Spin #136 : Iron Maiden : Live After Death

SUNDAY DROP - SPIN # 136 FROM THE R'NR WITH RYLO RECORD COLLECTION

What a week that was! Here at R'nR with Rylo, we are finally finding sometime to relax. Albeit short, because we have a 6th birthday party to attend later this afternoon (yep, Sunday 5pm-7pm party). This week I selected the first live album released by the British Metal Gods - Iron Maiden called, 'Live After Death'. It was one of the earliest albums that I heard from this band and I was energised by the quality of their live show. In 2010, I was able to go see them perform in Sydney on the 'Final Frontier Tour' and we even have that poster up in our son's room. They've recently toured again in Australia for their latest album called 'Senjutsu', one that I will need to add to the want list.

Eddie the Head is being resurrected on the front cover of the album and he always appears somewhere on their records. The artist behind this creation is Derek Riggs and if you look closely amongst the headstones, you will see he has put his own name on one of them. This artwork is also reminiscent of Donald Trump's political career. Everyone thought that he wouldn't be President of the United States again (or even be alive after the assassination attempts) but he will now become the 47th President. Let's hope the world can get back to one without wars and hatred, that the economy can start flourishing again and that we can all get back to what is important and meaningful in our lives. Good health + food, surrounding ourselves with our loved ones and friends and spinning ridiculously good music on our turntables!

Have you ever heard a better live album? I have some honourable mentions that come close and in no particular order:

• Motorhead - 'No Sleep 'Til Hammersmith'

• Queen - 'Live at the Bowl' and 'Live at Wembley '86'

• MC5 - 'Kick Out The Jams'

• Kiss - 'Alive', 'Alive II'

• Johnny Cash - 'At Folsom Prison'

• AC/DC - 'Live'

• Wings - 'Wings Over America'

• Nirvana - 'MTV Unplugged in New York'

• Ghost - 'Rite Here, Rite Now' and 'Ceremony and Devotion'

• Arctic Monkeys - 'Live at the Royal Albert Hall'

• George Harrison - 'Concert for George' and 'The Concert for Bangladesh'

• Neil Young & Crazy Horse - 'Live Rust'

• Judas Priest - 'Unleashed in the East'

• Deep Purple - 'Made In Japan'

• Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers - 'First Flight To Tokyo: The Lost 1961 Recordings'

• Daft Punk - 'Alive 2007'

• Carly Simon - 'Live at Grand Central'

• The Darkness - 'Live at Hammersmith'

Iron Maiden have released so many great albums over the years but in my opinion, some of the songs from this live album sound better than the original version. 'PHANTOM OF THE OPERA' and 'RUNNING FREE' are clear standouts here and front man Bruce Dickinson commands the crowd with some iconic phrases, one being - "Scream for me Long Beach". This was recorded during their 'World Slavery Tour' across 1984 and 1985. Sides A, B and C were recorded at Long Beach Arena in California while Side D was recorded at the Hammersmith Odeon in London. The quality of this recording is ridiculously good and worth hearing through a good set of headphones if you have the time. Dropping the stylus on this one brings back a lot of memories from when I was about 18-19 years old, driving up to Sydney for work and blasting albums like this through the car stereo. At the time I thought that I was pretty cool using my click-wheel iPod via the headphone jack in the car. I'd have to put together a playlist before driving and make sure that I wasn't speeding. There is something about Heavy Metal or live music that gets the blood pumping and you tapping along on the steering wheel.

Our little Rylo's are hearing this one for the first time and after the initial speech by Winston Churchill, they are hooked. Both of them are demanding a set of drum sticks so they can drum along. It ends up them hitting every surface they can and having fun. Fingers crossed we can get a drum kit for them in the future, as they are very coordinated. I've listed out the songs for you below: Imagine seeing this set-list? It's basically a greatest hits show! We have spun another Iron Maiden album and if you missed it, click here to read our # 75th Sunday Spin - Iron Maiden second album, 'Killers'.

SIDE A - CHURCHILL'S SPEECH / ACES HIGH / 2 MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT / THE TROOPER / REVELATIONS / FLIGHT OF ICARUS

SIDE B - RIME OF THE ANCIENT MARINER / POWERSLAVE / THE NUMBER OF THE BEAST

SIDE C - HALLOWED BE THEY NAME / IRON MAIDEN / RUN TO THE HILLS / RUNNING FREE

SIDE D - WRATHCHILD / 22 ACACIA AVENUE / CHILDREN OF THE DAMNED / DIE WITH YOUR BOOTS ON / PHANTOM OF THE OPERA

The band has included images from their 189 concerts over 330+ days around the world and you can see them on the gatefold, the jacket sleeves (opposite the included lyrics) and in the booklet. They covered a lot of ground during this tour and I wonder who was lucky enough to see them perform live in Wollongong or Sydney on May 6th and 7th 1985? If anyone out there was lucky enough, please reach out. The set design has a lot of Egyptian themes because they had released their extremely successful album, 'Powerslave' at the time. It's interesting that our kids have a small fascination with Egypt too, because as a kid, I couldn't get enough of Ancient Egypt.

Some of you might know this already, that the lead singer is a pilot and often leads the band around in 'Ed Force One'. I'm not sure if he was doing that on this 1980's tour. I think he got his pilot license more recently and has done so for the last couple of Australian tours. They always decorate the plane with the latest album theme and it gets a lot of fans crowding around the airport to see it up close. I don't know how many more albums or tours they have left and it will be a sad day when they stop. Saying that, the Rolling Stones keep going and going and they are older....so we will see.

'Live After Death' is one of those albums that I find, once I place it on the turntable, that I must listen to all four sides. It gets you up and about with tracks like 'THE TROOPER' and '2 MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT'. It really will go down as one of the best live recordings ever put out on wax and should be a must in everyone's collection. The next time Iron Maiden visit Australia, I will make sure I go and take our kids as it might be the very last time we get the chance. Over the weekend we had a lot of play time with lego building and creating. The space rockets and ideas designed by our soon to be 6 year old son were incredible. Last week he built a launch area and this week he designed a new meteor protector, which destroys meteors heading for Earth. I told him that I will have to take some photos and send them to Elon Musk and his Space X program. Our littlest Rylo has been going through a major growth and been out of sorts for the last 3-4 days. She doesn't really know how to be right now and has needed lots of cuddles from Night Kat Kiz especially. As the record comes to the dead wax, the kids are nicely building with those magnetic tiles that they love.

I hope that you have enjoyed stepping back into 1984/85 with us here at R'nR with Rylo and maybe found an album you didn't know existed. Take care of your loved ones and stop putting things off. Don't be scared to achieve some tasks around the home or personally. It will pay off in the future and it's better to try and fail, then to never try at all. I think Wilson from Home Improvement said that. Catch us next week with another Sunday Spin from the R'nR with Rylo collection and get involved in our MWSP.

Until our next Spin.....