Iron Maiden – Fiery The Angels Fell (The Godfatherecords G.R. 322)

Fiery The Angels Fell (The Godfatherecords G.R. 322)

Rosemont Horizon  Chicago, IL. March 11, 1987  

(78:30): Intro, Caught Somewhere In Time, Two Minutes To Midnight, Children Of The Damned, Stranger In A Strange Land, Wasted Years, Rime Of The Ancient Mariner, Guitar Solo, Heaven Can Wait, Phantom Of The Opera, Hallowed Be Thy Name, Iron Maiden, Outro  

This new release from Godfatherecords in a soundboard recording from Iron Maiden’s 1986/87 world tour to support the Somewhere In Time release and is a very good to near excellent recording. The instruments are well balanced and has a good music to audience mix.  It is just slightly muddy, but sounds good at very loud volumes. My only complaint is that the encores (The Number Of The Beast, Run To The Hills, Running Free, and Sanctuary) are left off this release.

The intro is music from the Sci Fi film Blade Runner and leads to the futuristic theme of the tour, from there the band explodes with the opening song, a song that was missed on their latest tour.  Caught Somewhere in Time is a great opening number that segues into another, Two Minutes To Midnight. After a Bruce rap about how Chicago has supported the band from the earliest tours they play a nugget, Children Of The Damned.  Two new songs are up next, both singles from the new record, Stranger in a Strange Land and the radio friendly Adrian Smith penned Wasted Years.  The number of tracks played from the new record prove showed that band had a lot of confidence in the music. The Epic of the evening comes next, The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner is a track shows the progressive side that would be honed to perfection on their next release (and on the latest studio record, the brilliant A Matter Of Life And Death).

Guitarists Dave Murray and Adrain Smith, accompanied by synthesizers, play a solo that totally fits with the theme of the evening. After another new track and long time stage favorite Heaven Can Wait the band finishes the main set with the trilogy of terror, Phantom Of The Opera, Hallowed Be Thy Name, and Iron Maiden. Even though the encores are missing they include the outro, the theme to Star Trek and nothing could be more fitting. I was blessed to have seen the band three times on this tour and have great memories of Bruce’s lights on his jacket, the killer Rime of the Ancient Mariner, the huge inflatable Eddie head and hands coming from the stage.

The packaging is typical from Godfatherecords, another gorgeous tri-fold adorned with graphics from the Somewhere In Time record and relevant pictures from the tour. Every release I own from this label is top notched and my only complaint is this should have been two discs giving us the whole show with extras from the European tour where the band played Sea Of Madness and the rarely played Loneliness Of The Long Distance runner. This title is still in my player and is a great addition to my collection and hopefully we will see more Iron Maiden releases from this label.