Death on the Road DVD Review in Classic Rock
"UNDER OUR WHEELSGive the Autobahn a miss. The Irons are on the rampage in Germany.
IRON MAIDEN - Death on the Road (EMI)
A delayed visual companion to last year's audio double-set of the same name, Death on the Road was shot for German TV during 2003's Dance of Death tour. Having promised Classic Rock readers that the DVD "will be the business", bassist Steve Harris spent four months toiling upon this superb document, a feat of Herculean patience considering that few of its shots stay on screen for more than three of four seconds at a time, and the concert's duration of 1 hour and 42 minutes.
Set inside a gigantic sports dome, the music is performed before a castle backdrop though this DVD is more intimate than 2002's Rock in Rio. At times the cameras go in so close that you can almost see Maiden's nostril hairs. And with a stunning 5.1 sound mix, the concert experience is absolute. Close those eyes and you'll imagine the audience's stripy spandex strides and moustaches.
Bounding over monitors and adding occasional theatrical interludes - Bruce Dickinson sings Dance of Death in a mask, swirling a cloak around his head to the song's final flourish - the band's enthusiasm is contagious.
Ironically, the Westfalenhalle goes bananas as Bruce dons a greatcoat and tin helmet for the First World War-themed strains of Paschendale
But for the most part, Death on the Road is simply presented, its emphasis firmly on the quality of the material. Bruce Dickinson interprets the Blaze Bayley-era Lord of the Flies like it's a composition of his own, and Maiden perform their encore of Journeyman acoustically, though ironically Harris is alone in the frontline to decline a stool on which to sit - preferring his time honoured foot-on-monitor stance instead.
As with the audio version, Bruce's between-songs batter is judiciously pruned, though he reveals that Journeyman is "about being a musician. So we many have completed the song, but we haven't finished the journey." Indeed they have not.
Almost six hours long, Death on the Road includes multiple mixes of the Dortmund show, a making of Dance of Death documentary and reams of bonus material. It provides irrefutable proof that Iron Maiden are still the world's greatest living heavy metal band - bar none.
9/10
Dave Ling"
1 Comment
I guess his copy of the DVD didn't have the problems everyone else seems to be experiencing.