''Death on the Road'' is a live album and video released by British heavy metal band

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. While fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harri ...

on 29 August 2005 on CD and vinyl, and on 6 February 2006 on DVD. The album was recorded at

Westfalenhallen Westfalenhallen (English: Halls of Westphalia) is a commercial complex composed of conference (Kongresszentrum Dortmund) and exhibition centers (Messe Dortmund) with an indoor arena (Westfalenhalle), located in Dortmund, Germany. It is surroun ...

Dortmund Dortmund (; Westphalian nds, Düörpm ; la, Tremonia) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the eighth-largest city of Germany, with a population of 588,250 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the la ...

, Germany on 24 November 2003, during the

Dance of Death World Tour The Dance of Death World Tour was a concert tour by heavy metal band Iron Maiden in support of their thirteenth studio album, ''Dance of Death''. The group's eighth live record, '' Death on the Road'', was recorded in Dortmund. The tour was s ...

. The release performed well in the national charts of several countries; Finland (no. 5), Sweden (no. 7), Norway (no. 12), France (no. 14), Italy (no. 17), Switzerland (no. 17), Spain (no. 18), United Kingdom (no. 22), Ireland (no. 27), the Netherlands (no. 39) and India (no.29).

Background

The video was released in a 3 DVD set, with the first two representing the concert footage in 5.1 Digital audio and

stereo Stereophonic sound, or more commonly stereo, is a method of sound reproduction that recreates a multi-directional, 3-dimensional audible perspective. This is usually achieved by using two independent audio channels through a configuration ...

and the final containing special features, including a documentary and the promo videos for " Wildest Dreams" and " Rainmaker". The 70-minute documentary, directed by Matthew Amos, shows the recording of the ''

Dance of Death The ''Danse Macabre'' (; ) (from the French language), also called the Dance of Death, is an artistic genre of allegory of the Late Middle Ages on the universality of death. The ''Danse Macabre'' consists of the dead, or a personification of ...

'' album at

Sarm West Studios Sarm Studios is an independent recording studio in London. Originally founded in east London in 1973, the studio's original location was renamed Sarm East Studios in 1982 when Jill Sinclair and Trevor Horn purchased Basing Street Studios from Isl ...

, London and the subsequent preparations for the following tour, including interviews with the majority of the band's

road crew The road crew (or roadies) are the technicians or support personnel who travel with a band on tour, usually in sleeper buses, and handle every part of the concert productions except actually performing the music with the musicians. This catc ...

. Additional and extended interviews with crew and fans (recorded at

Earls Court Earl's Court is a district of Kensington in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in West London, bordering the rail tracks of the West London line and District line that separate it from the ancient borough of Fulham to the west, the ...

, London) were also included as individual films, entitled "Life on the Road" and "The Fans". The documentary contains the first ever released footage of the band in the recording studio. Following the original 2006 DVD release, the band noted that several fans had complained about playback issues with the stereo disc, and stated that they would investigate the issue. A week later, the US release date for the DVD was postponed from 21 February 2006 to 30 January 2007, due to "unforeseen production issues". The cover was designed by

Melvyn Grant Melvyn "Mel" Grant (born 1944) is an English artist and illustrator. Trained traditionally, he originally worked with oil paints, but in the late 1990s Grant switched to creating most of his work digitally with a digitizing tablet and the software ...

. The version of "

Fear of the Dark Fear of the dark is a common fear or phobia among children and, to a varying degree, adults. A fear of the dark does not always concern darkness itself; it can also be a fear of possible or imagined dangers concealed by darkness. Some degree of ...

" on this release was later included in the '' Edward the Great'' 2005 re-release.

Reception

Reviews for the album were generally positive, with ''

Kerrang! ''Kerrang!'' is a British weekly magazine devoted to rock, punk and heavy metal music, currently published by Wasted Talent (the same company that owns electronic music publication ''Mixmag''). It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a one- ...

'' deeming it "very nearly the ultimate Iron Maiden live album," commenting that the release proves that the band "are as exciting, relevant and unique in 2005 as they were two decades ago."

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

, however, were more critical of the album, remarking that "longtime fans do not need any more live versions of "Number of the Beast," "Hallowed Be Thy Name," "Run to the Hills," or "The Trooper,"" although also stating that the band lays "waste oany notions that they can't hold themselves to the performance standards of their younger days." Guy Strachan praised the band for "capturing...the raw aggression of the band's delivery" but also suggested that "while it does do a very good job at capturing a good Maiden show for posterity, by default it contains six songs that have not been issued in a live context before but many of the other ten have featured on damn near every other live album. As a souvenir of a specific gig/tour it works very well, but in the grander scheme of things can be passed over for an album that has a greater tracklist variance". The DVD release was met with critical acclaim, receiving full marks from ''Kerrang!'' who deemed it "the next best thing to having front row seats at a Maiden show." ''

Record Collector ''Record Collector'' is a British monthly music magazine. It was founded in 1980 and distributes worldwide. History The early years The first standalone issue of ''Record Collector'' was published in March 1980, though its history stretches ba ...

'' were just as positive, calling the package "a visua-sonic treat." Although criticising the "blink-and-you'll-miss-it editing," ''

Guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselv ...

'' also awarded it 5 out of 5, stating, "It may seem strange to you that Maiden are bigger than ever these days, but if you're in any doubt as to why, the evidence is right here." ''

Classic Rock Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, primar ...

'' praised the video for being more intimate than 2002's ''

Rock in Rio ''Rock in Rio'' is a recurring music festival originating in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It later branched into other locations such as Lisbon, Madrid and Las Vegas. Nine incarnations of the festival have been held in Rio de Janeiro, in 1985, 1991, ...

'', commenting that "it provides irrefutable proof that Iron Maiden are still the world's greatest living heavy metal band — bar none." '' Q'' were somewhat less positive, giving the DVD a lower score of 4 out of 5, but still called it "a lavish tribute to one of the UK's most enduring bands."

Track listing

DVD special features

* ''Death on the Road'' documentary * "Life on the Road" documentary * "The Fans" (interviews) * ''Dance of Death''

EPK A press kit, often referred to as a media kit in business environments, is a pre-packaged set of promotional materials that provide information about a person, company, organization or cause and which is distributed to members of the media for pr ...

* "Wildest Dreams" and "Rainmaker" promo videos * Photo and artwork galleries

Personnel

Production and performance credits are adapted from the album liner notes. ;Iron Maiden *

Bruce Dickinson Paul Bruce Dickinson (born 7 August 1958) is an English singer who has been the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden from 1981 to 1993 and 1999–present. He is known for his wide-ranging operatic vocal style and energetic stage ...

–

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

* Dave Murray –

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

Adrian Smith Adrian Frederick "H" Smith (born 27 February 1957) is an English guitarist best known as a member of heavy metal band Iron Maiden, for whom he also writes songs and performs backing vocals both live and in the studio. Smith grew up in London ...

– guitar,

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...

Janick Gers Janick Robert Gers (; born 27 January 1957) is an English musician who is best known as one of the three guitarists in heavy metal band Iron Maiden. He initially joined to replace Adrian Smith, but remained in the band after Smith rejoined. G ...

– guitar * Steve Harris –

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

, backing vocals,

co-producer A film producer is a person who oversees film production. Either employed by a production company or working Independent film, independently, producers plan and coordinate various aspects of film production, such as selecting the script, coordina ...

video editor A video editor is involved in video production and the post-production of film making. The video editor's responsibilities involve decisions about the selection and combining of shots into sequences, as well as the addition of accompanying sou ...

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights o ...

(documentary) *

Nicko McBrain Michael Henry "Nicko" McBrain (born 5 June 1952) is an English musician, best known as the drummer of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden since 1982. Having played in small pub bands since 1966 from the age of 14, McBrain paid his bills after grad ...

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

;Additional musicians *Michael Kenney –

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

;Production *

Kevin Shirley Kevin Shirley (born 29 June 1960), also known as The Caveman, is a South African music producer, engineer and mixer for many artists,Spencer et al, (2007Shirley, Kevinentry. Retrieved 4 February 2010. such as the bands Journey, Iron Maiden, ...

– producer,

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

, mixing *Drew Griffiths – assistant engineer *

Howie Weinberg Howie Weinberg is an American audio mastering engineer with over 2,257 mastering credits, three TEC Awards, 21 Grammy Awards, two Juno Awards, and one Mercury Prize. Career Weinberg mastered Herbie Hancock's 1983 album ''Future Shock''. Other m ...

–

mastering *Dave Kutch – 5.1 audio mastering *Tomas Coox – additional audio mastering *Johnny Burke – editing technician (concert) *Matthew Amos –

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''Di ...

(documentary) * Tessa Watts – producer (documentary) *

Joe Abercrombie Joseph Edward Abercrombie (born December 31, 1974) is a British fantasy writer and film editor. He is the author of ''The First Law'' trilogy, as well as other fantasy books in the same setting and a trilogy of young adult novels. His novel '' ...

– editor (documentary) *MJ Morgan –

line producer A line producer is a type of film or television producer who is the head of the production office management personnel during daily operations of a feature film, advertisement film, television film, or TV program. A line producer usually works on o ...

(documentary) *Howard Johnson – interviewer (documentary) *Valerie Potter – interviewer (documentary) *

– sleeve illustration *Peacock – sleeve design, sleeve concept *

Ross Halfin Ross William Halfin (born 11 August 1957) is a British rock and roll photographer. Since the late 1970s he has worked for some of the biggest acts in rock and heavy metal, including Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Black Sabbath, The Who, Kiss, Metallica, ...

–

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed ...

Simon Fowler Simon Geoffrey Fowler (born 25 May 1965 in Meriden, Warwickshire) is an English singer and acoustic guitarist, best known as the frontman of Ocean Colour Scene. The Fanatics Simon Fowler commenced his music career as the lead singer and songwr ...

– photography *

Rod Smallwood Roderick Charles Smallwood (born 17 February 1950) is an English music manager, best known as the co-manager of the British heavy metal band Iron Maiden. With his business partner, Andy Taylor, whom he met while studying at Trinity College, Ca ...

–

management Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

, executive producer (documentary) * Andy Taylor – management *Merck Mercuriadis – management

Charts

Album

Video

Certifications

;Album ;Video

Notes

{{Authority control Iron Maiden video albums Albums produced by Kevin Shirley Iron Maiden live albums 2005 video albums 2005 live albums Live video albums EMI Records live albums EMI Records video albums Live heavy metal albums