Published on Apr 4, 2002
Once upon a time,
Live At Donington was considered to be one of the Holy
Grails for any Iron Maiden fan. Almost like an “official bootleg,”
this very limited release was meant to be a special tribute to the
fans, especially those who had been at the show on August 22, 1992.
I saw this disc in its original format only once – and was far too
cheap to pay the $50 the music store wanted.
Yet the fans clamored for this disc to see wider release – and
in 1998, Iron Maiden gave the fans what they wanted, even though
two live albums comprising songs from the same tour were released
on
A Real Live One and
A Real Dead One. (True, these discs also worked in songs
from the “farewell” tour featuring Bruce Dickinson. More on that in
just a moment.)
Live At Donington captures Iron Maiden just before their
fates – which had already started to slide a little bit – really
went downhill. It’s no
Live After Death – nor was it meant to be. In sum, it’s an
okay show, just not quite as captivating as it could have – or
should have – been.
If you’ve never seen the video release of this concert, you may
wonder what Dickinson is prattling on about during “Heaven Can
Wait”. (Side note: I’ve not seen the video, but I read about what
was going on in the enhanced CD portion of this disc. I’ve yet to
view the video of “Heaven Can Wait” on the enhanced CD, but I’ll
bet it answers all questions.) During the bridge, many of the other
bands who had been on the bill that day came on stage and started
chanting the “whoa-oh-oh” portion. Had I not read about this, I’d
still be scratching my head and wondering if Dickinson was going
off on someone in the audience. Likewise, if you didn’t see the
show or read the enhanced bio, you’d never know that Adrian Smith –
who had left the band after
Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son in 1988 – came on stage and
played guitar on “Running Free”. (A sign of things to come,
perhaps? Smith re-joined Maiden when Dickinson returned to the fold
in 1999.)
Live At Donington commits one major sin – where the hell is
Janick Gers’s guitar work? Every time that Dave Murray solos, the
rhythm guitar seems to cut out, and every time Gers has a solo,
it’s almost completely buried in the mix. Granted, I’ve never been
pro-Gers with Maiden, but if the guy’s in the band, turn his guitar
up in the mix, for Chrissakes. It’s unfair to Gers, and it’s damned
distracting. (I have the same complaint of my DVD of
Raising Hell, the recording of Dickinson’s final show with
Iron Maiden.)
The disc commits one other “sin” – namely, it’s not able to live
up to
Live After Death. Honestly, it’s an unfair comparison to
make. After all, this was a band seven years older with far more
material to select their set from. Yet Iron Maiden had passed their
glory days, and seemed to be coasting a bit on their past success.
I never thought that albums such as
No Prayer For The Dying or
Fear Of The Dark were as good as Iron Maiden’s early work –
though I admit these await re-review in the Pierce Memorial
Archives. And while Iron Maiden brings such songs as “The
Clairvoyant,” “Be Quick Or Be Dead” and “Heaven Can Wait” to life,
other songs, such as “Can I Play With Madness” (a song I still say
should never be played live – it was a studio creation), “The Evil
That Men Do” and “Afraid To Shoot Strangers” all seem to
suffer.
But this time around, it’s not just the newer material that
struggles. Sometimes, on classics like “Hallowed Be Thy Name,” “Run
To The Hills” and “Wrathchild,” the whole band is on cruise
control. Sure, they probably played these songs so many times that
they could have done so in their sleep, but they do sound a tad
lethargic. But don’t blame it on a lack of interest from Dickinson;
he was six months away from announcing that he would be leaving
Iron Maiden, and even states in the enhanced portion of the CD that
he wasn’t even thinking about leaving at this stage.
Even so, there is still something about
Live At Donington that pulls me back from time to time.
Maybe it’s that Iron Maiden does show me that there was life in the
newer material that I couldn’t see the first time I heard these
albums. Maybe it’s that I’m trying to capture a fraction of the
magic that is Donington, and to understand how big a moment this
was for Iron Maiden (who were headlining the festival for a second
time). In truth, it’s not a bad live album, but it does suggest
that it could have been greater. Here’s hoping the latest batch of
CD reissues corrects the absolutely crappy mix of Gers’s work.