Favorite Live Album

What is your favourite live album?

  • Live After Death

    Votes: 41 33.6%

  • A Real Live/Dead One

    Votes: 1 0.8%

  • Live At Donington

    Votes: 1 0.8%

  • Rock In Rio

    Votes: 51 41.8%

  • Beast Over Hammersmith

    Votes: 17 13.9%

  • BBC Archives

    Votes: 2 1.6%

  • Death On The Road

    Votes: 9 7.4%
  • Total voters
    122
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To start with I'd like to mention that if 'Maiden Japan' had been released as a full double live album it would likely to be my favourite one because the setlist at that time was stunning and the band used to be on fire.

As I said before 'Beast over Hammersmith' is my fav because of the interesting setlist and the marvelous singing of Bruce.Needless to say that Clive plays stunningly and the sound of the album keeps blowing me away.

Now comes 'Live after Death' and I must say that I've never been too keen on that one.Bruce sings fairly bad there and the setlist is something I'm still not very fond of.I never got the fuss about the album and I don't like the fact that the fourth side was recorded from another gig although there are some interesting songs there, especially 'Phantom of the Opera' and 'Children of the Damned' both of which should have been included in the regular setlist at that time.

'A Real Live One' is utter crap as for both sound and setlist in my view since I've never been keen on the 'Fear of the Dark' period.

'A Real Dead One' shows an interesting setlist, yet I don't like it when a live album consists of several shows, it should be recorded from one gig only.In addition I must admit that Bruce sings aweful and I don't like the way Janick destroys the old classic songs with his guitar playing.

'Live at Donnington' managed to top 'A Real Live One' in regards of an awefully boring setlist, weak production and another inferior vocal effort, I just hate that album so badly I even gave it away as I can't bear to listen to it anymore.

'Rock in Rio' is amazing, but the stupid vocal editings keep annoying me.The setlist is awesome apart from some boring classic songs like '2 Minutes to Midnight', 'Run to the Hills', 'The Number of the Beast' and 'Sanctuary', I can't stand listening to live versions of them any longer.The sound of the album is brilliant, though.

'Death on the Road' is a stunning album if you skip both the first and the last four songs which are so boring.However, what's in between is absolutely amazing.Bruce sings superb as on 'Rock in Rio' and the sound is yet better.
 
Cosmiceddie said:
To start with I'd like to mention that if 'Maiden Japan' had been released as a full double live album it would likely to be my favourite one because the setlist at that time was stunning and the band used to be on fire.
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I have what is labelled as a "Promotional copy - For Japanese fans only" CD of Maiden Japan that has the following tracklist:

Wrathchild 
Purgatory
Sanctuary
Remember Tomorrow
Another Life (Incl. Drum Solo)
Ghenghis Khan
Killers
Innocent Excile
Twilight Zone
Strange World
Murders In The Rue Morgue
Phantom Of The Opera
Iron Maiden
Running Free
Transylvania (Incl. Guitar Solo)
Drifter
I've Got The Fire

It was recorded on May 24th 1981 in Tokyo (as oppose to the Maiden Japan EP which was recorded the day before in Nagoya).
 
Albie said:
I have what is labelled as a "Promotional copy - For Japanese fans only" CD of Maiden Japan that has the following tracklist:

Wrathchild 
Purgatory
Sanctuary
Remember Tomorrow
Another Life (Incl. Drum Solo)
Ghenghis Khan
Killers
Innocent Excile
Twilight Zone
Strange World
Murders In The Rue Morgue
Phantom Of The Opera
Iron Maiden
Running Free
Transylvania (Incl. Guitar Solo)
Drifter
I've Got The Fire

It was recorded on May 24th 1981 in Tokyo (as oppose to the Maiden Japan EP which was recorded the day before in Nagoya).
Click to expand...

So have I, but unfortunately it's a bootleg and not an official release.
 
Cosmiceddie said:
So have I, but unfortunately it's a bootleg and not an official release.
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I was never 100% sure, it did seem to me to be a bootleg, but the sound quality is incredible (aside from a small bit in the drum solo) and the packaging is quite proffesional.
 
I have a bootleg of IM in Roskilde in 2003 (or 2004?) where there are some great rants by Bruce, especially one about Metallica ^_^ He also talks about downloading music from the Internet and his views on this. It's a great gig (DoD tour I think), great songs and fun rants. It's my favourite live album, though probably unofficial.
 
My favorite live album is Death on the Road. Why? I compared the versions of Fear of the Dark and Iron Maiden to the earlier live albums and found that I liked the versions on Death on the Road better. Somehow I think also the recording quality, like the sound quality is better on Death on the Road. Also, the selection of songs is great, simply because I like newer Maiden stuff A LOT
 
Fixed the poll. Everybody will have to vote again (you can also change your vote if your opinion changes). :)
 
You know, I never voted in this one. So I've gone for Rock in Rio. Reason because the collection of songs on this album is one of the best (OK, Live after Death has some good ones, but this been newer has some "modern classics") and not only that, I love Bruce's renditions of Clansman and Sign of the Cross. Adding to this is the fact this is in front of their biggest audience on  a live album (not that it should make a difference).
 
I loved Rock in Rio. Great intro, great show, great setlist. I prefer this one to Live After Death, because it has many songs that work great live that LAD lacks such as Sign Of The Cross, Clansman, Fear Of The Dark, The Wickerman, Blood Brothers...and it also keeps many of the best classics. Besides the crowd is MASSIVE and takes part a lot in the show.
 
Lord McCloud 85 said:
I loved Rock in Rio. [...] I prefer this one to Live After Death, because it has many songs that work great live that LAD lacks such as Sign Of The Cross, Clansman, Fear Of The Dark, The Wickerman, Blood Brothers...
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It's amazing that they didn't play such classics on the World Slavery Tour! I'm outraged!  :scared:




:rolleyes:
 
Ummmm...
You can save your sarcasm for yourself dude. I know perfectly that all those songs were released AFTER Live After Death. I just said that they work great live and Live After Death lacks them, so that's why Rock In Rio got my vote.
 
rock in rio

i feel that this performance was better than the others, i like the sound of it and i think that all of maiden were on top of there game that night, the singing was great, the instruments had the perfect volume on them and feel that it was the best
 
I have voted Live After Death. I have discovered Maiden with this one, and I think it's the most energic live album. It's just awesome and matchless.    :ok:
 
^^MeTaLeRo^^ said:
I go for Rock in Rio just because it was definitively Bruce´s night!!
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Some people say that RiR was enhanced in the studio.  The claim that bootlegs taken from that night do not correspond with the official releases.

Does anybody have any more insight into this?
 
I've changed my mind (if I ever posted in the first place :p)-Beast Over Hammersmith takes the biscuit, for several reasons:

1.) Bruce's rendition of Drifter.  He holds the line 'Rock and roll!' with the minimum of vibrato for what must be 10 seconds at least.  That is a feat in itself.  Also, his vocals are far better than on any other live album I've heard.

2.) The banter with the crowd.  The joke about Tizwaz and Saturday cowboy movies brings a smile to my face, and the bit in Drifter is simply amazing.

3.) The silence before NotB.  The album hadn't been released when BoH was recorded, and obviously the crowd didn't know what the song was.  However, just when the intro is nearly over, when the line 'And let him who hath understanding reckon the number of the beast' comes up, you can hear someone yelling 'Maiden!'.  Brilliant

4.) The setlist.  A good cross-section of the first three albums, but apart from that, all songs are played tightly by all, especially Clive.  Another Life and Killers are given new leases of life, and Hallowed is FINALLY played perfectly on an official live release!  Hallelujah!

5.) It has Charlotte...with the frilly knickers. :D
 
I voted for Live After Death.

I received the double vinyl as a Christmas present in the late 80s. I did not like it at first because Bruce sounded very rough compared to the studio albums! However, it soon grew on me. Bruce is not at his best, but his charisma and confidence is more than evident. The set list is near perfect, the guitar (one per channel - what a joy!) and bass sound is just wonderful, the instruments do not swamp Bruce's vocal, and the performances are tight and dynamic. Best of all, Hallowed Be Thy Name is not marred by having the intro riff turned into a widdle-fest by Dave, or unnecessarily drawn-out by the now endless 'big finish'. The album just sounds fresh and immediate.

Beast Over Hammersmith is also good, but Bruce doesn't sound entirely at one with the band.

Rock in Rio does little for me. I enjoyed the Brave New World tour, but the production on this leaves me cold. Death on the Road is slightly better, but the live B-sides on the Wickerman and Silent Planet singles are probably the best sounding official live releases since the reunion.

The radio broadcast of Donnington '92 sounded much better than the official release, and the Real Live and Dead albums are similarly ruined by Steve's awful production.
 
The sound quality on Rock in Rio is the best of the bunch, but Live After Death is one of the greatest live albums ever recorded.  Couple that with the nostalgia factor in that the Powerslave tour was the first rock concert I ever attended (yes, I'm old), and it gets my vote.  RiR is a not-too-distant second.  Death on the Road is fine, and Live at Donington is affirmatively bad. 

Rock in Rio is, however, the best concert video, given that its DVD format has high-quality 5.1 DTS sound and no technical glitches.  Too bad there are (as of now) no high-quality DVDs of Live After Death or Death on the Road.  I used to own the VHS of the former, but it has vanished; I haven't purchased the latter, given the technical problems about which I have read.
 
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