Iron Maiden's Reviews
Edward The Great: Greatest Hits (Average Rating: 6.62 out of 10)
Iron Maiden?! EXCELLENT! Greatest Hits?! Ugh... (Rated this album with 6 out of 10)
Reviewed by
A. Paul Melin
from Derby, KS of USA
[BEFORE VOTING ON THIS REVIEW, THE REASON I AM BEING SOMEWHAT CRITICAL IN THIS REVIEW IS BECAUSE I AM A HUGE MAIDEN FAN AND I FEEL THIS CD DOES NOT DO THE BAND JUSTICE. I IMPLORE YOU TO THINK BEFORE YOU VOTE.]
Like Skid Row, Def Leppard, and countless other bands, Iron Maiden releases yet another greatest hits CD (haven't there been enough already?). While the Ed Hunter game and the Best of the Beast collection had ok song selections, here's where the casual Iron Maiden fan SHOULD NOT start, even though it's more readily available than the previous hits packages. Here's the lowdown:Run to the Hills - One of the greatest songs ever made by Maiden. The whole song is simply brilliant, so I'm glad it's here. Number of the Beast - Again, a brilliant rocker. I'm glad it's here. Flight of Icarus - One of my all-time favorites and I'M VERY GLAD TO SEE IT HERE. A flawlessly executed song and since Piece of Mind is somewhat underrated by fans, it's good that they added this. The Trooper - Another Piece of Mind track! Hoorah! A galloping track with great solos. Maiden in their prime. 2 Minutes to Midnight - One of the most famous Maiden songs and a good one. Great riff that leads into a terrific song. Glad that it's here. Wasted Years '99 - GREAT song, my favorite. While this live recording isn't bad, I would've preferred the original one. Can I Play With Madness - Great song that many fans tend to hate. The Evil That Men Do - Pretty good song. No complaints. The Clairvoyant - AWESOME song and one of the best tracks from Seventh Son. Infinite Dreams - Another awesome track from Seventh Son. Unfortunately, there are already four tracks from Seventh Son and that's overkill. Holy Smoke - one of two tracks from No Prayer for the Dying. Unfortunately, they picked a rather generic one. Suggestion: Replace this with Run Silent Run Deep, Tailgunner, and/or Hooks in You. Bring Your Daughter... To the Slaughter - I know that this probably belongs here because it gave Maiden their #1 U.K. hit single, but I don't like this song much at all. Sorry, fans. Man on the Edge - From X Factor. I didn't like the X Factor album very well, but this one's one of the few on there that's good. I would've also liked Lord of the Flies. Futureal - The first track from the Virtual XI album. Not a bad song, but I think The Clansman and/or Lightning Strikes Twice would've better represented Maiden. The Wicker Man - The first track from the most recent album, Brave New World. Pretty good song and I'm glad it's here. Fear of the Dark (Rock in Rio) - Fear of the Dark is an awesome song and one of the essential Maiden classics. They picked the best version for this collection. Most of the songs here are great. So why only 3 stars? Too much emphasis on Number of the Beast and Seventh Son of a Seventh Son. Like Def Leppard's Vault collection, THIS NEEDS TO BE A DOUBLE DISC COLLECTION. Of course, they already had that with the Best of the Beast collection, but they have yet to come up with a decent collection for casual and hard-core fans alike. I was put off by the lack of Somewhere in Time and even the first two albums. Where are the Paul Di'Anno-era songs like Sanctuary, Wrathchild, and Phantom of the Opera? What about Hallowed Be Thy Name, considered to be the band's magnum opus by many fans? What about their epics like Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Alexander the Great, or any of their live songs from their Live After Death performance? None of those are here. Overall, I think this CD isn't that good of a buy, especially when compared to the Best of the Beast double CD set. Buy this ONLY if you are a casual fan of the Seventh Son/Number of the Beast era, cuz otherwise I'd recommend just buying the albums. Casual fans, buy it if you want. Otherwise, bypass it and churn out some cash for the albums.
Buy this album on Amazon at $18.98
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