Iron Maiden - Live After Death

I've mentioned recently that Powerslave is one of those Iron Maiden albums that I didn't really care for, so you can safely expect that the live album that supports the studio effort wouldn't do much for me either. However, there is a reason that this live album is considered Maiden's best.

Let me start with explaining that I'm reviewing the original CD release of Live After Death. There have been two more versions released since, that let you put the whole concert together. The version I'm looking at only has a slim track list of twelve.

I should say that the production on this album is a lot better than the Maiden England show. The low end still isn't there like you'd find on a studio album, but the bass along with every other instrument is crystal clear.

Also instead of reviewing this in the standard way that I do, I'm going to look more at the tracklist itself. Let me start with all the Powerslave songs on the album.

Aces High starts the album, which is a great start. Then quickly moves into 2 Minutes To Midnight after that. That's also fine with me, because it gets a song I don't care for out of the way. Revelations gets sandwiched between two of my favourites, which makes it more enjoyable than normal.

There's also Rime Of The Ancient Mariner, which is a great story of "What not to do, if a bird shits on you." However, during the live set this is a good time to go get a beer. Unless you are a fan of the song, which is really good. It's just really in depth for a concert atmosphere, for non hardcore Maiden fans.

Then the last song form the Powerslave album is the title track, which is much more enjoyable live than on the studio album.

The Piece Of Mind album has two songs represented on this live collection. The first song is The Trooper and the second is Flight of Icarus. Aww geez, two fo my three favourite Iron Maiden songs. These are the two songs that Revelations sits between. They are fantastic live.

The Number Of The Beast, Hallowed Be Thy Name and Run To The Hills are the representatives from The Number Of The Beast studio album. I'm not a huge fan of Hallowed, and I find it slows this album down too much, especially mixed with Rime on the same album. Number, is a great classic that has to be on here, and Run To The Hills is a top five Maiden song for me.

There are no songs from Killers on this album, for which I'm a bit thankful, but there are two from Iron Maiden. The title track and and my other top three song Running Free. You have to have the band's "song" at a live performance, that goes without saying. The show isn't over until you've at least heard Iron Maiden. Running Free on the other hand is the actual real closer. The version on this album is cut down almost ten minutes from the length one found on other editions. Cutting this one down doesn't change the pure energy used to end the night, it just doesn't let you hear how hard Maiden works at tiring out the crowd either.

With all the releases that have come out since the reformed band with Dickinson, Smith, Murray, Gers, Harris and McBrain, this album kind of loses something. However, for it's time it was a work of art.

8/10 - content

8/10 - production

8/10 - personal bias