To be honest, I’m still not sure if this Maiden acoustic cover thing is a good idea. I mean, for a one-off event, it made a lot of sense (and this was indeed how Maiden UniteD came about: the Dutch Iron Maiden fan club asked Joey Bruers to put together a special cover show in 2006, and he got hold of a number of renowned buddies and did a set of rearranged acoustic classics). The constellation of Dutch and Bristish musicians eventually went on to record ‘Mind the Acoustic Pieces’ (2010) and Across the Seventh Sea (2010) and have travelled far and wide with their covers of Iron Maiden’s classic material.
When I saw Maiden UniteD at Wacken a couple of years back, I thought of it as a nice tribute and that Damian Wilson of Threshold did a fine job at interpreting the Maiden songs. Anneke van Giersbergen’s voice also adorned the Maiden songs on stage that day, something which rarely is a bad thing. But still, the experience was nice and nothing more. The all-out energy of the old songs, whether we are talking about the Di’Anno or Dickinson era material, simply does not transport into the acoustic versions. Not even if Paul Di’Anno himself contributes with his raw and alcohol distilled voice on Prowler. Interestingly, Blaze Bayley, the Maiden singer who is what George Lazenby was for James Bond, namely the odd one out, offers up a decent version of Futureal, the one song from the two albums he made with Maiden besides The Clansman that has made any kind of mark in music history. I’m tempted to say that he does a far better job vocally with Maiden UniteD than he ever did with the real deal, but I’ll let that rest for now.
However, as I said, this is a nice rendering of a bunch of Iron Maiden songs. The entire recording has a laid back feeling, I’d even say a seventies feel, with Hammond organ and all. More than anything, though, it makes we want to listen to the first couple of albums again – I haven’t done that in a while. Better go and do that.
Tracklist:
1. Strange World
2. Charlotte The Harlot
3. Killers
4. Remember Tomorrow
5. Burning Ambition
6. Futureal (ft. Blaze Bayley)
7. Aces High
8. Prowler (ft. Paul Di’Anno)
9. Still Life ’15
Playing time: 38:06
Release date: 22nd of May, 2015
Label: Blacklake
Website: www.facebook.com/MaidenuniteD
Leave a Reply