Book of Souls World Tour - Barclaycard Arena

ROCK legends Iron Maiden returned to British soil playing arenas for the first time since 2011, with songs from their hugely successful double album The Book of Souls, writes David Cousins.

This is their 16th studio album in a career spanning more than four decades.

They opened proceedings with the first song on The Book of Souls, If Eternity Should Fail, and waste absolutely no time getting into their stride, particularly founder member and band leader Steve Harris whose thundering, galloping bass lines are a trade mark on every Maiden track.

The guitar breaks and solos between Davey, Adrian and Janick go down a real treat, each of them taking solo turns, while Nicko McBrain locks it all together behind his colossal white drum kit.

And let's not forget singer-songwriter, the multi-talented Bruce Dickinson, who seemed to revel in every moment of his performance, ever the showman, appearing onstage with various masks throughout the night.

They play a total of 15 numbers, ranging from the early years right up to The Book of Souls which they play six tracks from, with The Red and the Black being one of the many highlights of the show.

No Maiden gig would be complete without a guest appearance of Eddie The Head who appears halfway through The Book of Souls title song, causing havoc onstage before Bruce rips his heart out and throws it into the crowd.

They finish up with Iron Maiden, from the album Iron Maiden, with Bruce whipping the crowd up into a frenzy, screaming "Iron Maiden is going to get all of you".

They reappear for an encore with Number of the Beast, after which Bruce tells the audience that each and every fan, from all over the world, is part of the Iron Maiden family, leading into Blood Brothers, and finishing with Wasted Years.

This is an action-packed, two-hour show from a band who more than prove that age is just a number and have just as strong an impact on audiences as they ever did.

Let's just hope they continue thrilling us for many more years to come. And they don't leave it so long to come back next time.