I graduated High School in 1987. I was a metal head. I wore my jean jacket with studs, boots, long hair, and a fast car. I'm currently 39 and bald. I drive the speed limit. And I'm paying a mortgage.

But I still love to relive some of the better metal of my youth. Amazingly, Maiden is not only still around, but still hugely popular. This collection really whet my appetite. If it lived up to it's title it would actually profile the exact moment of my youth.

Is it needed? No, there are countless Maiden collections. Many have these tunes all collected in a 2-cd "best of" compilation. So why on earth would you buy something new that is, in reality, a scaled down version of a set that has more than twice as many songs for an extra 4.00? Because for someone of my age, this is truly the best, "best of" compilation out there. I don't doubt that Maiden has been producing face-melting riffs all these long years. But I have not followed them.

For me, this set chonicles my youth. The Trooper? Wasted Years? Can I Play With Madness? Ryhme of the Ancient Mariner? Holy cow, this set has got it all. Nothing but classic Maiden. Not bogged down with the newer stuff.

If you're a younger fan than by all means, buy one of the 2-CD sets that chronicle the band's metamorphasis over the years. But if you're just looking for classic Maiden with no tracks that you'll skip because they're too new to recognize, then drive right in. I know every single song on this CD and it saves me from dragging out my 2-cd set and skipping over all the new stuff. This is finally a Best-Of CD that I can put and and enjoy from the first track to the last.

And in all seriousness, this is obviously not the "complete" hits from the 80-89 era. Growing up we actually used to listen to the albums all the way through. There wasn't itunes so you could just buy what you wanted. But if you had to have a greatest hits from this era, then this is about as good as it gets without making it yourself. Kudos to the band for honoring it's more senior fans. We're the ones that helped put Maiden on the charts to begin with.

And for you kids out there just getting into Maiden, if you want to know what launched Maiden to the world stage, this is the perfect primer. I love this set. I'll take this over any 2-CD best of set any day.

It seems like every time Maiden releases an album anymore, they go and release either a "greatest hits" compilation or a live album...or both! As much as I love Iron Maiden, to continously make "best of" albums is a bit redundant to me. While the previous Essential Collection was actually a good way to kickstart someone into collecting the music, the opposite can be said of this CD.

Before I fire away any criticisms, I want to address a couple things first.

First off, I've seen a lot of reviewers dissing on this album for it not having any songs past 1988. They complained that there's no material after the "Seventh Son of a Seventh Son" album. Secondly, they also complained that there are no songs sung by Paul Di'Anno.

I think people are forgetting what this album was released for: to showcase some of the songs that they'll be playing on the current "Somewhere" live tour. This wasn't meant to be a comprehensive hit list, but rather focus on Maiden's prime, which is what they're going for on the tour. As much as I do like the Paul Di'Anno material, it would make sense to include the versions sung by Bruce Dickinson so as to educate new fans that are going to see them live.

That being said, is this a worthy compilation? Well, not quite.

Even within those limits mentioned, I am still displeased with the song selections. They've barely scratched the surface on the first two Paul Di'Anno albums; Phantom of the Opera and Iron Maiden make their inclusions from the first album and rightfully so, but only Wrathchild from "Killers" makes the cut. I never understood why they couldn't at least had the title track from "Killers" included as well. I'm surprised Running Free "ran free" from the editor's list. Yes, these tracks are from the "Live After Death" tour from 1985.

"Number of the Beast" gets four hits, those being Children of the Damned, Number of the Beast, Run to the Hills, and Hallowed Be Thy Name. All four are strong tracks and rightfully deserve inclusion, although they could've cut one song perhaps to include another one from a different album (much like the Essential Collection has).

"Piece of Mind" and "Powerslave" get the short straw as well; The Trooper is the ONLY song to make it off of "Piece." Where is Flight of Icarus or Where Eagles Dare? As for "Powerslave," they've got Powerslave, Aces High (live version from "Live After Death"), and 2 Minutes to Midnight. "Powerslave" was a huge success for the band so I see its rightful song selections, but a small part of me wishes they could've added their 13 minute epic Rime of the Ancient Mariner, despite its long length.

"Somewhere in Time" gets RIPPED OFF, which besides the fact that it's my favorite Maiden album, it deserved at least two more inclusions. Where are classics like Stranger in a Strange Land, or Heaven Can Wait? I don't know if Maiden planned to play only Wasted Years (which is an awesome song), but I would've liked to have seen more representation...especially since, you know, the frikken album's called "Somewhere Back in Time."

"Seventh Son of a Seventh Son" only has two tracks; Can I Play with Madness and the Evil That Men Do are credible tracks, but they couldn't they at least have added Infinite Dreams or The Clairvoyant to the list?

I know that it's a single disc compilation, so the idea of making a decent Maiden "best of" CD is very difficult. That being said, they could've smoothed the album out more to better represent the albums that they came off of. Maybe that's picky, but I think the casual or potential fan would benefit more with a more evened out compilation.

Do I recommend this greatest hits package? I don't think it's a horrible release (I place it slightly above "Edward the Great."), but this is ONLY for the potential fan that hasn't heard much. I started on "Best of the Beast" and purchased most of the albums after that. If you're a Maiden completist, fine, but for the casual fan, I highly recommend you just start with the two-disc "Essential Collection" or a classic album ("Number of the Beast" or "Piece of Mind" would be a good place to start.).

Comments are WELCOME!

A deeply dissapointing anthology for Maiden fans [True Maiden fans], This cd is utterly useless considering the fact that there are already other Maiden anthologies that do the band far more justice than this. Released by the band to coincide with their recent somewhere back in time world tour and to give newer fans insight to the earlier days of Iron Maiden, You'd think that this compilation would stand as a true testament to Iron Maiden's glory days. Unfortunately, It doesn't. Right off the bat, This cd loses a couple of points for not including any material from Paul Dianno's Iron Maiden songs from the self-titled debut or killers. Instead, We get the usual live versions of dianno-era classics ''Phantom Of the opera'', ''Wrathchild'', and ''Iron Maiden'' which instead feature Bruce Dickinson singing these songs. Not that Dickinson can't sing these songs, It just would've only been right to have the original dianno versions included here. In reality, The earliest songs on here are from Number Of The Beast, Which came out in 1982. Also, ''Wasted Years'' on here sounds rather shoddy, Which is odd considering all this new technology that can be used to make old music sound crisp and new. One of the few positive things that can be said about this compilation is that it does use much of the 80 minute time limit that is allowed onto a cd. But, Being that this cd is 71 minutes long, There could've actually been one more song on here [For instance, The classic ''Flight Of Icarus'']. Being that Iron Maiden's history is much too rich with many classic songs, It's really impossible to do a good Iron Maiden anthology on just 1 disc, Even if it is just covering the first decade. Many Maiden favorites are missing. The fact that you don't get to hear ''Flight of icarus'', ''Running free'', ''Sanctuary'', ''The clairvoyant'', ''Purgatory'', ''Twilight zone'', Or ''Stranger in a strange land'' is more than enough reason to not pick up this cd. For a better Maiden collection, Shell out the extra cash and go pick up the essential Iron Maiden instead. For an even better collection than that, Hunt down a copy of the 2-disc version of the long out-of-print best of the beast.

Is a check from the cashing of such needless and unneccesary compilations such as these. In 1995, Best of The Beast came out in a deluxe package and with many of the same songs, and with superior tracking. In 1999, Ed Hunter came out (a video game nevertheless) with another greatest hits type package (of course at least packaged with a game, as mediocre as the game was), then with Edward the Great and The Essential Iron Maiden to follow. Now this. That makes 5 greatest hits packages for Iron Maiden to date. I understand they wanted something to promote the tour and vice versa, but this is definitely pathetic on their part. How about some alternate versions for a change? Demo tracks? B-sides? Something to stand as an incentive for the cynical ones like I, who see this as a pathetic cash-in. Oh yeah, I just remembered the "First Ten Years" collection from 1990 or thereabouts. That makes six.

IRON MAIDEN release another best of. Why? Well, they are touring this summer so why not release a cd to make some money, right? IMO they don't need to do this, they are turning into a money machine. We can buy the new DVD (Live after death) and be happy with that. This compilation is only worth the money if you have to have everything Maiden! There are no rarities on this one just plain old Maiden which is great but...

2 stars for the cover!