Published on Sep 27, 2004
With a stadium that would put the Hammersmith Odeon to shame,
during a festival with tens of thousands of fans, rejuvenated with
the return of two old band members, and armed to the teeth with new
classics, it was unlikely that Iron Maiden could do any wrong.
Headlining the annual “Rock in Rio” festival in Rio de Janeiro,
they were able to show both the highs and lows of their long and
distinguished career.
The crowds anticipation for the band almost leaks out from your
speakers to make a puddle of anxious goo on your floor as you hear
the frantic chants followed up with the operatic “Arthur’s
Farewell,” in the background. A perfect song to set the stage for
the performance of a band that holds such importance.
When the opening chords to their newest hit, “The Wicker Man,”
kick in, the crowd’s aural blast of pure energy shows just how long
many millions of fans have dreamt of such a moment. As the Air Raid
Siren himself reaches the microphone and sings the first few bars,
we’re slightly shocked. His voice sounds like gravel. It is quite
disturbing. We all pass it off, thinking it’s just him warming up.
Thank the powers-that-be that that was the case. Before the song
even ends, Bruce has finally slid into his groove, and his pure,
melodic voice flows with the crystal clarity that we oh-so
crave.
And after that slightly disheartening bump in the road is
passed, we’re treated to some of the best compositions ever
digitally transformed into binary and stored on a shiny circular
object.
The band decides to throw in a few twists to their songs. Some
are quite obvious, like the brilliant new solo in “Wrathchild” that
totally Lazarus-ed the song for me, to the subtle little fills in
“Ghost of the Navigator” and “Brave New World” that too increase
their quality.
Mixing their newest material off
Brave New World with old classics such as “The Trooper” and
“The Number of the Beast” was a great idea. Juxtaposing them shows
how the band has matured in their twenty-plus years of rocking.
However, there are a few minute aspects of this album that
aren’t quite satisfying. For one, “Hallowed Be Thy Name” seems to
be lacking the oomph that it had on their 1985 live album
Live After Death. In fact, many of their older songs seem to
sound less great. But to counter this are the newer songs. For
example, Bruce tweaks the ending of the second verse on “The Evil
That Men Do,” and by not screaming it, he greatly improves it.
Unfortunately, only two songs from the Blaze Bayley era make it
onto this two-disc set, but they are his two finest: “Sign of the
Cross” and “The Clansman.” There is a large debate between sides on
who did which song better. Without taking a side, I will say that
Bruce adequately sings these ones.
The only really big disappointment comes in the latter half of
the second disc, where the massive punch to the gut that the album
had delivered up ’till then seems to have lost some of its effect.
Frankly, none of the tracks sound too astounding. Even the classic
“Sanctuary” hits a wrong note with me.
When the album ends, one can’t help but compare it to
Live After Death. In some aspects, it exceeds its
predecessor, while in others it falls short.
In all, this album is a tough call. People who aren’t fans of
the newer material should stay away (this was recorded during the
band’s “Brave New World Tour,” and has over half of that album in
their setlist). Fans should check this one out, but only after
hearing
Live After Death first.