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Somewhere Back in Time: The Best of 1980-1989 | 
| Artist: Iron Maiden
Label: Sony
List Price: $28.98
Buy New: $24.35
You Save: $4.63 (16%)
New (10) Used (1) from $19.26
Rating:  27 reviews
Sales Rank: 51234
Format: Limited Edition
Media: LP Record
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.4
Dimensions (in): 12.3 x 12.1 x 0.4
UPC: 886973047811
EAN: 0886973047811
ASIN: B0019OW6KI
Release Date: July 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Tracks:
| • | Churchill's Speech | | • | Aces High [Live] | | • | 2 Minutes to Midnight | | • | Trooper | | • | Wasted Years | | • | Children of the Damned | | • | Number of the Beast | | • | Run to the Hills | | • | Phantom of the Opera [Live] | | • | Evil That Men Do | | • | Wrathchild [Live] | | • | Can I Play with Madness | | • | Powerslave | | • | Hallowed Be Thy Name | | • | Iron Maiden [Live] |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Album Description
Limited Edition of vinyl LP release of Iron Maiden's Somewhere Back In Time: Best of: 1980-89 in 2 x Picture Discs! Completely sick 2 X LP picture disc gatefold jacket with printed inner sleeves. Thirty years after they first stormed on to the metal scene, Iron Maiden continues to prove itself as one of the most exciting bands of the 21st century. The sold out arenas on their record-breaking 'Somewhere Back In Time World Tour '08' are filled with fans of all ages.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 22 more reviews...
 Unnecessary, lackluster compilation - get The Essential Iron Maiden instead May 13, 2008
Taylor X (Las Vegas, NV (USA))
41 out of 59 found this review helpful
Somewhere Back In Time - The Best Of: 1980-1989 is the latest in an ever-growing amount of Iron Maiden "best of" compilations.
I'm just going to cut right to the chase on this review. To put it simply, this is yet another Maiden compilation - something we certainly did not need, considering Sony's 2CD The Essential Iron Maiden compilation, from a few years back, already fit the fill nicely.
Iron Maiden (1980)
Tracks Featured: None
Comments: How can you make an Iron Maiden compilation chronicling the band's eighties material, and NOT include anything from the first two albums, featuring Paul Di'Anno? As such, the compilation should have been called 1982-1988. It's an insult to include nothing from this early formative period, especially when these two albums fall into the span of years the compilation claims to cover.
Killers (1981)
Tracks Featured: None
Comments: Ditto. Read what I wrote for the first album.
The Number of the Beast (1982)
Tracks Featured: Children of the Damned, The Number of the Beast, Run to the Hills, Hallowed Be Thy Name
Comments: I have absolutely no complaints with the selections from this album. The band has taken the four biggest hits from the album - which are all essential Maiden classics.
Piece of Mind (1983):
Tracks Featured: The Trooper
Comments: No Flight of Icarus? WTF!? The Trooper is a great song, more than worthy of inclusion here. But how they could omit Flight of Icarus, one of the true Maiden classics, is beyond me.
Powerslave (1984):
Tracks Featured: Powerslave, 2 Minutes to Midnight
Comments: Two classic cuts, but why stop here? Underrated cuts like Flash of the Blade and The Duelists are sorely missed. And while we're at it, where's Rime of the Ancient Mariner?
Live After Death (1985)
Tracks Featured: Aces High (with Churchill Speech Intro Track), Phantom of the Opera, Wrathchild, Iron Maiden
Comments: One major problem with Iron Maiden compilations I have is that for pre-Number of the Beast tracks, rather than including the proper, original studio cuts with Di'Anno singing, the way they were meant to be enjoyed, they always put inferior live versions with Dickinson singing, who they clearly weren't wrote with in mind. Still, if they MUST do this EVERY time, Live After Death DOES feature the best Dickinson renditions. Also, this live take on Aces High is spectacular.
Somewhere In Time (1986)
Tracks Featured: Wasted Years
Comments: Much like Piece of Mind, this album only gets ONE track here. It's a great cut, easily the finest song from its respective album.... But where are classics like Stranger in a Strange Land, Heaven Can Wait, and Sea of Madness?
Seventh Son of a Seventh Son (1988)
Tracks Featured: Can I Play With Madness, The Evil That Men Do
Comments: These are the two cuts from the album you'll find on pretty much every Maiden compilation. And rightfully so. They're two of the biggest hits and all-around best songs to come from it. I would have liked to have Infinite Dreams on here too, but no complaints.
There is NOTHING on this compilation beyond 1988. So there are plenty of big hits the compilation deprives you of, namely Holy Smoke, Bring Your Daughter To The Slaughter, Be Quick Or Be Dead, Afraid To Shoot Strangers, Fear of the Dark, The Wicker Man, Brave New World, Wildest Dreams, Rainmaker, Paschendale, and The Reincarnation of Benjamin Bregg, to name a few.
This should have been a two-disc career-spanning package, not a one-disc set that only covered Dickinson's first stint with the band. If you're wondering if you should get this set or not, the simple answer is no. Get The Essential Iron Maiden instead. It's not perfect either, but it paints a far more concise picture of the band's career.
NO COMMENTS PLEASE (I have no way of responding to them)
 Class of 87 - Maiden Rules! PERFECT set! May 16, 2008
Glen Murley (Sagamore Beach, MA United States)
13 out of 16 found this review helpful
I graduated High School in 1987. I was a metal head. I wore my jean jacket with studs, boots, long hair, and a fast car. I'm currently 39 and bald. I drive the speed limit. And I'm paying a mortgage.
But I still love to relive some of the better metal of my youth. Amazingly, Maiden is not only still around, but still hugely popular. This collection really whet my appetite. If it lived up to it's title it would actually profile the exact moment of my youth.
Is it needed? No, there are countless Maiden collections. Many have these tunes all collected in a 2-cd "best of" compilation. So why on earth would you buy something new that is, in reality, a scaled down version of a set that has more than twice as many songs for an extra 4.00? Because for someone of my age, this is truly the best, "best of" compilation out there. I don't doubt that Maiden has been producing face-melting riffs all these long years. But I have not followed them.
For me, this set chonicles my youth. The Trooper? Wasted Years? Can I Play With Madness? Ryhme of the Ancient Mariner? Holy cow, this set has got it all. Nothing but classic Maiden. Not bogged down with the newer stuff.
If you're a younger fan than by all means, buy one of the 2-CD sets that chronicle the band's metamorphasis over the years. But if you're just looking for classic Maiden with no tracks that you'll skip because they're too new to recognize, then drive right in. I know every single song on this CD and it saves me from dragging out my 2-cd set and skipping over all the new stuff. This is finally a Best-Of CD that I can put and and enjoy from the first track to the last.
And in all seriousness, this is obviously not the "complete" hits from the 80-89 era. Growing up we actually used to listen to the albums all the way through. There wasn't itunes so you could just buy what you wanted. But if you had to have a greatest hits from this era, then this is about as good as it gets without making it yourself. Kudos to the band for honoring it's more senior fans. We're the ones that helped put Maiden on the charts to begin with.
And for you kids out there just getting into Maiden, if you want to know what launched Maiden to the world stage, this is the perfect primer. I love this set. I'll take this over any 2-CD best of set any day.
A DOSE OF IRON FOR THOSE ON A DIET! May 13, 2008
Christopher Gazzo (Long Island, NY)
9 out of 15 found this review helpful
If not always the most popular, Iron Maiden was the best heavy metal band of the 80's. Glam and hair metal may have been 'in' but for those who wished to delve deeper than fast cars and girls, chose Maiden. Often composing songs based on classic novels and containing some blazing musicianship with a sense of melody, Iron Maiden was at the top of their game in the 1980's. Their songs often delivered messages or philosophical musings about life, death, history and war. Yes, they were the thinking man's heavy metal band. The truth is that none of this would matter if they didn't possess the sophisticated and epic song structure that quite easily put them ahead of the pack. "Somewhere Back In Time" tries to summise all of these traits into a one disc package. As many of Maiden's best songs were quite lengthy you can imagine that the anemic 14 tracks listed here leave something to be desired. Of course with a band like Maiden you will never be able to put all of their best songs from the decade onto one disc so this attempt is obviously directed towards the casual fan, as the die hards own all of the classics represented here, and on THAT level, it does succeed. Maiden, however, was an ALBUM band so it seems a crime to pinhole them to just these songs.
This compilation focuses on the first 8 Maiden albums, all from the 1980's, which was inarguably the group's pinnacle years. Please note that on the first two albums, Paul Di'Anno was the original lead singer, later replaced by the more popular Bruce Dickinson starting with "The Number of the Beast" in 1982. None of Di'Anno's orginal studio cuts made it onto this collection. The live versions from "Live After Death" with Dickinson on vocals were used instead.
Iron Maiden (1980)-The tracks represented from the group's debut are all in their live versions with Dickinson on vocals from "Live After Death"(1985). The songs include "Phantom of the Opera" and "Iron Maiden". "Running Free" is one of the band's classics that is not included on this set.
Killers (1981)-The lone song representing "Killers" is the title track in a live version, again taken from "Live After Death" with Dickinson on vocals when it should be Di'Anno.
The Number of the Beast (1982)-Iron Maiden's commercial breakthrough and Bruce Dickinson's first that is well represented on this collection by containing the title track, "Children of the Damned", "Run to the Hills" and the death row tale "Hallowed Be Thy Name." Personally I feel that "The Prisoner" was overlooked but there is no argument that the best songs were chosen.
Piece of Mind (1983)- Oh let the travesties begin!!! The lone song from this release is "The Trooper". Great choice BUT where, oh WHERE are "Die With Your Boots On", "Where Eagles Dare", "Flight of Icarus" and "To Tame a Land"? C'mon, maybe you can't fit them all but only one song from this classic???
Powerslave (1984)- This album gives us "Aces High" (in the live version from "Live After Death"), "2 Minutes to Midnight" and "Powerslave". For time contraints, Maiden's best song ever, the 13 plus minute "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" is not included.
Live After Death (1985)- Winston Churchill's speech is taken from this release before seguing into "Aces High." See above for other track selections.
Somewhere in Time (1986)- "Wasted Years" is the sole representation here. An argument can be made for "Sea of Madness" or "Stranger in a Strange Land" but the best track was chosen from this release-a song about living in the present as the line protests "Realize you're living in the golden years."
Seventh Son of a Seventh Son (1988)- Maiden's concept album that is best heard as such. However, a few standout tracks have been chosen in the likes of "Can I Play With Madness?" and "The Evil That Men Do." What this collection is missing from this release are the two other songs that, in addition to the ones previously mentioned, also worked their way into the UK top 10 and those songs were "Infinite Dreams" and "The Clairvoyant".
Iron maiden was too prolific a band to capture their entire essence on one disc, even by narrowing it down to one decade. "Somehwere Back in Time" does succeed in capturing Iron Maiden at their peak but in no way is it complete. If you're a casual fan and are interested in hearing Iron Maiden, pick this up for a taste. If you have the extra cash you can also opt for the better but not perfect 2 disc collection "The Essential Iron Maiden". Just like Pringles, however, you can't have just one and you will be finding yourself tracking down those original albums, for that is the only way to truly appreciate the glory that was Iron Maiden.
 This has two songs that are not on the Ed Hunter CD May 20, 2008
Muddy Moe (Plano, TX United States)
5 out of 9 found this review helpful
Two songs ... that's it. "Children of the Damned" and "Can I Play With Madness" are not on Ed Hunter. And 2-3 songs on this CD are live versions for which Ed Hunter has studio versions. And Ed Hunter has 8 tunes that are not on Somewhere Back in Time. And that's only one of their many Greatest Hits packages.
I love Iron Maiden and am actually a little tempted to get Somewhere Back in Time just for the cover art. But I'm having a really hard time buying music that I've already bought two or three times over already. Obviously the band has learned that they can earn money rereleasing material as easily as they can earn money by recording new music. It's sad, really, and I don't want to encourage it by spending more money on them.
Great songs... mediocre compilation May 17, 2008
Pedro Delgado (El Paso, TX United States)
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
When I first heard Iron Maiden was releasing a retrospective of their 80's material, I thought it was a good idea. Indeed, there are already lengthier compilations of their career, but for my money it is their period between "Iron Maiden" and "Seventh Son of a Seventh Son" that is their peak. Putting together a set that focus only on this material seemed only appropriate. However, the final result was a real dissapointment. I cannot complain about the selection of songs. The songs that are included are indeed samples of Maiden's best work. However, the compilation gets only 3 stars for 2 main reasons:
1) There are 4 lives versions of songs here, and they are all taken from "Live After Death". That is not to say the versions are horrible. To be honest, "Live After Death" is one of my favorite live albums. However, on a compilation, I think it is best to include the original studio versions...especially when the record compnay owns the rights to these as well! I am not sure if somehow they felt including Paul Di'Anno tracks constitute some sort of insult to Bruce Dickinson, but in case one or two live tracks would have sufficed here.
2) Only one track from the landmark "Piece of Mind"? "Number of the Beast" had 4 tracks features, rightly so. But, next to that album, most Maiden fans would pick "Piece of Mind" as their favorite. They should have, in the least, included "Flight of the Icarus". At 71 minutes, they could have probably squeezed in a couple of tracks.
As stated before, one can't fault the songs in the compilation, but this could have been turned into a truly classic essential retrospective with a little more attention to details.
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