1992: anno di grazia per la Vergine di Ferro.
È appena uscito il disco 'Fear Of The Dark', molto migliore del precedente 'No Prayer...' e gli Irons hanno ricevuto l'invito a partecipare al Festival Monsters Of Rock che si tiene a Donington. E la onorano eccome!!!
Il live parte in potenza e velocità, con una triade leggendaria: "Be Quick Or Be Dead", "The Number of the Beast" e "Wrathchild". Le tre esecuzioni sono magnifiche, senza sbavature (unico difetto: "Be Quick. . " è all'inizio più lento che in studio, ma fa niente). Poi cominciano con il più o meno nuovo repertorio, la selvaggia "From Here To Eternety" che è suonata benissimo e "Can I Play with Madness". Poi è la volta di "Wasting Love", ballata molto amata dagli Irons e riproposta spesso e volentieri in quel tour, con qualche sbavatura sull'assolo, che però è ancora più bello. Dopo la inutile "Tailgunner", viene "The Evil That Men Do", alla fine della quale c'è una lunga parlata di Bruce che introduce "Afraid to Shoot Strangers", cantata benissimo da Bruce.
Ed ecco al nuovo capolavoro: "Fear Of The Dark", velocissima, che entusiasma il pubblico. In Questa canzone soprattutto si sente il difetto principale del disco: il volume del basso, che è troppo alto. Resta comunque un'esecuzione perfetta che precede "Bring Your Daughter. . . To The Slaughter" in una sfavillante versione, selvaggia, con il canto di Bruce accompagnato dal pubblico che si trasforma in un urlo bestiale. Seguono "Clayrvoyant", che non aggiunge nulla, e "Heaven Can Wait", che Donington canta tutta insieme. Comincia la sfilata dei classici: "Run to the Hills", "2 Minutes To Midnight", "Iron Maiden", "Hallowed Be Thy Name" (bellissima in questa versione), "The Trooper" (il basso ora è fortissimo), "Sanctuary" e "Running Free". Che dire di questi ultimi 7 pezzi ? Che gli Irons divertono il pubblico e si divertono, che Donington ringrazia e che risponde agli urli di Bruce "Scream for me Donington..... !!!!".
Dunque, possiamo solo rimpiangere (chi non c'era, come me) di non aver assistito ad uno dei più entusiasmanti show della più grande metal band di sempre, e coloro che ci sono stati si ritengano fortunatissimi!
PS: è la mia prima rece, l'ho fatta sinteticamente per coloro che già conoscono i Maiden ma non questo disco e per convincerli della validità di questo live, che, a torto, al tempo della pubblicazione, passò come un semi-bootleg, rivelandosi però molto meglio dei contemporanei "A Real Live/Dead One". UP THE IRONS!
Elenco tracce e testi
01 Be Quick or Be Dead (03:53)
Covered in sinners and dripping with guilt
Making you money from slime and from filth.
Parading your bellies in ivory towers
Investing our lives in your schemes and your powers.
You got to watch them - Be quick or be dead
Snake eyes in heaven - The thief in your head.
You've got to watch them - Be quick or be dead
Snake eyes in heaven - The thief in your head.
Be quick or be dead - Be quick or be dead
See... what's ruling all our lives
See... who's pulling the strings...
I bet you won't fall on your face...
Your belly will hold you in place.
The serpent is crawling inside of your ear
He says you must vote for what you want to hear.
Don't matter what's wrong as long as you're alright
So pull yourself stupid and rob yourself blind.
02 The Number of the Beast (04:53)
I left alone, my mind was blank.
I needed time to think to get the memories from my mind.
What did I see, can I believe,
That what I saw that night was real
and not just fantasy.
Just what I saw, in my old dreams,
Were they reflections of my warped mind
staring back at me.
'Cause in my dreams, it's always there,
The evil face that twists my mind and brings
me to despair.
Yeah!!!
The night was black, was no use holding back,
'Cause I just had to see, was someone
watching me.
In the mist, dark figures move and twist,
Was all this for real, or just some kind of hell.
666 the Number of the Beast.
Hell and fire was spawned to be released.
Torches blazed and sacred chants were phrased,
As they start to cry, hands held to the sky.
In the night, the fires burning bright,
The ritual has begun, Satan's work is done.
666 the number of the beast.
Sacrifice is going on tonight.
This can't go on, I must inform the lord.
Can this still be real or just some crazy dream.
But I feel drawn towards the chanting hordes,
They seem to mesmerize...can't avoid their eyes,
666 the Number of the Beast.
666 the one for you and me.
I'm coming back, I will return,
And I'll possess your body and I'll make you burn.
I have the fire, I have the force.
I have the power to make my evil take it's course.
03 Wrathchild (02:54)
born into a scene
of angriness and greed
of dominance and persecution
My mother was a queen
my dad I've never seen
I was never meant to be.
Now I spend my time
looking all around
For a man that's nowhere
to be found,
Until I find him,
I'm never gonna stop searching
I'm going to find my man
gonna travel round.
so long wrathchild
Yeah I'm a wrathchild,
hello wrathchild
comin' to get you
oooh yeaheyeah
Some say it shouldn't matter
ain't nothing gonna alter
the course of my destination
But I know I've gotta find
some seriaus peace of mind
or I know I'll just go crazy
Now I spend my time
looking all around
For a man that's nowhere
to be found,
Until I find him,
I'm never gonna stop searching
I'm going to find my man
gonna travel round.
so long wrathchild
well I'm a wrathchild
yeah wrathchild
comin' to get you
oooh yeaheyeah
04 From Here to Eternity (04:44)
From Here To Eternity
She fell in love with his greasy machine
She leaned over wiped his head
kickstart clean
She'd never seen the beast before
But she left there wanting
more more more
But when she was walking on
down the road
She heard a sound that made
her heart explode
He whispered to her to get on the back
"I'll take you on a ride
from here to eternity"
Hell ain't a bad place
Hell is from here to eternity
Hell ain't a bad place
Hell is from here to eternity
She must be having one of her
crazy dreams
She'd never sat on a piece so mean
It made her feel like she's on cloud nine
She even thought she heard the
engine sigh
But like all dreams that come to an end
They took a tumble at the devil's bend
The beast and Charlotte they were
two of a kind
They'd always take the line...
from here to eternity
Hell ain't a bad place
Hell is from here to eternity
Hell ain't a bad place
Hell is from here to eternity
05 Can I Play With Madness (03:33)
Give me the sense to wonder,
to wonder if I'm free.
Give me the sense to wonder,
to know I can be me.
Give me the strength, to hold my head up,
spit back in their face.
Don't need no key, to unlock this door,
gonna break down the walls,
break out of this bad place.
Can I play with Madness?
The prophet stared at his crystal ball,
Can I play with Madness?
There's no vision there at all.
Can I play with Madness?
The prophet looked and he laughed at me!
Can I play with Madness?
He said you're blind, too blind to see!
I screamed aloud to the old man,
I said don't lie, don't say you don't know!
I say you'll pay for this mischief,
In this world, or the next!
Oh then he fixed me with a freezing glance,
and the hellfires raged in his eyes,
He said do you want to know the truth son?
I'll tell you the truth!
Your souls' gonna burn, in a lake of fire!
Can I play with Madness?
The prophet stared at his crystal ball,
Can I play with Madness?
There's no vision there at all.
Can I play with Madness?
The prophet looked and he laughed at me!
Can I play with Madness?
He said you're blind, too blind to see!
Can I play with Madness?
The prophet stared at his crystal ball,
Can I play with Madness?
There's no vision there at all.
Can I play with Madness?
The prophet looked and he laughed at me!
Can I play with Madness?
He said you're blind, too blind to see!
07 Tailgunner (04:07)
Trace your way back 50 years
To the glow of Dresden - blood and tears
In the black above by the cruel searchlight
Men will die and men will fight - yeah!
Who shoot who and who fired first?
Dripping death to wet the bloodthirst
No radar lock on - skin and bone
The bomber boys are going home
Chours:
Climb into the sky never wonder why - Tailgunner
you're a tailgunner
Climb into the sky never wonder why - Tailgunner
you're a tailgunner
Climb into the sky never wonder why - Tailgunner
you're a tailgunner
Climb into the sky never wonder why - Tailgunner
you're a tailgunner
Nail that Fokker kill that son
Gonna blow your guts out with my gun
The weather forecast's good for war
Colonge and Frankfurt? Have some more!
Tail end Charlie in the boiling sky
The Enola Gay was my last try
Now that this Tailguner's gone
No more bombers (just one big bomb)
Chorus:
08 The Evil That Men Do (07:58)
Love is a razor and I walked the line on that silver blade
Slept in the dust with his daughter, her eyes red with
The slaughter of innocence
And I will pray for her
I will call her name out loud
I would bleed for her
If I could only see her now
Living on a razors edge
Balancing on a ledge
Living on a razors edge, Oaah
Balancing on a ledge
Balancing on a ledge
Living on a razors edge
Balancing on a ledge... You know, You know
The evil that men do lives on and on...
The evil that men do lives on and on...
The evil that men do lives on and on...
The evil that men do lives on and on...
The evil that men do lives on and on...
Circle of fire my baptism of joy at an end it seems
The seventh lamb slain, the book of life opens before me
And I will pray for her
Some day I may return
Don't you cry for me
Beyond is where I learn
Living on a razors edge
Balancing on a ledge
Living on a razors edge... You know, You know
The evil that men do lives on and on...
The evil that men do lives on and on...
The evil that men do lives on and on...
The evil that men do lives on and on...
SOLO
Living on a razors edge
Balancing on a ledge
Living on a razors edge... You know, You know
The evil that men do lives on and on...
The evil that men do lives on and on...
The evil that men do lives on and on...
The evil that men do lives on and on...
The evil
The evil
The evil that men do
The evil
The evil
The evil that men do, Oaah, Oaah
09 Afraid to Shoot Strangers (06:52)
Lying awake at night I wipe the sweat
from my brow
But it's not the fear 'cos
I'd rather go now
Trying to visualize the horrors that
will lay ahead
The desert sand mound a burial ground
When it comes to the time
Are we partners in crime?
When it comes to the time
We'll be ready to die
God let us go now and finish what's
to be done
Thy Kingdom Come
Thy shall be done- on Earth
Trying to justify to ourselves the
reasons to go
Should we live and let live
Forget or forgive
But how can we let them go on this way?
The reign of terror, corruption must end
And we know, deep down there's
no other way
No trust, no reasoning, no more to say
Afraid to shoot strangers
Afraid to shoot strangers
10 Fear of the Dark (07:11)
I am the man who walks alone
And when I'm walking a dark road
At night or strolling through the park
And When the light begins to change
I sometimes feel a little strange
A little anxious when it's dark
Fear of the dark, fear of the dark
I have a constant fear that something's
always near
Fear of the dark, fear of the dark
I have a phobia that someone's
always there
Have you run your fingers down
the wall
And have you felt your neck skin crawl
When you're searching for the light?
Sometimes when you're scared
to take a look
At the corner of the room
You've sensed that something's
watching you
Fear of the dark, fear of the dark
I have constant fear that something's
always near
Fear of the dark, fear of the dark
I have a phobia that someone's
always there
Have you ever been alone at night
Thought you heard footsteps behind
And turned around and no one's there?
And as you quicken up your pace
You find it hard to look again
Because you're sure there's
someone there
Fear of the dark, fear of the dark
I have constant fear that something's
always near
Fear of the dark, fear of the dark
I have a phobia that someone's
always there
[solo]
Fear of the dark, Fear of the dark, Fear of the dark, Fear of the dark
Fear of the dark, Fear of the dark, Fear of the dark, Fear of the dark
Watching horror films the night before
Debating witches and folklores
The unknown troubles on your mind
Maybe your mind is playing tricks
You sense, and suddenly eyes fix
On dancing shadows from behind
Fear of the dark, fear of the dark
I have constant fear that something's
always near
Fear of the dark, fear of the dark
I have a phobia that someone's
always there
Fear of the dark, fear of the dark
I have constant fear that something's
always near
Fear of the dark, fear of the dark
I have a phobia that someone's
always there
When I'm walking a dark road
I am the man who walks alone
Carico i commenti... con calma
Altre recensioni
Di The Guitarist
Gli Iron Maiden in sede Live sono quanto di più grandioso si possa immaginare.
Il ritornello cantato con il pubblico in 'Heaven Can Wait' è da antologia.
