As a rule, I generally don’t care for live albums or live DVD’s.  The live metal experience is meant to be seen and heard in person, not via speakers or television.  However, one of the exceptions is Iron Maidens now legendary 1985 release, Live After Death. Recorded over 4 nights at the Long Beach arena in 1984, The album was one of the first live recordings that truly captured a band’s live energy and caught Iron Maiden at the very peak of their performing and writing powers.

So here is 2 disc DVD of that album, re-mastered in 5.1 Dolby audio and expected visual improvements and loaded with a second CD of extras.

First off, this sounds AMAZING.  Though not able to hide Dickenson’s rough start to “Aces High”, the sound quality is perfect with Steve Harris’ twang being perfectly clear and the guitars of Mrs. Murray and Smith being rich, full and having as much clarity as any studio effort. Visually, it’s as you’d expect, a slight improvement over the original 35 mm recording, but not quite Hi-Def, but truthfully, visually, it’s the expected array of crowd shots, Dickenson/Harris close ups and long shots of the extravagant sets.  And to be honest, get ready for A) a LOT of Spandex, lighters and mullets, and B) LOADS of Dickenson’s package as he strides the amps for most of the show.

Still, the 13 tracks that comprise disc 1 are pure nostalgic joy, as much so as the original album. Tracks like “The Trooper”, “Revelations”, “Hallowed Be Thy Name”, “Number of the Beast”, full 13 minutes of “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” and “Running Free”, have simply stood the test of time, even if the band’s attire has not.  Also, you get uncut recordings of the four night run, including Dickenson’s humorous if rather British between song banter. However, you do not get the second disc of material that came with the original album, the 5 songs that were recorded at the Hammersmith Odeon that same year, which isn’t so bad because those tracks felt like tack-ons anyway.

What you do get is a second DVD that has over 2 hours of extra footage that includes 50 minutes of the Rock In Rio ’85 concert (featuring the bands largest crowd-over 350,000), that basically the same songs from the Long Beach disc, part two of the History of Iron Maiden documentary, the Behind The Iron Curtain documentary (an interesting behind the scenes documentary of a one of the first western bands to play a major concert on the other side of the Berlin Wall), a short USA tour piece and artwork/photo gallery and video clips for “Aces High” and “Piece of Mind”.

Most casual metal fans will have seen of heard the Live After Death material, and most die hard Maiden fans will probably seen or heard all the extras in some form or other considering Maiden’s propensity for releasing tons of live and rare stuff every week, however the fantastic re-mastering of the Live After Death material, plus all the extras contained in one place make this an essential piece of Maiden (and metal) history all on one great package.

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