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IRON MAIDEN |
| by:
Jonathan Mariante
"A tisket, a tasket, an Iron
Maiden casket..." That's a good way to describe Iron Maiden's new box
set, "Eddie's Archives". Another Maiden box set, you might ask? Haven't
they been there, done this already? Yes, but not like this. This is something
special! And I'm not just saying that because I happen to think Iron Maiden
is the greatest heavy metal band of all time, bar none! This is not just
a collection of previously available material repackaged, as are many
box sets. The music included herein is all material that has never before
been released on an Iron Maiden album, some of it's never seen the light
of day at all, until now. But before I get into that, I wanted to describe
the way Eddie's Archives is packaged, because that is part of what makes
it one of the best box sets ever released, if not the best! It comes in
a decorated metal casket style box, about the size of a lunchbox, with
blue lining. Inside, you'll find an Eddie shot glass, a parchment scroll
with an Iron Maiden family tree printed on it, held together with an Eddie
pewter ring, and three two CD sets. Now, the music-we'll begin with my
personal favorite of the three sets, "The Best Of The B Sides". This includes
a collection of songs previously only available as B sides to Maiden's
singles (I thought a good name for this collection would have been "The
Beast Sides", but maybe they'd think that a bit corny). Many Maiden fans
(myself included!) have waited a long time for something like this! A
way to get the B side tunes without having to hunt down the singles and/or
buy stuff we already have! Many of these B side tunes are covers of classic
rock songs, including "Cross Eyed Mary" (Jethro Tull), "Communication
Breakdown" (Led Zeppelin), "Rainbow's Gold" (Beckett), "King Of Twilight"
(Nektar), "Roll Over Vic Vella" (Their rendition of Chuck Berry's "Roll
Over Beetoven"), "I've Got The Fire" and "Space Station No. 5" (both by
Montrose), "Kill Me Ce Soir" (Golden Earring), "I'm A Mover" (Free), "All
In Your Mind" (Stray), "I Can't See My Feelings" (Budgie), "Juanita" (Marshall
Fury), and "Reach Out" and "That Girl" (ASAP). There are also some Maiden
originals on here (some of which are hilarious!), including "The Sheriff
Of Huddersfield", "Burning Ambition", "Invasion" (the latter two early
Maiden tunes with Paul DiAnno on vocals), "Black Bart Blues" (an ode to
Bruce Dickenson's suit of armor!), and "Nodding Donkey Blues"; live versions
of "Drifter" (recorded on the "Killers" tour with DiAnno on vox), "Remember
Tomorrow" (with Bruce singing), "Futureal", and "Wasted Years", the latter
two recorded on the '99 "Ed Hunter" tour, when Bruce and Adrian Smith
first rejoined the band. They also include the 1988 versions of "Prowler"
and "Charlotte The Harlot", and they didn't forget about Blaze Bailey
either! On here are two original songs recorded for but deleted from "The
X Factor" album, "Justice Of The Peace" and "Judgment Day"; two covers
from the same period, of The Who's "My Generation" and UFO's "Doctor Doctor";
and live versions of "The Aftermath" and "Blood On The World Hands". This
is an awesome collection on which all five Iron Maiden lineups are represented.
Moving on to the next two disc set, we have "The Beast Over Hammersmith",
a live recording of the band performing at London's Hammersmith Odeon
venue, on their 1982 "Beast On The Road" tour. Eighteen songs from the
first three Maiden albums are included in this set, and a good selection
of them at that. Of course, we have the "big hits" here; "Run To The Hills",
"Number Of The Beast", "Running Free", "Iron Maiden", "Wrathchild", "Killers",
"Phantom Of The Opera", "Hallowed Be They Name", and "Sanctuary", but
there are also many songs from the early days that Maiden doesn't perform
live very often anymore, such as "Total Eclipse", "Another Life", "22
Acacia Avenue", "Prowler", "The Prisoner", "Transylvania", "Children Of
The Damned", and "Drifter". "Beast..." is a great sounding live recording,
the boys sounding young and hungry, a metal band on the verge of making
it big, giving it their all! (That, however, is certainly not to imply
that Maiden no longer give it their all, by any means, you understand)
"Beast Over Hammersmith" could be right up there with "Live After Death"!
Finally, we come to set number three, "The BBC Archives". This is a set
of more previously unreleased performances. The first four songs are "Iron
Maiden", "Running Free", "Transylvania", and "Sanctuary", recorded for
the BBC's Radio 1 Friday Rock Show (The British rock radio program that
helped launch Maiden's career) in November, 1979. Also included are two
live performances of the band playing at the Reading festival (a famous
rock festival in England), one in August of 1980 with Paul DiAnno, the
other in August of 1982 with Bruce. Closing out this set is a handful
of songs recorded at Maiden's headlining performance at the legendary
Castle Donington Monsters Of Rock festival in 1988. And that wraps up
"Eddie's Archives". THE ultimate box set, if you ask me! This should be
a treasure trove for all Iron Maiden fans! If you're a Maiden fan and
only buy one box set in your life, make it this one! This is 'Ed and shoulders
above the rest, and will provide endless hours of listening pleasure and
hardy headbanging to all Maiden maniacs! Up The Irons! Hallowed By Iron
Maiden's Name, forever! For more info check out: http://www.ironmaiden.com.
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