The band had just come off a massive tour comprising 187 shows prior to recording; the tour had been grueling and had nearly drained the band's energy, which is said to be the reason why Bruce Dickinson made no contributions to the album—as the band rejected all of his submissions.
Harris, speaking in Dickinson's defense, noted that the tour's exhaustion had taken a much heavier toll on Dickinson than on the rest of the band. However, Adrian Smith stepped up to the challenge, writing strong tracks—including the singles "Wasted Years" and "Stranger in a Strange Land" (the latter being the only song on the album that did not feature synthesizers).
The use of synthesizers came about in a rather curious way; following an exhausting tour, the band had four months to recover. During this time, Harris, Smith, and Murray began experimenting with new equipment—a move that heavily influenced the album's sound—as the band discovered the benefits that guitar-adapted synthesizers could bring to Iron Maiden.
It was also their most expensive production, as the drums and bass were recorded in the Bahamas, the vocals in the Netherlands, and the mixing was ultimately done in New York. The album's themes revolved around space, time, and futuristic concepts—very much in the style of the film *Blade Runner*—as evidenced by tracks such as "Wasted Years," "Caught Somewhere in Time," "Stranger in a Strange Land," and, of course, "Déjà-Vu."
However, Harris noted that the album was never intended to be a concept record; things simply turned out that way. Following the album's release, most of its tracks were rarely performed live again, with the exceptions of "Wasted Years" and "Heaven Can Wait," which the band continues to play.
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