Iron Maiden's latest studio release may be called The Final Frontier, but the band - whose latest leg of The Final Frontier World Tour is set to kick off tomorrow in Mexico and wind through South America and Europe through August - still have a few tricks up Eddie's rotting sleeve. On May 23 in the U.K. (and a day later in the States), the band will release From Fear to Eternity: The Best of 1990-2010, a compilation spanning their most recent two decades.
Intended as a companion piece to 2008's Somewhere Back in Time: The Best of 1980-1990, this new set differs in that it spans across two discs instead of one. Accordingly, many of the tracks span as long as 11 minutes or so; there's quite a bit of material to get through on this set. Happily, the package is promised to retail for the cost of only one disc. There's also, unlike the last compilation, one track that's more difficult to find than most: a live take on "Man on the Edge," from The X Factor (1996). As with several of the songs, this one was originally not recorded with vocalist Bruce Dickinson (at the time, he was out of the band and pursuing a solo career), but whereas the other three live tracks come from their 2002 Rock in Rio live set, this particular track comes from the CD single of "The Wicker Man" released in 2000. So that's something for rarity hunters.
The official Iron Maiden website has posted the press release and a note from band manager Rod Smallwood on the album, and the official track list is after the jump.
Iron Maiden, From Fear to Eternity: The Best of 1990-2010 (EMI (U.K.)/UMe (U.S.), 2011)
Disc 1
- The Wicker Man
- Holy Smoke
- El Dorado
- Paschendale
- Different World
- Man on the Edge (Live)
- The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg
- Blood Brothers
- Rainmaker
- Sign of the Cross (Live)
- Brave New World
- Fear of the Dark (Live)
Disc 2
- Be Quick or Be Dead
- Tailgunner
- No More Lies
- Coming Home
- The Clansman (Live)
- For the Greater Good of God
- These Colours Don't Run
- Bring Your Daughter...to the Slaughter
- Afraid to Shoot Strangers
- Dance of Death
- When the Wild Wind Blows
Disc 1, Tracks 1, 8 and 11 from Brave New World (EMI (U.K.)/Columbia/Portrait (U.S.), 2000)
Disc 1, Track 2 and Disc 2, Tracks 2 and 8 from No Prayer for the Dying (EMI (U.K.)/Epic (U.S.), 1990)
Disc 1, Track 3 and Disc 2, Tracks 4 and 11 from The Final Frontier (EMI (U.K.)/UMe (U.S.), 2010)
Disc 1, Tracks 4 and 9 and Disc 2, Tracks 3 and 10 from Dance of Death (EMI (U.K.)/Columbia (U.S.), 2003)
Disc 1, Tracks 5 and 7 and Disc 2, Tracks 6-7 from A Matter of Life and Death (EMI (U.K.)/Sanctuary (U.S.), 2006)
Disc 1, Track 6 was a B-side to "The Wicker Man" single (EMI (U.K.)/Columbia (U.S.), 2000)
Disc 1, Tracks 10 and 12 and Disc 2, Track 5 from Rock in Rio (EMI (U.K.)/Columbia/Portrait (U.S.), 2002)
Disc 2, Tracks 1 and 9 from Fear of the Dark (EMI (U.K.)/Epic (U.S.), 1992)
Damn. The last thing I need is another IM compilation album but I've got to keep up the collection. At least this compilation is mining the later catalog instead of those first 6 albums that have been compiled to death.
All hail Maiden!
This compilation looks interesting, but there has never been an honest to goodness Iron Maiden collection that would cover the early albums right up to the present day including many rarities like Women In Uniform, the Maiden Japan EP or their cover of Jethro Tull's Cross Eyed Mary. In 1995 Castle reissued their catalog with a bonus disc of rarities for each album. Get Universal involved to reissue the catalog like that again.