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Iron Maiden: The Number Of The Beast is part of the Classic Albums series.
Iron Maiden are one of the most successful metal bands ever. They’ve had over 20 Top 20 singles (12 of those Top 10), 15 Top 20 albums (10 of those Top 10k, and 3 of them No.1) as well as 2 silver, 8 Gold and platinum totalling under 2 million albums sold in the UK alone. Enough facts, onto the DVD.
This DVD focuses of their 1982 album, The Number Of The Beast, which many consider their best work. Featuring interviews from all the band members even original drummer Clive Burr who left Maiden before the recording of their next album, producer Martin Birch, manager Rob Smallwood and several others. The documentary looks at the album’s production, the development of several tracks and how Maiden progressed from here. This is a very interesting documentary which also contains some nice moments such as a surprise appearance from Maiden’s mascot, Eddie, and a reconstruction of the village from the 1960’s TV show The Prisoner with Bruce Dickinson.
The picture quality is generally excellent. The recent interview footage looks flawless and present no problems whatsoever. Predictably, the archive footage is much worse. Some of it is good (footage from a concert taken during the Powerslave tour), some of it is average early footage of the band with Paul D’iAnno and some of it is fairly poor (the music videos, especially Number Of The Beast and footage from a gig at Hammersmith Odeon).
The sound is good. Everything is clear and audible and, despite it’s limitations, has some good moments.
Extras consist of 8 more interviews which include guitaists Adrian Smith and Dave Murray, stories about the album, the Reading festival, nicknames, producer Rob Smallwood, Adrian playing Children Of The Damned and The Number Of The Beast and a sad message about Clive Burr.
There is also a rough cut of Hallowed By Thy Name from the Rock In Rio gig earlier this year. Presented in widescreen and 5.1 sound, this looks and sounds fantastic. I’m looking forward to the release of this disc.
Overall, this is a great documentary about one of the greatest metal bands ever. Well worth a purchase if you are a fan or like any documentaries about legendary rock bands.
Iron Maiden: The Number Of The Beast (Classic Albums) is out now on DVD.
|
FILM PICTURE QUALITY SOUND QUALITY EXTRAS |
8 6 6 6 |
| OVERALL | 6.5 |
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 80 minutes
Studio: Disc Distribution
Year: 2001
Released: 2001
Cat.no: EREDV229
Region(s): 2, PAL
Chapters: 6 plus extras
Sound: Stereo
Languages: English
Subtitles: Dutch, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and French
Widescreen: 1.78:1
16:9-Enhanced: Yes
Macrovision: Yes
Disc Format: DVD 5
Price: £17.99
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