Do you want to make an Iron Maiden fan truly happy? How about giving that person a deluxe edition of five of the band’s most beloved albums, including a figurine and a patch?
If there are still a few Iron Maiden albums missing in your personal collection and you want to complete it before Senjutsu is released on September 3, or if you want to give an extra touch of awesomeness to your memorabilia, our third (and probably last) special review in preparation for the band’s highly anticipated seventeenth studio album will not only focus on The Studio Collection – Remastered, released back in 2018/2019, but more specifically on the DELUXE EDITION of five of the band’s most beloved albums, those being Fear of the Dark, A Matter of Life and Death, The Number of the Beast, Somewhere in Time, and Live After Death, which also come with a kick-ass figurine, a very cool patch, and of course the remastered versions of the albums in digipak CD format, because as you all know it’s all about the music in the end.
Covering Iron Maiden’s sixteen-strong studio albums across their career to date, plus what’s in my humble opinion the best live album of all time, the recordings were taken from the same remasters as the 2015 hi-res digital releases and with the track listing matching the original UK releases, all reissued by Parlophone Records (or BMG in the United States). The albums from The Studio Collection series were released chronologically in batches of four (as you can see below), plus Live After Death which was released separately, with one CD from each batch of releases also optionally available in a specially artworked box featuring the aforementioned 1:24 scale figurine and the exclusive patch. “We’ve wanted to revisit these for a long time and I was delighted with the remastering we did in 2015. I thought it was the best that our albums have ever sounded and it was only right that we made them available on CD now too,” said the one and only Mr. Steve Harris.
First batch
Iron Maiden / Killers / The Number Of The Beast (option of standard or collectors boxset edition including TNOTB Eddie figurine and patch) / Piece Of Mind
Second batch
Powerslave / Somewhere In Time (standard/collectors) / Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son / No Prayer For The Dying
Third batch
Fear Of The Dark (standard/collectors) / The X Factor / Virtual XI / Brave New World
Fourth batch
Dance Of Death / A Matter Of Life And Death (standard/collectors) / The Final Frontier / The Book Of Souls (not remastered, but appearing in digipak for the first time)
The remasters are an amazing choice for newcomers to the world of Iron Maiden or to fans whose CD’s or LP’s are not in good condition anymore due to the repeated plays, but even if you feel your collection is already complete I think there’s still room for the collectors/deluxe edition including the figurine and the patch. The figurine is pretty much an “add-on” to the Legacy of the Beast figurines collection, being made of the same material and displaying the same size and finishing, which means if you’re collecting those then this is the only way you have to complete your Legacy of the Beast set, as the figurines from the deluxe editions are not sold separately anywhere (unless you go to eBay, of course, but then it’s up to you how much you’re willing to pay for those). Regarding the patch, they’re beautiful and will make your metal vest shine even more whenever you’re wearing it, with the only “issue” being the fact they’re iron-on patches, not sew-on ones, which means it will be almost impossible to take them out if by any chance you decide to move them to a new vest or jacket. Not a big deal, but it’s important to keep that in mind if you’re a patch lover.
You can find all five deluxe edition boxes on Amazon Canada, for example, but pay good attention to the prices as they vary from around 25 to 90 Canadian dollars based on the availability of each item. Furthermore, you can also try your luck on other online stores worldwide such as Siren Records, Waterloo Records and Easy Street Records, which might not have all five albums but will be very helpful if you don’t have any issues buying from multiple sellers. And as the delivery is quite fast in all cases, you’ll have plenty of time to listen to all of the remastered albums, add the patches to your vest, place your new figurines together with your other items such as the Funkos from Funko Pop! Rocks: Iron Maiden (Wave I), drink a nice pint of Red ‘N’ Black, and be more than ready to blow your speakers with the release of Senjutsu on September 3! Does that sound like a good plan to you?
THE HEADBANGING MOOSE 