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Iron Maiden - Best Of The Beast Audio CD

A fair review of the Iron Maiden "Best Of The Beast" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Iron Maiden reviews here, or go back to the Iron Maiden tabs.

Iron Maiden Band: Iron Maiden
Title: Best Of The Beast
Rating:
Release Date: 1999-05-25
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Number of the Beast 2: Can I Play with Madness 3: Fear of the Dark [Live] 4: Run to the Hills 5: Bring Your Daughter... to the Slaughter 6: Evil That Men Do 7: Aces High 8: Be Quick or Be Dead 9: 2 Minutes to Midnight 10: Man on the Edge 11: Virus 12: Running Free [Live] 13: Wasted Years 14: Clairvoyant 15: Trooper 16: Hallowed Be Thy Name

CD Review of Iron Maiden Best of the Beast
Excellen all around!. Everything I could have hoped for from the music and the seller of this item.


Best 1-Disc Compilation out there and Remastered to Boot!


What is clear is that this disc is not meant for the die-hard fan; for that they released the 2-disc version for you and they expected you to have all the albums anyway. Just like the other reviewers here I am stumped as to how they left out key tracks like "Flight of the Icarus" but I guess to put out just a 1-disc version of Iron Maiden's best stuff someone had to make a call what to leave out even though we may not agree. This disc is clearly aimed at those who had never heard the band before and don't want to go broke having to get all the albums let alone a 2-disc compilation. The record company were looking at converting/recruiting new fans. I know because I was one of them.

As a guitarist who started out learning the licks of many greats like Joe Satriani, I was intrigued when I read in one of Joe's instruction books about the importance of Iron Maiden's guitarists to the development of speed metal and to even what HE plays! Joe knows best, I thought, and so I dutifully went and got this album. I had heard "Flight of the Icarus" before and I thought it was great but it wasn't enough to make me want to go get all their albums and so I for one was pleased to find this disc in the store.

I was simply blown away at the complexity of the musical ideas (this is heavy metal for goodness sakes, I thought), the great speed and dexterity of the guitarists and indeed the whole rhythm section. Bruce's voice quality goes without saying and really, 16 tracks on a 77 min 53 secs long disc that is remastered albeit not so well is a great bargain! The cd liner notes are fantastic as well as they are full colour and have photos and all the lyrics! The disc itself is a picture disc with great colour depictions of Eddie!

For those of you who like me were/are not diehard fans but want to get a not-so-short sampler of the band or if you are an aspiring speed metal guitarist, this is essential listening. Now, for me, I'll start looking for a well-packaged and remastered version of the "Piece of Mind" album so that I can get my beloved "Flight of the Icarus!".


A good start for beginners
My first introduction to them was through Fear of the Dark, which, despite one or two good songs, turned me off on the band all together. This was the CD that got me into Iron Maiden.

However, upon listening through this CD and gaining a genuine appreciation for the band, I've started collecting their other great albums and have discovered how great this band truly is.

No single CD is going capture every great song from a prolific band such as 'Maiden. Some of my favorites, such as "Flight of the Icarus" and "Murders in the Rue Morgue" are two of the glaring omissions. However, for those who want to sample the band, this a great start. If you're like me, you'll end up wanting more. But that's a good thing.


horrible compilation, like swiss cheese


here is what a one cd iron maiden compilation SHOULD BE!

1 running free
2 iron maiden
3 wrath child
4 killers
5 number of the beast
6 run to the hills
7 hallowed be thy name
8 flight of icaruis (did i spell that right?)
9 the trooper
10 die with your boots on
11 aces high
12 two minutes to midnight
13 the duelists
14 wasted years
15 stanger in a strange land
16 heaven can wait
17 can i play with madness
18 infinite dreams
19 7th son of a 7th son
20 holy smoke
todays cd's could definatly fit that amount on it, go get a cd that can hold about 90 minutes or so and burn this on to it. This "greatest hits" cd from iron maiden is so lacking in important material,missing so much and having horrible/unimportant songs that it resembles swiss cheese.


Great Compilation

This is one overview of the MAIDENs, and the compilation of the top 20 on the Eddie Game CD was actually voted on, so it is representative of fans at the time that was produced. I was surprised that BEST OF THE BEAST had a single disc version, since the double disc version is definitive.
If you can get it, EDDIE'S ARCHIVES is also a great compilation overview, as is the VIDEO compilation DVD with some superb 3D graphics work.
On top of that, LIVE IN RIO is a brilliant best of view.

Iron Maiden is still one of the greats in this genre; very few of the current kids bands come close to the consistent quality Maiden has, and this applies to most of the surviving Hard Rock bands from the 70s and 80s, especially DIO . . . the Voice of metal; Bruce is great, but still second to the master vocalist DIO.
11/2/08 : The thing that had not occurred to me was that the track listing on the single disc is closer to the top 20 track set which was the "fan voted" list for the ED HUNTER triple disc set ( I have not seen this available recently). Anyways, for fans of all the incarnations of Maiden, if you can get the Double disc set, it is a 1996 disc set originally that appears to have been remastered in 1999, or so, and then released in some markets as a single disc only, with not much thought for track listing. Maiden deserve the double disc best of.


You can see a complete list of all Iron Maiden discography, or go back to the Iron Maiden tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.

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