Customer Reviews
Not a bad album, but ive seen better
But unfortunately as always, there are some weak performances. A great live album, with some great songs. The Number of the Beast sounds pretty weak on here, Paschendale just doesn't work live, Wildest Dreams was a good performance but not good enough for 5 stars, and I'm not too keen on the Hallowed be thy Name or Iron Maiden versions here. Also, Lord of the Flies is performed well, but I feel Bruce made it worse.
On the other hand, we get Can I Play with Madness and Wrathchild, and neither of those have been played to the limits yet. Of the two, Can I Play with Madness is the better one. Brave New World sounds better on here than at Rock in Rio, probably because Maiden had to experiment with the song to see the best way of performing it. Run to the Hills has been overplayed but this is still a great performance. Fear of the Dark is one of the high points, with plenty of crowd participation. No More Lies is my personal favourite of the Dance of Death songs.
Definetly worth buying, but doesn't hit the level of Live After Death or Rock in Rio. However, i'd say this is close to Live at Donington and certainly better than A Real Live Dead One, which IMO is Maiden's weakest live album.
Maiden Does It Again!
I think perhaps the only band that beats them in the live cd department is Aerosmith!
Anyway, is it necessary that we have yet another offering of live Maiden tunes? Well the answer is YES and NO. Do these guys put out a live cd every month?, it sure seems like it. This one gives you the newer tunes such as Dance Of Death, Rainmaker, Brave New World, Paschendale, Lord Of The Flies etc, basically stuff you're never heard live before. They all sound really good live with all kinds of energy being put forth for our listening pleasure.
Maiden have always been a very good live band and this cd represents that to a T. I would rate this live offering as their second best cd coming in behind Live After Death, which we all know is gold. Rock In Rio is a very close third, however I have to put this one ahead of it simply because of the newer tunes it contains. Paschendale, Dance Of Death and the Journeymen sound awesome live. You know, Paschendale just might be the best song ever penned by the boys!!
The sound/mix is pretty good for a live cd. It's as good or better than any of the other two live cd's mentioned above.
So in conclusion is it worth spending the extra $$$'s on? Well truthfully it's a decision you'll have to make for yourself. I would say yes, but that's because I'm bias and because the newer songs sound great live.
Up The Irons!!.
Ho-hum live performance from Iron Maiden
I still enjoy great songs such as the title track, "Rainmaker" and "Paschendale. Dance of Death, Iron Maiden's 2003 studio release ended up being a personal favorite of mine. " All three of these songs, in fact, are on Death on the Road. You'd think I'd be happy, but, I'm afraid, I am not.
In 2001, Iron Maiden released a live album entitled Rock in Rio. Long story short: Buy it. Don't buy this. They are basically the same thing, except Rock in Rio lacks songs from Dance of Death, and the mediocre (and that's being nice) performance that accompanies them on Death on the Road.
What happened? I was so anxious for this album I imported it from Japan to avoid waiting for the delayed USA release. When I first popped this in my CD player, I thought I was experiencing a hearing malfunction, but, unfortunately for Iron Maiden - I wasn't. What I was experiencing, however, was a band going through the motions. Track by track you will find a vocalist struggling to reach the notes he achieves in the studio, you will find Janick unable to replicate his solos, you will find tempos slowed or tempos rushed to the point of annoyance. You will find one of the most ho-hum live performances from one of metal's greatest bands. You will find yourself - fist clenched - screaming to the heavens "Why God? WHY!?"
A live album is supposed to make you either remember, or wish you were at the concert. It's also helpful if the performance is at least close, or equal to the one a band delivers in studio. Live albums have long been hit or miss for Iron Maiden (hit: Live After Death, miss: A Real Live/Dead One) - and this, I'm afraid, is a miss. The only thing you'll "miss" by avoiding this release is Bruce gasping for air on most of the songs. You might also miss the one millionth performance of "Run to the Hills" - could you live with that on your conscience?
I hope you can, because your wallet will thank you. Need a Maiden live fix? Get Rock in Rio. Absolutely need to have every Maiden release? Pick this up used, it's the least you could do.
Let's hope when Iron Maiden invariably releases a live album after this fall's studio release and subsequent tour they put a little effort into delivering a memorable performance worthy of release.
. You can see a complete list of all Iron Maiden discography, or go back to the Iron Maiden tabs
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