Iron Maiden - Best of the Beast 1996 ak320

Best of the Beast was Iron Maiden's first "best of" album, released in 1996 in three formats: a 34 track (four disc) vinyl, a 27 track (two disc) CD, a 16 track (single disc) CD and MiniDisc.

Contents

   1 Background
   2 Track listing
       2.1 Standard edition CD and MD
       
Background

The track listings are mainly made up of the band's greatest hits (singles) and most well-known songs from their 1980–1995 albums, but they also include a new single, entitled "Virus", and an unreleased live version of "Afraid to Shoot Strangers". Both songs had promotional music videos, the latter of which was filmed during The X Factour and originally featured the band's previous lead vocalist, Bruce Dickinson.

The two-CD version contains two songs from the band's 1979 demo tape The Soundhouse Tapes ("Iron Maiden" and "Strange World," of which the latter was previously unreleased). The 4-disc vinyl pressing is quite rare and has increased in value steadily over the years in music stores and on online auction sites. The standard edition's value has not changed much although the Japanese pressings continue to rise in value. The Best of the Beast has long since been out of print and has been "replaced" by Edward the Great in most countries as a 'best of' for the band.

The cover art was designed by Derek Riggs, known for having created most of Iron Maiden's early album covers. It is an amalgamation of his most famous works with the band, featuring Eddies from the Piece of Mind, Powerslave, Somewhere in Time and No Prayer for the Dying eras, as well as those from "The Trooper", Live After Death and a redesign of the Killers album cover.

Track listing
Standard edition CD and MD
No. Title Writer(s) Original album Length

1. "The Number of the Beast"   Steve Harris The Number of the Beast (1982) 4:49
2. "Can I Play with Madness"   Adrian Smith, Bruce Dickinson, Harris Seventh Son of a Seventh Son (1988) 3:31
3. "Fear of the Dark (Live)"   Harris A Real Live One (1993), originally from Fear of the Dark (1992) 7:21
4. "Run to the Hills"   Harris The Number of the Beast (1982) 3:50
5. "Bring Your Daughter... to the Slaughter"   Dickinson No Prayer for the Dying (1990) 4:44
6. "The Evil That Men Do"   Smith, Dickinson, Harris Seventh Son of a Seventh Son (1988) 4:35
7. "Aces High"   Harris Powerslave (1984) 4:31
8. "Be Quick or Be Dead"   Dickinson, Janick Gers Fear of the Dark (1992) 3:21
9. "2 Minutes to Midnight"   Smith, Dickinson Powerslave (1984) 6:04
10. "Man on the Edge"   Blaze Bayley, Gers The X Factor (1995) 4:18
11. "Virus"   Harris, Gers, Dave Murray, Bayley — 6:30
12. "Running Free (Live)"   Harris, Paul Di'Anno Live After Death (1985), originally from Iron Maiden (1980) 3:25
13. "Wasted Years"   Smith Somewhere in Time (1986) 5:06
14. "The Clairvoyant"   Harris Seventh Son of a Seventh Son (1988) 4:27
15. "The Trooper"   Harris Piece of Mind (1983) 4:11
16. "Hallowed Be Thy Name"   Harris The Number of the Beast (1982) 7:10
Total length:
77:53
Limited edition CD
Had to fix it it had like 15 dead trackers and 0 live Ugh

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