics Adrian Smith had ever written, and the song itself is golden, Sea Of Madness and listening to the live bootlegs of this song from the SIT tour and I really like the way Bruce sing some parts of this song live, Heaven Can Wait, and I still remember finding an internet access in Perth just to check if we won the lucky draw to go onstage to sing the 'wooo wooo wooo' part and unfortunately no luck haha, I was like even trying to ready my better half on how to sing that part haha. Loneliness Of The Long Distance Runner is simply unique with for me it has a bit Oriental feeling, dan bila aku jumpa orang yang rakam Belgrade Yugoslavia 1986 dimana lagu ni dimainkan sebelum kena drop, dan aku pergi tengok konsert Maiden ngan dia, dan tengok cammana dia punya pattern, memang aku respek giler. Betul2 legend tapi relaks santai je.
Stranger In A Strange Land, is a so lonely song again composed and lyrics by H, Deja- Vu and I know its not only me who went to look for a dictionary to find the meaning of this word. Lastly Alexander The Great... a historically facts-laden song with so difficult to pronounce legendary names and places that has a great instrumental break can bring moist to my eyes. If I can choose one song Maiden have to play live that they never did before, I will choose this over gems such as Judas Be My Guide, Run Silent Run Deep, Invaders, Thin Line Between..., Montsegur and even the spectacular Star'fuckin'blind, still for me the best song on Final Frontier one year later. But there was the youtube from the 2011 Greece show where Bruce seems to be hinting of a possible future performance of ATG? well at least he sing the chorus already haha.

Let me tell you, Alexander The Great is so influential then that even a group of girls performing the traditional BORIA dance in Singapore use the slow marching intro as their performance intro.

It would have been fantastic to see the band during SIT World Tour of 1986-87 with a beautiful stage


and a handsome and not so fearsome Walk On Eddie.

I saw the similar Eddie during 2008 and it really is so nice live.

The setlist was fantastic and they can still slot in songs like Phantom Of The Opera and Where Eagles Dare and they even fit in Rime Of Ancient Mariner, and we have Dave Murray and H doing an instrumental from a song by Nightwish Walking In The Air haha. Just joking, actually it was all taken from a children cartoon show song in the early 80s. The cartoon snowman was flying in the clouds etc.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JL8rWV9x22M
It would be tragic if like reported, Maiden really do not have any professional video records of a full SIT show recorded. If anyone watch the videotape of Twelve Wasted Years, there was seems like Budokan Japan show if I still remember correct being shown a bit.
But still we have fan recorded Sheffield and Paris etc and thanks to youtube all of us can view them. I have no need to beg people for the fans collectors videotapes and dvdr anymore haha.
For myself, my favourite bootleg from that era are the ones from Bristol which I really like the fans recording. Bruce was very chatty that night haha. It makes me just want to backpack to Bristol to see The Carlston Hall he was talking about haha.

Or at least see Bruce wearing the "Hari Raya Lampu Kelap Kelip" decorative lights thingy on his body at the start of the show.



Besides the eight songs on the album, we have some amazing bsides from the two singles from this album. Sheriff of Huddersfield was hilarious, That Girl sounds ok, Juanita was a most fast and catchy song, but the champion bside is definitely Reach Out with H on lead vocals. Absolutely one of the most amusingly full-of-love Bside cover version by Maiden ever. I only managed to listen to this song in 1990 from the First Ten Years Series haha. Better late than never.

So I think I have summarise what I feel about Somewhere In Time 25 years later.
I really like it, but if I am going to be marooned on a desert island and I have to choose one Maiden studio album from that period, it will still be SSOASS.


I've got to keep going be strong
Must be so determined and push myself on...

the story of my life haha.

p.s I always thought the West Ham 7 Arsenal 3 is just the most stupid impossible dream, but alas, a miserable 8-2 scoreline did happen. I prefer it being West Ham than Man U, at least it will make Steve Harris happy.