(Rated this album with 10 out of 10) Reviewed by
Joel T. Dohrmann
from Florissant, Missouri USA
Rock In Rio is a fantastic album worthy of a spot next to Iron Maiden's "Live After Death," KISS' "Alive," and Iced Earth's "Alive In Athens." From the opening track, "Wickerman" to the grand finale of one of my all time favorite Iron Maiden tracks "Run To The Hills," the album is a non-stop rocker. The disc includes what may be their best performances of "Wrathchild," "Two Minutes To Midnight," and "Hallowed Be Thy Name." I saw them when they came to St. Louis on the Brave New World Tour and was astounded. The use of three guitarists really brought live Iron Maiden to life, and the songs that I had not heard before ("The Clansman" and "Sign Of The Cross") were fantastic. "The Clansman" in particular is even better on the live album. The song is now in my top ten favorite Maiden songs. If you are a big fan of Iron Maiden, you know how difficult it is to narrow down just ten songs, and therefore know how much of a compliment that is to that song. Brave New World is tied for my favorite Iron Maiden album, so it is great to see the tracks from that album on here. But I would have loved to see more from Powerslave on here. Even a track from Somewhere In Time such as "Stranger In A Strange Land" or something else from Seventh Son(...) such as "Moonchild" would have been welcome editions. But alas, every fan has a favorite song that is not going to be on every live album. Mine would have to be "Rhyme Of The Ancient Mariner." Either way, the bottom line is this: I bought this album the day it came out. I have yet to even look at the enhanced portion of the cd because I do not want to stop listening to it, and I am currently listening to it for the seventh time through. If you like live perfomances of fantastic heavy metal, this album is a must have!
