ALBUMS:Iron Maiden: Flight 666

FLIGHT 666 documents the first leg of Maiden's legendary SOMEWHERE BACK IN TIME WORLD TOUR which took them 50,000 miles round the planet playing 23 concerts on five continents in just 45 days. One of the stars of the movie is the band's customized Boeing 757, Ed Force One, which carried the band, all their crew and 12 tons of stage equipment and was piloted by Maiden vocalist Bruce Dickinson, a fully qualified and active Airline Captain with Astraeus Airlines.

Taking you on a visual global tour from Mumbai to Sydney, Tokyo to L.A., Mexico City to Costa Rica, Bogota to Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires and Santiago to New York and Toronto and places in-between, you travel with the band and crew on the plane, to and from shows, in the bar and during leisure time, while experiencing the exhaustion and fan pandemonium that comes with such a mission.

As a very special bonus for the fans, Maiden have included a second disc of the entire set from the 2008 segment of this tour with the DVD. Sixteen songs from sixteen different cities in eleven countries around the world, for the first time ever encompassing such varied places and cultures in one concert.

Wacth The video Clip's



I had the distinct pleasure of seeing Maiden at the LA Forum in February '08, their first US stop on this tour and also the setting for the Number of the Beast live footage. I also saw them on the summer '08 US tour, in Phoenix. Although my copy of Flight 666 is in the mail right now, I, too, saw it on VH1 Classic over the weekend, and can say that it captures the intensity and sound of the live performances (as much as can be, that is), and all the backstage and tour footage and interviews add to the experience. If you're interested in an amazing band of professional, mature musicians, and how they've stuck to their guns for over 30 years, 14 studio albums, and numerous tours, buy this.

It's no wonder that they can still blow away bands less than half their age: they're obviously clear on what's most important, which is writing music about which they are passionate, and delivering it to fans as best they can; there's no puking, bloated old rock star behavior here. I thought it was funny to see Lars Ulrich, who is younger than these guys, chattering backstage at the LA show, looking like a tired old drunk...add to that Kerry King of Slayer, also at that show, who looks like he swallowed the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man...and contrast them both with Dave Murray and Nicko McBrain playing golf, or Adrian Smith fishing, while on tour -- and still bringing the house down every night. All of these points come through clearly in the documentary, through footage of the band on and off stage, and interviews with them and their road crew. Another outstanding documentary by Sam Dunn.