iron maiden | maiden england ‘88 (2013)

I’VE LOVED THIS CONCERT FOR YEEEEEARS.

But alas, visually, the DVD transfer is barely an improvement over the VHS i’ve worn out: Steve Harris’ decision to record this show to tape instead of film twenty-five years ago was a bad one.

It means colors will continue to feel washy and bleedy, while the details will never attain crispness. And forget an HD version someday.

No, if you’re buying this, it should mainly be for the 5.1 mix, not for the picture quality.

There’s also three extra songs — “Run to the Hills,” “Running Free,” and “Sanctuary” — but we’ve already got at least half a dozen different live versions of those tracks, and these renditions are entirely unspecial.

Bummer.

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