Label: Parlophone Records
Release date: November 21, 2020
Production: Tony Newton
Album length: 100.46 min
Genre: heavy metal
Rating: 8.5/10
Well, here it is. The new live Iron Maiden album. Apparently, and if the author of these lines’ grasp of basic math can be trusted, it’s supposed to be the thirteenth official one already. Three years ago we got the live album “The Book of Souls: Live Chapter”. Feels like yesterday. Time flies like never before. Among commercially successful, veteran metal and rock acts, Iron Maiden count as one of the busiest on the live front. If there’s no studio album out, they hit the road to celebrate their historic achievements. Well, the latest tour is also tied to the “Legacy of the Beast” game and the comic book series that followed. Hats off to a band that, after 45 years, still loves playing live this much. The whole thing is a quick throwback to the Ed Hunter days and the compilation put together from a pick by the band’s fans. But that was twenty years ago, when Iron Maiden had five fewer albums in their pocket than today and the set list was easier to put together. It could smell more “classic”. Judging by the name of the new tour, the one this live document comes from, which has the word “legacy” in it, you can tell in advance what the repertoire focused on. And when you cross that realization with the fact that every Iron Maiden show runs an hour and three quarters, you know that any set list chosen on the principle of showcasing a legacy will be much harder pressed to satisfy the fans than if Maiden had put it together 20 years ago. The band was once again forced to sacrifice a pile of great tracks that remain unplayed live, uncut diamonds, yet at the same time “archived” as some of the best stuff Maiden ever created.
Yes. Compared to the previous tour, the set list has been turned completely upside down. But that wasn’t hard to do, since the new tour followed the one that promoted a studio album. And when Maiden promote a studio album, they can get so itchy-fingered that they play the entire new record. Night after night. Remember the 2006 tour. The opus is outstanding, and the band had to find some balance between the hits that can’t be missing, and then fill the remaining time by combing through all the studio albums. This time, the albums that drew the short straw (ah, that boring factography) are: “Killers” (review), “Somewhere In Time” (review), “No Prayer for the Dying”, “Dance of Death” and the last two, meaning “The Final Frontier” and “The Book of Souls”. The band brought Flight of Icarus back to the set list, and for the first time since 1987, and even slotted in two tracks from the Blaze Bayley era that hadn’t been played since the “Brave New World” tour. One of the songs from “A Matter of Life And Death” (2006) has finally got an official live record on this release too (For the Greater Good of God). Sadly, once again there’s no track among them that Iron Maiden have never played live. So they won’t be able to fully shake the stepmother-treatment remarks this time either. Okay, the choice of set list is always open to debate and nobody will ever be fully satisfied, but that’s how it goes with a band that, simply put, wrote too much good music in its career. Still, it’s nice to see the band give more attention to the slightly overlooked “Piece of Mind” (review), wedged between two far more famous albums of the Maiden career, forever in their shadow. The obligatory The Trooper is joined by the already mentioned Flight Of Icarus, plus Where Eagles Dare and Revelations.
What are the most exciting parts of the new live album? Can there even be anything exciting left? Ecstatic? You’re in ecstasy already, aren’t you? Okay, the first one is the proverbial one. That’s the chemistry between band and crowd. Definitely. Once again its own story, that fanatical and unrepeatable energy created by a crowd of many thousands of fiery Mexicans on the wings of Dickinson’s famous rabble-rousing: “Scream for me, Mexico City!” Even more than that, though, those fans of the band who know its every breath will find it thrilling, or maybe infuriating, how the band tackles some of the classics, as well as newer numbers, in 2019. Beyond Bruce Dickinson’s vocal range, which we’ll come back to below, with the Harris-McBrain rhythm tandem cemented in place, the most interesting thing to listen to is the work of the three guitars. For instance, in old songs like Hallowed Be Thy Name. Right away you’re surprised by the integration of Murray’s solo after the intro, which (apart from a “hammer on” bit) was never there before, while right at the end the second solo is Gers’s, which I’d really beg the band to have Murray or Smith play in the future, meaning that too much democracy on certain parts of the album once again did more harm than good. In Where Eagles Dare, Gers gets all the room to freewheel with his tremolo. This version of the “Piece of Mind” classic is considerably better than the one from the live album “The Real Dead One”. The band hasn’t bothered with nitpicking for ages about making live (performance-wise) things stick as closely as possible to what was recorded in the studio. They have every right, and that’s how it should be. But Maiden aren’t Purple, and there’s less room for that kind of stunt. Three-part guitar harmonies have been a reality since 1999, and you can feel it (The Trooper, Where Eagles Dare …). The solos have been updated too, some more noticeably changed, some a little less. That’s good. It chases away boredom and keeps the performances appealing. That’s very important for all three guitarists. Above all, it’s also the biggest draw when it comes to discovering this new live document. Some manage to find a curse in it too. Purists. And of course all those inconsolable types who crave the live magic of the band in the eighties.
And now Bruce Dickinson. In 2019 Bruce racked up 61 years. It’s no news that the voice is certainly not as fresh and well preserved anymore, and it also gets serious backup from the mixing desk, but the guy still holds up totally credibly. The band used recordings from all three live shows in Mexico City. The dates were September 27, 29 and 30. They picked the best from those recordings. Aces High has traditionally given Dickinson headaches. Yet whenever it’s on the set list, Maiden open every one of their shows with this song. Only something like Invaders could maybe push it off that pedestal, which will never happen. So Dickinson has to be in top form right from the start of the show. That means at least a properly warmed-up voice. It’s clear the man isn’t 25 anymore, and it shows. In the new live version of this song more than ever. Where Eagles Dare, right after Aces High in the repertoire, brings on the same realization. But the vocalist is extremely cunning and far too experienced to blow it. He either hands selected vocal lines over to the fanatical crowd or adjusts/tailors them for himself. It seems that vocally the second part of the repertoire suits Bruce better, the one that kicks off with the second disc and runs from Sign of the Cross to the end of the set list. That’s where he builds up his vocal performance, and that’s very good, because it lets him very skillfully mask the wear the voice shows in the opening part of the show. No need to point out that the repertoire is arranged so the singer can decently get through the vocals, since his “instrument” is the one that takes the biggest beating again and again. And at 61, that kind of pressure shows all the more. As an extra, there’s the difference between the performances of Aces High and Flight of Icarus, which is more than obvious. In favor of the latter, of course.
You could catch Iron Maiden on this tour in Trieste on July 27, 2018 (RockLine live review), so as a keen fan you’ll be glad to have this release, since it’s a lovely keepsake. Many will grab this album simply because it says Iron Maiden on it. Simply because they hold the band in the highest esteem and respect. The live document is played at a proper Iron Maiden level. Live After Death and the other official releases from the eighties have their place on the pedestal, which no live document released in modern times can replicate, and yet. Iron Maiden can’t deny who they are. Not this time either. The “Legacy of the Beast” tour is actually still going. A few shows have been pushed into 2021. A Zagreb date has been added too (in June). Let’s hope the shows get going again (globally), although that’s unlikely. The band is also putting together material for a new album, and rumors are also spreading that Dickinson has enough material for a solo studio album.
Alongside Metallica, Maiden remain the biggest metal band of all time. Let me soften that a bit, in case it sounds provocative. Once you compare the discographies of the two bands, you know who’s the biggest. That’s what actually tips the scale. Not ticket sales, not concert attendance, not the kitsch and glitz of all the stage clutter the bands use to compete over who stages the bigger spectacle. Because music is what counts. The legacy you leave behind. And Maiden can be monstrously proud of that legacy. The legacy of a beast, which its fans and lovers wake up and go to sleep with. The legacy of generations of metal followers. For eternity. The legacy of the greatest. Tribute and glory to the icons.
Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Track list:
CD 1.:
1. Churchill’s Speech
2. Aces High
3. Where Eagles Dare
4. 2 Minutes To Midnight
5. The Clansman
6. The Trooper
7. Revelations
8. For The Greater Good Of God
9. The Wicker Man
CD 2.:
1. Sign Of The Cross
2. Flight Of Icarus
3. Fear Of The Dark
4. Iron Maiden
5. The Number Of The Beast
6. The Evil That Men Do
7. Hallowed Be Thy Name
8. Run To The Hills
Line-up:
Bruce Dickinson – vocals
Dave Murray – guitar
Adrian Smith – guitar
Janick Gers – guitar
Steve Harris – bass guitar
Nicko McBrain – drums
