Description
Double album on yellow vinyls with gatefold cover and a replica of the Yugoslavian tour poster. Limited 110 copies
Back in 1986 the world was a vastly different place then the one we see today but one thing, however, remains constant, reliable and perennially reassuring: Iron Maiden. If you just look at how many bands that has come and go during the years then its not hard not to marvel at this band’s unwavering ability to remain at the top of their game. Somehow, Iron Maiden are even bigger around the world in the new millennium than they were when we first sang their praises in the midst of their mid-80s glory days. And there is clearly plenty of life in the old dogs yet, too. Rewind to 1986, and Iron Maiden were very much at the peak of their powers, and steadily approaching the apex of their first wave of popularity. Having played in front of roughly three-and-a-half million people during the World Slavery Tour that concluded the previous summer, the band were up against it when it came to making a new album and topping their recent triumphs. Fortunately, their next album was the magnificent, sci-fi-tinged Somewhere In Time: both Maiden’s most adventurous album to date and the perfect starting point for the next extravagant stage set. The tour, inevitably titled Somewhere On Tour, kicked off at the Hala Pionir in Belgrade, Yugoslavia on the 10th of September 1986, where this album is recorded, two full weeks before the album’s release, and its eye-frazzling, futuristic imagery and giant cyborg Eddie proved to be an immediate hit with Maiden’s rapidly expanding global audience. What I remember most about the Somewhere In Time tour was having an argument with Rod [Smallwood, Maiden’s manager]. I wanted to film the tour and he wasn’t having any of it, Steve grumbles. I said, ‘We’ve got to film the tour!’ but he wasn’t into it. [impersonating Rod] ‘Noooo, we don’t need to film the bloody tour!’ Of course, later on he ended up saying, ‘Oh, I wish we’d filmed the tour…’, ha ha! But it was a great-looking tour. It looked fantastic, but we’ve got hardly any footage of it anywhere. We filmed the video for Stranger In A Strange Land at Sheffield City Hall, but apart from that we haven’t got much at all. But what can you do? I rest my case, Rod, ha ha ha!”
Track list:
1. Intro: Blade Runner Theme
2. Caught Somewhere In Time
3. 2 Minutes To Midnight
4. The Loneliness Of The Long Distance Runner
5. Children Of The Damned
6. Stranger In A Strange Land
7. Wasted Years
8. Rime Of The Ancient Mariner
9. Walking On Glass
10. Sea Of Madness
11. Heaven Can Wait
12. Flight Of Icarus
13. Hallowed Be Thy Name
14. Iron Maiden
15. The Number Of The Beast
16. Run To The Hills
17. Running Free
18. Sanctuary