Everyone has a special place in their heart for the album that introduced them to a band. For example, while Led Zeppelin’s fourth album is widely considered their best, someone that first heard, say, “Houses of the Holy” may have a preference for that album. From Iron Maiden’s catalog, the general consensus is that “The Number of the Beast” is their masterpiece, while “Powerslave” and “Seventh Son of a Seventh Son” (my personal favorite) are typically in that conversation. However, my introduction to Maiden came in VHS form.
The “Maiden England” concert video was shot over two nights, on November 27th and 28th, 1988, during their “Seventh Tour of a Seventh Tour” (try to guess what album this tour supported). When I was 12 years old, I had a friend whose older brothers were diehard into Maiden. There were posters of a cybernetic Eddie the ‘Ead (Maiden’s mascot) hanging on his bedroom walls. These images were mind-blowing to me, and I thought they bordered between really cool and really dark. Around the time I started getting into music, I found a copy of “Maiden England” at Blockbuster and decided to rent it, based on my friend’s admiration for them. By the way, I realize how much I’m dating myself by writing that I rented a VHS video from Blockbuster! Old school. It gives me street cred, showing how far Maiden and I go back. Street cred! So, I got home with the video and threw it into the VCR. Over the next few days, I got most of the way through it, before my 12 year old attention span decided to concentrate on the Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past instead (I’m not hating: Zelda rules). What I did recall from the video was that one of the guitarists smiled a lot (Dave Murray, about whom my friend claimed “That guy is crazy!”, apparently based on that smile), one of the songs had a cowbell, and the stage and lights were really cool.
"That guy is crazy!" "Dude, he's a rock star." Banter between 12-year olds.
My teen years were when I established my absolute love of rock music, and I began my collection of cassette tapes through Columbia House’s 12-for-a-penny deal. Doesn’t just reading that take you back to those ads, scattered throughout music magazines and whatever else? Kids today won’t appreciate, because they can just download everything. Remembering “Maiden England”, one of the tapes I ordered was “Seventh Son of a Seventh Son”. I figured: why not? Once I started listening to the tape I was completely hooked. I became a Maiden fanatic at this time, and started acquiring everything by them that I could. I rented the video again, and felt as if I had seen it before without having actually seen it before. Knowing the music as well as I now did, I loved the live interpretations, the energy, and the amount of detail they put into making their stage look like their album cover. Eventually, I found a copy for sale and bought it (which sounds easy now, but finding Maiden videos for sale was hard around the advent of grunge music).
12 cassettes for a penny? What a deal! What could go wrong?
Speaking of buying it, I recently bought it again. Earlier this April, the video was released onto DVD for the first time. Packaged under the name “Maiden England ‘88”, it includes the original concert, plus three previously unreleased songs from the show, a 40 minute documentary called “The History of Iron Maiden Part 3”, chronicling the band from 1986 through 1988, the 1987 home video “12 Wasted Years”, and five music videos from that era. Just to own a copy of the show itself in DVD quality was enough for me, but I was blown away by the sheer amount of extras Maiden included in this release. They are a band that does everything right, both music and business-wise. They give us, the fans, a lot of bang for our buck, and go the extra mile to ensure top-notch quality. Between the quality and the quantity, this is a must-buy.
Opening track “Moonchild” is a darker, harder edged Maiden song that lyrically borrows from the Aleister Crowley book of the same name. Crowley’s ideas and influence have been apparent in rock before, notably in Zeppelin (Jimmy Page once lived in Crowley’s former house), but the song’s narrative loosely follows the book’s, and instead sets up the concept of the “Seventh Son of a Seventh Son” album. “The Evil That Men Do”, also from that album, follows up nicely; it’s one of my favorite Maiden songs, is very melodic, and features an excellent solo from my guitar hero, Adrian Smith. The dates Maiden recorded for the concert were from of an extended part of the tour, billed as a “thank you” to fans. With that in mind, several songs not regularly part of their setlists are played here, such as “The Prisoner”, “Still Life”, “Die With Your Boots On”, and “Killers”, alongside classics “The Number of the Beast”, “Hallowed Be Thy Name”, “Wasted Years”, and “Iron Maiden”. Being part of the tour for “Seventh Son…”, most of the album is performed, including the title track, “Infinite Dreams”, “The Clairvoyant”, and “Can I Play With Madness?” (which boasts a great vocal harmony intro). Included for the first time are performances of the classic “Run to the Hills”, “Running Free”, and “Sanctuary” from the show. I refrain from going into a track-by-track review only because I could easily spend a page on each song.
My guitar hero, in full 80's mullet glory.
On this video, Maiden displayed all the traits that made me a fan. Bruce Dickinson has a powerful voice and range, and is matched only by James Hetfield in how to interact with fans during songs. Steve Harris, the band’s founder and bassist, is very high in the mix, which is refreshing in a genre that usually buries the bass in the mix. He drives the songs, which is appropriate, as he is the band’s chief songwriter. Drummer Nicko McBrain pushes the tempos of the music, resulting in some songs being performed much faster than their studio-recorded counterparts. The energy is great, and he never once loses the beat. The guitar duo of Murray and Smith stands as, in my opinion, the greatest guitar duo of all time. Murray is a smooth, fluidly legato player, the kind of guy who can brilliantly improvise, while Smith is a songwriter-type of guitarist, whose guitar solos are meticulously planned and veer into unexpected directions. One of Maiden’s trademarks is to have them harmonize, and it’s the mix of rock, melody, and intelligent songwriting that make Maiden so unique and special. There is also, and maybe most importantly, an intangible element to Maiden that this show captures, and I suggest checking it out. Whether it’s a catchy rock song about missing home while tour (“Wasted Years”), an epic about mysticism that involves several sections and dueling guitar solos (“Seventh Son of a Seventh Son”), or a burst of punk-tinged rock (“Running Free”), Maiden do it all well, with a sense of originality and class - but not too much class. It’s still rock n roll.
The “12 Wasted Years” video was a documentary filmed a year before the show, and “The History of Iron Maiden Part 3” was created especially for this release. Both show a lot of behind-the-scenes moments with the band, and give insight into the creation of the albums and tours of this area. The promo videos are a nice addition, even for folks like me who have them in multiple formats. Fanboy supreme, I am here.
“Maiden England ‘88” was released to coincide with the “Maiden England” tour that Maiden is undertaking. The shows on this tour reproduce a large part of the video’s setlist, but they manage to throw in several surprises. If you have the chance, I advise you go see it. If not, the “Maiden England ‘88” DVD is waiting for you.
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