Best Eddie

Let's do a recap!

60 - En Vivo! - live album - Grant
61 - Hallowed Be Thy Name - single - Riggs
62 - BBC Archives - live album - Riggs
63 - Rainmaker - single - Watson
62 - Edward the Great - compilation album - Adams
65 - No More Lies - EP - Patchett
66 - The Early Days - video - Peacock
67 - The Final Frontier - single - Dry
68 - Out of the Silent Planet, alternate - single - Wilkinson
69 - Different World - single - Greenhalgh
70 - Virtual XI - album - Grant
71 - The X Factor - album - Syme
72 - Visions of the Beast - video - Peacock
73 - Man on the Edge - single - Syme
74 - Run to the Hills, Rock in Rio - single - Unknown
75 - The X Factor, alternate - Syme
76 - Best of the B-Sides - compilation album - Wilkinson
77 - Wildest Dreams - single - Greenhalgh
78 - Virus, second alternate - single - Syme
79 - Dance of Death - album - Patchett
80 - Lord of the Flies - single - Syme
81 - Futureal - single - Synthetic Dimensions
82 - Virus, first alternate - single - Unknown
83 - Ed Hunter - compilation album - Synthetic Dimensions
84 - The Angel and the Gambler - single - Synthetic Dimensions

At the very bottom of the list, predictably, we see the terrible late 90s CGI covers produced around the Ed Hunter game. We also see all the Hugh Syme miniature covers that came out of the failed The X-Factor cover experiment, though the lowest-ranked cover is, naturally, the Dance of Death cover (again, due to atrocious CG that, according to legend, was actually a demo for what the artist intended to create). Other low covers include the ripped-from-the-CG-video covers for Wildest Dreams and Different World, and (sadly) the fun cover from The Final Frontier single. The mask covers (from Rainmaker and Out of the Silent Planet's alternate cover) also clock in low.

Okay, so we hear you, Maidenfans - you prefer hand-drawn covers! Okay, okay, okay. Let's see what's next in our list:

60. Be Quick or Be Dead (Riggs)
Overall: 4.90/10

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Is the Eddie itself that bad? Well, it's not great, clearly in the lower rung of the Riggs-crafted Eddies. The bestial Eddie of this period is fairly uninspired - wearing nothing more than oddly twisted jeans (should we be able to see his belt buckle like that) and a shredded t-shirt. Of course, in this cover, he is clasping at the shocked visage of a banker who is not Robert Maxwell but sure looks a lot like him. The banner at the bottom is one of the oddest. This guy is the lowest of three covers that clocked in at 4.90 because it got 0 votes at 10.

Your votes:
10: 0
9: 4
8: 4
7: 2
6: 11
5: 15
4: 7
3: 7
2: 4
1: 4

Overall Rankings:
59 - Be Quick or Be Dead - single - Riggs
60 - En Vivo! - live album - Grant
61 - Hallowed Be Thy Name - single - Riggs
62 - BBC Archives - live album - Riggs
63 - Rainmaker - single - Watson
62 - Edward the Great - compilation album - Adams
65 - No More Lies - EP - Patchett
66 - The Early Days - video - Peacock
67 - The Final Frontier - single - Dry
68 - Out of the Silent Planet, alternate - single - Wilkinson
69 - Different World - single - Greenhalgh
70 - Virtual XI - album - Grant
71 - The X Factor - album - Syme
72 - Visions of the Beast - video - Peacock
73 - Man on the Edge - single - Syme
74 - Run to the Hills, Rock in Rio - single - Unknown
75 - The X Factor, alternate - Syme
76 - Best of the B-Sides - compilation album - Wilkinson
77 - Wildest Dreams - single - Greenhalgh
78 - Virus, second alternate - single - Syme
79 - Dance of Death - album - Patchett
80 - Lord of the Flies - single - Syme
81 - Futureal - single - Synthetic Dimensions
82 - Virus, first alternate - single - Unknown
83 - Ed Hunter - compilation album - Synthetic Dimensions
84 - The Angel and the Gambler - single - Synthetic Dimensions
 
:clap:

Ok, so I actually think this Eddie is pretty cool. Not one of the best, but I like the difference in design here.
 
I think Eddie from the Somewhere In Time Cover is the best one and the entire album cover and sleeve is wicked cool but the Powerslave cover is a close second
 
58. Live at Donington (Wilkinson)
Overall: 4.90/10

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First of all, please ignore the fact that this image has been "fan made", like this Per Ola Nilsson idiot drew the cover art rather than making something with paint. It's the highest resolution version I could find in a pinch, deal. And yes, he has misspelled both "Donington" and "Clairvoyant". It's truly impressive. Anyway, this is a pretty interesting Eddie, skeletal rather than fleshy, but with wings and a tail made out of guts. Obviously, this was created quickly to fill the need for the Live at Donington re-release, but I think it is decently drawn, if only as a unique and failed direction for our favourite zombie.

Your votes:
10: 1
9: 0
8: 9
7: 8
6: 7
5: 9
4: 7
3: 7
2: 9
1: 4

Overall Rankings:
58 - Live at Donington - live album - Wilkinson
59 - Be Quick or Be Dead - single - Riggs
60 - En Vivo! - live album - Grant
61 - Hallowed Be Thy Name - single - Riggs
62 - BBC Archives - live album - Riggs
63 - Rainmaker - single - Watson
62 - Edward the Great - compilation album - Adams
65 - No More Lies - EP - Patchett
66 - The Early Days - video - Peacock
67 - The Final Frontier - single - Dry
68 - Out of the Silent Planet, alternate - single - Wilkinson
69 - Different World - single - Greenhalgh
70 - Virtual XI - album - Grant
71 - The X Factor - album - Syme
72 - Visions of the Beast - video - Peacock
73 - Man on the Edge - single - Syme
74 - Run to the Hills, Rock in Rio - single - Unknown
75 - The X Factor, alternate - Syme
76 - Best of the B-Sides - compilation album - Wilkinson
77 - Wildest Dreams - single - Greenhalgh
78 - Virus, second alternate - single - Syme
79 - Dance of Death - album - Patchett
80 - Lord of the Flies - single - Syme
81 - Futureal - single - Synthetic Dimensions
82 - Virus, first alternate - single - Unknown
83 - Ed Hunter - compilation album - Synthetic Dimensions
84 - The Angel and the Gambler - single - Synthetic Dimensions
 
Live At Donnington is so different from literally every other Eddie (well... you could say this for quite a few incarnations...) that it's hard to compare it to others. I for one like it in all its differential glory. Evil Eddie is evil.
 
Obviously, this was created quickly to fill the need for the Live at Donington re-release

The Eddie design wasn't created for the 1998 Live at Donington re-release if that's what you mean. It was a design already in place for the Fear of The Dark tour. Used on t-shirts, tour posters etc. Not to mention in various forms above the lighting rig and for promotional pictures:

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Be Quick or Be Dead would have been a nice cover if it had actually been a full painting. Something tells me that it's another case of Riggs getting excited over Roger Rabbit (having had Jessica Rabbit on BYDTTS) and wanted to see what it would be like to have a painted Eddie with an actual photograph. It was a thing at the time, but it just looks lame now.

I always liked the Donington Eddie. It would have been interesting to see what would have happened had they developed that concept further for a full album cycle.
 
Be Quick or Be Dead would have been a nice cover if it had actually been a full painting. Something tells me that it's another case of Riggs getting excited over Roger Rabbit (having had Jessica Rabbit on BYDTTS) and wanted to see what it would be like to have a painted Eddie with an actual photograph. It was a thing at the time, but it just looks lame now.

I know the Be Quick or Be Dead cover fits the theme of the song (with Eddie strangling a banker) but I would have liked to see Riggs a little more creative and elaborate with the "Be Quick Or Be Dead" title...
 
57. El Dorado (Dry)
Overall: 4.90/10

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The other cartoon-style alien-Eddie from The Final Frontier, this one actually got pretty okay points comparatively. It's clear that alien-Eddie is not popular with Maidenfans, and that's okay. I actually really like this cover, but if you're not into the alien look, there's no way you're going to vote high for this particular cover.

Your votes:
10: 1
9: 4
8: 5
7: 8
6: 6
5: 6
4: 10
3: 6
2: 6
1: 6

Overall Rankings:
59 - El Dorado - single - Dry
58 - Live at Donington - live album - Wilkinson
59 - Be Quick or Be Dead - single - Riggs
60 - En Vivo! - live album - Grant
61 - Hallowed Be Thy Name - single - Riggs
62 - BBC Archives - live album - Riggs
63 - Rainmaker - single - Watson
62 - Edward the Great - compilation album - Adams
65 - No More Lies - EP - Patchett
66 - The Early Days - video - Peacock
67 - The Final Frontier - single - Dry
68 - Out of the Silent Planet, alternate - single - Wilkinson
69 - Different World - single - Greenhalgh
70 - Virtual XI - album - Grant
71 - The X Factor - album - Syme
72 - Visions of the Beast - video - Peacock
73 - Man on the Edge - single - Syme
74 - Run to the Hills, Rock in Rio - single - Unknown
75 - The X Factor, alternate - Syme
76 - Best of the B-Sides - compilation album - Wilkinson
77 - Wildest Dreams - single - Greenhalgh
78 - Virus, second alternate - single - Syme
79 - Dance of Death - album - Patchett
80 - Lord of the Flies - single - Syme
81 - Futureal - single - Synthetic Dimensions
82 - Virus, first alternate - single - Unknown
83 - Ed Hunter - compilation album - Synthetic Dimensions
84 - The Angel and the Gambler - single - Synthetic Dimensions
 
El Dorado's cover is one that I used to like a lot, but it's fallen a bit for me of late.
 
Can't remember what I gave this but I do remember trying to vote purely based on the Eddie and not the overall design. In this case, I dislike the Eddie but the design is one of the best executed ideas Maiden had since the 80s.
 
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