This series is winding into the home stretch now as we’ve reached the end of the list of Iron Maiden live albums. Of course this is “for now,” as I’m sure at least one more is to come, and quite possibly several if not many more over the years. This will be a “living” series, for sure, and I’ll update it when new albums are issued. But for now and most likely for at least another year until the Future Past Tour finishes up, this will be the last proper post.

This album was recorded over three shows in Mexico City in September 2019. It is evident that Maiden went into Mexico with the express purpose of recording a live album. It’s generally understood that they record all of their shows anyway, but it does feel as though they had their sights set on these performances.

This was the first stretch of the Legacy Of The Beast tour. This is entirely a hits set, the band had not released a new album since 2015’s Book Of Souls and it would be about a year after this live cut before their next studio effort.

Of course, we can look at the date 2019 and know that these concerts were performed just before the COVID pandemic that totally defined 2020 and changed about everything. Maiden’s run of the Legacy… tour was cut short and the tour was finally resumed in 2022. This newer version of the tour did alter the setlist to incorporate songs from the 2021 studio album Senjutsu, but today’s live set is all about the 2019 version of the tour.

There is on-theme cover art featuring a Day of the Dead-inspired Eddie. Some might call it cultural appropriation, I prefer to think of it as Eddie simply visiting the world. It’s one of the more interesting Eddie pieces of the past several years, for sure.

Let’s do the usual – go over the tracklist then have at the particulars of the recording.

Churchill’s Speech/Aces High

Where Eagles Dare

2 Minutes To Midnight

The Clansman

The Trooper

Revelations

For The Greater Good Of God

The Wicker Man

Sign Of The Cross

Flight Of Icarus

Fear Of The Dark

The Number Of The Beast

Iron Maiden

The Evil That Men Do

Hallowed Be Thy Name

Run To The Hills

First let’s go over song selection. The vast majority of this is the same as what I’ve said about most every other live album – a lot of the obvious songs are here. Given that this set was a career retrospective, it’s no surprise at all. The Trooper is here, Number Of The Beast, the ever-present Fear Of The Dark, and Run To The Hills closes things out. From top to bottom this is a pretty stacked selection of the vanguard Iron Maiden tunes. Hallowed Be Thy Name is back in the set after the band sorted a legal challenge in 2017.

There are a few sprinklings of so-called “treats” here. Two of those are The Clansman and Sign Of The Cross, songs from the Blaze Bayley years that are widely regarded as the best tracks from that period. This was the first time since the Brave New World tour that anything from the Blaze albums got a live spin so it’s nice to hear them brought out again.

There is a treat from the golden years, too – Flight Of Icarus had not been played live since 1986. This was a very cool inclusion for the Maiden faithful, it’s kind of shocking that this classic sat on the sidelines for all these decades.

For all the talk of how well-regarded Maiden’s reunion has been, there were only two songs chosen for this tour from this era, Maiden’s longest run of consistency. The Wicker Man is one, the lead single from Brave New World has previously been in the set for the En Vivo! Live album and has been a part of several tours over the years. I’m a bit shocked the band didn’t include Blood Brothers, as that song has been a true anthem, but Wicker Man is totally an enjoyable track and there’s nothing to complain about.

The other reunion cut is the true gem, if not total crown jewel of the bunch – For The Greater Good Of God marks the first and, to date, only appearance of a song from A Matter Of Life And Death on an official Maiden live release. The album was played in whole on its tour cycle but no live record came from that, and then no song got back in a released set again until this tour.

And they didn’t just pick any old song from the album either – this one is an outstanding epic track, the twisted tale of religion and man’s fallacy is one of the best cuts from that album. For me this is the true reward of this live set.

Now let’s move to production and sound quality – overall it’s pretty good. I do think it’s a shade off of the prior two live releases, but things are broadcast pretty clearly without any real issues. I don’t know what night’s performances were chosen for inclusion on the album or what might have been messed with under the hood, I tend to think things were released “as is,” which is usually (but not always) the case with live Maiden.

And finally I should look at the band’s own performance, where honestly, we do have an issue. Now the band is in good form, nothing here sounds off or bad. I don’t know if this set really goes the extra mile compared to past live releases, but it’s all good in terms of the instruments.

There was a really big issue during these Mexico shows, though – Bruce Dickinson had the flu during the Mexico run. And yes, it’s pretty noticeable that Bruce is off on this album. Some songs sound better than others, I’d say Where Eagles Dare is the one that really sticks out as there being something wrong. On others he sounds maybe a bit labored and not hitting the highs of his youth, but still getting things mostly sorted.

I’ll say that I don’t think Bruce’s performance was total dogshit or anything like that, it doesn’t ruin enjoyment of the album for me. But it is there and is noticeable, and no matter my fanboyism of this band, I can’t sweep it under the rug. Now, I will say that the flu was the most likely cause here – there are other concerts from this tour and Bruce sounds way better on them. I have a bootleg of the Brazil show, and the Stockholm show is one many cite as the one that maybe should have been released as the live album. Bruce is spot on in both of those shows.

It does beg the question if maybe Maiden should have chosen a different show for the live release, but that’s purely hypothetical since this is the album we have. While it is flawed in an unfortunate way with the member that many consider the band’s main selling point, I do think they still squeaked out with a pretty enjoyable product here.

The question is – where would I rank this among the other live albums? Well, find out next week when I do just that – rank all 13 of the live Maiden releases.

The Iron Maiden Live Album Series

Live After Death

A Real Live One

A Real Dead One

Live At Donington

Rock In Rio

BBC Archives

Beast Over Hammersmith

Death On The Road

Flight 666

En Vivo!

Maiden England ’88

The Book Of Souls – Live Chapter

Nights Of The Dead – Legacy Of The Beast Live In Mexico City (you are here)

The Iron Maiden Live Album Ranking

The Maiden Live Album “Wishlist”