IRON MAIDEN

Run for the hills or die with your boots on! IRON MAIDEN is gonna get you so fret not over the wasted years. Heaven can wait while infinite dreams are running free in a sanctuary cursed by the number of the beast where thou art a prisoner of the clairvoyant of still life. The moonchild screams hallowed be thy name of the seventh son of the seventh son who remains a prisoner of the evil that men do like bloody killers while they are MAIDEN ENGLAND!!! Scream for me Birmingham! Screeeeeeeeeam for me Birmingham!!!

Oh yeah! The IRON MAIDEN guys were at their prime when they embarked on the Seventh Tour of a Seventh Tour that kept the indefatigable quintet of metal musicians on a tireless tour from April 1988 to the end of the year in December. While many shows were recorded for posterity none would be released until 1994 in the form of a limited VHS/CD combo edition that captured the last days of magic of the mighty MAIDEN before Adrian Smith quit the band and the gradual decline into the dregs of the 90s would fully sink in. And believe me. As spectacular as MAIDEN's seven album stint from 1980-88 would be, the 90s would be the complete equal in opposition, namely dismal.

The original CD was basically the audio of the video presentation however due to limitations of the technology (and the unwillingness to add a second disc), it lacked the two tracks "Can I Play With Madness" and "Hallowed Be Thy Name.") All of this was corrected however with the remastered reissuing titled MAIDEN ENGLAND 88 which was the first-time stand alone CD release which featured not only the missing two tracks but an additional three more including "Run To The Hills," "Running Free" and "Sanctuary." While most live albums are tacked together from performances over the course of the entire tour, MAIDEN ENGLAND limited itself to only two nights, both recorded and shot at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham, England on 27 and 28 November 1988.

Since i've never owned nor heard the original limiting version released in 1994, this review is strictly about the CD reissued in 2013 which due to the remastering and generous serving of extra MAIDEN yumminess, gets my vote as the ONLY version of this album to get. Of course, just like the earlier "Live After Death" album, you can totally opt to get the DVD and watch the concert visually as well but this album is perfect for driving time while stuck in traffic and when Bruce beckons for us to "Screeeeeam for me Birmingham!!!!," suddenly i'm transported to the 80s and in the audience where i'm caught up in the frenzy of course with all the hindsight that this was the last leg of the magic golden years where MAIDEN could do no wrong. Until it all did of course.

Interestingly MAIDEN ENGLAND 88 contains tracks from all of MAIDEN's early albums with the sole exception of "Powerslave." Presumably that album was ignored due to the fact that "Live After Death" was recorded during the "World Slavery Tour" which focused on the corresponding tracks. Given that this tour promoted the "Seventh Son of a Seventh Son" album, the performances include six of the eight tracks. Only "The Prophecy" and "Only The Good Die Young" are excluded. Surprisingly the 88 version a few of pre-Bruce tracks notably "Killers," "Sanctuary" and "Iron Maiden" both brought to a new level of mastery with Dickinson taking over. All the tracks flow together perfectly with the band capturing every subtly flawlessly.

Overall the production and mixing jobs are spectacular as Steve Harris' galloping bass lines are easily distinguished from Adrian Smith and Dave Murray's twin guitar attacks and of course Nicko McBrain takes the metal madness to a new level with his unique percussive style which is equally audible and balanced. As with most MAIDEN live albums, the band does not improvise a lot and sticks to how the songs as presented on the albums. While this may rankle some, i have never found MAIDEN to be a band that i want to hear jam on for ridiculous amounts of time outside of the context of the compositions as all of that was calculated into their content in the first place. This does not mean that there isn't energetic audience participation however on the track "Running Free," Bruce really starts egging the audience on to sing the catchphrase and whips em up into a frenzy making it the rare exception where the band floats on for a while.

Generally speaking this album is excellent! It shows MAIDEN at their prime delivering to the fans some of the best heavy metal the 80s had to offer. The band played to one of its largest audiences during these nights and displayed exactly why IRON MAIDEN has virtually become the patron saint of the entire metal universe. During this tour the band hired the keyboardist Michael Kenney to bring the creepy atmospheres to life that were an integral part of the pseudo-progressive offerings of "Seventh Son of a Seventh Son" and as a result the tracks from that album stand out the most. The album shows how the chemistry between these five musicians was almost impeccable with each supporting the other and how subtle variations always kept the music fresh and best of all how perfectly the band performed these live as well as in the studio unlike many successful bands of the 80s.

While this album is a spectacular sampling of 80s MAIDEN in action, these live performances do suffer a bit of Bruce Dickinson's vocals sounding a little strained at times. This is most clearly heard on tracks like "Number of the Beast" and "Run To The Hills" which have unusually high registers. Apparently several incessant years as well as these recordings occurring towards the end of this particular tour had taken its toll. However for the most part Bruce is right on key and his frontman charisma carries on. Perhaps the most awkward moment is on "Run To The Hills" where he drops the title lyrics and the audience is supposed to pick up the slack but don't quite cut the mustard. Only a minor quibble though. This is one of the better live releases by the mighty MAIDEN just behind the flawless "Live After Death." Get the 88 version!!! Just do it :)

4.5 rounded down

Iron Maiden had pretty big shoes to fill after the overwhelming success that their previous album, Number Of The Beast was, to meet the potential that they so clearly had, to many, potential already completely realised. In my opinion, this was not the album to show the incredible talent that was to come or what came before, and stands as my least favourite classic Iron Maiden album. While certain aspects were improved, such as having a grittier, heavier production and a few songs that were more involved, the overall consistency of the album is much lower, having some genuinely bad songs mixed in with the gems.

Where Eagles Dare starts off the album in a way that shows what to come, a mixed bag. I feel that this song goes on for too long without enough variation, the drumming is high energy and incredibly good, and the rest of the instrumentation is just as high quality. Another issue I have outside the fairly repetitive nature of the song is that the vocals sound unusually washed out. Revelations puts the album on track directly afterwards however, filled with amazing riffs, great vocal melodies, and a lot of power all put into this slower paced song. The interplay between the main guitar riff and the bass is definitely my favourite touch in this song however, sure, the rest is great, being varied and highly emotional, but this little detail right here is really what pushes the song even higher, showing amazing intricacy in everything played. If it weren't for The Trooper, Flight Of Icarus would likely be my favouirte single the band had put out during their classic era, the mid paced galloping riff and the absolutely majestic vocals of Bruce, complete with the perfection of the chorus and an awesome lyrical subject matter. The Trooper mamages to be an even better single however, containing may of these elements, but being much faster and more anthemic. While usually being one to feel indifferent to the "woaaaahh" type vocals, it works incredibly well here, and is definitely what brings the song together. Another major highlight is the closing track To Tame A Land, just like with Hallowed Be Thy Name it contains a more proggy structure, the closest thing to a chorus or hook being the guitar riff played after every few lines. The song has a strong middle eastern tinge to it and some good ideas that bleed through, definitely a decent closer, even if it doesn't match up to the perfection of Hallowed Be Thy Name.

If the album had songs on this level all the way through, then it'd be easily one of Maiden's better albums, but while Die With Your Boots On is pretty decent, Still Life, Quest For Fire and Sun and Steel are all quite poor and make it incredibly hard to enjoy this album holistically. Still Life's problem all comes down to being incredibly dull to me, starting off in an interesing and eerie way, before devolving into mediocrity and underwhelming hooks. Quest For Fire is even worse, which is expected when the opening lyrical line is "In a land where dinosaurs walked the earth" while singing about cavemen... yeah. It doesn't help that the vocal delivery here is so absurdly operatic that it crosses into being utterly hilarious, like, I find it impossible to not laugh at this song, doesn't help that it's generally a pretty awful song anyway, being so painfully cheesy. Sun And Steel is better than Quest For Fire, but is just a very barebones, rudimentary metal song, and I find it to be quite lacking in charm and character.

WIth a bit of reworking, this album could have been something amazing, it's just unforutnate that there are songs like Quest For Fire and Still Life mixed in with Revelations and The Trooper. While this album contains a strong set of highlights just like Powerslave, it also has the same issue as it in terms of missing the mark in quite a number of tracks, difference being that the highlights here aren't quite as strong for the most part, and the low points are far lower. Iron Maiden's classic period post Number Of The Beast displayed a gradual progression into absolute greatness, and as the starting point of this progression, it's clear that there'd be some issues with the album for sure, still an enjoyable listen, but not even close to my first pick when it comes to this amazing band.

Best songs: Revelations, Flight of Icarus, The Trooper

Weakest songs: Quest for Fire, Still Life, Sun and Steel

Verdict: Not a bad album by any means, containing a number of amazing metal tracks, but unfortunately also contains some really low quality songs, making this an enjoyable, but ultimately flawed and inconsistent listen.

Iron Maiden's fifth album is generally considered to be one of their best, and while I disagree with this, finding some of their reunion efforts to surpass this, along with some classic ones, this is still a great album. The energy on this album matches that of Number of the Beast, with great musicianship all around. Bruce Dickinson is an incredible singer, being able to combine power with good range and have a dramatic flair to it as well.

This album has quite a definitive duality to it, with half the songs being fairly straightforward such as 'Aces High' and more involved, complex songs, particularly 'Rime of the Ancient Mariner'. Both types of songs are of high quality, with the traditional metal tracks being fun and up tempo, full of great riffs and the amazing basswork of Steve Harris. 'Aces High' is especially great in this regard, being one of the fastest and most energetic songs the band has ever written, with an extremely memorable hook to go along with it. On the other side of things, the more involved works manage to keep many of the traditional heavy metal elements to it, while also having some fairly interesting ideas thrown in as well. The title track, while the lyrics are very theatrical, are still interesting and tell a great story within the short song length. Along with the lyrical content being interesting, the mild Egyptian touches to the main riff, along with the incredible guitar solo, make this a very worthy song. 'Rime of the Ancient Mariner' is where the album really picks up, being one of the best songs Maiden has ever written, with a great sense of progression to it, becoming more intense as the song goes on before completely dropping out, leaving nothing but eerie bass and Bruce reading poetry, all before picking up once again, not wasting a single moment within the 13 minutes of the song.

The album does have an issue with consistency however, as the middle four tracks are considerably weaker than the rest, especially 'Back In The Village' which while fast and energetic, is fairly uninteresting, with Bruce's vocals sounding unimpressive during the chorus, and the song being overall very weak. 'Losfer Words (Big 'Orra)' is the other major weak point, simply because while the riffs are immediately catchy and enjoyable to listen to, the structure of the song leaves a lot to be desired, with it building up quite well. before just... ending, leading to disappointment. Other than these two songs, the album is of high quality, even if 'Flash of the Blade' and 'The Duellists'' aren't anything amazing.

Overall, this is a great album full of great riffs, great energy, and great songwriting. I believe that despite the weaker moments on the album, notably 'Back In The Village', the album is still more than worth listening to.

Best Songs: Aces High. Powerslave, Rime of the Ancient Mariner

Weakest Songs: Losfer Words (Big 'Orra), Back In The Village

Verdict: A great album full of equal parts traditional, straightforward heavy metal, and more unique, experimental moments, all culminating in the 13 minute epic. One of the finest moments for Maiden (In which there are a lot) despite the occasional missteps.

Iron Maiden were on a roll. 1982's 'The Number of the Beast' and 1983's 'Piece of Mind' had shot the band to the top of the metal world, and if there was finally any doubters left that didn't think the band belonged, then 1984's 'Powerslave', the Brits' fifth studio release, really established them as one of the top metal acts around. What followed was the 'World Slavery Tour', which saw Maiden embark on a trek around the globe with an elaborate stage show that encapsulated the energy and imagery of their music.

So what's next? How about a live album to commemorate the tour? Which brings us to the first of many live albums the band would put out; 'Live After Death'.

Split over two discs, the first recorded in California, USA while the second in London, England, 'Live After Death' highlights the energy and enthusiasm of the band in their early days. Featuring all the major hits from their first five albums, including 'Aces High', 'Run to the Hills', 'The Trooper', 'The Number of the Beast' and 'Phantom of the Opera', the performances and production are all of a high standard, however, the audience can be a little hard to hear at times, which kind of ruins the experience, but as a whole, this is a good live release.

Though, with that said, I've always preferred studio albums to live ones, and as it is, 'Live After Death' does seem a little outdated today, considering the wealth of live albums the band would go on to produce. Still, it has its moments and isn't bad by any means, there just isn't really anything to entice me to choose this over any of Iron Maiden's studio efforts instead.

Fresh off of the success of 1984's 'Powerslave' and the 1985 live album 'Live After Death', Iron Maiden were well and firmly at the top of the metal world, and their run of strong releases would continue with 'Somewhere in Time', an album which saw the band continue to enter progressive territory with their writing, with longer songs and the addition of keyboards.

However, stylistically this is still very much Iron Maiden. By this point the band have clearly defined their sound, and there's not much point in tweaking what already works. With blistering guitar harmonies and wailing vocals, Maiden have clearly hit their stride by this point in their career. The use of keyboards adds an atmospheric, spacey feeling to the music, giving 'Somewhere in Time' its own identity amongst the bands discography.

With a solid production and some of guitarists Adrian Smith and Dave Murray's finest guitar tones, the sound here is timeless. Even after all these years, the album holds up well for both its sense of melody and its metal edge. The lyrics are a lot more introspective than previously, a sign of the bands world-travelled weariness after their constant touring. But it also makes for some of their most sincere and personal songs, particularly in 'Wasted Years'.

With highlights including the aforementioned 'Wasted Years', 'Stranger in a Strange Land', 'Caught Somewhere in Time', 'Deja-Vu' and 'Heaven Can Wait', there's an abundance of quality material here, making 'Somewhere in Time' another in a string of classic albums.

Iron Maiden's first major compilation album, released in 1996, may seem dated today, but it contains some of the bands strongest and most memorable material up until that point, and seeing as this was released after Bruce Dickinson initially left the band (he'd rejoin them in 2000), this perfectly summarizes what many consider to be the groups "golden era".

As is always the case with compilations, there's the argument for which songs should have been included and excluded, and in this regard 'The Best of the Beast' pretty much covers all the essentials. There's maybe one or two things I'd have preferred, perhaps at least one Paul Di'Anno-era song to be featured (there is one, but it's a live version sang by Dickinson), but that isn't too much of a detriment to the overall product.

Featuring all the classics such as 'Aces High', 'Run to the Hills', 'Can I Play With Madness', 'Be Quick or Be Dead', 'Fear of the Dark', 'The Number of the Beast' and 'The Trooper', this is a great starting point for newcomers to the band (and I say this from experience, as this was my first Maiden album).

There's some fantastic artwork used for the covers and inlays, with plenty of photos, lyrics and liner notes in the booklet, and seeing as it featured most of Maiden's early hits, this makes for a nice overall package for fans of the band. However dated it may seem today, it's still a worthy addition to the collections of die-hard fans.

Released in 2002, 'Edward the Great' is a compilation album by Iron Maiden that focuses mainly on the bands singles and "hits", as opposed to songs that are generally favored by fans. As a result, while it's a decent enough selection, it's also very predictable.

Of course, the music itself is still great! I mean, come on, it's Iron freaking Maiden! 'Run to the Hills', 'The Trooper', 'Can I Play With Madness', '2 Minutes to Midnight' and 'The Number of the Beast'... these are all iconic metal classics! However, there's a lot of songs missing, even by 2002, there was an absolute wealth of material that should have been included on a release such as this, but wasn't due to time limitations.

Overall, you're better off going for 'Best of the Beast', especially if you're new to the band. Despite being released six years earlier, it has a more well-rounded track listing, and the packaging as a whole is a lot nicer, with more pictures and detailed information on the band. Leave 'Edward the Great' to collectors like me.

Despite a number of albums prior to this that have gained legendary status, 'Powerslave', Iron Maiden's fifth studio recording, is where I feel the band really hit their stride as one of metals most iconic bands.

With a previous four releases over which to bond and mature as a band, 'Powerslave' is a complete bombardment of Iron Maiden having perfected their sound. The dual-guitar harmonies are spot-on and utilized to their fullest, and vocalist Bruce Dickinson's singing hits its peak here, with every line complimenting the music perfectly.

While I didn't dislike any of the bands previous releases, I never held them in such high regard as the rest of the metal community does, feeling that each album was just a steady improvement upon the one that came before it. However, here is where the songwriting really takes a solid step up, as every song is well executed and well played. The riffs and harmonies are very catchy and easy-to-listen to, and the guitar solos all seem to suit their respective songs much better.

Tracks like 'Aces High', '2 Minutes to Midnight', 'Rime of the Ancient Mariner' and even instrumental 'Losfer Words (Big 'Orra)' are more than just Iron Maiden staples, they're essential listening for all metal fans. On top of all that, the artwork is pretty damn awesome as well!

A key album in any rock or metal collection, THIS is Iron Maiden.

After 1982's 'The Number of the Beast' cemented Iron Maiden's prominence in the metal world, the band were quickly back in the studio to build upon their momentum with 'Piece of Mind', an album that many fans hold in high regard, but one that I merely consider the final step in the transitional period that would see Iron Maiden truly reach their prime years.

Continuing Iron Maiden's run of what many consider their "golden era" of albums (the inclusion of new drummer Nicko McBrain would cement what would be viewed as the classic lineup), 'Piece of Mind' is revered by fans as one of the bands finest releases. Though, much like its predecessor, I feel there's too much filler material for me to share that opinion.

As with previous outings, there are a few instantly recognizable classics, such as 'Where Eagles Dare', 'Flight of Icarus', 'To Tame a Land', and one of the groups most memorable hits 'The Trooper' (which I often find to be fairly overrated, to be honest), but other than these songs, I feel the rest are fairly bland and uninspiring. Not that they're terrible, but tracks like 'Quest for Fire' and 'Sun and Steel' just don't really do anything for me.

The verdict has long been out that this is a classic Maiden album however, and in fairness, if you're a fan of the band then it's got enough "classic" material and status going for it that it warrants being in your collection, but overall I just find this to be the final album before the band really hit their stride and go through a string of excellent releases.

It's decent enough, but from here on out is where things really start to get good.

'The Number of the Beast' is the album that gave birth to the Iron Maiden we all know and love today. Besides a number of memorable hits that have remained a staple in live sets, it's most notable for featuring the debut of Bruce Dickinson, a man who would go on to become one of the most beloved and recognizable singers in metal.

Musically and sonically, this isn't much different than Iron Maiden's previous two albums. Rough and gritty 80's new wave of British heavy metal, the only remarkable differences, besides the addition of a superior vocalist, is the slightly stronger compositions. Most notable being two of their biggest hits (which still hold that title to this day), 'The Number of the Beast' and 'Run to the Hills'.

Of course, there's also other Maiden classics such as 'Hallowed Be Thy Name', 'The Prisoner' and 'Children of the Damned', which have all stood the test of time and are still as refreshing today as they were in 1982.

The playing is good for its time. Steve Harris is an absolute beast on the bass. Dave Murray and Adrian Smith are both competent guitarists, who've yet to utilize their full potential, especially when it comes to the duel harmonies they'd use on future releases, but they play more than enough to give all the songs the small embellishments required.

'The Number of the Beast' kicked off a long run of releases that would usher in the bands "golden era", and while it has its significance in Iron Maiden's history, I don't really consider it anything more than a decent album. It's good, but the best is most definitely yet to come.