By Flay/The/Gorgeous:
Well, I've been living with this record now for the better part of a week, deperate to write you good folks a review, yet unable due to certain foolish journalistic rules (namely it being very uncool to abuse my advance copy for such purposes). Truthfully us americans aren't supposed to have it until tommorrow, but since the stores are open now over in Europe, I figure its open season. So here we go...
Iron Maiden: Rock in Rio
All blasphemy aside, in certain communities an Iron Maiden double live record is a little like the selection of a new Pope. Granted, some Popes are better than others. Some of them are destined for glory, others wind up consigned to the great cut-out bin of history. How likely is it, really, that a band now some twenty-odd years down the road can even imitate--much less recapture or surpass--its former glories? Yet it would appear that that's exactly what we are facing here. Iron Maiden, for the first time in a decade (nay, for the first time in their career) are firmly entrenched at the top of the one-eyed pyramid. Even at their height in '82-'89, Maiden always were looking over their shoulders--Metallicker, Priest etc. What is clear now (if it wasn't before) is that Iron Maiden are the last band standing, the only one able to continue on into the new century uncompromising and uncompromised.
Oh yeah--the record. It rocks.
Where to begin. The obvious point of departure would be a comparison with Live After Death. For those of you not in the loop, along with Deep Purple's Made in Japan and Thin Lizzy's Live and Dangerous, Live After death remains the definative live metal record. Unfortunately I'm not equiped to make such comparisons. LAD was the first Maiden record I ever owned, way back in the wastes of the 1980s. To my mind, all Maiden songs prior to 1985 just don't sound right in any other format. Without making any sort of ultimate judgments, here are a few general observations and comparisons.
Crowd Noise. Rock in Rio takes the cake on this; the crowd is loud and always present but never over powering. More importantly, the crowd noise is distinctive, meaning that you can make out voices and reactions (see the infamous "Motherfucker" incident at the end of Revelations on LAD) and does not just reverberate like the concert was recorded in a seashell.
Guitar tone. The main triumph of Martin Birch's reign is his incredible guitar production, and Rock in Rio falls a little short here. On LAD you can easily tell Adrian and Dave apart without any effort. RIR mixes the guitars more towards the middle, making it difficult to pick out guitar lines outside of a given solo. Nonetheless, the guitar tone is outstanding and (again) distinctive. All three guitars work in concert with another instead of in opposition, as is the case on LAD. The individual players have a lot more freedom in the 3 guitar format and the result is fantastic. Janick Gers is the real surprise here. His solos are tasteful and at points he seems to carry the whole gig. Gone are the fuzzed out arpeggios and scale runs from ARLO/ARDO. He's always been good (no ones ever done him justice on vinyl, certainly he never gets enough credit), but here he's outstanding. That said, I would have liked Adrian farther up in the mix.
Vocals. LAD is a little tighter, RIR is by far the more exciting. Bruce starts out rough on Wickerman but quickly warms up. He lets the crowd sing but not to the ridiculous extent of Donnington '93. Much has been made of the splicing incident, however unless you were listing to your Rio III bootleg concurrently, you'll never hear a difference. Frankly, Arry made the right decision. Watch out for the Clansman; I believe there is a similar splice at the sing-along there. Its so well done however that I can't tell for sure without breaking out my bootleg again. So fuck it. Bruce is extroardinarily gregarious on RIR--you can't shut the fucker up and I love it. Stage banter is a long lost art and we get it in spades here. No gems as on LAD, (see: "This what not to do if a bird shits on you..."), but no complaints here. All the screams in all the right places. Only one reversal of lyrics (Brave New World) but thats what you buy the live one for, ain't it?
Rhythm section. This is a wash. Again LAD is tighter but RIR is the more exciting. At some points you think the whole thing might come completely off the rails so fast and raucous is the performance, but Steve and Nicko keep it together. Less focus on Steve than I expected.
A few random notes and asides: Those of you waiting to slag off Steve's production or Janicks solos will be sorely disappointed. The cover art still sucks even in person, although us americans only get one format--no hologram. The inside liner notes are not much better, the addition of lyrics is nice but redundant at this point in Maiden's career. If you don't know the words to 2 Minutes to Midnight you should be savagely beaten. Also, I hate any and all cd extras that are tacked on at the end of records these days. Waste of space. Virtual IX was a joke. However, the extra computer stuff on RIR is not to be missed. Brave New World is smoking on vid and "A Day in the Life" is quite possibly the coolest little impromptu band snippet I've ever seen. ("Rock'n roll?" says Bruce, then throws the chair through the glass coffee table. Classic.) If this is even remotely meant to be a sneak peak at the DVD then, oh shit, are we in for something. They don't build rock bands like this anymore, kids. Must've broken the mold sometime back in the 80s.
A quick play by play:
1.Intro (Arthur's Farewell): Not Churchill, but it'll still make your balls shrivel.
2.Wickerman: Forget the splice; this is better than the studio version despite the rough opening.
3.Ghost of the Navigator: Rollicking and heavy. Not as tight as BNW, but far more exciting, this was meant to be heard live.
4.Brave New World: Gorgeous. Watch the video.
5.Wrathchild: Something from the Jurassic period. This one just gets better with time. Check out H's lead and Bruce's scream.
6.Two Minutes to Midnight: Quite possibly the greatest metal song of all time. Falls short of LAD, although the tripartite solo is the best I've ever heard.
7.Blood Brothers: A bit boring on BNW; diamond here.
8.Sign of the Cross: Strange commotion at the beginning; I heard a rumor that Brucie's cross malfunctioned. The performance is terrific. This is the lowest I've heard Bruce sing and its brilliant. If he'd done the whole X Factor album, who knows where Maiden'd be now.
9.Mercenary: Should have quit with the BNW stuff while they were ahead. A good performance, but I would have rather had 22 Acacia Ave. or something else in its stead.
10.The Trooper: Par for the course. Solid but not significantly better or worse than most other live versions.
1.Dream of Mirrors: Another one meant to be heard live. Diamond.
2.The Clansman: Bruce smokes this one two. Still not sure if thats a splice at the singalong. If so, I'm glad for it--I payed to hear Bruce, not some long haired punter screaming.
3.The Evil That Men Do: Another favorite of mine, although this one falls short. Bruce quoting Shakespeare at the beginning is worth the $20 for the record.
4.Fear of the Dark: Wasn't keen on seeing this one included on yet another live record, yet this recording outclasses all others, including the original. Very cool singalong.
5.Iron Maiden: You know the drill.
6.Number of the Beast: Heard it too many times, but this is now my favorite of the umpteen versions I have on record.
7.Hallowed be thy Name: Not quite LAD, but man is it close. Check out the NOTB DVD for more info. Janick takes Adrians solo here and nails it.
8.Sanctuary: I was waiting for Bruce's patented long high note here but was left hanging. See the B-side of Run to the Hills live in '85 for reference. Still tight.
9.Run to the Hills: The creme de la creme of the record. This takes the LAD and NOTB versions and pisses all over 'em. After a two hour concert, the stamina and energy demonstrated here is frightening.
Final verdict: 9/10 (Live after Death 10/10, in case you were wondering, ARLO/ARDO/Donnington 6/10)
