SOMEWHERE BACK IN TIME: THE BEST OF 1980 - 1989

Interesting collection of Iron maiden songs from their golden age. The band was, of course, the biggest and the most innovating heavy metal band to appear in the 80´s, at least in the first half of that decade. Their 70´s prog influence changed the face of heavy metal music forever. I am very grateful they did include the magnificent (but often overlooked) The Phantom Of The Opera, even though as a live track. For some reason the three tracks concerning their first two albums are live versions only. Contractual reasons? Or just they did not want to put tracks recorded with their former singer Paul Di´Anno together with the ones with legendary powerhouse Bruce Dickinson? Whatever the reasons, the resulting compilation does sound more coherent and wholly then most. All tracks are perfomed by the same guys (the classic line up!). So I guess I can´t complain, though the CD´s title is a bit misleading, since this line up and perfomances are from 1983 to 1989.

Of course Iron Maiden being Iron Maiden, like other giants like Genesis and Yes, any ´best of´ will be missing many great songs. And this is the case, of course. Although the tracklist has no fillers, this is only a sampling of how powerful Iron Maiden is (or was, depending of your taste in music). So this CD is clearly for the newbies, who heard about the group but does not have a clue about IM´s sound. I can´t recommend this album to anyone else, really. CDs like The Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son and Somewhere In Time for instance, where their prog roots are more evident, are classic, integral affairs, to be appreciated as a whole.

Good compilation, no doubt about it, since it has all their most popular songs. Still, it is very little for such groundbreaking and legendary band. For beginners it might be a nice buy, though.

Woe to you O Earth and Sea.... another Maiden compilation!

The Best of Iron Maiden crammed onto one disk - is it possible? Unfortunately, no. This is only a snippet of what this incredible band has offered over its heavy prog metal reign. There is so much missing here from the catalogue it is almost criminal.

The problem, as with all Maiden compilations, is most Maidenheads would already have the albums these tracks are from because they are the best the band has to offer. However, for newbies to Maiden this is a good satrting point, although they would be much better off getting 'Ed Hunter' - at least that has 2 CDs of material and a cool computer game where you can zap dudes with Eddie's laser!

Once again the compilation does not include the greatest Maiden song 'Rime of The Ancient Mariner' or 'Alexander the Great' for that matter. There is little of the prog from Brave New World, Powerslave or 7th Son of a 7th Son and that is a great shame because I rate those as the best the band has done in terms of prog at least. Instead we have the pedestrian Maiden such as The Trooper, Children of the Damned, The Number of the Beast, Run to the Hills, Powerslave and The Evil that Men Do.

It was a nice surprise that there is at least some live material beautifully produced with Phantom of the Opera, Wrathchild and Can I Play With Madness. However there is not enough to please those Maidenheads who have the albums. Instead this is really one for the new fan who wants a taste of the band, but nothing else.

There should always be something enticing for those who have everything on these compilations, such as an unreleased track or an alternative version or a demo or... something... However, instead the only thing new is the live versions and they are not enough really to fork out for a new album. So in essence this is really a cash in for those who are interested in Maiden but not enough to buy their original material. It would be a crime if people opted for this instead of 'Powerslave', 'Brave New World' or '7th Son of a 7th Son' - the best Maiden albums ever.

In conclusion, an average introduction to the band for those who have not yet been initiated.

The best of the middle era Iron Maiden ?

I honestly don't know why the band is putting out pointless compilation albums like this. It is a gross devaluation of the Iron Maiden brand and I am starting to get pretty angry at them for their fleecing- the-fans policy. Bruce works as an airline pilot, Nicko as a golf pro at his local golf course, Steve as the manager for his daughter and the other members has good jobs in their local council. Do they really need more money ? No !!!

The music here is the usual stuff. Nothing is new. Who the holy squirell needs this album ? The only essential Iron Maiden stuff is all their t-shirts, their studio albums and the Live After Death, Rock In Rio, Death On The Road and the Live At Donington. Throw in some good coffee mugs (I love my Powerslave and Live After Death coffee mugs............ yes, I am sad), the Powerslave poster and Paul Stenning's superb Iron Maiden biography. That is all you need by this band. Nobody needs this pointless compilation album.

.......but at least they included Hallowed Be Thy Name on this album.

3.5 for the music. 1 point for the idea.

Can I play with madness??

Maybe?

Once again a band has come to me through a compilation. First with Dream Theater, and also with Iron Maiden. It says it's the best of the 80's, but woe to thee who agrees. Granted it does have some pretty good songs, like "Can I Play With Madness" and "Powerslave", but wouldn't you just want to listen to the real album? Even though it does not have all their good songs it does have a majority of them.

"Can I Play With Madness" off of Seventh Son is definitely one of my favorite Maiden songs and I am glad that they included it on this album. To starts off with it has a great beat to it and has a nice heavy riff throughout. Bruce Dickinson really belts it out which leads into great lines and a great chorus. This, sadly, is one of the only high spots on this CD besides Maiden classics like "Number of the Beast", "Hallowed by Thy Name", "The Trooper", "Powerslave", "Children of the Damned", and "Aces High".

One other bad thing about this album is Churchill's Speech which offers nothing to the compilation, and has nothing to do with anything else on the album. But, Fr a compilation it's not bad considering it is Iron Maiden. For their timeless sound they at least deserve 2 stars.