A Sneak Peek...
And this time.. on one of "Iron Maiden's" greatest live albums, "Rock In Rio", which was released on March 25, 2002.
Why do we think it's one of the band's greatest live albums?
Because after listening to the live versions of some of the songs on this album, we could no longer go back to the studio versions.
As we have mentioned and "broadcast" many times before (links below), one of the criteria that makes a great live album, in our opinion, is the fact that in the end you will always prefer to listen to the live version of a particular song, rather than its album's version. So, this is what happens to us with quite a few songs from this album.
Take "Fear of the Dark" for example and with hand on heart say which version of it you prefer to listen to.
The live versions in this show is simply amazing and memorable. "Iron Maiden" gives the heart and soul in every song. They manage to communicate with the audience in such an amazing way, and the audience of course gives back, and in a big way. This is probably the best audience in the world, who knew every single note in each of the songs and accompanied them with its mighty voice, just like any other musical instrument.
Beyond the flawless playing of all the members, Bruce Dickinson surpasses himself here and proves once again why he is considered one of the greatest singers of all time. Despite the challenging setlist, he manages to touch every tune without missing a single note, and he does all this while thrilling the audience and pushing the band forward.
Interestingly, the added value of the songs in this show, is not only in the band's classic songs, but also in the newer tracks like "The Wicker Man" and "Blood Brothers" that sound fuller and more powerful than the album version.
This legendary performance was recorded as part of the "Rock in Rio" festival in Brazil, on January 19, 2001 in front of a huge audience of 250,000 people. This was Iron Maiden's second-biggest live show, with the first was in Rio during the 1985 tour of "Powerslave", where the band performed in front of an audience of 300,000 people.
This was Iron Maiden's perfect way to end the tour that accompanied "Brave New World" - the band's comeback album with Bruce Dickinson and Adrian Smith. It includes the band's greatest songs alongside six songs from the aforementioned album.
Among the songs played at the show, were two excerpts from the Blaze Bayley era - "Sign of the Cross" from "The X Factor" and "The Clansman" from "Virtual XI".
And of course, there are also songs from the Paul Di'Anno era like "Sanctuary", "Wrathchild" and "Iron Maiden".
The band released one single from this album - "Run to the Hills", which was released on March 11, 2002. All profits from this single were donated to the band's former drummer Clive Burr, who suffered from health problems and multiple sclerosis.
Well, this album does not reach the level of the masterpiece "Live After Death", but it is definitely getting close.
We invite you to listen to the double special "Live Performances"ת which includes a reference to some of our favorite live album:
Part 1: Here.
Part 2: Here.
For Listening: Spotify, Apple Music.