Iron Maiden — Live After Death

Anyone with the most rudimentary sense of musical awareness will instantaneously be able to figure out the importance of the Live After Death two-DVD set. Recorded in 1984 and originally released on VHS at the height of heavy metal, by a band at their commercial, creative and touring peak, and ripe with every cliche associated with the genre — spandex, outlandish stage set-ups, pyro, ridiculous theatrics and fantastical song matter — it's the sort of show that deserves time-capsuling and preserving for all eternity. The Maiden people certainly seem aware of this. Disc one, the original Long Beach, Calif. concert features what may be the band's most defining set list ("The Trooper," "Powerslave," Number Of The Beast," etc). Of no less importance, though, are all the newly added elements on the second disc. A history of Iron Maiden segment, a documentary on their tour to Poland while it was still under communist rule and footage from their inaugural appearance at Rock In Rio makes the whole package a rich, wickedly self-aware and essential historical document.