Iron Maiden's Reviews
Best Of The Beast (Average Rating: 8.22 out of 10)
Tough to Rate (Rated this album with 6 out of 10)
Reviewed by
chrisfom
from College Station, TX United States
This is an extremely difficult album to rate. The music on it is many of Iron Miaden'ts best tracks, which alone make for some outstanding metal. While not technically as proficient or fast as say Metallica, as a group, Maiden is arguably the most FUN metal band to listen to, the one I keep playing while my Metallica CDs get far more limited play.So, on the one hand, you have a 5 star band playing 5 star music. So, why only 3 stars for the album? One word, and it's been said before. Slection. There is no way a group like Maiden can pack all their hits into 1 CD, and this one runs a whopping 78 minutes (a CD maxes out at 80). Still, though, one feels like it's not a good cross section. There are the songs that HAVE to be there, Aces High, Run to the Hills,The Trooper, Hallowed be Thy Name, Running Free (albeit a live version with Bruce rather than the Di'Anno roiginal), and 2 Minutes to Midnight. You can't do a Maiden "Best of" without those. At that point, however, questions arise. While commercially popular, Can I play with Madness and Bring Your Daughter (the Iron Maiden version, the Bruce solo version rocks) weren't that great. On the one hand, they were both "hits," but in a catalog like Maiden's they weren't up to par. Fear of the Dark is the highlight of its album, and probably deserves its spot, especialy the live version here, it's really good. Virus, as has been mentioned, is another big question. It's cool getting a new song (and an excuse to get Maiden fans who otherwise have every song on this CD to buy it), but it's nothing special. Man on the Edge is a far better Blayze track. Clairvoyant and Evil That Men Do are both good songs (I like Clairvoyant especially a lot), but again, Best Of? Same with Be Quick or Be Dead. Then there's the overall feel of the album. It never slows down. It feels like Maiden is totally one dimensional, just variations on power metal, steady, punding beat that never lets up. Where's ballads like Revelations or Children of the Damned? Where is the most complex, almost symphonic song Maiden ever did, Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner? Most importantly, where is Iron Maiden, their banner song? Best OF is certainly personal preference, but if I had been in charge of this albu, Virus could have waited for Virtual Xi (which it's not on), in its place would have gone Phantom of the Opera (either Di'Anno's version or the one from Live After Deathm they're both incredible). Clairvoyant, Evil, and Be Quick would have made room for Rhyme. And Can I Play and Bring your Daughter would have to step aside for Revelations. And Iron Maiden would have to be put in somewhere. That is overall more representative of Maiden as a group, but still covers them from beginning to end. In all honesty, though, 1 CD is simply not enough. You could easily stuff a second CD as well. Murders in the Rue Morgue, Heaven Can Wait, Powerslave, Die With Your Boots On, Sea of Madness, maybe 7th Son of a 7th Son (you want to see Maiden complex and all over the place), Mooncild, a 2nd CD would be very easy to fill up indeed. However, don't get me wrong here. I take issue with some of the tracks here as best, not as good. For someone who is just getting into Maiden, get this and Live After Death, that should cover most of the bases early on. However, don't do this if you're on a budget, because you won't stop there. As an intro to Maiden, this works, and it certainly still hits most of the high spots, but it could have been better. Given that we're talking about Iron Maiden here, as a best of album, this just falls short of what their best truly is.
Buy this album on Amazon at $16.98
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