Best live performance for each of the staples

Lampwick 43

Lampwick 43

Barstool Warrior
For the songs that have been played quite frequently over the years, which are your favorite live versions? I'd like to keep this limited to official releases, although exceptions can be made for high quality bootlegs/youtube videos or whatever. The only rule I have is that in order for a song to qualify for this, it has to have been played on a minimum of 3 separate official releases.
 
Some personal favorites.

The Trooper: Death On The Road
2 Minutes to Midnight: En Vivo
Fear Of The Dark: Rock In Rio
Hallowed: Rock In Rio, with Flight 666 as a close 2nd.
Running Free: Live After Death

I'm still undecided on some of the other songs.
 
Any classic that appeared on Beast Over Hammersmith never sounded better, mainly because of Clive's drumming.
 
Number of the beast on Death on the road, and Fear of the dark of Rock in Rio for sure.

Regarding Hallowed be thy name, Iron maiden and The trooper, I've got to revisit all official live releases to make a decision
 
Sth2112 said:
Fear of the dark of Rock in Rio for sure
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Ditto this.

Lampwick 43 said:
I'd like to keep this limited to official releases, although exceptions can be made for high quality bootlegs/youtube videos or whatever. The only rule I have is that in order for a song to qualify for this, it has to have been played on a minimum of 3 separate official releases.
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How many songs have appeared on 3 or more live albums? Why not just 2 albums? For instance, the Flight 666 Rime is better than LAD.

Although not a normal concert, I'd say the Abbey Road is the best Hallowed.
 
SinisterMinisterX said:
How many songs have appeared on 3 or more live albums? Why not just 2 albums? For instance, the Flight 666 Rime is better than LAD.
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I decided to make it 3 albums because I felt that certain songs, such as Rime and 7th son, aren't played frequently enough to be considered staples. (I also don't know why I originally had "staples" in quotation marks in the title, I have since changed it.) I am leaning more towards finding the best versions of the classic songs that have been played quite frequently throughout Maiden's career. Songs like Iron Maiden, Number Of The Beast, Run To The Hills, Hallowed, Trooper, Fear of the Dark, and the like. All of which I know immediately off hand appear on at least 3 albums:innocent:

SinisterMinisterX said:
Although not a normal concert, I'd say the Abbey Road is the best Hallowed.
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I'm actually not familiar with this version, I'll have to check it out!
 
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Night Prowler said:
Any classic that appeared on Beast Over Hammersmith never sounded better, mainly because of Clive's drumming.
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Strong disagreement here.

22 Acacia Avenue - Dortmund 1983
The Prisoner - Maiden England
Hallowed Be Thy Name - Rock In Rio
Children Of The Damned - Santiago 2009
 
I disagree with all 4, especially The Prisoner which Nicko just can't play as good as Clive did.
 
"play as good" is subjective. I prefer Nicko's fills over Adrian's pre-solo licks than Clive.
Even if we just rule out Nicko vs. Clive, performance of other guys is better, objectively, than on Beast Over Hammersmith. Not only that Bruce wasn't close to pitch perfect in '80s, he would blatantly miss a note, he did it in prisoner (live my live where i want to, second chorus, listen to "want"), in 22 acacia avenue (and even Dave misses final note of his solo, but corrects himself almost immediately), etc. None of this happens in shows I listed.

BOH might be a testament of an era, full of power and everything. Performance-wise, it's pretty average in best case.

But, eh, to each his own :)
 
I'm having a lot of difficulty choosing a favorite version of Iron Maiden. It obviously has been played the most and therefore has the most options of them all, yet no single performance jumps to my mind as being the best.
 
Nice topic, Lampwick!

The Trooper: Live After Death (Bruce sounds fantastic here)
2 Minutes to Midnight: En Vivo
Fear of the Dark: A Real Live One (The way I heard it live first: fast and energetic: fantastic)
Hallowed: probably Rock In Rio, although I like the LAD version very much as well. Hard to choose.
Running Free: Live at Donington with LAD close second
Run to the Hills: Rock in Rio
Iron Maiden: Live After Death
The Number of the Beast: Rock in Rio
The Evil Than Men Do: A Real Live One (best drums with outstanding bass drumming!, aggressive and fast, really kicks major butt)
 
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I'm gonna add Wrathchild to the discussion and say that the Death on the Road version is the best. I seem to remember that the scream from Bruce in the middle of the song, in particular, was very good!
 
Women In Uniform single - Phantom Of The Opera.
Maiden Japan (full version) - Wrathchild
TNOTB single - Remember Tomorrow
Beast Over Hammersmith - 22 Acacia Avenue, Killers
Live After Death - Aces High, 2 Minutes, Revelations, Powerslave, Rime Of The Ancient Mariner, Iron Maiden, The Trooper, Children Of The Damned, Running Free, Hallowed Be Thy Name, Die With Your Boots On
Running Free Live single - Sanctuary
Maiden England - The Clairvoyant
Out Of The Silent Planet single - Wasted Years
Rock In Rio - The Wicker Man, Run To The Hills, Fear Of The Dark and The Evil That Man Do
Flight 666 - Can I Play With Madness, Heaven Can Wait
 
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Hallowed Be Thy Name: Beast Over Hammersmith - that's the best live version of this song.
The Number Of The Beast: Flight 666 - again so many amazing live versions of that song, but this one is almost perfect (DOTR version is also very good).
Run To The Hills: Death On The Road - crazy end to the song and Bruce's screams are wild..... love it. Nicko's drumming in DOTR is brutally good - he is a beast in this concert..... on close second is his drumming in RIR 2001.
The Trooper: Live After Death - so many great live versions of that song, but here Bruce sings it pretty close to the studio version.
Fear Of The Dark: Rock In Rio - legendary version. Some even prefer it to the studio one!
Iron Maiden: TBOS: Live Chapter - I really like how the crowd sings at the start of the song like during FOTD.... I think this is the only version of that song with this crazy participation from the crowd.
Wrathchild: Death On The Road - (or Ullevi 2005 - the best scream from Bruce for this song) - I love the energy of this performance.
2 Minutes To Midnight: En Vivo! - perfect live version of that song, the band is on fire as well as the audience.
Sanctuary: A Real Dead One - one of the best performances of that song, my personal favorite and I like it more than the studio version.
Running Free: Live At Donington - brutal drumming from Nicko on this live version (LAD version is also top-notch).
The Evil That Men Do: Rock In Rio - I love that live version, Bruce is amazing on it.

From Maiden England '88 I really like the live version of SSOASS, but that song is not a concert staple....
 
Well, “Run To The Hills” sounds better now than it’s ever done before. Other than that I don’t really know.
 
In order of personal preference:
  1. "Iron Maiden" - Live After Death/Rock Am Ring 2003
  2. "Hallowed Be Thy Name" - Live After Death
  3. "The Trooper" - Live After Death
  4. "Running Free" - Live After Death
  5. "2 Minutes to Midnight" - Live After Death
  6. "Blood Brothers*" - Rock in Rio
  7. "Fear of the Dark" - Rock in Rio
  8. "Sanctuary" - Rock in Rio
  9. "The Number of the Beast" - Beast over Hammersmith/Rock in Rio
  10. "Run to the Hills" - Live After Death
  11. "Wrathchild" - Rock in Rio
  12. "The Evil That Men Do" - Maiden England
*Still too recent to be considered a staple, but it does have the qualities of one.
 
Iron Maiden - Live at the Rainbow
Sanctuary - Maiden Japan
Running Free - Maiden Japan
Run to the Hills - Flight 666
The Number of the Beast - Beast Over Hammersmith
Hallowed be thy Name - Live After Death
The Trooper - Live After Death
Aces High - Out of the Silent Planet B-side
Two Minutes to Midnight - En Vivo
The Evil that Men do - A Real Live One
Fear of the Dark - Flight 666
 
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