Happy 25th Anniversary to the "Hallowed Be Thy Name (Live)"-single, which was originally released on october 4th, 1993. I say it again, but feels like time goes fast, as I so remember the times around this era. This was single taken of the live-album "A Real Dead One" and the song was recorded at Moscow's Olympic Arena on 4 June 1993 during the Real Live Tour. This marked the last single to feature Bruce on the vocals, of course, as we know the reunion would bring him and H back to the band, so in 2000 with The Wickerman-single would be the next single to feature our favorite Air Raid Siren. I still have the t-shirt with this artwork in my collections, it's actually in pretty good shape but surely it's seen better days. Anyways, hope that we could have some sort of talk around Maiden here. Anybody have any insight or any knowledge on how many shows Maiden have recorded or have in their vaults? For example, The Helsinki 1992 show that has been those live-albums (and FOTD live-single) seems like 6 songs but for some reason the full show still hasn't seen proper release. I thought for while if I should bring any personal stuff here, but maybe I just have to mention couple things here anyways.. Im going to face some new changes in my life next year, have to start looking for some interesting alternatives, have to study a new occupation and apply to the schools for the entrance examination. If I get in the new school then I will have to move to another city aswell. Well, it's not yet on the current moment and mind, but this will be my go to plan next spring and in the mean time Im going to take little looser, do my own stuff and hobbies plus activities. Take care people, Im pretty confident that my plan goes right and I will get the things rolling correctly.
Iron Maiden to roll out “The Studio Collection – Remastered” Digipak CDs I don't know if anyone has seen this yet or not, but just passing it on.
Album Covers Rankings I forgot to do this...(Warning: it's a long thread)... 1. Powerslave - Eddie the Pharaoh! Love the majesty and the color scheme. It also has that campy sense of humor. 2. 7th Son of a 7th Son - Love the simplicity of this. You've got the ugliness of Eddie holding an embryo, juxtaposed with a beautiful background. 3. Iron Maiden - Very punkish version of Eddie, which matches the music. Great detail in the back, especially the beauty of the Night sky. 4. Somewhere in Time - Cover: Eddie looks cool, of course - like someone out of Blade Runner. The futuristic and nighttime art reflects the music, with Maiden's addition of synth. Full cover: Nice work on painting the Maiden boys, and I like the galaxy in the background. 5. Killers - This is where we get the Eddie face we know (and you gotta dig that 80s big hair!). Eddie looks really evil here. Again, nice detail work in the background. 6. Brave New World - I love huge Eddie looking menacing over the city - really nice use of blurred colors. Nice detail work on the city below, too. AFIK, this is the only cover created by 2 artists. 7. Piece of Mind - For such a simple cover, there's nice detail work on the shadows in the rubber room. This is a Maiden cover that doesn't have a campy aspect - it just depicts a madman. 8. Fear of the Dark - As somebody mentioned earlier in the thread, the huge logo on the left interferes too much with the art. Otherwise, I dig it. Nice detail, and Eddie coming out of the tree is a cool way to convey a fear of things that lurk in the dark. 9. The Final Frontier - I'm not sure if that hulking beast is Eddie, but this is a cool cover. Nicely composed with a good color scheme. It makes you think there's a grim story being told. 10. The Number of the Beast - I love Eddie's face and his trademark outstretched hand. The rest of the cover looks like an unfinished mess. The red demon is too cartoonist. 11. No Prayer for the Dying - A step down for a Maiden album. The version without the goofy guy on the right is definitely better. This is a nice composition that needed more work to make it better. 12. A Matter of Life and Death - Not their best, but I like this one. Nicely composed, and I like the contrast of the dull gray color of battle contrasted with the orange in the background. For some reason, the awkward pose of the guy in the bottom right corner bugs me. 13. The Book of Souls - I like the sort of Mayan look of Eddie. Otherwise? Meh. 14. The X Factor - The nastiest of Maiden's cover art, but it does have good detail work. 15. Virtual XI - We get a cool Eddie outstretched hand, but the background is a blurry mess. The kid with the A.I. machine isn't incorporated into the composition well, at all. 16. Dance of Death - Easily the ugliest Maiden cover. What were they thinking?
Hey again, I haven't forgotten this thread but for some reason felt that I wouldn't post all the anniversaries for while. Well, maybe I will do some of them or compile list or something. Might even post a pic of my latest Maiden-tattoo.. But I will leave any of these for some other day, so see you laters here when the time is right. Anyways, Up The Irons!
Do you think that they will get the sounds better on the upcoming remasters? I think it's about time and as we've seen the vinyl reissues aswell, good that they roll out new versions on cd too and replace the '98 editions which already have been on sale for quite long time. I got older pressings and '95 so those will sound great anaways. Now, not sure if it is wise to preorder or just wait for the first reviews. That's the question really, what you're going to do?
Hi SammyJoe, there's already a thread, and it strongly seems that there won't be a fresh remaster. Most likely, they will use the downsampled mastering for the Hi-resolution versions available at itunes since a few years. I saw a few screenshots of these, and they're cut abruptly at the top end. Sorry, I'm not that technical and can't explain it any better, but the consensus might well be: Not as horrible as the '98 remasters, but still much worse than the original pressings. And to make Hi-resolution files only to cut them (instead of leaving some air to breathe) is absolutely non-understandable to me... So, still no good Maiden CD-pressings - or at least, not good as they could easily be (by simply making a flat transfer from the original masters) - opportunity missed once again.
Ok, and hey @el supernauticoI think I've heard those versions (2015), atleast Tidal and Apple Music stream their versions taken from that mastering. Tidal is lossless so it should be same as what will be pressed to cd. Where did you see that screenshot? Please share or point me to right direction. Was it here: Iron Maiden CD reissues? This is happening!* And it's really bad and sad, if these are again new opportunity missed.
Yes, that's the thread I meant. The other one is: Iron Maiden Remasters, but I can't exactly tell you where or if there are any waveforms posted. I saw the screenshots, but I can't tell you if it was in the SHF. Some masterings may be better, but then these are reunion-era masterings... I'm much more interested in the 80ties stuff, and that (most likely) is remastered towards brickwalling.
A bit off-topic, but it looks like I have plans to be in Sacramento next September 9: Iron Maiden Plot 2019 Legacy of the Beast Tour – Rolling Stone
I'm going to wait and see but from whats being posted I'm not sure they'll be a need to upgrade. Well, mot unless you want some cool trinkets lol Thanks @el supernautico there is so much stuff on the SHF that I miss stuff I actually want to read @SammyJoe I quite like the Tidal versions played with MQA on. These have been my go to since they came out (when I don't feel like breaking the vinyl out) The MQA Maiden versions sound great on my big rig but they sound absolutely delicious through my Vahalla2 tube amp and HE-400S being fed that MQA stream. YMMV but I'm quite happy with mine... Haha... UP THE IRONS!
Ok, thanks for the help on this matter. Luckily as I have those old editions, Im secured if the new ones will somehow prove to be total miss. I now seem to recall someone mentioning that the upcoming remasters are from the same high resolution master. Some of the 98 remasters had weird errors, for example the beginning of Powerslave has it’s original beginning at the end of the previous song. The same song played from Tidal has atleast the intro correctly and for what I remember hearing, those albums were fine. I usually listen to my own cd and vinyl-editions when Im home but then if Im somewhere else, I stream those old albums. Some streaming-services still have those 98 remasters (Spotify and Deezer) while some have the 2015 (Tidal and Apple Music). For what I’ve heard the newer ones aren’t as bad as 98 and if that same mastering was used on the latest vinyl-reissues, they might be still pretty good.
Like anybody else, I'd LOVE to have a finally good Maiden mastering on CD, so I'll wait what it'll be - but I won't hold my breath.
Most of us (probably) already have the good ones, the old original cd:s (and vinyl) from the 80's or perhaps '95-editions will aswell work fine. If nothing revolutionary comes out, we're secured anyways. But that would be totally new if some newer Iron Maiden remasters would blew the originals out, now that would be something truly amazing. If not these editions, then maybe some other editions with proper technology and proper remastering with the correct person handling the things. Then one day, you can still be amazed and surprised with these releases..like The Beatles In Mono cd and vinyl-boxsets for example.
Being my age, the original CDs were one of the first CDs I ever bought anyway! But I know how mighty and fat for example "Piece Of Mind" sounds on vinyl, and how lame (or thin) the original CD sounds in comparison. Thing is, classic Maiden never was "transferred" properly to CD. Yes, the original pressings sound best - but only in comparison to all available digital sources. Vinyl sounds best. Not because it's vinyl, but because Maiden never ever managed to make adequate masterings for their back-catalogue on CD. What I want to say is that even the original CDs pale in comparison to original vinyl. Give us flat transfers - or a vintage, uncompressed mastering! Maiden's virtuoso music deserves it!!!
I'm currently listening to the White Album Deluxe and this current conversation reminded me of a thought I had a couple weeks ago - would you guys buy remixes of the Maiden catalog? I have not heard one peep about the possibility, but what Maiden is doing with this latest batch of remasters reminds me of what The Beatles did. They remastered the catalog in 2009, completely unchanged, that complied with European copyright laws. What if Maiden is doing the same thing...remasters (again) to keep them under copyright and THEN releasing deluxe sets with all the extra stuff we'd love, plus maybe a remix. I'm just totally dreaming here, but I would love to hear the albums remixed IF they got someone qualified to do it properly. I'm not saying I don't love how the albums currently sound (the 80's ones, anyway), but I would also love to hear these songs in a different context. Too bad Birch retired 25 years ago.
This is very interesting thing and possibility if it could be done properly. If not complete albums, atleast maybe some songs could be done as fresh remix and put them on some bonuses etc. It's good that you mentioned this here as it really could be something special. The stuff that's been done to The Beatles catalogue by Giles Martin is interesting and wonderful.
Iron Maiden has much less air to breathe in their sound-design... I can't imagine much of a successful variation on how they're mixed... Beatles is pop, and their whole approach gives an engineer much more creative possibilities on how to mix them. Honestly, I'm not able to think of another/better then the existing mixes (except for the debut) - but hey, you can dream!
I ordered the first batch of remasters (that are released tomorrow) of course as I collect Iron Maiden. So now my order has been shipped, so I will be receiving the first 4 in the series tomorrow. Good way to start the weekend with some reissues/remasters or new stuff. Looking forward to hearing how these are of course, as I collect Iron Maiden I have few different pressings/editions of the albums already in various formats. I just had to get that deluxe-edition of NOTB as it has that figurine and exclusive patch. Hopefully these will be fine and I will then of course buy the rest albums and deluxes (of Somewhere In Time, Fear Of The Dark, A Matter Of Life And Death). I think I will continue to post to the more dedicated thread, if anything comes up or feel like writing couple comments: Iron Maiden CD reissues? This is happening!*
Also worth mentioning the new beer Sun And Steel: TROOPER SUN AND STEEL: A NEW SAKÉ INFUSED LAGER RON MAIDEN AND ROBINSONS BREWERY UNVEIL TROOPER SUN AND STEEL: A NEW SAKÉ INFUSED LAGER11th March 2019 10:30 SUN AND STEEL is the first lager in the TROOPER range and is one of the most complex beers that Robinsons Brewery have ever produced; a double fermented lager created with authentic Japanese saké yeast. The idea for the beer, designed once again by IRON MAIDEN vocalist and beer aficionado BRUCE DICKINSON along with Robinsons’ Head Brewer Martyn Weeks, was first conceived during the Autumn of 2016 following a meeting between Bruce and friend of the band and long-time IRON MAIDEN fan George Yusa, owner of the 300 year old, family run Okunomatsu Saké Brewery in Fukushima. Bruce became intrigued with the idea of putting the two flavour profiles together and thus SUN AND STEEL was born. George was able to deliver a sample of the saké yeast to IRON MAIDEN’s 2017 concert at London’s O2 Arena, which Bruce took up to Robinsons Brewery. Having obtained permission from the Japanese government to brew with it, Martyn and the team have been carefully cultivating the strain ever since. BRUCE DICKINSON commented, “This has been such an exciting project. I had a crazy idea to try and make a sake infused lager and over two and a half years later, here we are! I know Martyn and the team at Robinsons have had to become mad scientists to make this work but the end result is a really unique hybrid beer that tastes fantastic. TROOPER fans have been asking for a lager, and here it is. I bet you would never have guessed we would do it like this though!” SUN AND STEEL takes its name from the IRON MAIDEN song of the same name that appears on their 1983 PIECE OF MIND album, which was in turn inspired by the life of Japanese Samurai Miyamoto Musashi. SUN AND STEEL is a hybrid beer because it’s made with two yeasts. A lager yeast for the initial fermentation followed by a saké yeast for a second fermentation. The result? A delicate, subtle fruit flavour infused into a pilsner style lager. SUN AND STEEL, the 6th beer in the TROOPER range, will be available in the UK from the 6th May in celebration of TROOPER’s 6th birthday with the beer available worldwide from later in 2019.
It's been quiet here lately for me..I have to mention it, I've gotten 3 new tattoos since the last post about the tattooing (the total number is now 8 Eddies) meaning now I have both of my arms filled and dedicated to the precious Iron Maiden. Eventhough I have fullsleeves of tattoos now, there's some other pics (besides Maiden) aswell. I might post some pics laters..
Happy 63rd Birthday To Steve Harris! Indeed, I wish Steve the very best and happy birthday and here's to many more. Without Steve Harris my life would be duller and we wouldn't have Iron Maiden. Im forever grateful to have Iron Maiden in my life, it was the thing that has always been there for me and so they've truly changed my life but also been present the whole ride as my whole life is memories, moments attached somehow to Iron Maiden. Iron Maiden has been there for me, every moment when I needed something to give me energy, better feeling but always present and so I was grabbed fully to their world. Thanks Iron Maiden, Thanks Bruce, Steve, Adrian, Nicko, Dave and Janick plus Eddie for making my life better as you've always been there for me. Just had to say this again here.
I got myself birthday present today, guess what I bought? New vinyl addition to my evergrowing collection.. I bought what I found today as I walked around the city: Japanese first pressing of "Somewhere In Time" (S33-1003), it was near-mint condition (seems like unplayed pristine copy really) and it has all bonus-items and inserts: Obi strip, 4 page insert with liner notes and the Japanese lyrics transcriptions, 16 page color booklet, logo sticker, 7" called "On Their Own Words" containing interviews along with 4 page insert with transcription in Japanese, giant color poster... I have several pressing and editions of all the albums already, but this still sounds pretty good and for sure it's among my favorite pressings for "Somewhere In Time"..definitely one of the best!
Okay this is my bad for being such a flake with this great thread and missing so much. I'm gonna need to see some pictures!!!!!!
It certainly wouldn't surprise me for the band to release a live album after this year's tour is wrapped up. I miss this thread!
