Iron Maiden Song By Song Thread

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Zoot Marimba, Nov 8, 2017.

  1. Almost Simon

    Almost Simon Forum Resident

    I guess now is as good a time as any to mention the '93 tour.

    Wembley Arena, May 17th 1993. My first time seeing Maiden live. I was excited to finally see them but the show was overshadowed by Janick's guitar amp breakdown mid show. In my own memory he seemed to have a bit of breakdown, pushed the amp over and stormed off stage followed by Steve and Dave. Bruce and Nicko stayed, Bruce asked Nicko to play a drum solo, Nicko refused. It was the first time that all did not seem well in the world of Maiden (exactly the performance Id want them to discuss in the next episode of "The History of...." but bet it never happens.)

    I know Maidenpriest was at the same show, we've mentioned it a few times on Maiden threads on the Hoffman boards before. My memory is hazy and this was in the days before mobile phones capturing every incident. I have never seen or heard a bootleg of that show. And to make matters worse there is an interview on youtube (I assume filmed during the tour,) where Steve is criticising Bruce for his performances suggesting Bruce only performed to a high standard when he knew that the show was being reviewed by a magazine. I need to go back and check it, assume someone will post it. Despite it being one band member criticising another it is further proof of the cracks being evident to all and further proof they shouldn't have agreed to a final tour and show (Raising Hell,) if everyone's heart was not truly in it. Poor management in my opinion. Perhaps as Bruce was leaving and staying with same management they all thought it to be a good idea.

    Wrong!
     
  2. Cheevyjames

    Cheevyjames Forum Resident

    Location:
    Graham, NC
    I didn't even know for years that it was Adrian playing on RF from Donington. I bought the "white cover" of that album when it came out and there were no credits. It's not like Bruce exactly announces, "ADRIAN SMITH WILL JOIN US NOW!", it's that quiet "oh, 'ello H". I've also never (still) seen the Donington video. I suppose I should watch it on youtube sometime, but most likely I'll just wait for the inevitable dvd release.
     
  3. Cheevyjames

    Cheevyjames Forum Resident

    Location:
    Graham, NC
    I assume they already had that '93 tour booked and canceling it would've cost a ton money. I don't know if we're going to discuss Raising Hell or not, but that's the worst thing with Bruce's name attached. Dreadful.
     
  4. Zoot Marimba

    Zoot Marimba And I’m The Critic Of The Group Thread Starter

    Location:
    Savannah, Georgia
    We could discuss it today, but I have no familiarity with it whatsoever.
     
  5. Almost Simon

    Almost Simon Forum Resident

    I went to the filming, happy to add some comment. It will be brief and a similar feeling to what I said about Wembley though ;) I'll have a look at it on youtube now, never had a DVD release??
     
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  6. Zoot Marimba

    Zoot Marimba And I’m The Critic Of The Group Thread Starter

    Location:
    Savannah, Georgia
    You wanna post the first review?
     
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  7. Madness

    Madness "Hate is much too great a burden to bear."

    Location:
    Maryland, USA
    Nodding Donkey Blues is fun to listen to every other year after you forget why you don't listen to it more often.

    Space Station #5 - another horrible vocal performance by Bruce. I don't like this at all.
     
  8. The Hud

    The Hud Breath of the Kingdom, Tears of the Wild

    Me either. I know I saw it at Best Buy and Borders all the time, but never bought it for whatever reason.
     
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  9. Cheevyjames

    Cheevyjames Forum Resident

    Location:
    Graham, NC
    I'd love to hear your comments since you were there! I only saw it on US pay-per-view when it came out.
     
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  10. Cheevyjames

    Cheevyjames Forum Resident

    Location:
    Graham, NC
    A Real Dead One

    The Good
    : The Number of the Beast, The Trooper, Prowler, Transylvania, Remember Tomorrow, Where Eagles Dare, Sanctuary, Running Free, Run to the Hills, Iron Maiden, Hallowed Be Thy Name
    The Bad: nothing
    The Indifferent: 2 Minutes to Midnight

    A Real Dead One is a major improvement from A Real Live One. The sound is just as muddy here, but that’s not surprising. While Live One covered songs from 1986-1992, this album covers tunes from the first 5 Maiden albums, spanning 1980-1984. ARDO has a much better song selection and whatever plagued the band on ARLO, they sound fantastic on this album. Maybe it’s that the older material is superior or maybe they just chose better performances after hearing the response from Live One? Who knows. Whatever it was, the band sounds so good on this disc. I’ll still echo my sentiments from last time: instead of releasing two live albums, it should’ve just been one. Hell, it should’ve been the Helsinki show. That show gets 2 more tracks here and they’re both excellent. The Trooper and Iron Maiden not only show the band with tremendous enthusiasm, but that excellent audience doesn’t disappoint either.

    The thing is, all of these songs are played with massive enthusiasm and fire from a band that on the previous disc sounded like they didn’t give a crap at times. The versions of The Trooper, Hallowed Be Thy Name and Where Eagles Dare are absolutely on fire. Where Eagles Dare has Nicko firmly in the driver’s seat and he’s out like a cannonball. The rest of the band is just holding on tight for their lives. You can tell this track really means a lot to Nicko and it’s an absolute joy to hear him play like this. We get some really nice surprises on this album – Prowler, Remember Tomorrow, Transylvania & Where Eagles Dare. I love hearing the three from the first album and they’re all played really well. Bruce doesn’t sound that great on Prowler, but I think it just doesn’t suit his vocal style as well. At least on this album, it doesn’t show one bit that he was slagging off in his vocals for this tour. It’s a shame that Prowler is such an overlooked song, because I think it should be considered a classic like Sanctuary or Running Free.

    On the whole, this is a great live album. If you took the best moments from here and combined them with the best from A Real Live One, you’d have a stellar live album. When put together as a set (A Real Live Dead One), the differences couldn’t be more obvious between the discs.
     
  11. Zoot Marimba

    Zoot Marimba And I’m The Critic Of The Group Thread Starter

    Location:
    Savannah, Georgia
    It is absolutely a classic in my book.
     
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  12. The Hermit

    The Hermit Wavin' that magick glowstick since 1976

    First, a general comment about that particular period in Maiden's career; it was a HUGE mistake for Bruce to announce his departure at the time he did when the tour was already booked, he was setting himself and everyone else in the band up for a miserable few months, and so it turned out! Better if he had held his tongue, done the tour, announced he was leaving after, and depart on a clean break instead of dragging it out over a largely ill-tempered and tension-riddled jaunt that did nobody any favors, alas...

    I remember buying A Real Live One - and by the way, I like the title even if the artwork was awful! - the week of it's release in late March 1993... and thought it was good but not great... nothing much more to say as Maiden were frankly dragging their knuckles at that point, so *meh* overall.

    Bought A Real Dead One - atrociously contrived title, but probably an apt description of the band as a creative force at that time - on week of release in October 1993... and enjoyed it a LOT more than it's predecessor; maybe because it consisted entirely of pre-Somewhere in Time material (by far their best material, in other words!) or maybe the band were on generally better form overall on the nights featured on said album, who knows?

    Neither are even remotely in Live After Death's league (not in performance, production, mix, sleeve design, none of it)... not even in the same ballpark, state, or frankly hemisphere... but for what they were at that period of time in Maiden's career they were released, I think distilling both down to a single double-album (2-CD, 3-LP) and getting Martin Birch to oversee the mix on a Maiden album one final time would have helped immeasurably... but of course, Steve Harris had pretty much gone control-freak crazy at that point... he was producing the albums, he was editing the home videos, he was mixing the live albums... all at his own home!!! If he had been genuinely talented at all these things, then it would have been fine, but the fact he has tin ears on issues of production/mix/mastering and apparently has ADD when editing visuals certainly doesn't help either his cause or the band's overall... and Bruce Dickinson called him on it prior to leaving... oh, to be a fly on the wall during that conversation!

    And things only get worse from here on in before they get better...

    Let's not... it's an utter embarrassment... but if anyone has memories and comments, go ahead and let's get it over with quickly... which I suspect is what the band thought at the time about the whole useless endeavor!!!
     
  13. Madness

    Madness "Hate is much too great a burden to bear."

    Location:
    Maryland, USA
    Bayswater goes on for far too long, but this is the first time I've ever heard it, so it was like a horrible Christmas.
     
  14. The Hermit

    The Hermit Wavin' that magick glowstick since 1976

    Oh for Pete's sake... you already made much the same comments I did, only I didn't read your post until AFTER I had posted my own comments... cheers dude ;)!

    I'll add one more thing that both yourself and others have correctly posited; if it had been a single double-album, and taken almost entirely from the Helsinki gig, with Martin Birch mixing it... it would have been a sensational live album overall and worthy of it's iconic 1985 predecessor!!!

    Better and more imaginative Derek Riggs artwork would have helped too, but by that time, he had clearly given up on all things Maiden... who can blame him really?
     
  15. Madness

    Madness "Hate is much too great a burden to bear."

    Location:
    Maryland, USA
    I Can't See My Feelings

    meh; not as bad as the worst tracks on FOTD. Not on regular rotation for me.
     
  16. The Hud

    The Hud Breath of the Kingdom, Tears of the Wild

    I am surprised that people don't like the artwork for these, I have always loved them.

    Eye of the beholder, I guess. :)
     
  17. Madness

    Madness "Hate is much too great a burden to bear."

    Location:
    Maryland, USA
    Roll Over Vic Vella

    I swear if I never have to listen to vocal performances like this from Bruce again, it'll be too soon. Yeah don't sugar coat it...it sucks.
     
  18. Cheevyjames

    Cheevyjames Forum Resident

    Location:
    Graham, NC
    Great minds! Yeah, good call on bringing Birch back to produce this hypothetical live album. I'm so with you on Steve making so many bad decisions. He really seemed to become a control freak and lose the plot.

    I actually like this artwork, for both albums. It didn't tell a story like the 80's artwork did, but it's loads better than all of his work from NP & FOTD. It's better quality than the crap like Be Quick or Daughter. I was so psyched when they came out and both were full of new Riggs artwork. I had feared that the band was forever done with him after Melvyn Grant's cover for FOTD.
     
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  19. Madness

    Madness "Hate is much too great a burden to bear."

    Location:
    Maryland, USA
    I never bought the Donnington album, but I did buy the Live and Dead ones, and played those CDs to death (no pun intended). Drank a lot in those days.
     
  20. SammyJoe

    SammyJoe Up The Irons!

    Location:
    Finland
    I bought it on vhs when it came out and it has actually had official dvd-release and I have it aswell.
    Iron Maiden - Raising Hell
     
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  21. MusicMatt

    MusicMatt Quality over Quantity

    Location:
    California, U.S.A.
    [​IMG]

    A Real Live One
    Yes That is a Derrick Riggs cover. Not quite the standard of his 80's output. I was so excited when this album came out. The local radio station held a midnight release at the Tower Records close to me so my friend and I went to pick it up. I had read earlier in a magazine that Steve really liked this release because he said it sounds like you're there. None of that studio trickery. He said this is what you hear at a Maiden gig. Really Steve? I had been to two Maiden shows by the time this came out and no, the shows did NOT sound like this muddy, boxed in, can't breath sound of this recording. The audience sound level of these discs are deafening. I have bootlegs that sound better. Stay off the mixing board Steve. Can you imagine being a kid that just read Steve's comments about the mix of this and who had never heard LAD and this was your first Maiden live album? You'd never want to go see them perform live.
    With all that being said, there are some good performances here. I really like Be Quick, Madness, Evil and Fear. Hearing Fear of the Dark live with the crowd providing back up choir was a revelation and as I said earlier, a setlist game-changer. No wonder it was released as the single for the album
    [​IMG]
    To further my disappointment the album featured tracks recorded from all over and even though the editing is seamless, it pulls me out of the moment. 1.5/5
     
  22. SammyJoe

    SammyJoe Up The Irons!

    Location:
    Finland
    I got "A Real Live One" and "A Real Dead" first on cassette when they came out, not sure why but did and then a bit later I bought cd.
    Im not really sure, but for some reason as I had bought every single vinyl and singles (and stuff) I never bought these 2 live-albums or Donington on vinyl.
    I got all the rest originals, reissues whatsoever be it vinyl or cd, but never had these 3 on vinyl. Unfornately, if I had been wiser I would have bought and for what it's known, it doesn't look like their yet going to reissue them on vinyl.
    Sure, I still could get them second hand but not sure if I really feel like I really need them, especially when the Donington one has really fragile cover, I've seen copies that got ringwear very easily.
    Anyways, Im trying soon to write few lines here about those and catching up here.
     
  23. Madness

    Madness "Hate is much too great a burden to bear."

    Location:
    Maryland, USA
    Getting ready for the next discussion with a listen to The X Factor in 24 bit.
     
  24. MusicMatt

    MusicMatt Quality over Quantity

    Location:
    California, U.S.A.
    [​IMG]

    A Real Dead One

    This release was announced around the same time that it was announced that Bruce was leaving. A goodbye album as it were. Much better Riggs artwork. The background harkens back to the early eighties albums. Perhaps Steve listened to the criticisms of ARLO because this sounds better. Not much better but still. Cool setlist. Transylvania? Where Eagles Dare? Prowler? Heck yeah! I wish these gems were on the setlist when I saw them. Anyway, much better that the previous effort but I can't shake the off-putting feeling of different cities all woven together to create a full show. 2/5
     
  25. MusicMatt

    MusicMatt Quality over Quantity

    Location:
    California, U.S.A.
    A few more thoughts. The "A Real Live Tour" had a much better setlist than the "Fear of the Dark Tour." Wasting Love live, why oh why did everyone use those plastic-backed Ovation acoustics back in the 90's. Horrible sound. Raising Hell comments coming soon.
     
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