''Somewhere Back in Time - The Best of: 1980 - 1989'' is a

best of A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be creat ...

release by the English heavy metal band

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris (musician), Steve Harris. Although fluid in the early years of the band, the line-up for most ...

, containing a selection of songs originally recorded for their first eight albums (including '' Live After Death'').

Background

The album was released in conjunction with the band's

Somewhere Back In Time World Tour Somewhere Back in Time World Tour was a concert tour by the Heavy metal music, heavy metal band Iron Maiden in 2008 and 2009, focused on the band's 1980s material, in particular songs from ''Powerslave'', ''Somewhere in Time (Iron Maiden album) ...

to allow new fans to listen to a selection of the band's material that was played on the tour. The cover artwork by

Derek Riggs Derek Riggs (born 13 February 1958) is a contemporary British artist best known for creating the band Iron Maiden's mascot, "Eddie (mascot), Eddie". Career Born in Portsmouth, England, Riggs is a self-taught artist, both in his traditional pai ...

features the Pharaoh Eddie monument from '' Powerslave'' and Cyborg Eddie from '' Somewhere in Time''. A number of tracks were taken from the band's 1985

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th centur ...

, ''Live After Death'', because the band preferred to use recordings which featured current Iron Maiden vocalist

Bruce Dickinson Paul Bruce Dickinson (born 7 August 1958) is an English singer who is best known as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden. Dickinson has performed in the band across two stints, from 1981 to 1993 and from 1999 to the present d ...

rather than

Paul Di'Anno Paul Andrews (17 May 1958 – 21 October 2024), better known by his stage name Paul Di'Anno, was an English Heavy metal music, heavy metal singer who was the lead vocalist for Iron Maiden from 1978 to 1981. In his post-Maiden career, Di'Anno ...

, who sang on their first two studio releases.

Reception

Reviews for the compilation were generally positive, with ''

Kerrang! ''Kerrang!'' is a British music webzine and quarterly magazine that primarily covers rock, punk and heavy metal music. Since 2017, the magazine has been published by Wasted Talent Ltd (the same company that owns electronic music publication ...

'' commenting that "metal collections don't come much more solid than this." ''

Classic Rock Classic rock is a radio format that developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, it comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the early-1990s, primarily focusing on comm ...

'' deemed it "a relentless, 70-minute crowd pleaser marathon," containing "timeless anthems that still make the adrenalin surge and the sinews stiffen after all these years." ''

Metal Hammer ''Metal Hammer'' is a heavy metal music magazine and website founded in 1983, published in the United Kingdom by Future, with other language editions published by different companies available in numerous other countries. ''Metal Hammer'' featu ...

'' praised it for being "a reminder of why Iron Maiden became the most important band on the planet back in the 1980s - and why, once again, they've reclaimed that crown."

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

, however, were more critical of the release, deeming the album "merely adequate" and decrying the band's decision to avoid using the original versions of songs featuring

on lead vocals.

Track listing

All songs written by Steve Harris, except where noted.

Personnel

Production and performance credits are adapted from the album liner notes. ;Iron Maiden *

- lead vocals * Steve Harris - bass guitar, keyboards on 10 & 12 * Dave Murray - guitars * Adrian Smith - guitars, keyboards on 10 & 12 * Nicko McBrain - drums on tracks 2 - 5, 9 - 13 & 15 *

Clive Burr Clive Ronald Burr (8 March 1956 – 12 March 2013) was an English musician. He was the drummer of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden from 1979 to 1982. Together with fellow Iron Maiden member Dennis Stratton, he joined Praying Mantis for the r ...

- drums on tracks 6 - 8 & 14 ;Production * Martin Birch – producer, mixing *

– cover illustration * Ross Halfin –

photography Photography is the visual arts, art, application, and practice of creating images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is empl ...

*Peacock –

art direction Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to super ...

design A design is the concept or proposal for an object, process, or system. The word ''design'' refers to something that is or has been intentionally created by a thinking agent, and is sometimes used to refer to the inherent nature of something ...

* Rod Smallwood –

management Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a Government agency, government bodies through business administration, Nonprofit studies, nonprofit management, or the political s ...

*Andy Taylor – management

Charts

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Somewhere Back In Time - The Best Of: 1980 - 1989 2008 greatest hits albums Iron Maiden compilation albums EMI Records compilation albums Heavy metal compilation albums