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Iron Maiden - A Matter Of Life And Death review



Reviewer:
8.4

1660 users:
7.95
Band: Iron Maiden
Album: A Matter Of Life And Death
Release date: August 2006


Disc I
01. Different World
02. These Colours Don't Run
03. Brighter Than A Thousand Suns
04. The Pilgrim
05. The Longest Day
06. Out Of The Shadows
07. The Reincarnation Of Benjamin Breeg
08. For The Greater Good Of God
09. Lord Of Light
10. The Legacy
11. Hallowed Be Thy Name [Radio 1 'Legends' Session] [iTunes bonus]

Disc II [Special Edition DVD]
+ The Making Of A Matter Of Life And Death
+ The Reincarnation Of Benjamin Breeg [video]
+ The Band Recording "Different World"

It's never easy to write the review of the new album of the legendary Iron Maiden. The band is so big and famous that you'll always get comments from the nostalgic people that will say that it was better before (a point that is not especially wrong on a side) and comment from some others ones who cannot understand that a band can change a bit its musical orientation and will always request hits a la "Fear Of The Dark". Unfortunately for them, "A Matter Of Life And Death", 14th release is of the combo, is different? Really dark with a lot of progressive elements, I think that the ones who want some new "The Number Of The Beast" will be disappointed but all the ones who (like me) believe that "Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son" is the best album of the band, will like the new release?

Strangely, I only found one song, "Different World", that follows the lines of "Brave New World" and "Dance Of Death". With its catchy chorus, it fast rhythm (all the other songs are in general slower) it will be easy for you to remember its melody and if this song will work live, in my opinion it's definitely not the best song of the album? Because on the other hand, "A Matter Of Life And Death" is full of long (with an average length of seven, height or even nine minutes!) mid-tempo songs, and those long songs follow the spirit of "Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son". Dark and sad with some keyboards and a lot of progressive elements, "These Colours Don't Run" or "For The Greater Good Of God" for example are like the little brothers of a song like "Moonchild". It's definitely not easy of access, it will never pass on a radio or in a club but there is something good in those songs. It's not an "easy" Iron Maiden and it's obvious that the band worked a lot on this new release. The arrangements are complex, the riffs are all but not commercial and since that I like progressive music I'm starting to like more and more this new album. Evidently you'll still be able to listen to the really special original Maiden sound but a song like "On Lord Of Light" is so dark and different that the second part of the song will be really surprising for the fans. Because of course, since that the songs are not short the guys put a lot of variations, break etc in the music.

The production is also really surprising, especially when you know that Steve Harris said lately that it was recorded in a completely live state to give to the listeners a pure "old school" sound. You will see, it is really impressive and it works! Also, maybe if it's not the best performance ever of Dickinson but I think that his voice is better than on "Dance Of Death" and for sure, since that it's not so easy to sing on such complex songs we can say one more time that this guy is just an amazing singer of Heavy Metal. With "A Matter Of Life And Death" it's really hard to find a negative point with the production, even the "chaotic" cover with a "G.I." Eddie is a great and when I see the logo of the album, I'm sure that we will have a lot of good surprises with the stage of the upcoming Iron Maiden's tour?

For sure I know that some of you will be disappointed (and they will be maybe right after all) because the Maiden's "hits" are missing but on the other hand the new album is a lot better than (at least) their four last albums. It's different ok and you'll need time to "enter" into "A Matter Of Life And Death" but with time I'm ready to bet a lot of money that a lot of the dissidents will change their opinion?

"A Matter Of Life And Death" is probably not the best album of Iron Maiden and a lot of people will be disturbed by the fact that it's not an album that it will be easy to listen to. But like with "Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son" the band took some risks and at the end even if we don't have any spectacular songs, a lot of the tracks of this new CD are full of great things. This is different, never "happy" but these dark progressive aspects that you'll be able to find on the majority of the songs of the album are just cool. To finish, just remember this last tip? Don't be fast with this album, listen to it again and again and you'll see that at the end you'll agree with me to say that it is really entertaining, at the opposite of "Dance Of Death", the complexity of "A Matter Of Life And Death" proves that it's an interesting album. "A Matter Of Life And Death" is the proof that Iron Maiden still knows how to surprise us with some great original music.


Rating breakdown
Performance: 8
Songwriting: 8
Originality: 9
Production: 9

Written by Jeff | 28.08.2006



Guest review by
Lupas
Rating:
7.2
A Matter Of Life And Death is an album concerning warfare, religion, and the causal connections between the two. Accordingly, Maiden entered the stage to the sound of war-movie music, in front of a backdrop which initially shows the bombed-out ruins of what might be Strasbourg 1977 or, given the band's East End origins, Stratford.

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published 06.02.2007 | Comments (31)


Comments page 3 / 3

Comments: 89   [ 2 ignored ]   Visited by: 283 users
06.03.2007 - 22:16
Rating: 3
Doc G.
Full Grown Hoser
Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 06.03.2007 at 16:11

Written by Doc G. on 05.03.2007 at 03:49

how in the blue hell this album got heavy metal album of the year is mind boggling.



Because somehow people ALWAYS vote for what they know... even though it might be shit. Iron Maiden is a big band with lots of fanboys/girls following them around and those fanboys/girls will always vote for their fav band no matter how shitty the album was.


or they dont recognize any other names in the poll.
----
"I got a lot of really good ideas, problem is, most of them suck."
- George Carlin
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06.03.2007 - 22:34
Marcel Hubregtse
Grumpy Old Fuck
Written by Doc G. on 06.03.2007 at 22:16

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 06.03.2007 at 16:11

Written by Doc G. on 05.03.2007 at 03:49

how in the blue hell this album got heavy metal album of the year is mind boggling.



Because somehow people ALWAYS vote for what they know... even though it might be shit. Iron Maiden is a big band with lots of fanboys/girls following them around and those fanboys/girls will always vote for their fav band no matter how shitty the album was.


or they dont recognize any other names in the poll.


That could be the case as well, but that's what the WRITE-IN votes were for
----
Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal

Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight
Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.)
05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996

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06.03.2007 - 22:39
Rating: 3
Doc G.
Full Grown Hoser
Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 06.03.2007 at 22:34

Written by Doc G. on 06.03.2007 at 22:16

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 06.03.2007 at 16:11

Written by Doc G. on 05.03.2007 at 03:49

how in the blue hell this album got heavy metal album of the year is mind boggling.



Because somehow people ALWAYS vote for what they know... even though it might be shit. Iron Maiden is a big band with lots of fanboys/girls following them around and those fanboys/girls will always vote for their fav band no matter how shitty the album was.


or they dont recognize any other names in the poll.


That could be the case as well, but that's what the WRITE-IN votes were for


yeah, but that would involve like...work, and thinking, and I have a feeling its just those lazy one time sign in people that make up a good percentage of the voting numbers.
----
"I got a lot of really good ideas, problem is, most of them suck."
- George Carlin
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16.03.2008 - 14:49
Samuel550
Account deleted
Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 06.03.2007 at 16:11

Written by Doc G. on 05.03.2007 at 03:49

how in the blue hell this album got heavy metal album of the year is mind boggling.



Because somehow people ALWAYS vote for what they know... even though it might be shit. Iron Maiden is a big band with lots of fanboys/girls following them around and those fanboys/girls will always vote for their fav band no matter how shitty the album was.


Oh god, 'fanboys' is a word that should not be linked with Iron Maiden. Fanboys are dumb, ignorant casual fans who would just as likely buy a Greenday album or the next 50 cent release or anything in connection with MTV or whatever crap gets put on the radio these days, Maiden fans buy Maiden albums because they love Maidens music or they're Metalheads supporting the flagship band. Weather people generally find this album boring I can care less about, it's still Maiden and thats all that matters to me.

'Whaa Whaa piss piss' boys, minorities are a bitch.
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16.03.2008 - 17:25
Marcel Hubregtse
Grumpy Old Fuck
Fanboy/girl denotes a fan of a band who can't stand any criticism of their favourite band whatsoever. A fanboy/giorl of acertain band is NOT a dumb ignorant casual fan who would just as likely buy a Greenday or new 50 Cent release. A fanboy/girl of, in this case, Iorn Maiden will be any turd Maiden releases no matter what.
And why the hell would I buy something from Maiden just because it is Maiden? They have been ripping their fans off for way too long with all the redundant compilations and live releases.
I did however buy A Matter Of Life And Death because I want all of Maiden's studio albums complete, not because it is a good album but just because I am a completist at times.
And come on, it is impossible to claim that A Matter Of Life And Death was the best heavy metal album the year it was released. Like I said, the ONLY reason it won was because of the amount of Maiden fans who will vote for Maiden no matter what, and Maiden is one of the biggest bands around when looking at fans, so that was no surprise. Hell, for all we know they could release an album full of puking sounds and that will even win hands down.
----
Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal

Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight
Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.)
05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996

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16.03.2008 - 22:20
Samuel550
Account deleted
Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 16.03.2008 at 17:25
And why the hell would I buy something from Maiden just because it is Maiden? They have been ripping their fans off for way too long with all the redundant compilations and live releases.


That is bullshit since all those compilations and live albums sell pretty poorly compared to Maidens studio albums, and I wouldn't call they're recent DVD rendition of Live After Death a rip off either. Wow, that must be a lot of blind sheep if all those compilations don't sell shit compared to the average studio album, even the X Factor and Virtual XI sold more then that stuff. Becides, its the record company that puts the money into those ideas, not Maiden.

Why would anyone wan't to buy this album cause it sounds like Maiden? Um, maybe because Maiden fans and metalheads in general are content with the way Maiden have sounded for the last 20 years instead of making a complete overhaul with they're sound and totally failing. So what if AMOLAD made album of the year because of Maiden fans, at least that proves there are more Maiden fans then Greenday fans. As for your opinion on the matter; meh, sceptics are annoying.
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17.03.2008 - 07:29
Marcel Hubregtse
Grumpy Old Fuck
Written by Guest on 16.03.2008 at 22:20

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 16.03.2008 at 17:25
And why the hell would I buy something from Maiden just because it is Maiden? They have been ripping their fans off for way too long with all the redundant compilations and live releases.


That is bullshit since all those compilations and live albums sell pretty poorly compared to Maidens studio albums, and I wouldn't call they're recent DVD rendition of Live After Death a rip off either.


The Live After Death dvd is one of the few NON-redundant releases of late by them. Another one being The Early Days.

Oh and for one Maiden together with their management decides what will be released and not EMI. Maiden is one of the very few bands in the world that has that sort of power (which in a way is good or else we would never have got the re-release of Live After Death on dvd or The Early Days either.
----
Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal

Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight
Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.)
05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996

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17.03.2008 - 13:48
Samuel550
Account deleted
Agreed, Live After Death on DVD along with the Early Days part 2 is the best thing Iron Maiden of done since the benefit concerts for Clive Burr.

But lets be seriouse, do you honestly believe Maiden fans are that gullible to buy cheap merchandise like compilations and live albums? Personally, none of that really interests me as a Maiden fan(I only have the Live After Death album because it's an important part of Maidens history and Heavy Metal in general and I need it to complete the Eddie picture which you get when you have all the 1998 reissues).
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17.03.2008 - 13:57
Marcel Hubregtse
Grumpy Old Fuck
Written by Guest on 17.03.2008 at 13:48

Agreed, Live After Death on DVD along with the Early Days part 2 is the best thing Iron Maiden of done since the benefit concerts for Clive Burr.

But lets be seriouse, do you honestly believe Maiden fans are that gullible to buy cheap merchandise like compilations and live albums? Personally, none of that really interests me as a Maiden fan(I only have the Live After Death album because it's an important part of Maidens history and Heavy Metal in general and I need it to complete the Eddie picture which you get when you have all the 1998 reissues).


You are an exception cuase many (if not most) Maiden fans buy EVERYTHING
----
Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal

Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight
Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.)
05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996

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17.03.2008 - 14:40
Samuel550
Account deleted
Hm, then I have yet to find someone who is that commercially attached to the them. I can understand loyalty, but that doesn't mean you have to buy every product by said band.
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17.03.2008 - 15:49
Rating: 8
Warman
Erotic Stains
I think it's a great album. Full of Progressive stuff and it sets me in a good mood. Very dark and full of catchy choruses (who can resist the "E=mc squared you can relate" part of Brighter Than a Thousand Suns?) Although I don't think it's better than Brave New World and Dance of Death... and I actually think it's equal to the Bayley albums (I really liked them).
----
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21.03.2008 - 12:08
Samuel550
Account deleted
Written by Warman on 17.03.2008 at 15:49
and I actually think it's equal to the Bayley albums (I really liked them).




Moving on.
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12.06.2008 - 05:19
Rating: 8
Urizen367

i have to vote 8 for this album. though songs like "for the greater good of god", "these colours don't run" and "the longest day" will stay on my mind for many a year to come (amongst other tracks), there are some songs that just irritate me. Lord of Light in example. i just can't get into this song, and Smith, Harris, and Dickinson wrote it too, which is slightly depressing. different world and brighter than a thousand suns are your basic bait and hook songs, which is why those were available for download first. other than that stuff, i didn't have much a problem with the album. hell, it's better than fear of the dark, which is always good.
----
I will not reason and compare, my business is to create.
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14.06.2008 - 09:44
Rating: 7
BloodTears
ANA-thema
I like this album, I think its good but thats all I would give it. I'm sorry but I can't help but compare it to the others. It certainly doesn't embarrass the band, after so long they still make good songs.
----
Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29

Like you could kiss my ass.


My Instagram
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20.07.2008 - 19:07
gerrard888
Account deleted
progressive elments added to the album, anyway the album sounds really good for the greater good of god makes me feel strange everytime i listen to it great lyrics
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13.08.2008 - 00:35
Rating: 8
Ellrohir
Heaven Knight
now after third listening to whole album - 9 from me

biggest highlight for me is These Colours Don't Run
----
My rest seems now calm and deep
Finally I got my dead man sleep


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15.11.2008 - 03:33
Metalbound7

Decent album, i think These colors don't run, Benjamin Breeg and the longest day are great songs but Maiden make them inecessary long what make them so boring after listen to them a couple of times, for example i love the intro of the longest day but i can't listen the complete song because is so boring. i think that "The reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg" is the only song that deserve to be a Maiden classic of the whole album.
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15.11.2008 - 09:59
Rating: 3
Doc G.
Full Grown Hoser
Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 17.03.2008 at 13:57

Written by Guest on 17.03.2008 at 13:48

Agreed, Live After Death on DVD along with the Early Days part 2 is the best thing Iron Maiden of done since the benefit concerts for Clive Burr.

But lets be seriouse, do you honestly believe Maiden fans are that gullible to buy cheap merchandise like compilations and live albums? Personally, none of that really interests me as a Maiden fan(I only have the Live After Death album because it's an important part of Maidens history and Heavy Metal in general and I need it to complete the Eddie picture which you get when you have all the 1998 reissues).


You are an exception cuase many (if not most) Maiden fans buy EVERYTHING

I notice its a little late, but I was reading this argument and it frustrated me, I don't get whats so hard to understand about the concept of fanboy-ism?
----
"I got a lot of really good ideas, problem is, most of them suck."
- George Carlin
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15.11.2008 - 22:24
Rating: 7
Daggon
Underpaid M.D.
Fanboys are like people in love, they can't see the bad things about a band because they blindly follow them, It does not matter if they are a good or a bad band, they will not accept any negative comment about them.

By the way, thanks for the review, when I first listened it, I thought that it was boring, but, after reading this review I started to enjoy this album a lot, this are the kind of reviews that I like (also the ones without rating). Thanks again. My favorite track is "For The Greater Good Of God", great song, very, very touching song.
----
"Les vers savent qu'ils n'ont pas d'ailes, c'est pour cela qu'ils se cachent sous terre"
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28.11.2008 - 12:40
Rating: 9
Powerslavex
Alexskywalker
A change in style a more progressive touch but still a great album for greater good of god is one of Maiden's best songs the lyrics are touching
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03.03.2009 - 02:34
terrorist

Great album for the Greater Good of God;)ihihhhihh
----
Will the ones who live after our end
Worship the goddamn cross again?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnlG0h7YN_8&feature=related
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13.04.2009 - 21:15
Rating: 10
Peter Rasmussen

Best album since Seventh Son of a Seventh Son imo and too bad for those who doesn't like it...

The Longest Day, The Reincarnation Of Benjamin Breeg, For The Greater Good Of God and The Legacy.

My overall opinion about the album is 10/10, but listen for it yourself and make the judgement.
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13.04.2009 - 21:46
Lord_Regnier

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 16.03.2008 at 17:25

Fanboy/girl denotes a fan of a band who can't stand any criticism of their favourite band whatsoever. A fanboy/giorl of acertain band is NOT a dumb ignorant casual fan who would just as likely buy a Greenday or new 50 Cent release. A fanboy/girl of, in this case, Iorn Maiden will be any turd Maiden releases no matter what.
And why the hell would I buy something from Maiden just because it is Maiden? They have been ripping their fans off for way too long with all the redundant compilations and live releases.
I did however buy A Matter Of Life And Death because I want all of Maiden's studio albums complete, not because it is a good album but just because I am a completist at times.
And come on, it is impossible to claim that A Matter Of Life And Death was the best heavy metal album the year it was released. Like I said, the ONLY reason it won was because of the amount of Maiden fans who will vote for Maiden no matter what, and Maiden is one of the biggest bands around when looking at fans, so that was no surprise. Hell, for all we know they could release an album full of puking sounds and that will even win hands down.


I agree.

A fanboy/fangirl is a blind lover who have a hard time to deal with criticism against his/her dear beloved band. Also, this person is unable to criticize any album from this band because he/she believes everything this band does is awesome, no matter if the album is a masterpiece or a piece of shit.
A fan is reasonably objective. A fanboy/fangirl is not and will usually try to flame you if you disagree with him/her. That's why fanboys/fangirls are so annoying and the reason their opinion has no credibility.
Those people often follow the herd blindly (and foolishly), posting things like "Posers, leave the hall", "Other bands play, Manowar Kills", "Black Metal ist krieg", "Norsk Arisk Black Metal", "Fuck off nowadays Black Metal" (all the slogans promoted by some bands) as if they desperately want to 'belong to the gang'. They don't realise that they, in fact, fall into a commercial trap, a tool of promotion.

Maiden have become quite ridiculous with all those compilations and live albums, indeed.

Concerning the votes...Well, tons of people are not metal fans at all, yet they know names like Metallica and Iron Maiden so, each year these bands release a new album, it will win for 'Album of the year'. It's the name that sells in this case, quality doesn't come into account.

As for Maiden releasing an album full of puking sounds, they already released an album that makes me puke: Virtual XI. lol
----
"Why would we fear death, when life is so much more frightening?"
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02.06.2009 - 20:07
Rating: 8
JÄY
Metal slave
Amazing album....so consistently dark.

its so far from pop

9 for me
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27.07.2009 - 20:12
PrettyMao

Written by AnEpicDeath on 27.07.2009 at 03:54

Jesus, dude. You're a dick.


Thanks for noticing!


love

Mao
----
The Mao loves you all!!!

**KISS**KISS**
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28.07.2009 - 18:41
davidharris
Account deleted
I'm an IM fan(boi) and giving AMOLAD a 9 for originality is nuts. It's in my top 5 Maiden albums, but it isn't original at all: not in Maiden's discography, nor in metal. Performance wouldn't get an 8 either, specially thinking of Dave (worst Dave performance ever in a Maiden record IMO). Really solid album except for Bruce's solo B-side in the middle section but there are too many Maiden/Sabbath recycled riffs.
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25.01.2017 - 00:39
Rating: 8
Bad English
Tage Westerlund
Live in studio, well I like it its like satyricon did, I miss analogue sound, all this digital is annoying , all today is PC, PC, don't feel same, even it is. Its real nostalgia.
----
Life is to short for LOVE, there is many great things to do online !!!

Stormtroopers of Death - ''Speak English or Die''
apos;'
[image]
I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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25.01.2017 - 01:25
Marcel Hubregtse
Grumpy Old Fuck
Written by Bad English on 25.01.2017 at 00:39

Live in studio, well I like it its like satyricon did, I miss analogue sound, all this digital is annoying , all today is PC, PC, don't feel same, even it is. Its real nostalgia.


Iron Maiden have never recorded a studio album live in a studio.
----
Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal

Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight
Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.)
05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996

Loading...
25.01.2017 - 01:26
Rating: 8
Bad English
Tage Westerlund
Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 25.01.2017 at 01:25

Written by Bad English on 25.01.2017 at 00:39

Live in studio, well I like it its like satyricon did, I miss analogue sound, all this digital is annoying , all today is PC, PC, don't feel same, even it is. Its real nostalgia.


Iron Maiden have never recorded a studio album live in a studio.


Then quote Jeff
The production is also really surprising, especially when you know that Steve Harris said lately that it was recorded in a completely live state to give to the listeners a pure "old school" sound
----
Life is to short for LOVE, there is many great things to do online !!!

Stormtroopers of Death - ''Speak English or Die''
apos;'
[image]
I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
Loading...

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