The major problem with putting out a live album or live DVD or both after almost every tour is that, for half of that release, you are hearing the same songs over and over again. And I honestly disagree with the band, that you MUST play a certain selection of songs at every gig ever. And so it is here. Once "The Evil That Men Do" has come to its conclusion, you can for all intents and purposes turn off the album, because you have heard the conlusion to an Iron Maiden concert before. It is a shame, and of course the songs themselves are still brilliant, but how many live versions of the same songs do you need to hear?
Anyway, getting over that, this is another terrific entry into Maiden's live collection. All of the new songs from The Final Frontier sound as brilliant live as they did when I saw them in concert in Sydney on this tour - they certainly sound better live. I was never overly taken with "Coming Home" and "El Dorado" when I bought the album, but they are better in this atmosphere. "The Talisman" proves itself again as the best song from that album, and one of their best since the reformation in 1999.
It was good to have some other songs back into the setlist as well, such as "Dance of Death", "The Wicker Man" and "Blood Brothers" which are fantastic. I again wonder at why "Fear of the Dark" remains in the setlist. I am very over that song.
It's simple. An Iron Maiden live album is pretty much a 5/5 album, given the song selection, musicianship and production. And this is no different. It was a great concert to see, and this is translated wonderfully to this album. One wonders why, after all of these live releases in the past 13 years, why there was no live album released from the A Matter of Life and Death tour, especially when on that tour they played that entire album live! Wonders may never cease...
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