I’ve spent the past 13 weeks going over each Iron Maiden live album, and now at the end of it all it’s time to give them a proper ranking.

I will only be including the full-length, official live albums in this. The EP stuff like Maiden England is out, as is any kind of bootleg. The list on the bottom of this page has a link to the post where I discussed the album in detail.

This ranking is pretty fast and loose, this is not a series of conclusions reached after careful, strained analysis. It’s just a big vibe check more than anything, ranking live albums is kind of ridiculous and I’m only doing it because these guys released 13, and counting.

13 – A Real Live One (1993)

This is easy to rank, pretty much because it sounds like shit. It’s an awful sound capture or mix or whatever. It is potentially interesting given that this does represent well the band’s early ’90’s era which didn’t get hardly any live airing after these tours, but it really hurts this album that the exact same songs from the same tour can be found on another live album. This one is totally skippable.

12 – A Real Dead One (1993)

This companion to the spot below it offered up the band’s classic era and early hits. It sounds way better than the other one. But the performances are a bit lacking in dynamics, the setlist isn’t really inspiring since it’s all stuff you can hear in any number of other places, and almost all of these songs from this tour are found on another live album. This one isn’t a total wash but it doesn’t serve much of a purpose, either.

11 – Nights Of The Dead (2020)

This is the most recent one to date. It’s got a cool theme with the tie in to Day of the Dead. The sound is fine, if not just a hair off. Bruce doesn’t sound his best on here due to illness and it does affect the performance. The setlist is mostly obvious stuff but that’s to be expected from a career-spanning set. A few gems on here and overall it’s a pretty cool album but it has it faults.

10 – Flight 666 (2009)

This is another “hits” set with all but one song from the ’80’s. It all sounds really good and showcases the band in very fine form. It sits a little lower on my rankings because I’m drawn more to the live sets that highlight specific albums. Ranking this one here isn’t meant to be a knock on this album at all, it’s just that others serve my purposes more.

9 – The Book Of Souls – Live Chapter (2017)

A nice package that sums up the tour for this album very well. It does focus on the 2017 version of the tour and I would have preferred the 2016 setlist, but that’s a minor complaint. It’s a good effort and does a good job showcasing the album that this tour was supporting.

8 – The BBC Archives (2002)

This is very cool series of small sets that give us a bit of official material with Paul Di’Anno live. It’s a great look at the early years and even has a few songs with guys that weren’t in the band very long. This is more of a treat for die-hards but it’s executed in splendid fashion, this die-hard is very happy with it.

7 – Live At Donington (1993)

3 live albums in one year and this one renders the others obsolete. This is a complete show from the hallowed festival grounds and has almost all of the songs featured on the other two releases. Stuff here sounds good and it’s the best way to experience ’90’s Maiden, even if it’s not everyone’s cup of tea.

6 – Maiden England (1988, 1994, 2013, etc)

Released in different forms several times, the 2013 complete issue is the one to seek out. This captures the band in a prime era for them, on the Seventh Son tour and with a lot of those songs making their way here. The sound is a few steps down from other recordings but it’s still a worthwhile listen. Hard to beat this setlist, even if they forgot to play The Trooper for whatever reason.

5 – Death On The Road (2005)

The live set in support of Dance Of Death is here and it’s a really good offering of the stronger tracks from that album alongside a collection of the band’s usual classic offerings. Paschendale alone is worth the price of admission.

4 – En Vivo! (2012)

This set is pulled from the tour for The Final Frontier album. Beyond just being a showcase for that stuff, this actually breathes new life into those songs and gives a looked-over album some great representation. Great sound, great crowd and everything here clicks.

3 – Rock In Rio (2002)

This offering was the conclusion of the Brave New World tour and the first live release since the band’s reunion in 1999. The album they were touring on was fantastic and it’s featured heavily here, paired with two special songs where Bruce performs Blaze-era material. This was a very exciting album and tour for the band and began a new chapter of their legacy that is the band’s longest and runs to this day.

2 – Beast Over Hammersmith (2002)

This gig from 1982 sat for a decade before an official release in a box set, then 20 years after that it got cut on vinyl for the first (official) time. This set is a total home run, showing off the band on the Beast on the Road tour and letting the world know just how great their new singer Bruce Dickinson is. Killer performances from front to back and it obviously features a lot of early material as they only had 3 albums to work off of back then.

1 – Live After Death (1985)

It’s hard to top the granddaddy of them all and for Iron Maiden live albums, this is it. Their first one is also still their best, capturing the group at their peak in the Powerslave era. It’s a magnificent set and features the band at full energy and performing many of their best tracks.

And that will do it for the live album rankings. I’ll surely be revisiting this one at least once more and maybe many more times. Christmas will be over in a few days but I’ll still put a bow on this series next week with a look at some tours I wish we had live albums for. ‘Till then.

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

The Iron Maiden Live Album Ranking (you are here)

The Maiden Live Album “Wishlist”