Iron Maiden

In a perfect world, all DVDs would look like this. Two CDs serve up no less than three full-length concert videos, compiling the long out of print VHS titles Live at the Rainbow (1981), Beast Over Hammersmith (1982), and Live in Dortmund (1983); a 90-minute documentary tracing the first years of the Iron Maiden story in absolutely exhaustive detail; a 20-minute U.K. TV documentary, shot while the bandmembers were still unknown headbangers spearheading a metal resurgence from the dingiest clubs in town; 45 minutes of home movie-style footage that predates even that; and a mess of videos and TV performances -- no less than five hours of Iron Maiden sound and vision. And this is only the early years. It is impossible to quibble. The only people who will not be thrilled by the set are those who won't be buying it anyway -- essentially. The History of Iron Maiden, Pt. 1: The Early Days is the package that the most devoted fan would put together, if he (or she) had access to every last fragment of film that the group has ever appeared on. Certainly there's no room whatsoever for the traditional cry of "Yes, but what about...." If the tape exists, it's here; and if it doesn't, somebody talks about it. A masterpiece. ~ Dave Thompson, All Music Guide