This album is awesome!

If you are thinking of buying your first Iron Maiden album then this is the one to get. Were the songs not live, this would be 'The best of Iron maiden' at the time at which it was recorded. The fact that it is live just makes it even better because iron maiden play with such energy live. The live versions of the songs are almost Perfect and sound awesome.

All the songs are superb. Bruce and the boys cover not only some of the highlights of the early 'Bruce dickinson era' such as 'Powerslave' and 'Number of the beast' but also play amazing versions of some songs maiden recorded with Paul Dianno before bruce joined like 'Running free', 'Wrathchild' and of course'Iron Maiden' the title track of their self titled album. I would reccommend this album to anyone who likes heavy metal and even to people who don't. If you like maiden you WILL like this album I guarentee!

Up the Irons!

A live recording cannot capture the intensity of a heavy metal concert. Comparatively speaking, however, Live After Death does it better than any other live metal album. The impeccable sound quality belies the fact that this album was recorded in the mid-80s (it sounds better than 99% of all modern live recordings). Even better though, is the fact that this concert comes from a time when Iron Maiden, the quintessential metal band, was young and full of energy. I wasn't there, but I can tell that this show was a blast.

Song selection is perfect, encapsulating most of the band's best songs from their preceding studio albums, and each one is impeccably performed, often better than the studio counterparts. The mini-epic "Powerslave" definitely gains something special when the crowd screams at Bruce's stylish entry. "Hallowed Be Thy Name's" main riff is played faster and the song gains more intensity as a result. This version of "The Trooper" makes the studio version seem tepid in comparison. Then there's "Phantom of the Opera," which is simply incredible with Bruce's sinister intonations.

It's awesome. If you don't buy it, you suck.

In the early eigthies, while most of America listen to dumb radio songs, a metal band from East London, England, quietly began its rise to glory. That rise resulted in an apex known as "The Worldslavery Tour" of 1984. Along time ago, but classics always withstand the test of time much like Beethoven is still heard, and appreciated today, five hundred years after his time. This album not only presents some of Maiden's best songs ever - their live versions are well preserve here. They are mainly taken from a four-night stint at the Long Beach Arena which Maiden became the first recording artist to sell out four consecutive nights1 An amazing accomplishment since they had no media attention, no radio air play, no true MTV support (thank God!), and did not fit the mold of a major band by the standards of the press. So they were ignored, and to this day they are mainly forgotten in this country. Fans here are goo-goo for the new sound of Metallica which they think brings new stuff to the front, but in reality Maiden has been doing it, and playing it since their club days at the Ruskin Arms (a place that has been made the spiritual representation of the NWOBHM as Maiden's legend has grown). More importantly they've been doing it with much more originality and heaviness than any current Metallica release. Songs like "Powerslave" and the epic "The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner" showcase the then line-up's ability to change tempos, play smooth rythmn sections, imaginative guitar playing, and above all, a lead singer with singing ability! These are not your run-of-the-muck metal cohorts. This is the band that has delivered musical quality for years. Sticking to their promise of giving their fans value for money. And indeed, you get lots of value here. The songs average a running time of at least five minutes, and "The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner" is a whopping thirteen minute opus. Now there is a sure sign of willingness! Willing to push the envelope to go where few fear to tread. On the ECD there are added bonus tracks on a second disc which include "Children of the Damn", "Phantom of the Opera", "22 Acacia Avenue", "Wrathchild", and "Die with your boots on". These only add to the fine experienced already provided with the re-released titled that also icludes a different live verison of "Running Free" not available on the original release. In this version Bruce, the frontman, has a little shouting contest with the crowd which is what playing live is really all about. An interaction with the fans preserved here for all etenity or until some nuke falls from the sky on top of our heads! If you seek music to a higher standard, this album is a definite for you. The rich textures of each song will become very apparent and you'll be asking yourself "This band is from the eighties?". After Sabbbath, this is the next signifiacant band in metal history. The rythmn sections: melodic and heavy at the same time - what Metallica is trying to accomplish, but really have become a band that sounds like any other band. This is the sound they are after. This is the complete package of metal music. If there's talent, there's an ocean of it here!!

If you in any way like Iron Maiden and you don't own this then you should bow your head in shame!! It is that important to own this album! It was released after the first five albums - Iron Maiden, Killers, Number Of The Beast, Piece Of Mind and Powerslave. It kicks off with Aces High and it's just amazing from then on. Powerslave benefits from the live atmosphere, as do many of the others. Bruce's voice sounds amazing, much better than on the A Real Live Dead One

There are few tracks which fall behind the others - in my opinion Die With Your Boots On and Flight Of Icarus, both from the Piece Of Mind album, don't quite reach the standard of the others. There is no Where Eagles Dare, which is also off Piece Of Mind, or Prowler, and Wrathchild is the only song from the Killers album.

Still, all can be forgiven as it is impossible to fit so much cool stuff on one CD, or even a double for that matter. It is a shame that Maiden failed to keep up this standard. Sure, Somewhere In Time and 7th Son Of A 7th Son are as good as this, but No Prayer For The Dying and Fear Of The Dark only contained a small collection of tracks worthy enough to be branded as Iron Maiden classics. After Bruce left, 2 albums were done with Blaze Bayley, and both of them were crap. They kinda lost it after 7th Son (which is an amazing album) - and tried to bring back any Maiden glory left in them with Brave New World. Although, if I'm fair, they did kinda suceed there.

I suppose this has turned into a review of Iron Maiden generally (which I hope you find useful in finding out what cool stuff to buy) instead of Live After Death, so I'll get back to the point. If you're new to Iron Maiden then get this quickly. It may not contain any songs from the second half of Maiden's career, but most of that was not as good.

The release of this live album showed what Iron Maiden was really about. This is in my opinion the best live album with Iron Maiden ever, and one of the best live albums, by any band ever. This was recorded back when Iron Maiden were THE guys in heavy metal, they stood second to none, and this album truly catches their spirit alive.
The selection of tracks is a near perfect, it gives a great idea of the spectrum of their production(at that point) and most of their classics are there, including unbeatable versions of Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Hallowed Be Thy Name, both actualy much better than the studio recordings. What really makes this album is the feel of the audience, you can tell that Iron Maiden really got them involved and that both parts thinks this is a blast. That is the way concerts are supposed to be. Bruce is not singing to TO the audience he is singing FOR them.
Even though this is a live album and thus does not offer up any new tracks I would still consider it one of the finest Iron Maiden albums of all time, and a landmark for heavy metal in the 80's,