44 of 44 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Just some clarification on the B-sides, September 2, 2003
This review is from: Eddie's Archive (Audio CD)
Most of what I have to say about this has already been said by other reviewers. But I think it's worth pointing a few things out regarding the "Best of the B-sides" discs which come with the box set:
Some fans complain that "Women In Uniform" was not included. However, that song was NOT a B-side! It was a separate single itself, which means it's really an "A-side". Again, the discs are called "Best of the B-sides". So you won't find that song, the unreleased cover tunes done at one live show in 1985, or "Virus" -- a special non-album track released just for the "Best of the Beast" compilation.
So as far as I know, the only true B-sides that were left out were
- "Mission from 'Arry" (which was just a candid recording of a backstage argument)
- "Total Eclipse" (which was rather an album track and not so much a B-Side outside of North America, and in any case is easily obtainable world-wide on the re-released "Number of the Beast" CD)
- "Massacre" (b-side of "Can I Play With Madness" single)
- "I Live My Way" (b-side of "Man On The Edge", 12" single)
- plus a few radio edits, interview clips, and live versions of previously released songs
Also, most of the Iron Maiden B-sides have been re-released on CD in the past (which is mainly why I was reluctant at first to buy this box set; I already have all those B-sides! But then a friend of mine bought it.) There was a "First 10 Years" box set, released on both vinyl and CD, that included all the singles and B-sides up to that point. Also in the mid-90s Castle records re-released all the albums up through "Fear of the Dark" as double CDs, the second CD of each set containing all the B-sides from the album's singles. Still, this box set conveniently includes virtually all of the B-sides together for the first time on two discs.
I know this isn't a message board, but again, after reading some reviews I thought some of you might find this information helpful.
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21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
OFF THE CHART!!, October 26, 2003
This review is from: Eddie's Archive (Audio CD)
Where to begin?
If you love Maiden then start saving your money. This beauty is pricey but it is worth every penny. Consider the songs it has. Not just the songs, but where and when the songs were played. The "first" album of the collection, (first being the one on the top of the other CDs when you fist open the lid of the real tin box) BBC Archives, has 28 songs, 20 of which were played no later than September 1982!! The other 8 are from The Monsters of Rock Festival at, where else, but Donington Park? The first 4 tracks were recorded (before Iron Maiden's historical and debut album was even released, I might add) for the BBC Radio 1 Friday Rock Show on the 14th of November; wait till you see the year. Would you believe 1979!!!!! This is some fkin classic stuff here!!!
The next 10 tracks are live from the Reading Festival on the 28th of August 1982. I would like to put in here a thought for you to ponder briefly. If you are fairly knowledgeable about Maiden you'll realize (if you care to check the date of the show, in case you've forgotten) that, at the point of the Festival, Maiden had only put out 3 albums, the third being one of the most famous among Maiden fans and that brought Maiden their first, but not final, no. 1 chart position in the UK. Armed with this info you can now fathom just how few songs they could draw from to fill this set for the Festival. The next 6 tracks (beginning on disc 2) are recorded at the Reading Festival this time on the 23rd of August 1980, 5 of which are from Iron Maiden. By doing simple math and knowing that the debut album had 8 tracks (9 with Sanctuary, but it doesn't matter for this problem) you'll realize that over half of the debut album is played at this concert. The other track is entitled Killers and I know what you're thinking. The album Killers wasn't released yet. This is a different version of Killers. The music is roughly the same, but the lyrics are not. This older version is also on the enhanced CD of Killers, which was taken from the video Live at the Rainbow. This classic version makes better sense, because it talks about more than one killer. The song put on the album says "he" and the one here says "we."
The "next" CD in the collection is entitled Beast Over Hammersmith. This is probably one of my favorite live Maiden albums. You'll agree because I just tell you it's from the infamous and classic Beast On the Road `82 Tour. 18 songs and only 2 of them have ever been released before!! Total Eclipse and Children of the Damned were released on the Run to the Hills charity single. The other 16 tracks are incredible. After I heard this, I deemed that Run to the Hills, The Number of the Beast, and Hallowed Be Thy Name were the best sounding live recordings from all the others I've heard. It's great to hear the crowd reacting to Number of the Beast, Hallowed Be Thy Name, and 22 Acacia Avenue when they'd never heard them before; this concert was recorded before the 3rd album was even released!!! They even played tracks from Killers that I'd never heard live like Another Life and Murders in the Rue Morgue!!! This album is worth as much as the whole set, but there's still more!! We're only 2/3rds of the way!!
The last album has the most songs on it out of the 3 (a modest 31). And they are all B-sides. Now, mind you, they are not all of the B-sides but most of them are here. This is one of the reasons I wanted this so badly and I wasn't let down. They stretch all the way from Burning Ambition off of the Running Free single to Wasted Years live `99, off of the Out of the Silent Planet single. They have Communication Breakdown by Led Zeppelin and My Generation by, of course, Pete Townshend, of, who else, but the Who? Also Maiden's most recent album, Dance of Death, has a track that has given credit to Nicko McBrain for writing a song. However, he'd already done this on a B-side called Sheriff of Huddersfield off of the Wasted Years single in 1986.
So there you have it. Now to the other things besides the actual discs. The BBC Archives album cover depicts a gigantic Eddie, standing behind the BBC Broadcasting House, or what's left of it, for he has just dismembered it in a rather fatal manner by stabbing messily through the structure with the end of an enormous flag pole, that is still flying the British flag. In the booklet there is a personal experience written by Tony Wilson about his remembrances of Maiden, complete with black and white photos.
On the Beast over Hammersmith album there is a picture of Eddie sprawling over the Earth and plunging the British flag into it. Inside is the Beast on Road Tour dates, messages from Eddie and Bruce and info on the band members' equipment, as well as all of Maiden members' autographs.
The Best of the B-sides shows Eddie inside, presumably, the tour bus. He is turning to look out of the windshield because he's mooning the viewer of the picture. The words Maiden Rule are splashed across his arse. While maintaining a firm grip on his lowered jeans with his left hand, he's also flipping the bird with his right. The booklet is filled with info on who wrote the songs, what singles they're from ect.
In short this collection worth having and plus you get free shipping. It's too good to pass up. You've wasted this much time reading my review. Buy it and make one of your own that's hopefully shorter. UP THE IRONS!!
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20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A collector's dream, October 14, 2003
This review is from: Eddie's Archive (Audio CD)
I am a die hard Iron Maiden collector. I'm such a diehard that I even have the super rare Soundhouse Tapes Demo on CD, so it should come much of a surprise that I bought this box set the day it came out. I was impressed. It has plenty of live material, almost too much actually. You get material from all three generations of Maiden singers (Di'Anno, Dickinson, Bayley), which is really cool. One complaint I have is why didn't they release ALL of the B-Sides. What the hell is this "Best of teh B-Sides." Sure its a nice collection, but it would be nice to get them ALL! It's missing WOMEN IN UNIFORM (which was even released as a single!), MASSACRE, I LIVE MY WAY, VIRUS, WRATHCHILD (Metal For Muthas Version), and SANCTUARY (Metal For Muthas Version). They should have released all the studio recorded B-Sides on a two disc set and then made a Live B-Side set. I still can't belive they didn't include them all. Also, it would have been nice if they included the original Maiden Japan live E.P. with this. Anyway, this is a super nice box set! I don't think I've seen a live set nicer looking than this! All three two disc sets have excellent bookets with plenty of info on the band with nice new artwork. This is a dream come true for the Maiden collector.
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