Numbers From the Beast: An All Star Salute to Iron Maiden - Various Artists

Genre metal Publisher Restless/Ryko External Links Iron Maiden Rykodisc

Most tribute albums are recorded and compiled by people who love a specific artist so much, they want to celebrate the music by having various guests come in and offer their reinterpretations, but flattering as such a gesture can be for an established band, the sad thing is, rarely do such good intentions yield an album worth buying. More often than not, tribute albums make for an interesting first listen, but unless the contributors do something really bold, the end result is mildly enjoyable, but ultimately forgettable. Just imagine you're James Hetfield trying to sit through Korn and Staind massacre your most famous work (like they did at 2003's MTV Icon, and you'll get the idea how uncomfortable such tributes can be.

Nowhere do you find more tribute albums than in the metal genre, and while the inconsistency of metal tribute CDs are the same as any other genre, every so often you get a cover song that knocks you off your feet. Remember At the Gates slaughtering Slayer's "Captor of Sin"? Or Nevermore's masterful reworking of Judas Priest's "Love Bites"? Or Sepultura's timeless, drunken run-through of Motorhead's "Orgasmatron"? More than anyone else, the metal community loves to pay tribute to their elder statesman, fallen heroes, and underrated geniuses, and when they get it right, they nail it.

Numbers From the Beast: An All Star Salute to Iron Maiden is one of the more interesting metal tribute albums to come around the pike in the last couple years, not for the performances per se, but for the very impressive list of talent that performs on the disc. Organized by veteran session player Bob Kulick, its an outstanding roster, a blend of some of the more well-known journeyman musicians and some star players from the 1980s and 90s. Instead of trying to provide ultra-creative renditions of classic Iron Maiden tunes, Kulick and his cohorts tear through each of the 11 songs, delivering faithful performances of a good selection of the band's classics.

The great guitarist Michael Schenker helms a solid version of "Run to the Hills," as Schenker's MSG cohort Robin McAuley ably holds his own on one of the most vocally demanding metal songs ever conceived. Twisted Sister's Dee Snider proves he still has good range on "Wasted Years," as former Dokken bandmates George Lynch and Jeff Pilson (with Jason Bonham on drums), provide able accompaniment. Former Rainbow/Deep Purple singer Joe Lynn Turner and guitarist Richie Kotzen have fun on "2 Minutes to Midnight," arguably the grooviest song Maiden ever recorded, while Anthrax vocalist John Bush and bandmate Scott Ian sound perfectly suited to the latter-day classic "Wicker Man." As far as the pleasant surprises go, pro wrestler (and Fozzy frontman) Chris Jericho does a very capable job on "The Evil That Men Do," and even better, Lemmy Kilminster's trademark growl adds a very cool twist to the classic "The Trooper," as it sounds like the song was written specifically with Lemmy in mind.

Still, the album is not without its clunkers, as "Aces High" is wrecked by a too-flashy-for-its-own-good performance by Nuno Bettencourt (of Extreme fame), "Fear of the Dark," sung by Testament's Chuck Billy, sounds uninspired, and despite Mark Slaughter's (yeah, the guy from Slaughter) energetic performance, "Can I Play With Madness" fails to measure up to the original. And in the album's strangest twist, former Maiden singer Paul Di'Anno appears on "Wrathchild," and while his performance is decent enough, you can't help but notice how far Di'Anno has fallen, resorting to singing on a tribute album for a band he was fired from nearly 25 years ago.

Numbers From the Beast is a fun listening experience, especially for those who grew up listening to both Iron Maiden and all the guest musicians during the 1980s, but while the musicians mean well, it's hard to recommend spending actual money on this disc. With such by-the-numbers covers, first-time listeners are better off discovering the originals, but the old-school Maiden fans should get more of a kick out of hearing how much fun everyone had recording it.