Maiden heaven

So, Iron Maiden is going to play only songs from its first four records at Ozzfest, eh? And me being a dirtball metalhead from RB (you can take the boy out of Red Bluff, but you can’t take Red Bluff out of the boy), I can attest that the band’s best material lies in the early albums.

If you’re planning on attending the show at Sleep Train, then you need to do some pre-show preparation—and no, I’m not talking about smoking a fatty and pounding warm forties of King Cobra in the parking lot.

No, my friends, you need to buy Live After Death. The album, released in 1985, captures Iron Maiden at the height of its power—precision riffs, striped spandex and a 10-foot mummified Eddie prowling the stage as the band hit 24 countries on its 322-date World Slavery Tour. Classics like “Die With Your Boots On” and “Run To The Hills,” culled from the band’s first five albums, are a little ballsier in the live setting, easily making this Iron Maiden’s finest moment. —Mark Lore