Iron Maiden - Live After Death (1985) Reviews

Iron Maiden were on a roll. 1982’s ‘The Number of the Beast’ and 1983’s ‘Piece of Mind’ had shot the band to the top of the metal world, and if there was finally any doubters left that didn’t think the band belonged, then 1984’s ‘Powerslave’, the Brits’ fifth studio release, really established them as one of the top metal acts around. What followed was the “World Slavery Tour”, which saw Maiden embark on a trek around the globe with an elaborate stage show that encapsulated the energy and imagery of their music.

So what’s next? How about a live album to commemorate the tour? Which brings us to the first of many live albums the band would put out; ‘Live After Death’.

Split over two discs, the first recorded in California, USA while the second in London, England, ‘Live After Death’ highlights the energy and enthusiasm of the band in their early days. Featuring all the major hits from their first five albums, including ‘Aces High’, ‘Run to the Hills’, ‘The Trooper’, ‘The Number of the Beast’ and ‘Phantom of the Opera’, the performances and production are all of a high standard, however, the audience can be a little hard to hear at times, which kind of ruins the experience, but as a whole, this is a good live release.

Though, with that said, I’ve always preferred studio albums to live ones, and as it is, ‘Live After Death’ does seem a little outdated today, considering the wealth of live albums the band would go on to produce. Still, it has its moments and isn’t bad by any means, there just isn’t really anything to entice me to choose this over any of Iron Maiden’s studio efforts instead.

I have seen endless debates on forums over the years as to whether this album is one of the best live metal albums of all time.  Whilst I place it in my top five most certainly, a lot of this is due to the fact that it was the second live album I ever heard (right after U.F.O. Strangers in the Night).  Now I have some thirty years of metal listening under my belt it is hard to find the same excitement levels when tuning into this nowadays as I managed back in my early teens but I think it still stands up well in the grander scheme of things overall.  It has stood the test of time well, remaining the very essence of a live performance caught on record that oozes the stage presence of a band capable of commanding an audience well.

You can't help but feel like you are in the audience either at Long Beach arena or at the Hammersmith Odeon itself when you listen to this double disc affair.  More importantly you wish you were actually there, baying with the crowd.  Enjoying the majesty of one metal's biggest ever bands in their absolute heyday.  You find yourself singing along with most tracks, getting caught up in the interaction of the encores with Bruce skilfully playing the crowd like some crazed conductor leading an orchestra of thousands.

Although it would be a push to call it perfect, the bits that make you cringe slightly (Bruce's at time strained vocals for example) only add to the authenticity of the record.  These sublime moments of metal royalty showing their human side are as entertaining as astonishing dual lead work and as visually important as any eight foot high Eddie stalking around the stage area making his presence known.

Up there with Made In Japan, Unleashed in the East and the aforementioned Strangers In The Night this album thoroughly earns it's place in this exclusive club of dynamic and enthralling live albums.  Maiden truly were at the top of their game at this point, releasing strong and consistent albums and this confidence showed perfectly in their live performances of the time as so brilliantly captured here.