(Rated this album with 2 out of 10) Reviewed by
george noriega jr.
from West Hempstead, NY United States
First off, let me start off by saying that I love Bruce Dickinson. Sure, his voice is not anywhere near what it used to be in the old Samson/early Maiden days, but it's still serviceable. The one thing that killed these two cd's is real simple: Steve Harris. 'arry took over the producing duties from the legendary Martin Birch & made his own little recording studio (Barnyard Studios) and what happened? These tracks sound like they were mixed through a coffee can! I'll agree with 'arry when he said he took the best tracks (Transylvania, Prowler, Where Eagles Dare, Remember Tomorrow, Hallowed be Thy Name, Can I Play with Madness, The Evil that Men Do) and what did he do? He "produced" a CD that a college music major could blow away! What was he thinking? His forte is bass playing, not mixing down a CD. Leave that to the pros. "Live at Donington" blows this away (although that's not saying much). The main reason Bruce Bruce left Maiden was because of the ridiculous tyrannical behavior by 'arry (I realize he is the founding father, but really 'arry, unless you can play every instrument all at the same time you need all the other guys in the band to help you). The song selection is excellent, but you can tell Bruce Bruce was just waiting for the tour to be over so he could move on. Janick Gers pretty much proves that he is nowhere near the guitar player that Adrian Smith is (what a letdown; after his amazing effort on "Tattooed Millionaire", Janick looks like he has regressed. Badly.), Dave Murray sounds like he has exhausted his repertoire of riffs, 'arry's bass sounds like a banjo, & Nicko's drum playing sounds like he's wearing heavy duty ear plugs (in other words, all off-beat). Bruce Bruce, what can we say? Your raspy voice cannot cut it on these CD's. All in all, an honorable attempt by Maiden at putting together a "greatest hits" collection, but a pathetic product nonetheless.
