Artist: Iron Maiden
Title: The Essential Iron Maiden
Label: Sanctuary Records
Release Date: 7/12/05
Rating: 4 Skulls
Artist: Megadeth
Title: Greatest Hits: Back to the Start
Label: Capitol Records
Release Date: 6/28/05
Rating: 3 Skulls
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Artist: Iron Maiden Title: The Essential Iron Maiden Label: Sanctuary Records Release Date: 7/12/05 Rating: 4 Skulls |
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Artist: Megadeth Title: Greatest Hits: Back to the Start Label: Capitol Records Release Date: 6/28/05 Rating: 3 Skulls |
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Death's Review:
I'm generally skeptical about so-called "Greatest Hits" packages, especially in the non-singles based metal world. I'm generally of the opinion that most of my favorite albums are best enjoyed in context, surrounded by their traditional brethren the way the artist originally intended. But some acts have such extensive catalogues that it can be fresh to experience the highlights in one collection. Otherwise, getting to certain tracks can be unmanageable except for once in a blue moon. For example, Judas Priest's Metalworks collection worked for me because there are so many separate and independent albums you'd have to spin to hear all of the gems you get to sample on the course of that greatest hits collection. Otherwise it might take a whole weekend to dig all of those songs out. But that collection worked on another, more important level as well, which takes it from a cheesy, surface-level primer on classic metal to a product worth owning for the serious fan; the track-listing and packaging were put together by someone with a serious understanding of the value of the catalogue and coolest aspects of the band's music and career.In the end, there are two kinds of Greatest Hits collections - the deep and serious artistic retrospective that highlights aesthetically relevant and sometimes forgotten gems from an extensive catalogue within a fresh context, and the corporate cash-in that slaps together eight or ten of the band's best known tracks without any real sense of adding anything of new value to or any kind of fresh perspective to the music but rather to cheaply repackage prior successes so that you can sell them again to people too lazy to dig deeper into the actual albums upon which these minor hits once appeared. The closer a Greatest Hits package comes to the former, the more interested I am.
The Essential Iron Maiden initially struck me as a corporate sell-job, heck, there's not even an Eddie drawing on the album cover. Why would I want or need this when I already have all of the albums upon which these songs appear? As I understand it, this is part of major label Sony/BMG's "The Essential" series, which similarly profiles other artists such as Michael Jackson. So un-metal. But if you take a closer look at this package, it is actually very cool, and someone (or ones) who know and love Iron Maiden definitely participated in assembling this collection. I spun it recently on a long car ride and honestly, the collection really works. It is nice to have all of these tracks in one place. Interestingly enough, it starts from the most recent Maiden album and works backwards from there, which in and of itself provides a fresh perspective on Maiden's career. Every album is represented with at least two tracks. And things kick off with the killer "Paschendale" from Dance of Death, one of the best Iron Maiden tracks of the last decade and definitely a modern day Iron Maiden classic. Right there the album draws you in and makes you want to stick with it. I like revisiting "Brave New World," and hearing the Blaze Bayley studio versions of "The Clansman" and "Sign of the Cross" makes you realize that - while Bruce Dickinson has taken some of this material to altogether new levels on recent live tours - these songs are actually very cool. And this illustrates one of the true values of this collection - be honest, when were you going to bust out The X Factor or Virtual XI to revisit these songs if they were not presented to you in this way?
Moving back to the Bruce era, we get the quick, almost punkish "Be Quick or Be Dead," and then another interesting choice is made, one that for me tells me that this collection was, in fact, put together by someone who understands Iron Maiden. They made a great move and replaced the studio version of "Fear of the Dark" with the live version from A Real Live One. This really is a great move - as the crowd participation is so electric on the live version it truly stands out as one of the highlights of the Maiden catalogue and one of the most powerful live album moments in metal. It really elevates the song to classic status, and I'm glad that this version is included here.
Disc two features the earlier half of the Iron Maiden catalogue and all of the best known material like "Run to the Hills," "The Number of the Beast," "2 Minutes to Midnight," "Aces High," "Flight of Icarus," "The Trooper," "Wasted Years," "Wrathchild," and "Killers," among others (the complete set contains 27 tracks in all). Live versions of "Running Free" and "Iron Maiden" - "Iron Maiden" is taken from the forthcoming CD/DVD Death on the Road which was recorded in Germany on 2003's Dance of Death tour - close out the collection. Inside is a quick essay from Lonn Friend with an anecdote about having Bruce Dickinson fly him from L.A. to Las Vegas on for a show on the Brave New World tour. All in all, this is a very valuable addition to the busy Maiden fan's collection, and a worthy primer for all of the teenagers who get turned on to Iron Maiden for the first time on this summer's Ozzfest.
Another band who released some of their albums on Capitol Records during the 1980's was Megadeth. This new collection reeks of a bit more of a thrown-together, non-creative money thing. I mean, c'mon, Greatest Hits; Back to the Start? We couldn't come up with a cooler title than that? And a generic photo of a nuclear explosion on the front? It all just seems lazy to me (I thought it odd that there were actually tour shirts for sale at this summer's Gigantour displaying this album cover - I'd figure a Megadeth fan would rather have Rust in Peace or Killing is My Business on their shirt, unless you are a tour shirt collector or something). The cool thing about this album is that there are a full 17 tracks. For the most part, the tracklisting is pretty much expected (apparently compiled with the input of fans via online voting at the Megadeth web site). I do like the inclusion of some new stuff (even "Prince of Darkness" from Risk which sounds OK here; nothing from the new album though), and the remixed "The Mechanix" is fun too. "She-Wolf," "Dread and the Fugitive Mind," and "Angry Again" are somewhat less than expected. But all in all there is nothing that adds much to your appreciation of Megadeth in this collection. Don't get me wrong, these songs are great, and they are fun to have in one place for a long car trip or something (we jammed this on the drive from LA to SF for Ozzfest 2005 last weekend). But you don't need it, and for a young fan wanting to get into Megadeth for the first time, I'd suggest just going out and buying Peace Sells or Rust in Peace instead. In fairness, there a couple of cool features inside the booklet, including a few words from director Penelope Spheeris (who directed the band's "Wake Up Dead" video in 1986 and then put them in her Decline of Western Civilization Part II movie). There are also a few band photos from the various stages, a complete personnel reference for each track, a fresh thanks list from Dave Mustaine and a listing of releases (complete with peak Billboard chart position - did you know that Youthanasia debuted at number 4 on the Billboard 2000?). The book serves to give a tiny bit of the reverential reference vibe to the album which was otherwise missing, and is a welcome addition. All in all, the collection is cool but wholly unnecessary.
Iron Maiden The Essential Iron Maiden:
Megadeth Greatest Hits: Back to the Start:
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