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50 Years of IRON MAIDEN episode 19: Best of the Beast & Virus

50 Years of IRON MAIDEN episode 19: Best of the Beast & Virus

GRAB A STACK OF ROCK #111

Iron Maiden’s first official compilation album came at an interesting time.  Many bands release such albums after a massive success, to keep capitalizing upon it and keep the artist on the charts.  In Maiden’s career, the first compilation came during the dark times of the 1990s, when sales were lower and tickets were not flying out the door.  Welcome to Best of the Beast, available in several configurations.  There was a single CD (which we ignore for the purposes of this episode), a beefed up double CD, and a Holy Grail 4 LP set with exclusive extra tracks.

Taking a roughly reverse-chronological approach, Best of the Best contained a new single called “Virus”, unreleased live tracks, and the Soundhouse Tapes reissued.  Harrison and I cover every single track, what might have been missing, and all the B-sides to the “Virus” single.  We also take a deep dive into the artwork for the album, single, and postcards included.  The album itself was a deluxe package with plenty of Eddies to enjoy.

Have you decided that you don’t need Best of the Beast because it is “merely” a compilation?  Harrison and I will convince you otherwise, tonight on 50 Years of Iron Maiden.

Friday August 1 at 7:00 P.M. E.S.T.  Enjoy on YouTube.

Past episodes:

Handy YouTube Playlist:

50 Years of IRON MAIDEN episode 18: The X Factor with Jake (Not From State Farm)

50 Years of IRON MAIDEN episode 18: The X Factor

With special guest Jake (Not From State Farm)

GRAB A STACK OF ROCK #109

For weeks we have been building to this moment.  The Fear of the Dark era ends, and a new singer is required.  After considering Doogie White, who went on to success with Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow, Iron Maiden chose Wolfbane’s Blaze Bayley as their new lead singer.  While Blaze had a connection opening for Maiden, his selection was a surprise to some.  A power baritone, Blaze was not an operatic singer like Bruce Dickinson.  Nor was he a complex punky shouter like Paul Di’Anno.  What would the new Iron Maiden sound like?  We tackle that subject and much more on tonight’s epic episode of 50 Years of Iron Maiden.

For the first time since No Prayer for the Dying back in the beginning of June, Harrison and I are joined by a special guest to dissect this album.  You may know Jake (Not From State Farm) from his appearance with me on John Clauser’s Music Corner.  Jake asked for these episodes (the pair of Blaze studio albums) because of his deep love for this era.  Both Jake and Harrison come at this album from the perspective of having a special connection with the music of Blaze.  Mike on the other hand is more simply an Iron Maiden fan, and provides a sense of balance.  We hope.

This is the longest episode of 50 Years of Iron Maiden to date!  Why?  Because we have so much to discuss:

  • 14 original studio songs including three Japanese bonus tracks (B-sides elsewhere)
  • Two cover songs (B-sides:  The Who and UFO)
  • The cover art by Hugh Syme (two versions)
  • A deep analysis of the lyrical themes
  • Our personal stories and connections with The X Factor
  • Facts and trivia
  • The tour and setlist
  • The Blaze Bayley interview tracks (B-sides) of which we have five segments to play for you

As usual you can expect us to be comprehensive, and we do not disappoint in this episode.

We hope you can make the premiere tonight where I always try to interact in the comment section!  Up the irons, and into the unknown!

 

Friday July 18 at 7:00 P.M. E.S.T.  Enjoy on YouTube.

* I wanna shoot myself for saying the “STATE” of Quebec instead of “PROVINCE” in this episode. UGH. What a mis-speak. So embarassing!

Past episodes:

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🅻🅸🆅🅴 50 Years of IRON MAIDEN episode 17: Raising Hell – Bruce’s “Final” Show

50 Years of IRON MAIDEN episode 17: Raising Hell – Bruce’s “Final” Show

A special 🅻🅸🆅🅴 episode

GRAB A STACK OF ROCK #108

Scream for me, YouTube! For the “Final” time, Bruce Dickinson takes the stage with Iron Maiden, at Pinewood Studios in the UK.  It was a big pay-per-view worldwide TV broadcast.  Recorded 28 Aug 1993, the Air Raid Siren bid farewell after 11 years in Iron Maiden.

Released on VHS on 5 September 1994, the Raising Hell show is controversial for one main reason:  Simon Drake.  A “horror magician” that was invited not to open the show, but to perform alongside and during the show, Drake’s “magic” was a unique addition to Iron Maiden.  Drake had his own segments on a side stage, but also interacted with the band on “From Here to Eternity” and other segments.

Even watching the show without Drake’s segments, it’s an odd one for Iron Maiden.  A smaller stage inside a studio is an unusual place to see an Iron Maiden concert.  Still, history unfolded that night, and Harrison and I are here to tell you all about it.  And show you, too:  we will run a selection of the Simon Drake bits for you to…enjoy?

Tonight’s episode of 50 Years of Iron Maiden ends the reign of Bruce, as we soon embark on the era of Blaze.  Tune in tonight and join the comments!

 

Friday July 11 at 7:00 P.M. E.S.T.  Enjoy on YouTube or Facebook.

Past episodes:

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🅻🅸🆅🅴 50 Years of IRON MAIDEN episode 16: Live At Donington & A Real Live Dead One

50 Years of IRON MAIDEN episode 16: Live At Donington & A Real Live Dead One

A special 🅻🅸🆅🅴 episode

GRAB A STACK OF ROCK #106

Scream for me, YouTube!  Harrison and Mike will be live Friday evening, July 4, for our next episode of 50 Years of Iron Maiden.  This period is a busy one in Maiden history.  The 1992 Fear on the Road tour resulted in a live album, 1993’s A Real Live One, which contained no overlap with previous live album Live After Death (ignoring Maiden England for this comparison).  The point was value, but was that a good idea?  The intention was always to follow it with A Real Dead One, but Bruce’s announcement that he was leaving Iron Maiden in 1993 put the dampers over the whole affair.  After Bruce had played his final show and was diving into making his solo album Balls to Picasso, Iron Maiden released a double live Live at Donington to commemorate the significant 1992 live gig with Bruce in the band.

There was also a VHS release of Bruce’s final show called Raising Hell, but we will tackle that subject in the next live episode.  For this week, we are covering 4 CDs of live Maiden, plus all the B-sides.  That means you’re getting A Real Live One, A Real Dead One, Live At Donington, plus the live singles for “Fear of the Dark” and “Hallowed Be That Name”.  Every song – that is how we do it here on 50 Years of Iron Maiden.

Artwork is an interesting subject to tackle when it comes to these albums.  Derek Riggs was back after a one-album absence, to provide artwork on A Real Live One and A Real Dead One.  Donington was issued with a simple white “bootleg” cover, the Maiden logo stamped in black, and no booklet.  Some consider this release to be an early form of an “official bootleg” release.   All these albums were reissued in 1998 with some changes.  A Real Live One and A Real Dead One were combined into one, and Donington was given actual cover art this time by Marillion artist Mark Wilkinson, featuring a demonic bat-Eddie 1992 concert goers would recognise from the show.  Mark will reappear in this series down the line….

Harrison and Mike will attempt to digest all of this live Maiden tonight, live.  Join us in the comments!

Past episodes:

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50 Years of IRON MAIDEN episode 15: Fear of the Dark

50 Years of IRON MAIDEN episode 15:  Fear of the Dark

GRAB A STACK OF ROCK #105

In the spring of 1992, Iron Maiden returned with new music, less than two years since No Prayer for the Dying.  Album #2 for Janick Gers, and final album (for a long time) with Bruce Dickinson.  It was also the final production before retiring for longtime Maiden compatriot, Martin “Black Knight” Birch.  An historic album, significant in the discography, but of mixed reception.  We tackle Maiden’s direction(s) on this album, the first of the “grunge era” which found bands like Iron Maiden with diminishing sales.  We also had to address the new artwork by Melvyn Grant, the first Maiden album cover without Derek Riggs.

Eeeeewhhh-ZACH!  Maiden began to explore current events in their lyrics, along with some different musical directions, from ballads to Zeppelin-like dirges.   Were they chasing trends?  Harrison makes some arguments for this, while Mike bluntly states what he likes and does not like about each of the 12 album tracks.

There are more than just the 12 album tracks to discuss:  a variety of B-sides are included, such as covers of Montrose, Budgie and Chuck Berry songs.  There are comedic novelty songs (plural!) for fans only, and there are live tracks, plus one rare remix.  We tackle all of them.

As usual, Harrison discusses the tour, and how many of the songs were actually played live.  You can count on us to give you a complete picture of every era of Iron Maiden, and Fear of the Dark is one that makes for good deconstructing.  You can also count on our honesty, and Fear of the Dark is an album that divides fans…again.

Tell us what you think tonight on 50 Years of Iron Maiden.

 

Friday June 20 at 7:00 P.M. E.S.T.  Enjoy on YouTube.

BONUS!  We also unboxed Martin Popoff’s new book HALLOWED BY THEIR NAME: THE UNOFFICIAL IRON MAIDEN BIBLE in a bonus episode earlier this week!

 

Past episodes:

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50 Years of IRON MAIDEN episode 14: No Prayer for the Dying featuring Reed Little

50 Years of IRON MAIDEN episode 14: No Prayer for the Dying

With special guest Reed Little

GRAB A STACK OF ROCK #104

Change.  Though nobody could predict what the 1990s would bring, for hard rock and heavy metal, changes were afoot.  In Iron Maiden’s case, the changes began with No Prayer for the Dying, the first album since the debut without Adrian Smith on guitar.

Enter:  Janick Gers, former Gillan guitarist, but more importantly, an alumni of Bruce Dickinson’s Tattooed Millionaire band.  Even with a familiar face on board, Iron Maiden were bound for change.  Shorter songs.  Less progressive elements.  Stripped back music, artwork and stage show.  And one massive hit single.

Harrison, Mike and special guest Reed Little came at this album with different perspectives.  Therefore, more than any prior episode of 50 Years of Iron Maiden, our opinions differ from one another.  This makes for a rousing, fun episode!  As an added bonus, we have some 1990 Nicko McBrain footage talking about how feels about the “new” album.

As usual can you expect Harrison to go through the tour and setlist in detail.  We will also discuss the four single B-sides:  “All In Your Mind”, “Kill Me Ce Soir”, “Communication Breakdown” and “I’m A Mover”.   We will also appraise the cover art, both the original and reissue Derek Riggs paintings.

Holy Smoke, I can’t believe we have already finished the entire decade of the 80s and are moving into the 1990s!  Be sure not to miss this important episode, and the changes to follow!

Friday June 6 at 7:00 P.M. E.S.T.  Enjoy on YouTube.

Past episodes:

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50 Years of Iron Maiden: Yes, we will be talking about the setlist…

Happy Friday everyone!  As mentioned on last week’s episode, Harrison and I are taking this week off.  Instead of an episode of 50 Years of Iron Maiden tonight, we are re-running the debut MarriedandHeels episode, in solidarity with our friend and former co-host who needs some support today.

The topic everyone is talking about is the new Iron Maiden Run For Your Lives tour setlist.  Harrison and I are itching to talk about it with you, and we will.  Soon, we’ll be recording a bonus episode to talk about this new set.

I hope everyone else is doing well this week, and we’ll see you soon once again on 50 Years of Iron Maiden.

See below for our fun and frivolous “setlist speculation” episode from a few months ago.

Past episodes:

Handy YouTube Playlist:

 

 

 

Harrison Be Thy Name: 50 Years of IRON MAIDEN episode 13: Maiden England post-show summary

Clash of the Titans!  Mike and Harrison disagree sharply on one song on Maiden England ’88 and you’ll see it happen in this live episode of 50 Years of Iron Maiden from Friday night.

In this celebratory episode, we dissect this double CD song by song, including all the encores.  We discuss, and show off, different releases.  We talk about the mix, the video, the cover art, and all the usual details.  We also allow Slash from Guns N’ Roses a minute of showtime to talk about touring with Iron Maiden.  His answer angered some Maiden fans on YouTube.

The lively comments section allowed us some back and forth, and a looseness that we don’t get with the pre-recorded episodes.  For that reason and more, this was a very fun episode!  Check it out if you missed it.

See you in two weeks, for No Prayer for the Dying with Reed Little.

Past episodes:

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SHOW NOTES:

 

Recorded 27–28 November 1988 Live at the National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham

Released 8 November 1989 (VHS) 1994 (CD/VHS)

Length 95:00 (video, approx.) 74:27 (audio) 100:30 (2 CD reissue)
Label PMI / EMI
Director Steve Harris
Producer Martin Birch

1. “Moonchild”

Recorded intro is from album.  New track up for #1 and a great opener it is.  Bruce’s voice is absolutely stunning here, as he goes slightly off album format and lets it rip without rasp.  Baby crying represents birth of the seventh son and is new audio.

2. “The Evil That Men Do”

New track up for #2 and Bruce still powering through, and not an easy song to power through.

3. “The Prisoner”

Back to Beast for #3, and the audience is all there for it, punctuating the riff with “YEAHS”!  Adrian sounds great on backing vocals – integral to the live version.

4. “Still Life”  (single B-side)

Finally a live version of Still Life!  It is everything you want it to be, if you are a Piece of Mind fan.  Heavy parts are faster and heavier, Bruce’s vocals are more off the hook.  He messes up the second last line:  “Coming all the time, now we rest in peace!”  Should be “Always after me”.

5. “Die with Your Boots On”

Solid workmanlike version.  Bruce has a little more fun with varying the vocal line than on Live After Death.

6. “Infinite Dreams” (single A-side)

Wisely alternating new and old material.

7. “Killers” (single B-side)

“Gimme some bad dreams, this one!”  One of the best live versions of Killers on CD.  Absolutely vicious and perfect for following Infinite Dreams.

8. “Can I Play with Madness” (VHS only)

Backing vocals are flatter live (Steve?) but this is the first live version released of this now-classic single.  Bruce throws in lots of extra “yeah yeah yeah-hah” lines.  Set tends to focus on newer songs for the next batch.

9. “Heaven Can Wait”

A song for those who might be worried about their ultimate disposition up there or down below!  Top notch live version of this now-overplayed song.  It was fresher back then.  Faster; drags less especially in the woah oh oh section.  (I also like “That’s it – end of the song!” at the end.)

10. “Wasted Years”

And finally a live version of Wasted Years!  First real time Bruce struggles with the song, but it still sounds brilliant.  It’s a challenging song of course.  Minor differences in Adrian’s solo too.

1. “The Clairvoyant”

This single sounds great live; tad faster.  This is not the live version from the previous single A-side.

2. “Seventh Son of a Seventh Son”

Without any introduction, we go forth into the concert epic.  Replacing Rime of the Ancient Mariner, the song proves its mettle in filling that role.  Perhaps superior to the album more?  More drive, Bruce more off the chain?

3. “The Number of the Beast”

Back to the classics not much to say here.

4. “Hallowed Be Thy Name”  (VHS only)

Vocally awesome – Bruce holds that one note nice and long.  Equal to the Live After Death version?  Vocally Bruce is weaker, but singing it more “straight” without weird accents.  Davey’s solo – bonkers!  Adrian’s – composed intensity!  Pick scrapes galore!

5. “Iron Maiden”

“Yeah let it rip!”  Oldies to the end, with plenty of Di’Anno era rock.  This operatic version of Iron Maiden is fast and fun.

6. “Run to the Hills”  (2013 CD)

Abrupt sonic shift; you can hear  that these are the “bonus tracks”.  The obligatory Run to the Hills is here and there’s not much more to say.

7. “Running Free” (2013 CD)

Great version here.  Pay special attention to Nicko’s drum fills, which are animated and plentiful.  Bruce says this is the biggest indoor crowd they have played to in England.  Bruce does tell them that they are recording a video.  No big long “I’m Running Free, yeah!” section – just a couple times.

8. “Sanctuary” (2013 CD)

A smashing closer!  Steve’s bass is perfect in the – prominent enough to hear his upper neck melodies but not dominant.  Bruce does a short “Yeaaaaah” thing, but not as annoying as before.  Lets the crowd do it.

🅻🅸🆅🅴 50 Years of IRON MAIDEN episode 13: Maiden England

50 Years of IRON MAIDEN episode 13:  Maiden England

A special 🅻🅸🆅🅴 episode

GRAB A STACK OF ROCK #103

50 Years of Iron Maiden arrives at the cottage for the first time!  Like we have for past live albums such as Live At Hammersmith and Live After Death, Harrison and I will be doing this episode for Maiden England as a live broadcast.  Much like Live At Hammersmith, this album often falls under the radar.  It was recorded for a home video release, directed by Steve Harris.  Unusually, this home video spawned one single, “Infinite Dreams” live.   A live album was an afterthought and was not even released as one until Bruce Dickinson was out of the band in 1994, and even that CD was missing two songs from the VHS for time reasons.  It was finally reissused as a full show in 2013; an expanded 2 CD set with the encores restored.

The band were recorded on the Seventh Tour of a Seventh Tour, over two nights in Birmingham, playing a number of new songs from the album.  They also resurrected a couple from Somewhere In Time, and Piece of Mind, that were a delight to hear.  Reaching back to the Di’Anno years, they provided a pleasing setlist full of fresh songs and refreshing oldies.  Harrison and I will break it down for you, and hopefully entice you to give it a listen.

For physical media, we have a CD copy of the “Infinite Dreams” single from the First Ten Years box set, the 2013 double CD reissue, and the 1994 CD/VHS combo pack.

Please drop in and say hello for this special live analysis and appraisal!

🅻🅸🆅🅴 Friday May 23 at 7:00 P.M. E.S.T.  Enjoy on YouTube and Facebook.

Past episodes:

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GREAT Friday with Ash Geisler and Johnny Metal

A record-setting Grab A Stack of Rock Good Friday afternoon was had yesterday afternoon!  With co-hosts Johnny Metal and Ash Geisler (awake at 4:00 AM just to do this show!), we had views exceeding the legendary 2023 Good Friday show that featured, as Jex’s mom put it, “a good view”.

Unfortunately Jex Russell was heading out of town for his Easter weekend, and was unable to attend (though Johnny Metal had him on a shirt).  Ash showed off some cool Australian finds, from pop punk to harder edged tunes.  Johnny Metal’s new arrivals included the complete CD catalogue of Dr. Kathryn Ladano, so we spent a little time talking about brain injuries and the album Anatomy of the Recovering Brain.  Of course, Johnny Metal also brought plenty of metal, including one LP that tied into 50 Years of Iron Maiden.

As for me, I had three main things to focus on:

  1. A brand new record sent to me by Dan Chartrand, from OfftheCharts…and some bonus music, of his own band Dead Culture Society!
  2. A batch of new music that arrived this week.  My thoughts on Epitaph by April 16th, Dreams On Toast by the Darkness, and Rock N Roll Party Tonite by Mystique.
  3. An absolutely epic purchase of rock CDs from old friend Len Labelle.  More to come on this in a future video showcasing even more CDs from the bulk purchase.

If you liked this episode, then join us next week for our 100th.  We’re going to have a party!

 

Good Fridays Past:

Good Friday Afternoon April 7 2023:  @MarriedandHeels and Jex Russell began the tradition for a special episode celebrating California music, Easter manicures, and shiny silver boots!  Our first Good Friday afternoon episode, we did it at this time slot to enable @MarriedandHeels to join us from California.  It was a fun afternoon, and look how shiny those boots are!

Good Friday Afternoon March 29 2024: Top 5 Albums From Our Birth Years with Jex Russell and Uncle Meat.  This was a special episode!  Jex and I wanted to continue the Good Friday tradition, but this was a special reunion for Meat and I, who had not done a show together in a year and a half.  Jex surprised me – and my surprise is in the thumbnail image!  A blessed good show!

NEXT WEEK:  OUR 100TH EPISODE!  A LIVE MIX TAPE WITH JEX, HARRISON AND JOHNNY METAL!