So I've been thinking over Megadeth's new compilation album Warheads on Foreheads (35 Megadeth songs including at least one from each album) and trying to figure out how to do something similar with Maiden. And I think I've got it. I bumped up the number of songs from 35 to 45 and I think the overall release would be pretty cool (even though comps are worthless, but you knew that already).
Iron Maiden: The Book of Maiden
CD1: The '80s Pt. I
1. Iron Maiden (3:35)
2. Prowler (3:55)
3. Phantom of the Opera (7:20)
4. Wrathchild (2:54)
5. Killers (4:58)
6. Run to the Hills (3:50)
7. The Number of the Beast (4:25)
8. Children of the Damned (4:34)
9. Hallowed Be Thy Name (7:08)
10. The Trooper (4:10)
11. Where Eagles Dare (6:08)
12. Revelations (6:51)
13. Still Life (4:27)
14. Rime of the Ancient Mariner (13:45)
Total: 1:18:00
CD2: The '80s Pt. II
1. Aces High (4:31)
2. 2 Minutes To Midnight (6:04)
3. Powerslave (7:12)
4. Alexander the Great (8:35)
5. Caught Somewhere In Time (7:22)
6. Wasted Years (5:06)
7. Moonchild (5:38)
8. Infinite Dreams (6:08)
9. Can I Play With Madness (3:30)
10. The Evil That Men Do (4:33)
11. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son (9:52)
Total: 1:08:31
CD3: The '90s
1. Tailgunner (4:13)
2. Bring Your Daughter... To The Slaughter (4:42)
3. Afraid To Shoot Strangers (6:52)
4. Fear of the Dark (7:16)
5. Sign of the Cross (11:18)
6. Lord of the Flies (5:04)
7. The Edge of Darkness (6:39)
8. Virus (6:14)
9. Futureal (3:00)
10. The Clansman (9:06)
Total: 1:01:24
CD4: Maiden2K
1. The Wicker Man (4:35)
2. Out of the Silent Planet (6:25)
3. Rainmaker (3:48)
4. Paschendale (8:27)
5. The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg (7:21)
6. For the Greater Good of God (9:23)
7. El Dorado (6:49)
8. If Eternity Should Fail (8:28)
9. Death or Glory (5:13)
10. The Book of Souls (10:27)
Total: 1:10:56
Breakdown:
What better way to begin the ultimate Maiden compilation than with that riff in Maiden's eponymous track? The song is usually played as a concert closer, but let's flip that on its head and make it open up the album. This segues into Maiden's first album song, "Prowler", and then moves right into their first epic, "Phantom of the Opera". For Killers tracks, "Wratchild" and the title track stand out the most (though I would have liked to include "Murders" if there was more space). Then we go into four songs from Maiden's most iconic release, The Number of the Beast, with its first single, its title track, its fan favorite, and the band's signature song. Then we take on Maiden's most iconic single in the form of "The Trooper", and move right into the opening drum fill from "Where Eagles Dare", promptly followed by the mystical "Revelations". I was debating which fourth song I should take from the album, but while "Flight of Icarus" is popular, I thought it would be more interesting to put a deep cut like "Still Life" on it instead. Finally, we end the first disc with a taste of Powerslave in the form of their 13-minute opus "Rime of the Ancient Mariner".
We open the second disc with a bang in the form of the adrenaline-pumping "Aces High", and then move through the album's other two popular tracks, "Midnight" and "Powerslave" itself. Next, we take out the two fan faves from SiT, its closer and its opener, and the always-popular single "Wasted Years". The last five songs are devoted solely to the first five songs from SSoaSS. I was trying to figure out how to split it up in some way, but nothing really came to me outside of just putting the entire first side and the title track on. So I did, and in strength alone I don't think anyone can fault me for doing so.
Disc three is devoted solely to the '90s, and since that period was fraught with turmoil, I decided to get a tad creative with my choices here. We open with the NPFTD opener, "Tailgunner", and move into Maiden's only No.1 single in the UK, "Bring Your Daughter... To The Slaughter". Then we meet the two biggest songs from FOTD, "Afraid to Shoot Strangers" and the title track. For TXF choices, I settled on the opening salvo of "Sign of the Cross" and "Lord of the Flies" and the deep cut "The Edge of Darkness", for something that not many fans may have taken notice of before. Then, since this is a compilation, I figured that it'd be cool to repurpose "Virus" for this album, given how well it worked in Best of the Beast. Finally, we end with a double-shot of VXI, in the form of its speedy opener and its crowning epic. Was considering throwing in TAATG for shits and giggles, but decided not to after all.
The last disc is a summation of Maiden's epic releases from the 2000s. "The Wicker Man" is an obvious choice here, it's got that classic Maiden vibe and opened BNW with such a bang that leaving it off would be crazy. "Out of the Silent Planet" is my favorite song from the album, so I decided to use this one too. Sorry, no "Blood Brothers" this time around. For DoD, its single "Rainmaker" and its epic of epics "Paschendale" were strong choices (even if others may have taken the title track instead), and AMOLAD's gets its "Benjamin Breeg" single (talk about crazy marketing techniques there) and the magnificent "For the Greater Good of God", one of the best epics of the 21st century. I only included one TFF song because I'm not crazy about the album, but "El Dorado" won a Grammy so I figured it would work well on this release. Finally, TBOS gets three songs - its opener, the pummeling "Death or Glory", and the epic and heavy-as-fuck title track, which closes out the compilation with a bang.
I'm quite proud of this, actually. May turn it into a Spotify playlist.