IRON MAIDEN 'Live After Death' live 2-DVD, 2008 remaster

IRON MAIDEN 'Live After Death' live 2-DVD, 2008 remaster

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FORMAT: 2-DVD CONDITION: NEW, SEALED YEAR OF RELEASE: 2008

REGION-CODE: NTSC CODE 1 ASPECT RATIO: 4:3/16:9

CAT. NO.: 88697227379 LABEL: SONY-BMG COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: U.S.A.

***** Live After Death - The History of Iron Maiden Part 2
Review by Erik Rupp (Southern California)

After a ten year wait Iron Maiden's classic home video release 'Live After Death' has finally been released on DVD.

This isn't just a straight, barebones issuing of the concert on DVD, however. This is a SPECIAL edition 2 disc DVD set, which will also include bonus live footage and the History of Iron Maiden Part 2 documentary, picking up where The Early Years left off.

The official details:

Disc one contains the recording of this full 90 minute concert. Originally filmed on 35mm, the footage comes alive on DVD resulting in a visually stunning film. The disc also carries two sound options - the original concert audio specially mixed into 5.1 Surround Sound by Kevin Shirley, Maiden's producer since 1999, plus the original stereo sound track by Martin Birch, the band's producer from 1981 to 1993.

Disc two has Part 2 of the 'History of Iron Maiden', continuing on the Maiden story from "The Early Days" DVD, along with rare and unseen bonus footage in the form of BEHIND THE IRON CURTAIN, ROCK IN RIO '85, and 'ELLO TEXAS, all in all giving a total running time of well over three hours.

The multiple audio mixes and new video transfer from the original 35mm elements should make this a fantastic DVD. While this has been a long, long wait for the official DVD release, it looks like it will be well worth it.

Ths Live After Death show itself was fantastic. The band plays with an amazing amount of energy, but also with great musical ability as well. The songs are all classics, and the stage set is one of the best from that era.

(Update: The video quality of the Live After Death concert looks better than either the VHS or LaserDisc versions that I have, and the sound quality is really, really good. The remastered stereo mix is incredibly, "In your face," and is just a wall of sound. The 5.1 remix? Meh. Kevin Shirley has the guitars too low in the mix. It's punchy and INCREDIBLY clean, but it lacks the power of the original stereo mix. The extras are really nice. The History Part II documentary has a lot of great info, and is a great continuation of the first part from The Early Days. The 1985 Rock in Rio, however, is a disappointment. Not because of the performance, but because the audio/video quality is so poor. The audio is a bit muddy - originally mastered on video tape it has aged poorly - but the video is the real shame. Herky jerky, jittery and jumpy, the original master tape was not stored properly and now has serious tracking issues. It's almost like watching Cloverfield. That's too bad, because the band gives another great performance. The other extras like 'Ello Texas and the extended version of Behind the Iron Curtain are a nice bonus, and make the set an even greater value than it already is. Overall, I'm very pleased with the set, but it is not without a couple flaws. It's clearly still a, "Must Have," DVD.)

TRACKLISTING:

DVD 1:

"Intro: Churchill's Speech"
"Aces High"
"2 Minutes to Midnight"
"The Trooper"
"Revelations"
"Flight of Icarus"
"Rime of the Ancient Mariner"
"Powerslave"
"The Number of the Beast"
"Hallowed Be Thy Name"
"Iron Maiden"
"Run to the Hills"
"Running Free"
"Sanctuary"

DVD 2:

1) "The History of Iron Maiden Part Two" - 60 minute documentary of only the Powerslave, or should I say World Slavery, tour.

2) "Behind the Iron Curtain" - Approx. an hour in total length, this chapter features some behind the scenes stuff as Maiden made their way through Poland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and Hungary in 1984. You also get complete live performances of:

"Aces High"
"The Trooper"
"22 Acacia Avenue"
"The Number of the Beast"
"Hallowed Be Thy Name"
"2 Minutes to Midnight"
"Run to the Hills"

3) 50 minutes of live footage from Maiden's 1985 appearance at the 1985 'Rock in Rio' festival. "Scream for me, Brazil!" The picture quality was beyond repair (by today's standards) for this, but the sound is pretty good.

"Aces High"
"2 Minutes to Midnight"
"The Trooper"
"Revelations"
"Powerslave"
"Iron Maiden"
"Run to the Hills"
"Running Free"

4) 49 minutes of various stuff with:

- "'Ello Texas!" - Same songs (3 altogether), different time period. From 1983's World Piece Tour...'22 Acacia Ave', 'Flight of Icaris' and 'Iron Maiden'.
- Videos for "Aces High" and "2 Minutes to Midnight".
- A 20 minute photo gallery tour.