Iron Maiden - Live After Death

I recently picked up the DVD of “Live After Death”, Iron Maiden’s classic 1985 Long Beach Arena show in 1985 on the World Slavery Tour for their Powerslave album.  Apparently this had been on VHS for ages (and I know I’ve seen it, although I never bought it) but until now had not been released in DVD format.  The second disc includes footage of Iron Maiden in Eastern Europe on the same tour (behind the “Iron Curtain”, as these countries were still communist at that time) and Rock in Rio I, which complements their more recent Rock in Rio (III) DVD.

I have two caveats about the quality of this, and then I’ll move on.  First, the original double LP included a 4^th side recorded at the Hammersmith Odeon on the same tour, and included “22 Acacia Avenue”, “Children of the Damned”, “Die With Your Boots On”, “Wrathchild”, and “Phantom of the Opera”.  This segment was missing from the original CD release of the album and apparently not filmed, as it hasn’t even showed up in this collection.  The second caveat is about “Running Free”, which Bruce Dickinson needlessly extends by another 5 minutes with that inane call-and-response segment.

Having said that, this DVD captures not only Iron Maiden at their peak, but also the whole 80’s metal movement.  The setlist alone is excellent: “Trooper”, “Revelations” (my favorite, aside from “Strange World”, which I don’t think we’ll ever see played), “Powerslave”, “Hallowed Be Thy Name”, “Number of the Beast”, etc.  I’ve heard “Run To The Hills” a few too many times to get excited about it anymore.  Bruce Dickinson is at his best, jumping around and still in long hair.  His inter-song contributions – especially this bit about Queen Victoria smoking hemp to alleviate her menstrual cramps – are a far cry from “are you ready to rock, motherf**kers???” we usually can count on from the likes of Motley Crue or Skid Row.  Dave Murray and Adrian Smith trade off their melodic, winding solos; Steve Harris attacking us with his Fender Precision Bass; and (zzz) Nicko McBrain going nuts behind the drums.  No sign of Blaze Bayley or Janick Gers; I never liked Bayley, and while Gers is a decent guy, he doesn’t seem to add anything except another guy running around with a guitar.  (Rik Emmitt: “More necks, I need more necks!” and “More frets! I need more frets!”)  Most importantly, the result is not some incessant wall of noise, but a coherent, tight, well-organized array of sounds which all fit together and give us metal at its finest.

Background.  Emerging from the slums of East London amidst the punk era of the late 70s, Maiden finally secured a record deal in 1980 after 3 years in the trenches of the club scene and scraping enough cash to make a crude demo, the Soundhouse Tapes.  After two albums with the original singer Paul D’ianno (not a bad voice, but a bit rough around the edges), Iron Maiden and Killers, the band dumped D’ianno for Bruce Dickinson and took off with Number of the Beast, Piece of Mind, and Powerslave.  Along with Def Leppard and Saxon, Maiden are one of the few bands of the so-called New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) to survive into the mid to late 80s and make it big. 

Tour.  By this time they had 5 albums, three with Bruce Dickinson, and toured Powerslave as the World Slavery Tour.  The stage setup was amazing: elaborate backdrops, Egyptian motifs, and a huge Eddie.  Even the floor had Egyptian designs.  Contrasted with AC/DC’s bare stage with just Marshall stacks, or the Grateful Dead with their “wall” P.A. and carpets on the floor, this was even more outrageous and ambitious than even the prior stage masters, KISS.  This was metal at its most extravagant and self-indulgent, but somehow it worked, because the music was just as monumental, bombastic and dramatic; in other words, metal at its peak, at its best. 

It started in August 1984 in Poland, and continued for practically an entire year, even to Rio de Janeiro Brazil for Rock in Rio I, in January 1985, in front of 300,000 metaleiros, after Whitesnake and before Queen, the headliner, before finishing up in July 1985 in California.  Countries: Poland, Austria, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, UK, Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, Finland (August-November ’84), Canada and USA (November ’84-March 1985, except for Rock in Rio in January), to Japan and Australia (March-May ’85), then back to the US from May to July.  The P.A. system put out 152,000 watts, the monitor system was 21,000 watts, and the lighting alone was 7,000 watts.  They recorded and filmed the live album over 4 nights at the Long Beach Arena in L.A. on March 14-17, 1985.

Band.

Bruce Dickinson (vocals).  Nicknamed “Air Raid Siren”, Dickinson was as much an improvement over D’ianno as a Z06 Corvette is over a standard Camaro.  He’s got a top quality voice, sings so you can actually understand the words, and chats between songs almost as wittily as Ian Anderson.  He’s probably one of the top singers in metal, or music, period.

Dave Murray (guitar).  Along with Harris, one of the only original members.  I love his long blond hair consistently – from 1977 to this day – parted in the middle, and his innocent-but-hiding-some-dark-secret impish smile.  His solo style is melodic; his top solos are “Powerslave”, “Strange World”, “Phantom of the Opera”, “22 Acacia Avenue” and “Revelations”.  Murray is probably one of the most underrated metal guitarists.

Adrian Smith (guitar).  Quiet, unassuming, yet hardworking and competent, Smith is like the Brad Whitford of the band.  He plays off Murray well (they’re old buddies from before Iron Maiden) and they never step on each other’s toes.

Steve Harris (bass).  Clearly the anchor of the band.  He’s a big fan of West Ham United (east London Premier League soccer team), Wisbone Ash, and Jethro Tull.  He’s also the leading writer of the band’s music and lyrics.  There would be no Maiden without ‘Arry.  He attacks his Fender Precision Bass with passion, jumps around the stage, and lip syncs the words he wrote for Dickinson to sing.

Nicko McBrain (drums).  I really don’t have much of a discerning ear for drummers besides distinguishing styles at the extremes (Neil Peart vs. John Bonham) so I won’t comment on his technique.  He acts a bit loony as part of the “drummers have to be the animal” act, but is actually pretty smart and articulate.

Eddie.  Their mascot since the early days.  It’s not clear WHAT he is, or what he’s supposed to be, but he appears in some form on every album, in various clever forms on their T-shirts, and has some stage presence at every show, be it an oversized dummy lurching around on stilts or an inflated mummy blown up at the back of the stage.  Megadeth have their persistent wanna-be Eddie, Vic Rattlehead (better to rip off Iron Maiden than Metallica, huh?), and even Motley Crue tried (for about a nanosecond) to weasel in with lame-ass mascot of their own.  But there’s only one Eddie.

Brazil.  While Maiden struggle to fill modest venues these days in the US – and are only playing one show in the UK on this tour – in Brazil it might as well still be 1985.  They headlined their night at Rock in Rio III (which was taped and filmed) in January 2001, yet again in front of 250,000 screaming Brazilian metal fans.  They continue to pack the crowds in there, a feat they could never repeat in the US.  For a country known for bossa nova, “The Girl from Ipanema” (Stan Getz or Frank Sinatra), and all that soft, tropical music, Brazil outclasses the US and UK for sheer metal devotion, even to this date. 

UP THE IRONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!