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Music : Somewhere Back In Time: The Best Of: 1980-1989
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Rating: 
- Great band, bad compilation
Somewhere Back In Time - The Best Of: 1980-1989 is the latest in an ever-growing amount of Iron Maiden "best of" compilations.
I'm just going to cut right to the chase on this review. To put it simply, this is yet another Maiden compilation - something we certainly did not need, considering Sony's 2CD The Essential Iron Maiden compilation, from a few years back, already fit the fill nicely.
Iron Maiden (1980)
Tracks Featured: None
Comments: How can you make an Iron Maiden compilation chronicling the band's eighties material, and NOT include anything from the first two albums, featuring Paul Di'Anno? As such, the compilation should have been called 1982-1988. It's an insult to include nothing from this early formative period, especially when these two albums fall into the span of years the compilation claims to cover.
Killers (1981)
Tracks Featured: None
Comments: Ditto. Read what I wrote for the first album.
The Number of the Beast (1982)
Tracks Featured: Children of the Damned, The Number of the Beast, Run to the Hills, Hallowed Be Thy Name
Comments: I have absolutely no complaints with the selections from this album. The band has taken the four biggest hits from the album - which are all essential Maiden classics.
Piece of Mind (1983):
Tracks Featured: The Trooper
Comments: No Flight of Icarus? WTF!? The Trooper is a great song, more than worthy of inclusion here. But how they could omit Flight of Icarus, one of the true Maiden classics, is beyond me.
Powerslave (1984):
Tracks Featured: Powerslave, 2 Minutes to Midnight
Comments: Two classic cuts, but why stop here? Underrated cuts like Flash of the Blade and The Duelists are sorely missed. And while we're at it, where's Rime of the Ancient Mariner?
Live After Death (1985)
Tracks Featured: Aces High (with Churchill Speech Intro Track), Phantom of the Opera, Wrathchild, Iron Maiden
Comments: One major problem with Iron Maiden compilations I have is that for pre-Number of the Beast tracks, rather than including the proper, original studio cuts with Di'Anno singing, the way they were meant to be enjoyed, they always put inferior live versions with Dickinson singing, who they clearly weren't wrote with in mind. Still, if they MUST do this EVERY time, Live After Death DOES feature the best Dickinson renditions. Also, this live take on Aces High is spectacular.
Somewhere In Time (1986)
Tracks Featured: Wasted Years
Comments: Much like Piece of Mind, this album only gets ONE track here. It's a great cut, easily the finest song from its respective album.... But where are classics like Stranger in a Strange Land, Heaven Can Wait, and Sea of Madness?
Seventh Son of a Seventh Son (1988)
Tracks Featured: Can I Play With Madness, The Evil That Men Do
Comments: These are the two cuts from the album you'll find on pretty much every Maiden compilation. And rightfully so. They're two of the biggest hits and all-around best songs to come from it. I would have liked to have Infinite Dreams on here too, but no complaints.
There is NOTHING on this compilation beyond 1988. So there are plenty of big hits the compilation deprives you of, namely Holy Smoke, Bring Your Daughter To The Slaughter, Be Quick Or Be Dead, Afraid To Shoot Strangers, Fear of the Dark, The Wicker Man, Brave New World, Wildest Dreams, Rainmaker, Paschendale, and The Reincarnation of Benjamin Bregg, to name a few.
This should have been a two-disc career-spanning package, not a one-disc set that only covered Dickinson's first stint with the band. If you're wondering if you should get this set or not, the simple answer is no. Get The Essential Iron Maiden instead. It's not perfect either, but it paints a far more concise picture of the band's career.
Rating:
- Not what I'd hoped for
I bought this album in the mistaken belief that it was a live album from the present tour, I was hoping for another "live after death". Sadly this is just another big cash generator compillation for the band. I consider myself a die-hard fan, willing to buy anything, but after "edward the great" and the "best of the beast" I vowed never to do the same again.
As a previous review states, the sound quality isn't even that great.
C'mon guys, give us what we all want, Live after death 2!!
Rating: - Not another compilation
When I first found out there was to be another Greatest hits album I thought it was a joke. The best of the beast does a better job of covering a wider spectrum of their career and even sounds better, the 98 remasters for some reason sound too thin.
There seems to be a trend now of artists having all their albums re-released in remastered form, but rarely does it actually improve the sound, it just seems to be a marketing strategy to churn out the music over and over again, its just the same with MP3's, we just seem to be going backwards from a technical point of view and in terms of the actual listening experience.
If I was the artist I'm not entirely sure that I'd want my music portrayed in this way, especially when its targeting fans who have only just discovered the band or about to and they haven't been able to compare the sound from that of vinyl for example.
The actual songs of course are nothing short of being brilliant, although I would have liked to have seen the tracks Wrathchild, Phantom of the opera and Iron Maiden sung by Paul Dianno as he deserves some kind of recognition as he was the lead singer at that all important stage of their career and when they cast their first stepping stones in the music business, and it has to be said the material on the first two albums is quite strong, and some of the tracks are still played live today so the proof is in the pudding so to speak.
I'd be lying if I said its a poor selection of songs, but I just can't get excited about something I basically bought 10 years ago which is when all the albums came out in remastered form, so it seems a bit of a waste of time, but I'm sure it will make lots of money, and based on its success I'm certain there will be a volume 2 and 3 in the pipline.
Rating:
- Somewhere at the bottom of the barrel!!!!
If you're new to the world of Iron Maiden DO NOT start here.
This is a blatant barrel-scraping, cash-in for the current tour from a great band i used to love, respect and admire. And it's all wearing thin, guys...
Are your wallets that empty? Is the record company that desperate?
This is an Iron Maiden 'Best of...' spanning the 1980's...
But it's not as good as the Iron Maiden 'Best of...' 'Best of the Beast.' So go and buy that instead...
But even that's not as good as some of Iron Maiden's live albums, so go and buy 'Live After Death' instead...
This release is really only for completists and those of you who MUST have everything Maiden will already have this.
4 stars for the music (there are better versions available that should be making up a supposed 'Best of...' and it is CRIMINAL that this has nothing with DiAnno on it.)
0 stars for the concept.
Rating:
- Ok, so....
If you're a Maiden fan you've heard and got all of these songs I expect, at least four times over., seeing as this is their 4th 'Best Of' compilation (Ed Hunter, Best Of The Beast, Edward The Great) and a lot of these songs are on their 4 live albums (Live After Death, a Real Live Dead One, Rock In Rio, Death On The Road). The live tracks from the Di'Anno era on this compilation are live for a reason; they're performed by Bruce Dickinson. So this is a good starting point for someone interested in Maiden's world, as it points their fingers to the better songs throughout the 80's but so much more could've been added, even turned it into a double disc but nevermind all that. The front cover artwork is a genius idea, combining the Powerslave and Somewhere In Time covers together. So you're either gonna buy this if you:
a) want to get into Maiden
b) already have the songs but want to carry on your Maiden collection
c) want it cos the album cover is the best one in years.
Not much else to say really. A standard Best Of to get the money making machine rolling. Still a good selection of some of Maiden's 80's classics.
- Great band, bad compilationSomewhere Back In Time - The Best Of: 1980-1989 is the latest in an ever-growing amount of Iron Maiden "best of" compilations.
I'm just going to cut right to the chase on this review. To put it simply, this is yet another Maiden compilation - something we certainly did not need, considering Sony's 2CD The Essential Iron Maiden compilation, from a few years back, already fit the fill nicely.
Iron Maiden (1980)
Tracks Featured: None
Comments: How can you make an Iron Maiden compilation chronicling the band's eighties material, and NOT include anything from the first two albums, featuring Paul Di'Anno? As such, the compilation should have been called 1982-1988. It's an insult to include nothing from this early formative period, especially when these two albums fall into the span of years the compilation claims to cover.
Killers (1981)
Tracks Featured: None
Comments: Ditto. Read what I wrote for the first album.
The Number of the Beast (1982)
Tracks Featured: Children of the Damned, The Number of the Beast, Run to the Hills, Hallowed Be Thy Name
Comments: I have absolutely no complaints with the selections from this album. The band has taken the four biggest hits from the album - which are all essential Maiden classics.
Piece of Mind (1983):
Tracks Featured: The Trooper
Comments: No Flight of Icarus? WTF!? The Trooper is a great song, more than worthy of inclusion here. But how they could omit Flight of Icarus, one of the true Maiden classics, is beyond me.
Powerslave (1984):
Tracks Featured: Powerslave, 2 Minutes to Midnight
Comments: Two classic cuts, but why stop here? Underrated cuts like Flash of the Blade and The Duelists are sorely missed. And while we're at it, where's Rime of the Ancient Mariner?
Live After Death (1985)
Tracks Featured: Aces High (with Churchill Speech Intro Track), Phantom of the Opera, Wrathchild, Iron Maiden
Comments: One major problem with Iron Maiden compilations I have is that for pre-Number of the Beast tracks, rather than including the proper, original studio cuts with Di'Anno singing, the way they were meant to be enjoyed, they always put inferior live versions with Dickinson singing, who they clearly weren't wrote with in mind. Still, if they MUST do this EVERY time, Live After Death DOES feature the best Dickinson renditions. Also, this live take on Aces High is spectacular.
Somewhere In Time (1986)
Tracks Featured: Wasted Years
Comments: Much like Piece of Mind, this album only gets ONE track here. It's a great cut, easily the finest song from its respective album.... But where are classics like Stranger in a Strange Land, Heaven Can Wait, and Sea of Madness?
Seventh Son of a Seventh Son (1988)
Tracks Featured: Can I Play With Madness, The Evil That Men Do
Comments: These are the two cuts from the album you'll find on pretty much every Maiden compilation. And rightfully so. They're two of the biggest hits and all-around best songs to come from it. I would have liked to have Infinite Dreams on here too, but no complaints.
There is NOTHING on this compilation beyond 1988. So there are plenty of big hits the compilation deprives you of, namely Holy Smoke, Bring Your Daughter To The Slaughter, Be Quick Or Be Dead, Afraid To Shoot Strangers, Fear of the Dark, The Wicker Man, Brave New World, Wildest Dreams, Rainmaker, Paschendale, and The Reincarnation of Benjamin Bregg, to name a few.
This should have been a two-disc career-spanning package, not a one-disc set that only covered Dickinson's first stint with the band. If you're wondering if you should get this set or not, the simple answer is no. Get The Essential Iron Maiden instead. It's not perfect either, but it paints a far more concise picture of the band's career.
Rating:
- Not what I'd hoped forI bought this album in the mistaken belief that it was a live album from the present tour, I was hoping for another "live after death". Sadly this is just another big cash generator compillation for the band. I consider myself a die-hard fan, willing to buy anything, but after "edward the great" and the "best of the beast" I vowed never to do the same again.
As a previous review states, the sound quality isn't even that great.
C'mon guys, give us what we all want, Live after death 2!!
Rating:
- Not another compilationWhen I first found out there was to be another Greatest hits album I thought it was a joke. The best of the beast does a better job of covering a wider spectrum of their career and even sounds better, the 98 remasters for some reason sound too thin.
There seems to be a trend now of artists having all their albums re-released in remastered form, but rarely does it actually improve the sound, it just seems to be a marketing strategy to churn out the music over and over again, its just the same with MP3's, we just seem to be going backwards from a technical point of view and in terms of the actual listening experience.
If I was the artist I'm not entirely sure that I'd want my music portrayed in this way, especially when its targeting fans who have only just discovered the band or about to and they haven't been able to compare the sound from that of vinyl for example.
The actual songs of course are nothing short of being brilliant, although I would have liked to have seen the tracks Wrathchild, Phantom of the opera and Iron Maiden sung by Paul Dianno as he deserves some kind of recognition as he was the lead singer at that all important stage of their career and when they cast their first stepping stones in the music business, and it has to be said the material on the first two albums is quite strong, and some of the tracks are still played live today so the proof is in the pudding so to speak.
I'd be lying if I said its a poor selection of songs, but I just can't get excited about something I basically bought 10 years ago which is when all the albums came out in remastered form, so it seems a bit of a waste of time, but I'm sure it will make lots of money, and based on its success I'm certain there will be a volume 2 and 3 in the pipline.
Rating:
- Somewhere at the bottom of the barrel!!!!If you're new to the world of Iron Maiden DO NOT start here.
This is a blatant barrel-scraping, cash-in for the current tour from a great band i used to love, respect and admire. And it's all wearing thin, guys...
Are your wallets that empty? Is the record company that desperate?
This is an Iron Maiden 'Best of...' spanning the 1980's...
But it's not as good as the Iron Maiden 'Best of...' 'Best of the Beast.' So go and buy that instead...
But even that's not as good as some of Iron Maiden's live albums, so go and buy 'Live After Death' instead...
This release is really only for completists and those of you who MUST have everything Maiden will already have this.
4 stars for the music (there are better versions available that should be making up a supposed 'Best of...' and it is CRIMINAL that this has nothing with DiAnno on it.)
0 stars for the concept.
Rating:
- Ok, so....If you're a Maiden fan you've heard and got all of these songs I expect, at least four times over., seeing as this is their 4th 'Best Of' compilation (Ed Hunter, Best Of The Beast, Edward The Great) and a lot of these songs are on their 4 live albums (Live After Death, a Real Live Dead One, Rock In Rio, Death On The Road). The live tracks from the Di'Anno era on this compilation are live for a reason; they're performed by Bruce Dickinson. So this is a good starting point for someone interested in Maiden's world, as it points their fingers to the better songs throughout the 80's but so much more could've been added, even turned it into a double disc but nevermind all that. The front cover artwork is a genius idea, combining the Powerslave and Somewhere In Time covers together. So you're either gonna buy this if you:
a) want to get into Maiden
b) already have the songs but want to carry on your Maiden collection
c) want it cos the album cover is the best one in years.
Not much else to say really. A standard Best Of to get the money making machine rolling. Still a good selection of some of Maiden's 80's classics.