Customer Reviews

Iron Maiden - Rock In Rio

5 star:		(71)
4 star:		(23)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(12)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

January 19, 2001 marked perhaps the highest point in Iron Maiden's career. It was approximately 25 years before this date that Steve Harris, Dave Murray and a plethora of their early members were gigging all around the East End and throughout their hometown with ambitions to be on top of the world. On that day in January, they triumphed over ambition as one of the headliners at the Rock in Rio festival, playing before 250,000 people. This DVD isn't just a live concert; it's a part of Heavy Metal history.

Iron Maiden has always been known for their over-the-top performances and this DVD definitely captures the best of the best. Every member puts everything they have into playing the music. Disc One of the set is the actual live show, edited and mastered by Steve Harris himself. Disc Two is some bonus footage including interviews, a photo gallery, web site links and a portion entitled 'A Day In The Life'. The last of which I believe can also be found on the Rock In Rio double album.

Disc One. The quality is very good. It's clean and crisp. I didn't find any problems with it at all. Obviously, if you've heard the double CD, you'll know what the sound quality is. However, you experience the full effect of the music and the show, you should probably have two speakers on your TV. With just one, some of the sound is lost (in my case, all of Janick's guitar parts aren't heard). I don't know if it's the DVD but do yourself a favor anyway.

The footage itself is amazing, in my opinion. Shot from a series of different cameras, Steve Harris viewed all of it and spliced it all down to create the two hours of footage seen. I think he did a fantastic job covering every aspect of the stage that night while still capturing the essence of the band's live performance (I have read some pretty poor reviews about the editing work, however). Every member is in top form (especially Bruce) as they command the stage, running from place to place, plowing through the classics. The stage set up is great, the lighting is good and the camera work is great. Overall, an awesome and entertaining viewing of the band's stellar live show.

Disc Two. The second disc starts off with the interviews. Each member is interviewed while showing what they do on their time away from touring, writing and recording. It gives a little insight into how heavy metal stars enjoy normal things just like anyone else. While some of it is somewhat comical, the rest of it is pretty informative as to how each member lives, how they got their start in music and a little bit about how they view on the band in the present. The second part is the 'A Day In The Life' portion, which shows the band's day up to and after the Rock In Rio performance. Press conferences, their arrival, preparing for their performance and the parties afterward. Entertaining and comical, at times. Not much else can be said. Third is the Photo Gallery of the band with commentary on each picture by Ross Halfin. Some cool pictures and some good information. The last two items on the disc are the credits and some website links.

January 19, 2001 marked perhaps the highest point in Iron Maiden's career. The essence of their live shows was put into overdrive that night as they performed for their biggest headlining crowd to date. That performance, all the power, energy, anguish, ability and excitement, can be found here on this DVD. I recommend this to any die-hard Maiden fans as well as anyone who has never seen the band perform live before. Anyone who wasn't satisfied with the Rock In Rio CD might be turned off by the music but the performance is sheer excellence. Definitely buy this.

This is a great band and a great show. The set list is perfect. The sound is great. Awesome picture quality. But why on earth are there so many cuts? The picture changes way too many times. This is how a film school student would put it together. With that many cuts per minute, how the hell are you supposed to enjoy the show? Are they trying to hide something? Did the band lack energy? I love the band, but I think it was a mistake for Steve Harris to cut this himself. I never criticise unless I can do better myself... and I have (see Manowar's Hell on Earth's Part 2, 3 and 4). Just because you have 18 cameras, doen't mean you have to use them all within the space of a minute. It's not modern and it's not cool. It is embarrassing. Live After Death is still a great production. Why go backwards! Live DVDs, like a good wine, should be allowed to breathe a little. I look forward to the next Maiden DVD. Hopefully things would have settled down a little and we can all enjoy the show!

This is without question the best live show Iron Maiden has done since "Live After Death" was released in 1985. The only draw back for me was the song list. I wanted more classic and less recent. It has both, but the new songs like "Bloodbrothers", and "The Ghost Of Navigators" didn't need to be here IMO.....

To be quite honest, I've never seen Iron Maiden play tighter than this. B. Dickinson sounded great, the trio of guitars sounds much better live as well IMO. The stage is awesome as usual, and the crowd is one of the largest I've ever seen....

The quality of this DVD is top shelf, as is the sound and camera work. I was very happy after seeing this for the first time. Actually, as much as I hate to say it, I was expecting a bunch of old geezers struggling to stay on top of their form. What I witnessed, kicked me in the teeth!!!...Maiden has lost nothing!

This will certainly go down as one of the best live Heavy Metal performances you can buy on DVD today. Maiden is in top form here, and they've proven that they are the true "Gods Of Heavy Metal".....

"Rock In Rio" = 4 1/2 stars...."Live After Death" = 5.

UP THE IRONS!!!!

Very long time Maiden fan posting. Like a lot of the reviewers here, I lost interest in Maiden after the Live after Death/Somewhere in Time period. Honestly, it was more of my life/priorities changing, than Maidens music. Does this DVD ever prove that point. I'm still shocked/stoked at how GREAT this DVD is ! I can't figure out what took me so long to pick it up. Maybe it was the low expectations I had regarding song titles I wasn't familiar with ... or the reviews regarding the camera angles/changes. Whatever it was disappeared the second Adrian hits the first chords of Wicker Man ... actually the build up to that point gives you goosebumps. There ARE a TON of camera changes, and yeah as a guitarist, I would have liked to have seen a little more solo sections shown longer up close ... but Harris didn't totally blow it with the rapid changes ( he really should have toned it a bit down though ). The changes keep you as a viewer constantly absorbed in each song. Seeing, and most importantly capturing the energy of all the band members at any given time is damn hard to display over a tv screen. Even seeing them live with the whole spectacle you miss a lot ... ESPECIALLY with a stage that big. I never thought I'd see a Maiden production to rival Live after Death, and although the stage set up was better in 85, this production with all the camera angles exceeds it for the viewer. I saw Maiden up close in 85 at Long Beach Arena when they filmed and recorded Live after Death. I also saw them sitting further back for the Somewhere in Time tour at Irvine Meadows. Up close, you have a limited view ... turn your head to see one thing, and you miss a couple others. Far back, you see the stage/light show better, but a bunch of ants running around the stage. I think Harris realized this too ... it's spooky how well this dvd conveys the energy a Maiden show produces. Remember, theres 6 guys to cover ( actually Janick Gers moves so much he should count for two ), PLUS the 250,000 fans going beserk singing and clapping along the ENTIRE time. THOSE are fans ! The real treat for me was hearing newer Maiden material and feeling as if I just discovered some lost classic album. Although I would have loved to have seen more "jurassic" classics like Phantom of the Opera or Killers performed, I tell you what ... Sign of the Cross and Clansman just rip your head off. I'd never heard those songs before, and they came across as instant classics. I didn't intend to be long winded here, but it seems the excitement Maiden conveys in their shows is contageous ... even after all these years. Buy this DVD, and if you don't like it, I'll buy it from you since I know Im going to wear out my current one. Watching this takes me back to Long Beach Arena in 85 ... Scream for me Brazil !

p.s. the 2nd DVD is pretty cool in showing the various band members doing what they love to do on days off. The Janick Gers segment is especially well done. I knew nothing of the man, since I basically stopped following Maiden once he joined ... his attitude and positive views on life and Maiden show why they are even stronger today than they ever were

Iron Maiden and AC/DC are my favorite bands. When AC/DC's "Stiff Upper Lip" DVD came out, I borrowed it from a friend. The quality of the audio and video was excellent but I was disappointed with the video editing. Using a gazillion cameras, the video jumped from camera to camera barely resting on any one artist for a few seconds. After watching for 30 mts, I got a headache and swore never to buy this DVD.

When I saw Maiden's "Rock in Rio", I was hoping that the video editing would be better but I was disappointed. It is worse! I got a headache watching the DVD within 10 minutes and it wasn't from the loud music, it was from the trigger happy STEVEditor
who seemed to be playing drums on the button which switched between camera feeds (Maybe NICKO really did the editing!)

Its unfortunate when multiple cameras are used to make the user dizzy. I don't understand why the editor cannot focus on an artist for more than a second or two. If I went for a live concert of Maiden's (and I did), I wouldn't be whipping my head round and round trying to look at every artist at the same time.

Want to see better editing? Watch King Crimson's VRROOOM DVD. They have used multiple cameras to give the user multiple viewing angles with each angle (mostly) focusing on a different artist. No headaches here and very sensible editing.

Rock on Maiden, you are still my favorite band. I just won't buy your DVDs :-)

I just got the DVD and watched it. I read nearly all the reviews before buying. The most disturbing reviews I read were about the fast camera switching. Well, it's not as bad as I anticipated.

I would like to see the camera stay on each musician longer, but it isn't as bad as I thought. I think worse than the camera work is that the sound mix seems to wander around. It sounds like Bruce's vocal levels go up and down. It almost sounds like during a solo, the guitar levels come up, and then back down when Bruce starts singing again. It sounds about the same for the drums.

As a drummer, I'd like to see some more of Nicko, especially during his drum fills. I would like to see (for the guitarists out there) more close-ups of the guitarists during their soloing. Yeah, it's cool to see Steve play the bass like he does, but in this DVD, they mount a camera to his bass guitar, which occasionally makes for a fun camera angle. Also humorous is when Bruce rides around on the railed camera.

Overall, the camera work is fair enough. The sound is really good for some songs and less for others. I suppose it's hard to mix 3 guitarists, a bassist, vocalist and drummer.

And I have to post a side note about Bruce's vocals at this stage in his career, considering his age and that it is a live performance: AWESOME. I think only him and Klaus Meine of the Scorpions are the only rock/metal vocalists that are still impressive live. But Bruce has tremendous range on this DVD. I think he does less "growling" and more "singing" on this DVD, and he really hits all the notes. I own another Maiden DVD - Live After Death. I like the vocals on this DVD much better.

I like the guitars most on Blood Brothers on this DVD because you really get a chance to hear how interesting a song can be with 3 guitarists and how well the notes work together.

For the price, this is a great DVD for Maiden fans. I also like the extra footage with the band just kicking around.

The concert was fantastic, the song selection was very good. The editting of the video is terrible. Iron Maiden or the producers should have hired a pro to do the editing. I agree with Chris Glenn 100 percent. This kind of switching angles back and forth is very distracting. I watched a little over half the show with the hopes that I could find a rhythm to the editing but no such luck. I finally had to turn it off because it was to hard to follow. As for sound, the fact that they did not give uyou the choice of 2 channel sound is reason alone not to buy this disc set. The fluctuation in sound levels are very apparent. I have yet to hear a live concert recording(heavy hitter rock/roll) which sounds better in 5.1 digital than in 2 channel stereo.
I also purchased the Judas Priest-Live in London. If you only could buy one of these DVDs-Iron Maiden or Judas Priest-select the Priest, you will not be disappointed.

First off, this concert is fantastic. The sound is clear and blistering, the energy with all six members recalls 1985's LAD. Overall, I say "Get It," it's an excellent concert with newer Maiden songs sounding like old Maiden classics!
Alas, there is a caveat:
The editing is schizophrenic. Something like 38 cameras are used which isn't the problem, it's the fact they're all used within a minute of each other over and over again preventing the viewer from focusing on anything for more than a couple of seconds.
In this day of MTV editing, Iron Maiden should be above this. The haphazard editing, I believe, is supposed to enhance the energy and excitement of the show but it detracts from it because it's somewhat annoying hoping to watch a camera shot for more than 2 seconds.
Final note to band: You don't need wild editing to show excitement, everybody at that concert only had one view, and they left exhausted from what I'm sure was the most intense concert they've ever seen.

I bought Rock in Rio because I like Iron Maiden and I really enjoy good concert DVDs. The concert is strong, the audio excellent, the video quality is outstanding. So why only 2 stars? The editing is horrific!!! The footage is cutting to another shot every second. At some times, it's cutting 3-4 times PER SECOND. I found the DVD to be unwatchable, which really made me angry since it was a good concert with good audio and video quality that was ruined. It turns out that Steve Harris edited this DVD - Steve, stick to what you do well. If you are a hard, hard core Iron Maiden fan, go ahead and buy the DVD - you will probably enjoy it. However, if you hate videos where they are always doing the fast cut to another shot, skip this one.

I was skeptical getting this DVD bacause I just wasn't impressed with their last 4 albums, especially 'X Factor' and 'Virtual XI'. But, since it's Maiden... I had to buy it (after all, I own every CD/Import/VHS/DVD they have). You see... I grew up on Maiden, way back when 'Peice of Mind' was released in '83. I've seen them on every tour since 'Somewhere in Time' and each time, they were great live. They're simply a bunch of guys that care about their music and their fans and nothing more.

In terms of quality: Steve did a phenominal job on editing and sound. It couldn't have been better, especially the surround sound! The picture quality is superb. You see every band member equally, even some great shots of Dave's, Adrian's, and Jannick's solos. Bruce gives an amazing performace as well. And all the extra footage is great too.

In terms of song selection: That's were I'm dissapointed. As a die hard Maiden fan, I love the old stuff... everything from their first album to 'Fear...'. Although the newer stuff is not bad, I just don't care for it much.

Nonetheless, IT IS a great DVD. It shows the guys are still having fun performing live and providing their fans with great music. Unfortunately, there aren't enough bands out there that can deliver like Iron Maiden can. They will always be a part of my life as well as heavy metal history. I just hope they will continue for many years to come.