Poll

What are your favorites of these Iron Maiden songs?

Strange World
11 (4.5%)
Innocent Exile
5 (2.1%)
Twilight Zone
4 (1.7%)
Invaders
14 (5.8%)
The Prisoner
25 (10.3%)
Die With Your Boots On
17 (7%)
Sun and Steel
6 (2.5%)
The Duellists
11 (4.5%)
Sea of Madness
23 (9.5%)
The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner
14 (5.8%)
The Prophecy
13 (5.4%)
Run Silent Run Deep
6 (2.5%)
Judas Be My Guide
12 (5%)
Look For the Truth
3 (1.2%)
The Unbeliever
6 (2.5%)
Lightning Strikes Twice
4 (1.7%)
The Educated Fool
5 (2.1%)
The Fallen Angel
11 (4.5%)
Montsegur
17 (7%)
New Frontier
2 (0.8%)
The Pilgrim
4 (1.7%)
Out of the Shadows
4 (1.7%)
Mother of Mercy
8 (3.3%)
The Alchemist
6 (2.5%)
When the River Runs Deep
6 (2.5%)
The Man Of Sorrows
5 (2.1%)

Total Members Voted: 36

Author Topic: Iron Maiden Discography Thread: Senjutsu  (Read 183546 times)

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Offline TAC

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Re: Iron Maiden Discography Thread: Dance of Death (2003 - 04)
« Reply #1540 on: December 03, 2017, 01:19:23 PM »
It's a shame though because it's probably their best stage show ever and probably the best source material for a live DVD. 

I totally agree.

I have zero issue with the performances.
would have thought the same thing but seeing the OP was TAC i immediately thought Maiden or DT related
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Offline cramx3

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Re: Iron Maiden Discography Thread: Dance of Death (2003 - 04)
« Reply #1541 on: December 04, 2017, 08:44:13 AM »
It's a tough comparison going against the Reunion era DVDs.  They are all so good IMO or special in their own ways.  DotR definitely suffers from the editting, but the performance and theatrics of that show really help make it still a solid DVD IMO.  It is the worst of the era, but I still enjoy it.

Offline Architeuthis

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Re: Iron Maiden Discography Thread: Dance of Death (2003 - 04)
« Reply #1542 on: December 04, 2017, 11:05:18 AM »
The DVD editing on En Vivo is all over the place, camera angles changing all to quickly. It takes away from the concert feel from what was a fantastic show!
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Offline Mosh

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Re: Iron Maiden Discography Thread: Dance of Death (2003 - 04)
« Reply #1543 on: December 04, 2017, 12:10:51 PM »
I never spent much time with En Vivo. I thought the TFF 2011 setlist was kinda disappointing compared to 2010 and I already experienced the stage show in person so I only really checked it out for the new songs. I think to this day I’ve watched the video once and listened to the album on the new vinyl release this year. But I remember thinking it was among the better live releases from this era, although there’s a disappointingly small number of them.
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Offline cramx3

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Re: Iron Maiden Discography Thread: Dance of Death (2003 - 04)
« Reply #1544 on: December 04, 2017, 12:15:37 PM »
En Vivo is probably their best video in terms of quality.  TFF is my least favorite reunion era album so to me, the setlist is a bit lacking, but it's visually probably the best.  The large stadium and crazy crowd, enjoyable camera views (IMO), and just great clarity on blu-ray.

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Re: Iron Maiden Discography Thread: Dance of Death (2003 - 04)
« Reply #1545 on: December 04, 2017, 02:12:51 PM »
I've realized that I never really gave Death On The Road a real chance from an audio perspective. I recall the video causing a migraine and my eyes to bleed out from the frenetic editing. I suppose that I should revisit it as I do have the CD's. I sort of wrote the whole thing off due to the video.
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Offline El Barto

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Re: Iron Maiden Discography Thread: Dance of Death (2003 - 04)
« Reply #1546 on: December 04, 2017, 02:20:09 PM »
Yeah, it's a shame about the editing because DotR should be their best effort. Great setlist and great stage production. I also like the darkness of the venue they played, as opposed to the stadiums we normally get. Arry's videos are just too hard to watch.
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Offline Mosh

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Re: Iron Maiden Discography Thread: Dance of Death (2003 - 04)
« Reply #1547 on: December 15, 2017, 10:09:39 PM »
The Early Days (2004)


While I’ve already discussed various portions of this DVD in earlier relevant entries, I’ll mention it again for continuity’s sake and because it truly is one of the essential (perhaps the most essential) video releases by the band.

The Early Days was released during the second half of 2004 while the band were on a break and followed the same principle of an archival release between studio albums. However, being a standard priced DVD and not an expensive mail order box set, it was much more accessible to a wider audience. As the title and cover imply, this set covers the band’s history up to the end of the World Piece Tour in 1983. There’s a wide range of material, from concert footage to TV performances, interviews, and photos.

The first disc is the main event and contains excerpts from three concerts. The first is Live At the Rainbow, which was the band’s very first video release. It is pretty much a direct transfer of the VHS, although it’s a very good video quality. The second is a video excerpt of Beast Over Hammersmith, the same concert that was released as a part of Eddie’s Archive. The original intention was to release the entire concert as a live video back in 1982, but the footage came out too dark and was deemed unusable. After fixing up the footage and restoring it, they finally partially released it on this DVD. Personally I don’t think the darkness was a problem, in fact it kind of adds to the mood of the show. The final clip is the band’s final performance on the World Piece Tour at the Dortmund Rock Pop festival. This performance was broadcast on German TV and, once again, it’s pretty much a direct transfer of that broadcast although the video quality is much better than the bootlegs of the broadcast that have circulated.

All three videos are essential viewings for Maiden fans and are special in their own way. Live At the Rainbow is the definitive footage of the Di’Anno era and Beast Over Hammersmith has all of the songs from The Number of the Beast that were performed live (including Total Eclipse) as well as the only officially released footage of Murders in the Rue Morgue. Dortmund doesn’t really have anything that unique, although it shows the golden era lineup in peak performance. The only real downside is that none of these are complete performances. While it was exciting to finally have all this footage on DVD, complete performances would’ve been amazing. Especially for Live At the Rainbow and Dortmund, since no video bootlegs of the entire sets have surfaced. Beast Over Hammersmith, on the other hand, has been heavily bootlegged and can be found fairly easily. Although the video quality isn’t nearly as good. It’s especially strange because footage from both Beast Over Hammersmith and Live At Dortmund appeared on 12 Wasted Years but wasn’t used on the Early Days DVD. Either way, it’s a small complaint and does not take away from the fact that these performances are all worth checking out.

If three pieces of footage from the vault wasn’t enough, disc 2 also contains a lot of interesting material. The main event is the documentary, which tells the band’s early history in great detail. You get to hear about all the different lineup changes with interviews from many of the former members. There’s also some additional footage, including the band playing live on Top of the Pops (they refused to lip sync and were the first band to do so since The Who), a British TV special on the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal that focuses mainly on Maiden and shows some early footage, and all the music videos from the era. The real gem of the disc (and the entire set really) is Live At the Ruskin Arms, which is a grainy VHS tape of the band performing in one of the East End clubs on the day of the first album’s release. It’s pretty low quality but it’s a very energetic performance and contains a couple rarities (namely Charlotte the Harlot and Another Life).

Unsurprisingly, the DVD was released to a great response from fans and is still a favorite. The timing of the release was also perfect. Not only had the band regained a large chunk of fans who wrote them off in the 90s, but they were beginning to bring a lot of younger fans on board too. Older fans could watch this and enjoy archival footage that was previously only available on bootlegs or VHS in the 80’s, while younger fans got to experience footage of 80’s Maiden for the very first time. I remember when the DVD came out, I had never seen live video of Maiden in the 80’s before. I had seen pictures and thought about how cool it would have been to witness it in person. Suddenly seeing a DVD with three classic concerts as well as the promise of more similar releases in the future was very exciting. It’s truly one of their most special releases. 

Tyranny of Souls (2005)


Seven years after the release of The Chemical Wedding, Bruce Dickinson finally got a chance to release a followup. Bruce originally intended to switch between Maiden and his solo work with Roy Z, but there were several reasons why things didn’t quite turn out that way. The first (and most important) was logistics. Since Bruce rejoined Maiden, Roy Z had started to really make a name for himself as a producer and session guitarist. He helped Rob Halford with his return to Metal and later landed a gig producing Judas Priest’s Angel of Retribution, which was probably his most high profile job to date. The consequence of this was that he was busier than before. Bruce and Roy were able to work on a couple new demos for the Best of Bruce Dickinson set, but between Roy’s production and session work and Bruce’s commitments to Maiden, finding a way to lineup schedules would be a challenge. The other issue was a more personal one: Chemical Wedding was a highly regarded album and one Bruce was very proud of, so there was a lot of pressure to come up with a worthy successor. Eventually the stars aligned and inspiration started to hit.

The beginnings of the album are very similar to that of Accident of Birth. It began with Roy Z calling Bruce and playing him some music over the phone. However this time instead of soul crushing riffs, it was strummed chords on an acoustic guitar. Bruce came up with the line “so we go and we’ll not return/to navigate the seas of the sun” and that was enough to get the gears turning. It was the first song to be written specifically for the album and helped inspire much of the album’s main themes. Following this, Roy Z sent Bruce recordings of various riffs in demo form which Bruce then selected and worked into songs. This process was not too unlike the way Accident of Birth was made, although this time Bruce was doing all of this in between gigs with Maiden. One song, Power of the Sun, was written while Bruce watched the sunrise in Japan

I say Navigate The Seas of the Sun was the first song to be written specifically for the album because, also like Accident of Birth, there was one song that predated it: A Tyranny of Souls, the title track. This song was originally written for the ill fated collaboration between Bruce, Rob Halford, and Geoff Tate. Bruce wrote the song based on the three witches in Macbeth and intended on each singer representing one of the witches. Of course the project never happened and part of the reason was that Bruce struggled to come up with more than the one song to properly utilize the three singers. The song eventually made it onto this album but with Bruce as the only singer.

While Tyranny of Souls is not a concept album the way Chemical Wedding was, it does feature many recurring themes in a way similar to Accident of Birth. The album heavily deals with science fiction with songs like Abduction, Navigate the Seas of the Sun, and Soul Intruders dealing with cosmic travel and solar entities. Bruce described the album as the marriage of art and science, which isn’t too far off from what Chemical Wedding was but with less alchemy and more sci-fi. To that end, the space themes are very reminiscent of much of Accident of Birth. The album was originally going to be called Half Lives, taken from a line in Soul Intruders, but Bruce felt the message wasn’t clear.

As with most Bruce Dickinson projects, several songs stray away from the main themes. In addition to Tyranny of Souls, there’s the obligatory aviation inspired tune in Kill Devil Hill, which deals with the Wright Brothers. Other songs, such as Devil On a Hog, are somewhat unrelated but still fit the overall lyrical vibe.

Musically, Tyranny of Souls follows a similar style to the previous two solo albums but in a more direct manner. The more intricate instrumental work has been shaved off in favor of more riff driven simple structured songs, likely a consequence of the album essentially being written as a collection of riffs. The proggier side of Bruce’s solo work does appear periodically, particularly in Kill Devil Hill. The album is also heavier and more aggressive than The Chemical Wedding, especially the first half. This was all done intentionally as Bruce wanted the album to be distinguishable from his previous works.

The remote nature of the writing process also carried into the recording, with Bruce working with Roy Z and Roy Z then working with the rest of the band. The lineup is significantly different than the previous two albums. What most fans immediately noticed was the absence of Adrian Smith on guitar. No official reason was ever given for Adrian not being part of the album, despite Bruce having said several times in interviews that he would still use Adrian on his solo work if Adrian was willing and able. On the other hand, having Roy as the guitarist may have fit the album’s scattered production process better. Adrian is not the only musician missing from the previous solo albums, however. In fact, only Roy Z remains from the Accident of Birth/Chemical Wedding era. Again, it’s not clear why the lineup on this album is so different, but the musicians were all selected by Roy Z. Bruce mentioned in an interview that he never even met some of the players.

The album was released in May 2005, shortly before Maiden hit the road again. While it was well received by fans, it did not have the same impact as Accident of BIrth and The Chemical Wedding. Bruce intended to tour on it at some point with the new cast of musicians, but an increasingly busy schedule with Maiden (not to mention a side career as a commercial pilot) and Roy Z’s lack of availability presented such a tour from ever taking place. Before long, Bruce was busy with Maiden again and the prospects of a solo career coexisting with Maiden faded like an old dream. It would be another ten years before any indication of new solo work came about, but we’ll get to that later.

Expect Eddie Rips Up the World and Bruce Dickinson Anthology later this weekend.
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Offline PowerSlave

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Re: Iron Maiden Discography Thread: The Early Days and A Tyranny of Souls (2005)
« Reply #1548 on: December 15, 2017, 10:54:05 PM »
This is completely personal taste, and not in any way a criticism of the write-up. I feel like CW is a heavier record, but I can definitely understand your viewpoint on this album being heavier. They do come out with some heavy riffs on this one.

I enjoy this record as much as AoB, but I'm not sure how any people feel about it. River of no Return, and Devil on a Hog are my favorite tracks.
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Offline Mladen

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Re: Iron Maiden Discography Thread: The Early Days and A Tyranny of Souls (2005)
« Reply #1549 on: December 15, 2017, 11:27:21 PM »
The Early Days DVD is one of my favorites as well, particularly because of the documentary. I must have watched it a hundred times, it's truly spectacular.

A Tyranny of souls isn't one of my favorite solo albums by Bruce (I think the only one I like less is Tattooed millionaire), but it has its share of fantastic songs. Navigate the seas of the sun is a masterpiece and his best ballad, his high pitched backing vocals during the ending almost bring me to tears every time I hear that section. Abduction, Power of the sun and Devil on a hog are also great rockers.

Offline Anguyen92

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Re: Iron Maiden Discography Thread: The Early Days and A Tyranny of Souls (2005)
« Reply #1550 on: December 16, 2017, 12:00:09 AM »
Going back related to Dance of Death, I actually took the time listening to Paschendale for the first times this week.  With Iron Maiden's very lofty standards in creating quality lengthy songs and people really liking this particular song, I was thinking there was no way that this song can live up to these expectations I set in my mind, but somehow it did.  It's just a very great song and for 8:30 minutes, it never was boring to me at all.  Bruce's vocals came in at the right moments and the instrumentals sections and solos never felt long and boring at all.

It was just great that Iron Maiden can create this kind of song of great quality around 15-20 years after their "classic" line-up and they just keep creating these kinds of songs in later albums as well.

Offline MirrorMask

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Re: Iron Maiden Discography Thread: The Early Days and A Tyranny of Souls (2005)
« Reply #1551 on: December 16, 2017, 06:23:09 AM »
THE EARLY DAYS

Fantastic DVD. Nothing to add to Mosh's excellent recap - the performances are historical gems (Eddie getting his head bashed in by Dave Murray's guitar  :lol he had a spare one to destroy but he was caught in the moment and actually destroyed his "real" one), even if they are not complete. And the documentary is top notch, definitively essential for anyone interested in how the band came to be.

TYRANNY OF SOULS

Great album! It does not top Chemical Wedding but then again, what does? it's the perfect follow up to that historical record and a nice and concise collection of great songs. All I knew about the album was that the title track was born for the Trinity project, didn't know the specific details of how it came to be!

All the songs on here are great. Believil maybe is the only expendable tune, but the rest rules. Devil on a Hog should win the "Best song that doesn't fit the rest of the album" award, it's so catchy and addictive, and Kill Devil Hill shows that you don't need 10 minutes and an endless line of repeated choruses to make an epic. The title track is up there with his very best material, Soul Intruders is possibly even better than Starchildren (as far as sci-fi-ish songs following the opener), and Mars Within is an excellent opener.

Also, one word for the japanese bonus track, Eternal - very trippy and Floyd-ish tune, '70s vibe, with a stellar and melanchonic performance by Bruce. Not to be missed!
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Offline Mladen

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Re: Iron Maiden Discography Thread: The Early Days and A Tyranny of Souls (2005)
« Reply #1552 on: December 16, 2017, 06:27:37 AM »
Devil on a Hog should win the "Best song that doesn't fit the rest of the album" award, it's so catchy and addictive.00
I was always bothered by that song in the context of the album, it really doesn't belong there. However, it's still a fun song, I enjoy it quite abit when I play it on its own.

Offline TAC

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Re: Iron Maiden Discography Thread: The Early Days and A Tyranny of Souls (2005)
« Reply #1553 on: December 17, 2017, 10:22:20 AM »
The Early Days is essential. Such a great look back.




It's not that I don't like Tyranny Of Souls.  It just doesn't seem to have the same pull on me that AOB and TCW have. I do think that Navigate The Seas Of The Sun is the standout track and would easily make my Bruce Compilation CD, which come to think of it, I may make today!
would have thought the same thing but seeing the OP was TAC i immediately thought Maiden or DT related
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Offline Mosh

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Re: Iron Maiden Discography Thread: The Early Days and A Tyranny of Souls (2005)
« Reply #1554 on: December 17, 2017, 02:00:46 PM »
My problem with Tyranny of Souls is that it's quite clearly a side project. The songs sound like they were pulled together pretty quickly and while none of it is bad, most of it also feels like Chemical Wedding rejects. It's all pretty good, but nothing overly spectacular. Although I will say it's more consistent than most of his albums. The only subpar song is Believil, whereas the other albums have at least 2 clunkers. Unfortunately, the only song that comes close to his previous standard of greatness is Kill Devil Hill.

When he makes the next solo album, I hope he dedicates more time and focus on it. It probably means we have to wait until Maiden call it quits, but I think it's worth the wait if we get something at the level of Chemical Wedding/Accident of Birth. If Eternity Should Fail really sets the bar high though. That song alone is better than anything on Tyranny of Souls.
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Offline TAC

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Re: Iron Maiden Discography Thread: The Early Days and A Tyranny of Souls (2005)
« Reply #1555 on: December 17, 2017, 02:29:58 PM »
  If Eternity Should Fail really sets the bar high though. That song alone is better than anything on Tyranny of Souls.

Personally, I don't think Eternity is that great. Has a great opening and a great solo section, but that's it. The song seems pretty chopped together and has a weak chorus.
would have thought the same thing but seeing the OP was TAC i immediately thought Maiden or DT related
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Offline Mosh

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Re: Iron Maiden Discography Thread: The Early Days and A Tyranny of Souls (2005)
« Reply #1556 on: December 17, 2017, 07:37:23 PM »
Eddie Rips Up the World Tour/The Early Days Tour (2005)


Following the newly established pattern of a “greatest hits” tour before a new album, Maiden returned to the road to promote the newly released Early Days DVD. The tour had two names: sometimes it was advertised as The Early Days tour and sometimes it was advertised as Eddie Rips Up the World tour (usually accompanied by Piece of Mind era imagery). Naming aside, the tour promotion made it obvious that Maiden would be focusing on their history again. To that end, The Early Days Tour marked the first of three “history” tours, a term used by both fans and the band. The “history” tours focused on a specific era of the band’s history and coincided with the release of a vintage DVD, which in this case was The Early Days. Where the other two history tours were focused on specific eras from the 80s, The Early Days Tour was focused more on the general period of 1980 to 1983. The stage set was very similar to Give Me Ed Til I’m Dead, with a collage of different Eddies and symbolism from the band in the early 80’s. The on stage Eddies were both based on Piece of Mind, with a walk on Eddie in a straight jacket and a second big Eddie. The second Eddie featured a slightly different design to the Give Me Ed Eddie, but it was essentially the same concept and had similar movements.

The most vital aspect of the early 80s theme was, of course, the setlist. Where the Ed Huntour and Give Me Ed Til I’m Dead tours were career spanning setlists, The Early Days setlist focused exclusively on the band’s first four albums. This allowed for both the usual hits to be played in addition to some serious deep cuts. Other frequently played songs from after the period could also be replaced with lesser played tunes. The most notable omittance was without a doubt Fear of the Dark, which had been played on every Maiden tour since its release and was probably the closest thing to a setlist staple since Hallowed Be Thy Name. It’s hard to say that the song was missed, however, as the setlist featured a nice mix of the usual classics, fan favorites, and unexpected rarities. It was also a well balanced setlist, with near equal representation from every album. While there were some deviations in the setlist that I’ll get to later, the typical setlist contained 17 songs with 6 from the debut, 4 from Killers, 3 from Number of the Beast, and 4 from Piece of Mind.

Among the usual classics were Iron Maiden, The Trooper, and the three songs from Number of the Beast. Other songs which had previously been played on recent Greatest Hits tours but were not exactly common either included Revelations, Die With Your Boots On, and Phantom of the Opera. Most of the deep cuts actually came from the Di’Anno era, which also heavily dominated the setlist. Bruce mentioned at most of the shows that many of these songs would probably never be played live again, which has turned out to be true 12 years later. Unlike the typical Maiden style of opening with something familiar before going obscure, the deep cuts and surprises actually came immediately, which was refreshing. The band opened with a smattering of Di’Anno era deep cuts. The opener, Murders in the Rue Morgue was a perfect opener that was also unexpected. The last time it had been played was with Blaze in the band on the Virtual XI tour, although it was only played at a few shows. Before that, it had been played on the World Slavery tour where, again, it was only played at select shows. Its last appearance as a regular song was, ironically, when it opened shows on the Beast Over Hammersmith tour. Its return on the Early Days tour was a welcome one. Following this was Another Life, a track that also hadn’t been played since 1982. Finally, Prowler, which was a common closer in the early 80’s and was last played on the Real Live tour in 1993. Two other rarities that were last played on that particular tour were Where Eagles Dare and Remember Tomorrow. The last deep cut was Drifter, which returned to its usual slot as an encore tune after a 20 year absence. Charlotte the Harlot was also played at a few gigs, which was actually the first time the song had ever been played with Bruce in the band, but was unfortunately dropped for Wrathchild after a few shows. None of these songs have been played since. 

With a setlist that had enough hits and rarities to make casuals and hardcore fans gush, Maiden spent a lot of time on the festival circuit. The tour was not extensive, lasting just over 3 months and taking place exclusively in Europe and North America. The European leg of the tour was a mix of festival appearances and standalone headline gigs. The standard for Maiden summer tours at this point. Once again, their appearance at Rock Am Ring was broadcast live and now exists as some of the only professionally shot footage of the tour. Their performance in Gothenburg, Sweden, was also filmed and is probably the most popular bootleg of the tour. Unfortunately, it’s best way to experience the tour as the band has never released any live videos from it officially. Some audio was released in the form of b-sides, however.

Rock Am Ring: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=km9sVEgG55s

Gothenburg: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WR0nodWBaIo

Following the European run, the band hit North America. This time, however, they would not be headlining the majority of the tour. Most of the North American leg was as a special guest on Ozzy Osbourne’s Ozzfest tour, opening for (or co headlining with) Black Sabbath. At these shows, the band played a slightly abbreviated set, although only three songs had to be dropped (a more unintentional nod to the 80s when Maiden always played abbreviated sets in North America). The band did play some headlining shows outside of Ozzfest with a full setlist, however. Unfortunately, the Ozzfest tour became very infamous due to the feud between Bruce and Sharon Osbourne. Sharon accused Bruce of taking cheap shots at Ozzy on stage and in interviews (Bruce’s rants made a grand return on this tour and one of the main topics was reality TV) while Maiden claimed that Sharon had messed with their P.A. at several shows. There was also a t shirt being sold that seemed to be a jab at Maiden. The conflict came to a head at the final stop of the tour when Sharon sent members of Ozzy’s family and crew out into the audience to throw eggs at the band while they played. Later on, the PA was tampered with and there were several long moments where the band had no sound at all. After the performance, Sharon Osbourne came on stage and called Bruce a prick. She was met with booes. The controversial episode, nicknamed “Eggfest” was captured on film and marked an unfortunate end to an otherwise great tour.

Eggfest: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqbfTgFzUf8

Luckily, the tour didn’t end with the Eggfest incident. After the Ozzfest tour ended, the band returned to their native UK for a few festivals, including Reading, an early 80s favorite. Appropriately, the tour ended with a performance at the Hammersmith Odeon (now renamed to the Hammersmith Apollo) that also served as another charity event for Clive Burr. As usual with Clive Aid events, Burr joined the band on stage at the end. It was the perfect way and perfect location to end the tour that primarily focused on the time when Clive was still in the band.

The tour overall was a great success and continued to prove that Maiden would be sticking around for a long time. The setlist was very well received among fans and is still arguably one of the best sets they’ve played since the reunion. It would also be the last time that a “greatest hits” tour would be on such a small scale, as they were clearly quite popular and successful. However, while most bands at this stage in their career would choose to continue the nostalgia tours, the next step for Maiden was naturally a new album. But more on that later.

Anthology (2006)


The last Bruce Dickinson solo release that will be covered in this series, as well as the last item related to his solo career released until this year with the vinyl reissues, Anthology is a collection of archival footage similar to The Early Days. Also like The Early Days, much of the content in the DVD has been discussed already but is worth going over again. The collection, spread across three discs, is a catch-all of the videos recorded and released during Bruce’s solo career, with some unreleased footage for good measure.

The first concert is from Bruce’s short Tattooed Millionaire club tour, which was released on VHS as Dive! Dive! Live! The second comes from the Skunkworks tour, originally released in Japan only as Skunkworks Live. The final concert is screen feed footage from Scream For Me Brazil. It’s an incomplete performance, but the best chance at hearing Bruce’s solo career at its peak. All three performances show Bruce at very different stages in his career and, consequently, feature entirely different setlists, musicians, and moods.

The bonus features are also of interest. There’s a Tyranny of Souls EPK, which is a 45 minute interview with Bruce Dickinson. The focus is on Tyranny of Souls, but there’s also information about other aspects of his solo career and his history with Roy Z. Then there’s Biceps of Steel, which was a short film that was meant to show in front of a film called Breaking Glass in theaters. The film is essentially two music videos for the songs Hard Times and Vice Versa. The live footage is taken from the Rainbow Theater, where Maiden (with Paul Di’Anno) would record a live video the same year. Finally, the collection contains all of Bruce’s music videos, complete with a short explanation on how each video was made from Bruce himself.

Unlike The Early Days, Anthology pretty much covers everything from Bruce’s solo career. While it would’ve been nice to have footage from the Balls to Picasso and Accident of Birth eras, in addition to something from the Air Raid tour, there likely isn’t much available and it’s hard to complain when there’s already so much material here. It’s a must for any fan of Bruce’s solo work.

And with that, Bruce’s solo career comes to a close, at least as of 2017. While Bruce intended to continue doing solo work in tandem with Maiden, this clearly became less feasible as Maiden began to tour more actively. Anthology punctuates his solo career nicely. Additionally, his solo albums were re-released around this time complete with bonus CDs containing leftover tracks, demos, and alternate versions. In October of this year, the albums were also reissued on vinyl as part of the Soloworks collection. The collection included Tyranny of Souls, which had never been released on vinyl before. The release of this collection, as well as Bruce’s autobiography, seems to have sparked some new interest in his solo work. It’s also known that Bruce has been working on a solo album called If Eternity Should Fail. It sounds like he intends on finishing it in the future, although it’s hard to say when.
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Offline TAC

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I totally missed this tour. They did come with Ozzfest, but for whatever reason I didn't bother. I would've just gone for Maiden and I didn't want to spend the $$ for an abbreviated set. Plus my kids were quite young (4 & 2) at the time, and I guess I was a bit too distracted.
would have thought the same thing but seeing the OP was TAC i immediately thought Maiden or DT related
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Offline sneakyblueberry

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I remember being quite disappointed at the quality of the Brazil shows on Anthology - haven't watched it in ages since.  Good to have some record of it - I wish they'd had the foresight to put more effort into documenting it (like Maiden with SIT, I suppose).  Great DVD though. 

The Ullevi boot of the Early Days tour is fantastic, such a great setlist.

Offline MirrorMask

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I couldn't miss The Early Days tour for the world, so I traveled to a festival in the north-middle of Italy to see it, I remember there were Slayer and Lacuna Coil among others as supporters.

The show was fantastic, and after two missed opportunities (Bruce solo in Wacken 2002 and Maiden in Italy 2003 - but I was in Germany for the Blind Guardian Open Air), I finally got to hear Revelations live, the song that back in 1995, as a compilation cassette closer made by a friend, had the honour of starting the avalanche effect that would have made me love Bruce's voice, and therefore Maiden, and therefore heavy metal in general.

The setlist was great - as pointed out, so many gems (Another Life is by far the deepest cut they've ever played this side of the reunion), maybe The Number of the Beast got the short end of the stick since they played the three classics and nothing else, but we could debate forever about which songs should have made the set - in the grand scheme of things, it was a fantastic setlist and the best, material > time period wise, of the history tours.

And screw Sharon Osbourne. Whatever right she had in criticize a guest that was taking shot at their host, she completely threw it away acting like a childish and petty scorned person. Rod Smallwood's comments about the situations spoke volumes about the integrity of the band, and let's not forget how they soldiered through the whole set without ever faltering, and with Bruce standing front stage with the english flag during The Trooper, screaming "This is a fucking english flag and these colors don't fucking run from you, asswipes"  :metal (hence the song on AMOLAD, but of course with an historical theme - I'm sure the inspiration came from this).
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Offline Mladen

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I was never that well informed about the whole Eggfest thing. I'm aware that Bruce apparently took cheap shots at Ozzy during the tour, but I never saw footage of it or heard any of the bashing on bootlegs. I'm not surprised if that is the case, though - Bruce has always been a bit of a loudmouth. Not that that justifies Sharon's behaviour, she was just as childish in her response. I've always admired people who show class instead of reacting to bashing with just as shameful acting.

Offline wolfking

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TOS is no CW or AOB but it's a very worthy follow up if you ask me.  Shame H isn't involved and it does sound a bit thrown together, but a very enjoyable album.
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Offline Cyclopssss

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Early days is brilliant. The documentary alone is worth the price of purchase. All the stories of auditioning guitarplayers and singers and the early footage of Ruskin Arms. You can smell the sweat and adrenaline through the tv screen. Also, the Marquee bits are fantastic.
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Offline MirrorMask

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All the stories of auditioning guitarplayers and singers and the early footage of Ruskin Arms. You can smell the sweat and adrenaline through the tv screen.

Was it there at the Ruskin Arms gig that Andy Taylor went to see them to check them out, and deciding to sign them anyway without even actually seeing them, being content with the sight of the packed venue fill of headbanging people? :lol
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Offline Grappler

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Early Days - loved the DVD when it came out, but I haven't really watched it in a long time.  I think I skimmed through it over the summer, but prior to that, it had been years since I put it on.  My favorite was the Piece of Mind era show, and have to laugh at Bruce waving around a tiny flag during The Trooper after having seen him with full-size flags in current times.

Early Days Tour - missed this one, and I'm not sure why.  Probably because it was the Ozzfest tour and other than Maiden, the main stage lineup was pretty dull.  I saw BLS on the 2004 Ozzfest tour, and those early slots only got 30 minute sets.  The second stage had a good lineup with The Haunted and Arch Enemy, and I think that was the year that Rob Zombie headlined it with a no-frills, no visual stage show set.  But the idea of doing a historical tour was fantastic, and kudos to the band and their management for putting such long-term planning together.

Tyranny of Souls & Anthology - I love the album, but like everyone else, it just can't compete with Accident of Birth and Chemical Wedding.  But any Bruce solo album in this vein is better than so many other albums.  I bought the Anthology set in 2008, the day after seeing Maiden on the SBIT tour, but was completely unimpressed.  The older shows didn't have my interest, since I didn't own any of his pre-AOB records.  The Scream for Me show is awesome, but the video was only from the internal venue monitors, so it was severely lacking.  Fun to watch once, but not really interesting. Same goes for the studio videos.  With the proliferation of Youtube, there's no point in putting on a DVD to watch music videos anymore.  I sold the Anthology dvd when I purged some of my collection about 3-4 years ago.

Offline cramx3

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Some thoughts since I didn't share from the previous post:

Early Years DVD - I need to watch this again.  I had been a new fan when this came out and I think the documentary was a bit long and depth from years that I was too unfamiliar with as a fan (being I had just become a fan, mostly based off the love of Rock in Rio).  I found the documentary pretty boring, but since then I've become a die hard fan and learned more about the band and that time.  I think I'd enjoy it much more and have been telling myself to rewatch it, but haven't done so.  The live footage is awesome though.

Tyranny of Souls - I was still loving and discovering Iron Maiden when my roommate yells to me from his bedroom, have you ever heard Bruce's solo stuff?  Which I didn't know existed. I come to his room cause he has to show me a song, which was Adbuction, and I was instantly sold as a fun of Bruce's solo music.  We rocked out so hard in his bedroom.  Now, I'd rate it his third best album behind CW and AoB, but this is a very solid album.  Navigate the Seas of the Sun is maybe his most beautiful song. 

Early Years Tour - This was my first time seeing Iron Maiden, at an Ozzfest in NJ.  My buddy couldn't go so I was kind of hesitant to go to this big show by myself, but the night before my other friend called saying his friend, who worked as some sort of promoter for the show, needed people to work the Ozzfest and would get free tickets for doing so.  So sure, I did this with two other friends.  We handed out promotional flyers before the concert started in the parking lots that had all the set times for the band.  I really enjoyed doing this.  Since Ozzfest starts early, we were roaming the lots at like 8 am giving these out to people already drinking, but everyone was so friendly and happy because everyone wants the set times during a festival.  People were just giving me beer they were so happy to get these flyers.  I was only 20 at the time  :lol   The best part was I had in/out privelages for the day.  So after seeing some of the opening bands, including seeing Will Smith who was there supporting his wife's metal band (Yes Jada Pinkett Smith sang in a metal band called Wicked Wisdom) I took a nap at home and came back in time for Mudvane, Iron Maiden, and Black Sabbath.  I was bummed for got a shorter setlist without some of the gems from the full show, but I had such a blast and was totally sold on the Iron Maiden live show. 

Anthology - Got to say, I was and am kind of bummed by this release.  It's actually exactly what I expected it to be, I had known the Brazil show was really just a bootleg, but while this is great for having so much in one package, it really comes down to quantity vs. quality.  Nothing on this is quality IMO.  I haven't touched this since I bought it and watched it all once.  I found the Dive Dive Dive show to be the best in terms of quality but featured some of my least favorite of Bruce's solo music.  I would still say to check it out of you are a die hard fan like myself, but this release really just does nothing for me in terms of enjoying watching it on any regular basis.

Offline Ben_Jamin

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About Eggfest...that wasn't the last show of the tour. Because I remember it and was pissed off. That incident happened the date before Ozzfest came to Albuquerque, I was excited to see Maiden and Ozzy, plus Mudvayne in one show. Then heard what happened and Maiden was dropped for....Velvet Revolver. I got sad but still went, glad I did cause its the only time I got to see Scott Weiland.
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Offline MirrorMask

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Are you sure? I wasn't there obviously but it only makes sense that they planned the attack for the last gig Maiden was with Ozzfest, since there would have been no other concerts after that - so that they could not "retaliate" and at the same time avoid some very awkward business discussions between respective managements.
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Offline Mosh

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About Eggfest...that wasn't the last show of the tour. Because I remember it and was pissed off. That incident happened the date before Ozzfest came to Albuquerque, I was excited to see Maiden and Ozzy, plus Mudvayne in one show. Then heard what happened and Maiden was dropped for....Velvet Revolver. I got sad but still went, glad I did cause its the only time I got to see Scott Weiland.
Here’s a news post that says Maiden wouldn’t be present for the final dates: https://www.zrock.com/ozzfest-2005-lineup-and-tour-dates/

They had other festivals to play in the U.K. and were never meant to finish the tour, Eggfest was their last scheduled show.
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Offline Ben_Jamin

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About Eggfest...that wasn't the last show of the tour. Because I remember it and was pissed off. That incident happened the date before Ozzfest came to Albuquerque, I was excited to see Maiden and Ozzy, plus Mudvayne in one show. Then heard what happened and Maiden was dropped for....Velvet Revolver. I got sad but still went, glad I did cause its the only time I got to see Scott Weiland.
Here’s a news post that says Maiden wouldn’t be present for the final dates: https://www.zrock.com/ozzfest-2005-lineup-and-tour-dates/

They had other festivals to play in the U.K. and were never meant to finish the tour, Eggfest was their last scheduled show.

Oh...haha. Either way, I was still pissed they had to leave right before our stop.
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Offline sneakyblueberry

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All the stories of auditioning guitarplayers and singers and the early footage of Ruskin Arms. You can smell the sweat and adrenaline through the tv screen.

Was it there at the Ruskin Arms gig that Andy Taylor went to see them to check them out, and deciding to sign them anyway without even actually seeing them, being content with the sight of the packed venue fill of headbanging people? :lol

That was Brian Shepherd, head of EMI A&R and the gig was at the Bandwagon :P Rod telling that story is one of my favourite sequences from the 12 Wasted Years video.

Offline Mladen

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I love the way that story is told on The Early Days documentary.  :lol

Offline Dream Team

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Early days is brilliant. The documentary alone is worth the price of purchase. All the stories of auditioning guitarplayers and singers and the early footage of Ruskin Arms. You can smell the sweat and adrenaline through the tv screen. Also, the Marquee bits are fantastic.

Love Early Days. Bruce i# amazing on Beast over Hammersmith.

Offline Mosh

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All the stories of auditioning guitarplayers and singers and the early footage of Ruskin Arms. You can smell the sweat and adrenaline through the tv screen.

Was it there at the Ruskin Arms gig that Andy Taylor went to see them to check them out, and deciding to sign them anyway without even actually seeing them, being content with the sight of the packed venue fill of headbanging people? :lol

That was Brian Shepherd, head of EMI A&R and the gig was at the Bandwagon :P Rod telling that story is one of my favourite sequences from the 12 Wasted Years video.
Yea that would’ve been about a year earlier. The gig on video took place on the same day as the album release. By then they’d already moved beyond venues like The Ruskin Arms and the gig was a sort of homecoming for them.

I was lucky enough to catch one of the few North American headline shows without Ozzfest. It was my second time seeing Maiden and by then I had familiarized myself with most of their music and watched The Early Days dvd obsessively. When I realized this tour was themed after the dvd and they’d only be playing from those albums, I was beyond excited. I still vividly remember being hyped for Wrathchild when the Ides of March intro tape came on and then being blown away when they launched into Murders In the Rue Morgue instead. I also remember finding it odd how early in the set Run to the Hills was, but in an exciting way. I don’t remember much else honestly, but I loved the show.
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Offline TAC

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There's a great headline boot from Toronto from that tour.
would have thought the same thing but seeing the OP was TAC i immediately thought Maiden or DT related
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