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List Price: $21.49 | | Label: Raw Power
Salesrank: 77267
Released: May 25, 1999 |
| Our Price: $13.99 |
| Used Price: $4.40 |
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| Media: Audio CD |
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Best Of The Beast Track Listing:
1. The Number of the Beast
2. Can I Play with Madness - Iron Maiden, Smith, Adrian
3. Fear of the Dark
4. Run to the Hills
5. Bring Your Daughter... to the Slaughter - Iron Maiden, Dickinson, Bruce [1
6. The Evil That Men Do - Iron Maiden, Dickinson, Bruce [1
7. Aces High
8. Be Quick or Be Dead - Iron Maiden, Dickinson, Bruce [1
9. 2 Minutes to Midnight - Iron Maiden, Smith, Adrian
10. Man on the Edge - Iron Maiden, Bayley, Blaze
11. Virus
12. Running Free
13. Wasted Years - Iron Maiden, Smith, Adrian
14. The Clairvoyant
15. The Trooper
16. Hallowed Be Thy Name
Editorial Review:
Superb 16 track collection gathering up the best of this metal band's finest moments on one CD. Includes 'Number Of The Beast', 'Run To The Hills', 'Be Quick Or Be Dead', 'Virus','Can I Play With Madness' and more. Digitally remastered for the ultimate head banging experience. A 1999 Raw Power release.
Description of Best Of The Beast:
A nicely packaged selection of the finest recorded moments of Leytonstone's finest export has got to be something of an irresistible proposition. And Best of the Beast covers all available bases by consolidating material from every stage of the Maiden's illustrious career. From the early Paul Di'Anno-fronted classics through the Bruce Dickinson glory days ("Run to the Hills") to the leather-lunged epic power of the Blaze Bayley period ("Virus"), Best of the Beast stands as a monumental testament to the grandiose immensity of Steve Harris's songwriting vision. The band's ensemble interplay is nothing short of breathtaking, and the hits just keep on coming at you with a vengeance. "Be Quick or Be Dead," "Bring Your Daughter to the Slaughter," "The Evil that Men Do"--all of these and more are on hand to give your eardrums the kind of aural workout that they won't soon forget. --Ian Fortnam
Best Of The Beast Reviews:
Best 1-Disc Compilation out there and Remastered to Boot! 
2005-12-01 - Just like the other reviewers here I am stumped as to how they left out key tracks like "Flight of the Icarus" but I guess to put out just a 1-disc version of Iron Maiden's best stuff someone had to make a call what to leave out even though we may not agree.
What is clear is that this disc is not meant for the die-hard fan; for that they released the 2-disc version for you and they expected you to have all the albums anyway. This disc is clearly aimed at those who had never heard the band before and don't want to go broke having to get all the albums let alone a 2-disc compilation. The record company were looking at converting/recruiting new fans. I know because I was one of them.
As a guitarist who started out learning the licks of many greats like Joe Satriani, I was intrigued when I read in one of Joe's instruction books about the importance of Iron Maiden's guitarists to the development of speed metal and to even what HE plays! Joe knows best, I thought, and so I dutifully went and got this album. I had heard "Flight of the Icarus" before and I thought it was great but it wasn't enough to make me want to go get all their albums and so I for one was pleased to find this disc in the store.
I was simply blown away at the complexity of the musical ideas (this is heavy metal for goodness sakes, I thought), the great speed and dexterity of the guitarists and indeed the whole rhythm section. Bruce's voice quality goes without saying and really, 16 tracks on a 77 min 53 secs long disc that is remastered albeit not so well is a great bargain! The cd liner notes are fantastic as well as they are full colour and have photos and all the lyrics! The disc itself is a picture disc with great colour depictions of Eddie!
For those of you who like me were/are not diehard fans but want to get a not-so-short sampler of the band or if you are an aspiring speed metal guitarist, this is essential listening. Now, for me, I'll start looking for a well-packaged and remastered version of the "Piece of Mind" album so that I can get my beloved "Flight of the Icarus!"
A good start for beginners
2005-03-22 - This was the CD that got me into Iron Maiden. My first introduction to them was through Fear of the Dark, which, despite one or two good songs, turned me off on the band all together.
However, upon listening through this CD and gaining a genuine appreciation for the band, I've started collecting their other great albums and have discovered how great this band truly is.
No single CD is going capture every great song from a prolific band such as 'Maiden. Some of my favorites, such as "Flight of the Icarus" and "Murders in the Rue Morgue" are two of the glaring omissions. However, for those who want to sample the band, this a great start. If you're like me, you'll end up wanting more. But that's a good thing.
horrible compilation, like swiss cheese 
2004-11-27 - This "greatest hits" cd from iron maiden is so lacking in important material,missing so much and having horrible/unimportant songs that it resembles swiss cheese.
here is what a one cd iron maiden compilation SHOULD BE!
1 running free
2 iron maiden
3 wrath child
4 killers
5 number of the beast
6 run to the hills
7 hallowed be thy name
8 flight of icaruis (did i spell that right?)
9 the trooper
10 die with your boots on
11 aces high
12 two minutes to midnight
13 the duelists
14 wasted years
15 stanger in a strange land
16 heaven can wait
17 can i play with madness
18 infinite dreams
19 7th son of a 7th son
20 holy smoke
todays cd's could definatly fit that amount on it, go get a cd that can hold about 90 minutes or so and burn this on to it.
Great Compilation 
2004-10-22 - I was surprised that BEST OF THE BEAST had a single disc version, since the double disc version is definitive.
This is one overview of the MAIDENs, and the compilation of the top 20 on the Eddie Game CD was actually voted on, so it is representative of fans at the time that was produced.
If you can get it, EDDIE'S ARCHIVES is also a great compilation overview, as is the VIDEO compilation DVD with some superb 3D graphics work.
On top of that, LIVE IN RIO is a brilliant best of view.
Iron Maiden is still one of the greats in this genre; very few of the current kids bands come close to the consistent quality Maiden has, and this applies to most of the surviving Hard Rock bands from the 70s and 80s, especially DIO ... the Voice of metal; Bruce is great, but still second to the master vocalist DIO.
11/2/08 : The thing that had not occurred to me was that the track listing on the single disc is closer to the top 20 track set which was the "fan voted" list for the ED HUNTER triple disc set ( I have not seen this available recently).Anyways, for fans of all the incarnations of Maiden, if you can get the Double disc set, it is a 1996 disc set originally that appears to have been remastered in 1999, or so, and then released in some markets as a single disc only, with not much thought for track listing. Maiden deserve the double disc best of.
Fills up the disc well, but still lacking 
2004-03-06 - Best Of The Beast(1999). Iron Maiden's first best-of collection.
[NOTE: THIS REVIEW COVERS THE SINGLE-DISC COMPILATION SPECIFICALLY]
Ever since the early 80s, Iron Maiden rose up and became a permanent staple in heavy metal music. They played stunning melodies, catchy hooks, and dexteritous riffs to many anthems and built up a solid fanbase by the late 80s. Consisting of guitar duo Adrian Smith & Dave Murray, vocalist Bruce Dickinson, bassist Steve Harris, and drummer Nicko McBrain, Iron Maiden stand out as one of the greatest heavy metal bands of all time. My favorite classic heavy metal band is actually Judas Priest, but I certainly always give my props to Iron Maiden as they are some of the greatest musicians to ever grace the heavy metal scene. They do play with more precision and showcase more complex songwriting than virtually ANY other heavy metal band of their time. They managed to create an amazing streak of excellent albums throughout the 80s, until they started getting worse in the early 90s. For most of that decade, Iron Maiden were flopping around like fish in a barrel until the late 90s when all the classic bandmembers reunited. Around that time, they released Best Of The Beast, the first (but not the last) compilation featuring their main key hits between the bandmembers and the fans. The double-disc collection covers a decent amount of material, but this single disc version is quite lacking. Read on for an in-depth look at the tracks included from their corresponding albums:
IRON MAIDEN(1980)
KILLERS(1981)
TRACKS: none from either album (but does contain Running Free from Live After Death)
COMMENTS: How could there be no tracks from these two albums?? They were the foundation on which Iron Maiden became a metal force! This means that there is no Wrathchild, Sanctuary, Phantom Of The Opera, or Prowler (Some of these songs are included on the double-disc version however).As good as Live After Death is, Running Free should've been the original version with Di'Anno on the vocals. No Di'Anno era songs brings this compilation's rating way down.
NUMBER OF THE BEAST(1982)
TRACKS: Number of the Beast, Hallowed Be Thy Name, and Run To The Hills
COMMENTS: These three songs have certainly become fan-favorites, and represent the album well. I also liked Prisoner and 22 Acacia Avenue, but these picks are sufficient.
PIECE OF MIND(1983)
TRACKS: The Trooper
COMMENTS: The Trooper is an excellent song which rightfully deserves its place on here, but WHY IS IT THE ONLY TRACK INCLUDED?? Where are Flight Of Icarus and Where Eagles Dare (my all-time favorite Maiden song)? This is disappointing because POM contains many tracks which deserve recognition (NOTE: Where Eagles Dare is on the double-disc set).
POWERSLAVE(1984)
TRACKS: Aces High and Two Minutes To Midnight
COMMENTS: Aces High is an excellent song and certainly one of my favorite early Maiden tracks. Two Minutes To Midnight on the other hand, is an okay song, but one of the most overrated Maiden songs of all time. I was never really a big fan of it. Flash Of The Blade would have been a better choice.
SOMEWHERE IN TIME(1986)
TRACKS: Wasted Years
COMMENTS: Glad they included the band's best commercial anthem rocker, BUT THIS ALBUM HAS SO MANY FORGOTTEN MASTERPIECES!! SIT is my favorite Maiden album overall, and the absence of such songs like the title track, Heaven Can Wait, and Deja Vu is simply unexcusable.
SEVENTH SON OF A SEVENTH SON(1988)
TRACKS: Can I Play With Madness, The Evil That Men Do, and The Clairvoyant
COMMENTS: For the most part SSOASS has decent representation. CIPWM serves as another great commercial rocker in the vein of Wasted Years, and TETMD is sort of a fan favorite. But The Clairvoyant was a perfect choice! Best song on the album. Moonchild would've been nice, but no big deal.
NO PRAYER FOR THE DYING(1990)
TRACKS: Bring Your Daughter To The Slaughter
COMMENTS: Three words- TERRIBLE SONG CHOICE. BYDTTS has to be one of the cheeziest songs Maiden has ever made. This was where the band started to wane in quality. Run Silent Run Deep and Tailgunner were still good though and could have been MUCH BETTER song picks.
FEAR OF THE DARK(1992)
TRACKS: Be Quick Or Be Dead (and a live version of Fear Of The Dark from Live At Donnington)
COMMENTS: The album's not much better than the last one, but BQOBD is actually a very good song, probably Maiden's most aggressive to date. I haven't heard the original version of FOTD, but the live version is well performed. Still, I would've liked to hear the original though. Right on. I probably would'nt have picked any others for this compilation.
THE X-FACTOR
TRACKS: Man On The Edge
COMMENTS: hmm... a good song for the Blaze Baily era, but not quite "Maiden". Still, I'm glad some part of Blaze's era was covered.
There is also a bonus Blaze track, Virus. Fairly bland for the first 3 minutes, and then turns into a decent rocker, but in the end, the boring portions dominate the song.
OVERALL: If you are new to Iron Maiden and you want an overview of their key songs, BUY THE DOUBLE-DISC SET, NOT THIS ONE. Otherwise, just buy the albums. Maiden fanatics who own all the albums have no need to buy this at all, unless you REALLY want the bonus track Virus, but believe me IT'S NOT WORTH IT. Still, this is the best Maiden compilation though, so if you must go with one, make it this one.
