The Block Can I play with madness…?

Maybe…

Once again a band has come to me through a compilation. First with Dream Theater, and also with Iron Maiden. It says it’s the best of the 80’s, but woe to thee who agrees. Granted it does have some pretty good songs, like “Can I Play With Madness” and “Powerslave”, but wouldn’t you just want to listen to the real album? Even though it does not have all their good songs it does have a majority of them.

“Can I Play With Madness” off of Seventh Son is definitely one of my favorite Maiden songs and I am glad that they included it on this album. To starts off with it has a great beat to it and has a nice heavy riff throughout. Bruce Dickinson really belts it out which leads into great lines and a great chorus. This, sadly, is one of the only high spots on this CD besides Maiden classics like “Number of the Beast”, “Hallowed by Thy Name”, “The Trooper”, “Powerslave”, “Children of the Damned”, and “Aces High”.

One other bad thing about this album is Churchill’s Speech which offers nothing to the compilation, and has nothing to do with anything else on the album. But, Fr a compilation it’s not bad considering it is Iron Maiden. For their timeless sound they at least deserve 2.5 stars.

AtomicCrimsonRush Woe to you O Earth and Sea.... another Maiden compilation!

The Best of Iron Maiden crammed onto one disk - is it possible? Unfortunately, no. This is only a snippet of what this incredible band has offered over its heavy prog metal reign. There is so much missing here from the catalogue it is almost criminal.

The problem, as with all Maiden compilations, is most Maidenheads would already have the albums these tracks are from because they are the best the band has to offer. However, for newbies to Maiden this is a good satrting point, although they would be much better off getting 'Ed Hunter' - at least that has 2 CDs of material and a cool computer game where you can zap zombie dudes with Eddie's laser!

Once again the compilation does not include the greatest Maiden song 'Rime of The Ancient Mariner' or 'Alexander the Great' for that matter. There is little of the metal prog from Brave New World, Powerslave or 7th Son of a 7th Son and that is a great shame because I rate those as the best the band has done. Instead we have the pedestrian Maiden such as The Trooper, Children of the Damned, The Number of the Beast, Run to the Hills, Powerslave and The Evil that Men Do.

It was a nice surprise that there is at least some live material beautifully produced with Phantom of the Opera, Wrathchild and Can I Play With Madness. However there is not enough to please those Maidenheads who have the albums. Instead this is really one for the new fan who wants a taste of the band, but nothing else.

There should always be something enticing for those who have everything on these compilations, such as an unreleased track or an alternative version or a demo or... something... However, instead the only thing new is the live versions and they are not enough really to fork out for a new album. So in essence this is really a cash in for those who are interested in Maiden but not enough to buy their original material. It would be a crime if people opted for this instead of 'Powerslave', 'Brave New World' or '7th Son of a 7th Son' - the best Maiden albums ever.

In conclusion, an average introduction to the band for those who have not yet been initiated.