Excitement Metal

At last weekend's Guided by Voices show, I was enthusing to Ellen about the hole that Iron Maiden blew in my brain and eardrums at their Prudential Center onslaught. When she asked what they sounded like, I struggled to articulate The Number of the Beast through a series of shrieks, air guitar riffs, headbanging and horns flashing.

"So, Iron Maiden is...excitement metal?" Ellen asked. She understands everything.



Excitement Metal

1. The Number of the Beast    
2. Can I Play With Madness    
3. Fear of the Dark (Live)
4. Run to the Hills
5. Bring Your Daughter... To The Slaughter
6. The Evil That Men Do
7. Aces High
8. Be Quick Or Be Dead
9. 2 Minutes To Midnight
10. Running Free (Live)
11. Wasted Years
12. The Clairvoyant
13. The Trooper
14. Hallowed By Thy Name

This was the laziest mix that I've ever made. It's just Iron Maiden's Best of the Beast without the two Blaze Bayley songs. Thankfully, my lack of effort is superseded by those of the band represented here. Call it Best of the Best of the Beast.

I don't mind Bayley, and actually enjoy "Man on the Edge." But come on--you don't want to hear "Right Now" on a Van Halen best of. On Best of Beast, "Man on the Edge" is sorbet to cleanse the palate, and who wants their palate cleansed when you've got Bruce Dickinson on your table?

Most Maidenheads will probably be appalled my starting point for a friend was a best of and not a studio album. But Best of the Beast was my first Maiden record, the one that made me a fan and still the one that I put on at parties. When Ellen wants to check out Powerslave or Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, they're readily available. Plus, copying a band-endorsed anthology saves me from the trouble of having to fit my favorite Iron Maiden songs into an 80-minute standing.

Not my most creative mix, but as President Kennedy once said*, "a great mix is the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that has ever been gathered together on a compact disc, with the possible exception of when Iron Maiden stands alone."

*Paraphrased.