Artist: Iron Maiden Title: “Death On The Road” Label: Sanctuary Records Release Date: 2006 Genre: Heavy Metal Rating: 8/10
Full concert films of today’s greatest bands is becoming all the more common these days and Iron Maiden seems to be the band that is leading the trend in releasing a live DVD for every tour that they have completed. We last saw them for “Rock In Rio”, a DVD that showcased the “Brave New World” release and now with “Death On The Road” we find the concert for the “Dance Of Death” album being showcased. The performance was filmed in 2003 and was one of the most theatrical that the band had performed in many years. Being one of the leaders in the Heavy Metal music field the concert itself pulls out all of the stops and finds the band in top shape. This 3 DVD set gives you two versions of the concert itself, one in stereo and one in Dolby. Why this was not set to one DVD with both versions is curious to me but they must have had reasons for doing this. The concert itself is excellent and I don’t think you need me to quantify the level of skill that Iron Maiden possesses on stage. For over 20 years they have been a continual force and a driving one in support of the Metal scene. With “Dance Of Death” we find a strong return to their earlier years in some senses and this tour film features a handful of songs from that album. There is a stronger emphasis on recent material but that is a necessary evil for the band for how interesting will it be to see the same old songs performed on every DVD that gets released. Standout performances on the piece are “Can I Play With Madness”, “Paschendale” and of course the legacy favorites. I don’t think we will ever find a Maiden DVD that does not include “Number Of The Beast” or “Run To The Hills” and if you find yourself annoyed by that just think how Maiden must feel. Songs like this become more of the bands signature and cannot be omitted at this stage of the game. I also felt that at this point in the bands touring that they were used to being a six-member lineup with three axe slingers (Dave Murray, Adrian Smith, and Janick Gers) along with Steve Harris (bass) and Nicko McBrain (drums) and consummate showman Bruce Dickinson (vocals). I like Maiden with this lineup very much and think it works in both the studio and live sense. Continue reading “Death On The Road” (DVD) by Iron Maiden→
Artist: Iron Maiden Title: “Death On The Road” Label: Sanctuary Records Release Date: 10/4/2005 Genre: Heavy Metal Rating: 7.5/10
When you look at the releases of Iron Maiden over the last couple of years it seems that while they manage to release a studio piece on a regular basis. They are also releasing a good amount of live recordings and Greatest Hits packages. There have been so many that it would amaze you if you added them up in fact. This one intends to keep your collection growing ever more as what Iron Maiden seems to be doing these days is releasing a live album for each tour they do. This has been the case since the CD “Brave New World” begat the live release “Rock In Rio”. Entitled “Death On The Road” this particular live opus brings us some of the music performed in support of the “Dance Of Death” CD. It was recorded in the Westfalenhalle Arena, Dortmund, Germany during the European leg of the “Dance of Death” World tour. Of the 16 tracks we get from Maiden on this CD, a full 6 of them are from the last studio album. That is a pretty big sampling of new material to absorb and while it might seem excessive it does stand to generate a little more interest in the studio recording. As far as the “expected” tunes this includes all of the standards: “The Trooper”, “Number Of The Beast”, “Hallowed Be Thy Name” etc. and even touches upon some other soon to be classics like “Can I Play With Madness”. Given their mixing the classic material with a fair amount of new tunes any discriminating Iron Maiden fan should be pleased. A fair amount of “classic” material and “new” tracks for any discriminating fan. It is also different enough from “Rock In Rio” which is smart for releasing two live CD’s almost consecutively that are too similar would cause both items to suffer in the sales end. Continue reading “Death On The Road” by Iron Maiden→
Artist: Iron Maiden Title: “The Essential Iron Maiden” Label: Sony Music Release Date: 7/12/2005 Genre: Heavy Metal Rating: 8/10
While I felt a certain amount of hesitation at the aspect of yet another Iron Maiden Greatest Hits package (as we have recently seen Edward The Great, Best Of The Beast and Ed Hunter); not too mention the various and numerable live releases (which are almost “Best Of’s as well). This release had some nice moments to it. It has a large amount of the tracks you would expect to find on a hits piece and with Iron Maiden holding about 14 studio albums and at least a half dozen live releases it is somewhat difficult to decide on what material to include and what to leave out. While the selection impressed me, I was disappointed that “Prisoner”, or “Where Eagles Dare” and “Hallowed Be Thy Name” were left off. Clearly they are more acclaimed as far as Maiden tracks go. Continue reading “The Essential Iron Maiden” by Iron Maiden→
Artist: Iron Maiden Venue: Madison Square Garden (New York, NY) Opener: Dio & Motorhead Label: EMI Music Date: 07/30/2003
This past July, the famous Madison Square Garden arena in New York City saw the appearance of three of Heavy Metal’s most senior titans. Iron Maiden came to visit and brought Dio and Motorhead with them.
Starting the night off was Motorhead. Now, I thought they were terrific but for some reason there was not yet a full house for them. People were still milling about and getting beers from the concession stands instead of supporting this classic act. By my recollection, I don’t think Motorhead had ever played the Garden so I was surprised at the lackluster response from fans. To their credit, Lemmy and crew rumbled through tunes like “Killed By Death” and “Iron Fist”. Since they were in NYC, Lemmy made mention to dedicate a song for Dee Dee and Joey Ramone who the punk music scene had lost over the past two years. The song was “R.A.M.O.N.E.S.” which I think can be found on the Ramones Tribute album that was recently released. If I am incorrect, please pardon the flub. There was another highlight for me when drummer Mickey Dee (formerly of King Diamond) did an excellent drum solo. lotsa power behind this guy he is one of the best Metal Drummers we have going. Their set was a little over 30 minutes and before you knew it they were done. Loud and Fast, Solid and Heavy that is one thing I love most about Motorhead music. Continue reading Iron Maiden @ Madison Square Garden (7/30/2003)→
