After a lost decade Maiden returned not only reunited, with Bruce Dickinson and Adrian Smith back in the fold, but expanded to a six-piece as well, retaining Janick Gers as third guitarist, and the positive momentum from the band’s modest Ed Hunter reunion tour carried over into their 12th album. In fact, so spirited and inspired is Brave New World that upon first listen it felt as if the previous dozen years hadn’t even happened.

Brave New World isn’t so much a reinvention of Iron Maiden than a simple righting of the ship, the band sticking to their strengths, simplifying their approach, and having all songwriters make valuable contributions. “Ghost Of The Navigator,” “Brave New World,” and “Dream Of Mirrors” have the sextet firing on all cylinders, achieving the effortless balance of melody, power, and epic scope that the band failed to pull off consistently in the 1990s. “The Mercenary” is a wonderful reference to the band’s early sound, while the acoustic-tinged “Blood Brothers” and richly layered “Out Of The Silent Planet” experiment a little, anticipating a decade that would see the band making bolder and bolder songwriting choices. All the while, Dickinson, who was dearly missed by fans, is in commanding form, benefiting greatly from a decade of less rigorous touring and a more concerted effort to improve his live singing.

Although Smith’s contributions to this album are minimal, he proves just how valuable a songwriter he is on the explosive opening track “The Wicker Man.” Built around his simple yet contagious palm-muted lead riff and featuring a rousing chorus and a made-for-stadiums sing-along coda, it’s the most exuberantly catchy Iron Maiden song since 1988’s “The Clairvoyant,” and most importantly, the kind of statement that longtime fans had been dying to hear for so many years. Maiden were back, with their true frontman back at the helm, and they were in prime form. The popularity of “The Wicker Man,” Brave New World, and the spectacular live album Rock In Rio two years later, would kick into gear a period of unprecedented global success for the band, which continues to this day.