Description

Double picture disc album with gatefold cover

Heavy metal stalwarts Iron Maiden have yet to receive the “royal treatment” when it comes to the anthology section of their surprisingly consistent catalog, but Sony’s Somewhere Back in Time: The Best of 1980-1989 provides listeners with a semi-decent set of heavy metal crib notes from the group’s most popular era. Like previous compilations, the inclusion of cuts like “Run to the Hills,” “Number of the Beast,” “2 Minutes to Midnight,” and “The Trooper” is a no-brainer, and great album tracks like “Powerslave” and “Evil That Men Do” make for a fun listen, but one has to question the validity of populating a greatest-hits collection with four tracks culled from a live performance. Love them or hate them, when it comes to live albums, 1985’s Live After Death is one of the better ones out there, and there’s no denying the electricity that runs through “Aces High” and “Wrathchild,” but why deny first-time listeners the fine studio versions of both, especially Paul Di’Anno’s “Phantom of the Opera” and “Iron Maiden?” Also, where are all of the tracks from 1983’s landmark Piece of Mind album? For such a beloved metal institution, there are precious few quality retrospectives and a whole bunch of merely adequate ones, guess which camp Somewhere Back in Time falls into.

Track listing:
1. Churchill’s Speech
2. Aces High-live
3. 2 Minutes to Midnight
4. The Trooper
5. Wasted Years
6. Children Of The Damned
7. The Number Of The Beast
8. Run To The Hills
9. Phantom Of The Opera-live
10. The Evil That Men Do
11. Wrathchild-live
12. Can I Play with Madness
13. Powerslave
14. Hallowed Be Thy Name
15. Iron Maiden-live