Tuesday 12 December 2017

Album Review: IRON MAIDEN - The Book Of Souls: Live Chapter

Iron Maiden - The Book Of Souls: Live Chapter

01. If Eternity Should Fail (Live at Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney, Australia - Friday 6th May 2016)
02. Speed of Light (Live at Grand Arena, GrandWest, Cape Town, South Africa - Wednesday 18th May 2016)
03. Wrathchild (Live at 3 Arena, Dublin, Ireland - Saturday 6th May 2017)
04. Children of the Damned (Live at Bell Center, Montreal, Canada - Friday 1st April 2016)
05. Death or Glory (Live at Wroclaw Stadium, Wroclaw, Poland - Sunday 3rd July 2016)
06. The Red and the Black (Live at Ryogoku Kokugikan, Tokyo, Japan - Thursday 21st April 2016)
07. The Trooper (Live at Estadio Jorge Magico Gonzalez, San Salvador, El Salvador - Sunday 6th March 2016)
08. Powerslave (Live at Plaza Dell'Unita D'Italia, Trieste, Italy - Tuesday 26th July 2016)
09. The Great Unknown (Live at MRA Arena, Newcastle, England - Sunday 14th May 2017)
10. The Book of Souls (Live at Download Festival, Donington, England - Sunday 12th June 2016)
11. Fear of the Dark (Live at Arena Castelao, Fortaleza, Brazil - Thursday 24th March 2016)
12. Iron Maiden (Live at Estadio Velez Sarsfield, Buenos Aires, Argentina - Tuesday 15th March 2016)
13. The Number of the Beast (Live at Open Air Festival, Wacken, Germany - Thursday 4th August 2016)
14. Blood Brothers (Live at Download Festival, Donington, England - Sunday 12th June 2016)
15. Wasted Years (Live at HSBC Arena, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil - Thursday 17th March 2016)


Iron Maiden have released loads of live albums over the years, and I still look forward to them, because unlike many legendary Metal bands, they actually seem to have faith in their new music, and include plenty of songs from their current album on each tour. This makes each tour unique, and worth documenting with a live album to capture the spirit of Maiden at that particular time. This also keeps Iron Maiden relevant, as opposed to a predictable nostalgia act.

The Book Of Souls: Live Chapter is a particularly special record, as it not only documents Iron Maiden's ridiculously successful world tour (36 countries across 6 continents), but also acts as a celebration of vocalist Bruce Dickinson's battle against cancer. To have fought such an illness, won, then to have embarked on a tour of this magnitude, delivering such exceptional performances night after night, is a truly inspirational achievement.

The album sounds incredible, and some songs are as good as, if not better than, the original studio versions. I love all of the songs here, but I already have several live versions of classics like The Trooper, and Fear Of The Dark, so while these recorded versions are still amazing, it was the chance to hear the new material live that really excited me about this release. If Eternity Should Fail sounds even more epic here than it does on The Book Of Souls, and the live performance of Speed Of Light gives it even more urgency and energy than on the studio version.

The Book Of Souls: Live Chapter is Iron Maiden doing what they do best, and provides further proof that they are still one of the greatest Heavy Metal bands in the world.

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