The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg is a song by

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. While fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harri ...

, released as the lead single from their fourteenth studio album, '' A Matter of Life and Death''. The song was released as a single on 14 August 2006, preceding the release of ''A Matter of Life and Death'' by eleven days. The CD single comes with a B-side of Hallowed Be Thy Name from the

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

Legends Session. Due to the overall length of the two songs, the single was not eligible for chart inclusion in the UK. The single was also released on 10" clear vinyl single, which includes BBC Sessions versions of

The Trooper "The Trooper" is a song by the English heavy metal band Iron Maiden. It was released as the second single on 20 June 1983 from the band's fourth studio album, ''Piece of Mind'' (1983). It was one of only a few songs to get much radio airplay in ...

and

Run to the Hills "Run to the Hills" is a song by the English heavy metal band Iron Maiden. It was released as their sixth single and the first from the band's third studio album, '' The Number of the Beast'' (1982). It is their first single with Bruce Dickinson ...

on the B-side. For the EU pressing of the 10" vinyl the sleeve and labels state that it should be played at 33.3 RPM. This is actually incorrect and the correct playing speed is 45 RPM. The USA issue plays correctly at 33.3 RPM. A promotional version of the single was released on 14 August 2006, featuring the full version and a shorter version called 'edited version' in the US promo CD and 'rock club mix' in the UK promo CD (both versions are identical). The single was not allowed to have a place in the UK charts because the overall music time on the CD exceeded the time limit for it to be classed as a single. On 17 July 2006, a music video for the song was uploaded on the band's official website. It had initially been released only for paying fan club members, but it was leaked within minutes and viewed by many fans who posted the link on various Iron Maiden discussion forums. The video displays them performing in the studio along with classic photos and clips of the band over their lengthy career. The guitar solo in 'The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg' is played by Dave Murray.

The character

The single's promotional image shows

Eddie Eddie or Eddy may refer to: Science and technology *Eddy (fluid dynamics), the swirling of a fluid and the reverse current created when the fluid flows past an obstacle * Eddie (text editor), a text editor originally for BeOS and now ported to Lin ...

(the band's mascot) digging out the grave of Benjamin Breeg, whose tombstone states "''Aici zace un om despre care nu se știe prea mult''". This is a sentence in

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language *** Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language ** Romanian cuisine, tradition ...

, which translates into "Here lies a man about whom not much is known." The identity of the character is being held secret by band members. Steve Harris, in an interview featured on the

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

(with special edition CD album), was quoted as saying: "Who is Benjamin Breeg? Ah, now that would be telling". Just before the time of the single's release, a website was created containing a 'biography' of Benjamin Breeg. According to the website, the creator was a cousin of Benjamin's searching for him after he ran across an obscure photograph of his long lost cousin in a box of his recently deceased grandmother's belongings.

'Biography' of Benjamin Breeg

The 'biography' stated that Benjamin Breeg was born on 3 September 1939 (the date that France, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Australia declare war on Germany after the invasion of Poland, forming the Allies), in

London, England London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...

. Both of his parents died in a still-unexplained house fire in 1947, and Benjamin was sent to an

orphanage An orphanage is a Residential education, residential institution, total institution or group home, devoted to the Childcare, care of orphans and children who, for various reasons, cannot be cared for by their biological families. The parent ...

. He was smart but very much a loner. Here he took up a fascination with

religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...

and thought of becoming a

clergyman Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

. He was never able to settle in with any of the three families that fostered him, and after he turned ten began to experience

nightmare A nightmare, also known as a bad dream, Retrieved 11 July 2016. is an unpleasant dream that can cause a strong emotional response from the mind, typically fear but also despair, anxiety or great sadness. The dream may contain situations of d ...

s. He began to show artistic talent and made many paintings which have since been lost; it is presumed that Benjamin destroyed them himself. His paintings were disturbing to others and when asked what inspired the drawings, he said he painted what he saw in his nightmares. He left the orphanage in 1954 and got a job engraving tombstones at a

funeral home A funeral home, funeral parlor or mortuary, is a business that provides burial and funeral services for the dead and their families. These services may include a prepared wake and funeral, and the provision of a chapel for the funeral. Services ...

. He lived alone and by this time his interest in religion had become almost an obsession. Traveling the world from 1960 to 1970, he moved back to England in 1971. He took up a job at the International Institute of

Paranormal Investigation Ghost hunting is the process of investigating locations that are reported to be haunted by ghosts. Typically, a ghost-hunting team will attempt to collect evidence supporting the existence of paranormal activity. Ghost hunters use a variety of ...

, and over the next six years wrote at least four books on

occult The occult, in the broadest sense, is a category of esoteric supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving otherworldly agency, such as magic and mysticism a ...

practices in countries he'd visited. He disappeared on 18 June 1978, and still has not been found. The cousin of Benjamin who created the webpage asked anyone who knew anything about his whereabouts to contact him, and, according to the final chapter of the story, one man did. The cousin arranged a meeting with the man that was set to take place on 14 August 2006. The website, as well as the biography of Benjamin Breeg, was completely fictional, and was later found to have been created by the band to increase publicity since they knew that fans would research the name trying to figure out who the character was. The date that the cousin and the informant were supposed to meet was none other than the date of the single's release. The website – which has since been taken down – sported an image that was allegedly painted by Benjamin Breeg himself. This was a dead give-away for fans who recognized that it showed none other than Eddie, the band's mascot, easily discernible by Eddie's one red glowing eye which he has had since the album '' Somewhere in Time''. There is
snapshot available from the old website
where is possible to see Benjamin Breeg's alleged painting, dated back to November 4, 2006.

Track listing

2 track CD

# The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg ( Dave Murray, Steve Harris) – 7:21 # Hallowed Be Thy Name (Radio 1 'Legends' Session) (Harris) – 7:13

Promo Edition

# The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg (Murray, Harris) – 7:21 # The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg (Rock Club Version) (Murray, Harris) – 5:25

10" clear vinyl disc

# The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg (Murray, Harris) – 7:21 #

(Radio 1 'Legends' Session) (Harris) – 3:56 #

(Radio 1 'Legends' Session) (Harris) – 3:59

Personnel

Production credits are adapted from the CD and picture disc covers. ;Iron Maiden *

Bruce Dickinson Paul Bruce Dickinson (born 7 August 1958) is an English singer who has been the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden from 1981 to 1993 and 1999–present. He is known for his wide-ranging operatic vocal style and energetic stage ...

–

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

* Dave Murray –

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

Janick Gers Janick Robert Gers (; born 27 January 1957) is an English musician who is best known as one of the three guitarists in heavy metal band Iron Maiden. He initially joined to replace Adrian Smith, but remained in the band after Smith rejoined. G ...

– guitar *

Adrian Smith Adrian Frederick "H" Smith (born 27 February 1957) is an English guitarist best known as a member of heavy metal band Iron Maiden, for whom he also writes songs and performs backing vocals both live and in the studio. Smith grew up in London ...

– guitar * Steve Harris –

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

co-producer A film producer is a person who oversees film production. Either employed by a production company or working Independent film, independently, producers plan and coordinate various aspects of film production, such as selecting the script, coordina ...

Nicko McBrain Michael Henry "Nicko" McBrain (born 5 June 1952) is an English musician, best known as the drummer of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden since 1982. Having played in small pub bands since 1966 from the age of 14, McBrain paid his bills after grad ...

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

;Production *

Kevin Shirley Kevin Shirley (born 29 June 1960), also known as The Caveman, is a South African music producer, engineer and mixer for many artists,Spencer et al, (2007Shirley, Kevinentry. Retrieved 4 February 2010. such as the bands Journey, Iron Maiden, ...

– producer,

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

, mixing ("The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg") *Simon Askew – producer (Radio 1 sessions) *Jerry Smith – mixing (Radio 1 sessions) *

Melvyn Grant Melvyn "Mel" Grant (born 1944) is an English artist and illustrator. Trained traditionally, he originally worked with oil paints, but in the late 1990s Grant switched to creating most of his work digitally with a digitizing tablet and the software ...

– cover illustration *Benjamin Breeg – inside painting *Peacock –

art direction Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and unify the visi ...

design A design is a plan or specification for the construction of an object or system or for the implementation of an activity or process or the result of that plan or specification in the form of a prototype, product, or process. The verb ''to design'' ...

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg, The Iron Maiden songs 2006 singles Heavy metal ballads Number-one singles in Sweden Songs written by Steve Harris (musician) 2006 songs Song recordings produced by Kevin Shirley Number-one singles in Finland Number-one singles in Spain