Iron Maiden

Rock In Rio

Brazil was Rocked, And we Forever Hear It

Review Score:

(8/10)
Brave New World pleased the majority of the Maiden fans by its old school flavored metal and the reintroduction of vocalist Bruce Dickinson and guitarist Adrian Smith. Armed with three guitarists (Smith, Murray, Gers), the band sets out on another world tour which concluded here with Rock in Rio. While this album has its flaws, it's an overall essential part of your Maiden collection.

Before we go into the goodness, my only complaint with this is that the tracklist isn't chosen well at all. This focuses too much on Number of the Beast and Brave New World. Good albums, but I was hoping for some more varied material like Powerslave, Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, and Piece of Mind (all of which only have ONE song to represent them!). There's not even a Somewhere in Time song, which happens to be my favorite Maiden album! Oh well, with the band going strong, they'll no doubt make another live effort and then perhaps we'll get some more of the songs we need. That said, let's get the lowdown:

"The Wicker Man" - A part of Jerry Goldsmith's "First Knight" score makes it before the song kicks in and somehow it fits well. While not quite up to par on the album (mostly due to Bruce's raspy voice here), it's a well-rounded effort. This is still an excellent way to kick off the concert and the band probably used this as a warmup song.

"Ghost of the Navigator" - AH, here's where Maiden gets extremely good! Simply good. Stays up on par with the original studio recording.

"Brave New World" - Bruce really shines here and the band's playing outdoes the original studio recording! So far, so good.

"Wrathchild" - GREAT. This is the best live version of this song. Adrian Smith truly shines here as well. Too bad it's the only track from Killers.

"Two Minutes to Midnight" - I would probably say it's the weakest live, but it's still a good song. I love the way they incorporated Janick Gers into the solos. Sadly, it's the only track from Powerslave.

"Blood Brothers" - The BEST track from Brave New World and is performed exceptionally well. Bruce really sings it with passion and the backing vocals by bassist Steve Harris and guitarist Adrian Smith fit well, too.

"Sign of the Cross" - The only track from Sign of a Cross (but not missing much, so I'm not complaining.). EXCEPTIONALLY WELL. This outdoes the original not only because Bruce sings it better than Blaze did, but the instrumentation is a notch better as well. The three-guitars enhance this song tremendously.

"The Mercenary" - Ok song, great performance. I guess I shouldn't complain because it's good, but I would've really preferred "Out of the Silent Planet," or it making way for another song from the aforementioned underrepresented albums.

"The Trooper" - EXCELLENT! Simply brilliant! The best live version of this song. The scorching dual guitar solo by Smith and Gers is awesome and Dave Murray is still great after all these years. The only thing wrong with this song is that the chorus sounds a little weak because only Smith is doing the backup vocals, and it's not all the time. Still excellent, though.

"Dream of Mirrors" - For some reason, I never really cared for this song, but it's just brilliant here. This one outdoes the original studio recording. While it's good, Brave New World has TOO many tracks here.

"The Clansman" - One of the best tracks from Virtual IX (the second and last Blaze album) and it outdoes the original.

"Evil That Men Do" - What, only ONE Seventh Son song? Great performance. Takes a little to grow on you, but give it a chance.

"Fear of the Dark" - THE BEST VERSION OF THIS SONG EVER. Bruce sings his best here and the band's playing of this song has never been better. Makes the album version pale by comparison.

"Iron Maiden" - Their infamous title track. While not bad, Bruce's vocals aren't that great here (possibly due to mic problems).

"Number of the Beast" - Excellent performance. The solos are fantastic as ever, especially Dave Murray's. Not quite up to Live After Death or the album recording, but still a great performance.

"Hallowed Be Thy Name" - THE BEST LIVE VERSION OF THIS SONG, EVER! Brilliant! I could say that word a million times here! Janick Gers' extra guitar licks really enhance the song and Bruce belts this one out even better than on Live After Death (and that's saying a lot, people). One of the best tracks here.

"Sanctuary" - The only track representing the first album. Good track choice and decent performance, but why not Running Free and Phantom of the Opera, too?!

"Run to the Hills" - Really good way to close out the concert. Excellent performance, but too many tracks from Number of the Beast.

There are also some extra videos (Day in the Life, Brave New World) which are nice, but kinda useless if you already have the Rock in Rio DVD. All in all, I rate this 4 stars and the second best live album. This is still a great double CD set and a must-have for the Maiden fan. I wish the tracklist was better, but I'll accept this and move on.

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