''From Fear to Eternity: The Best of 1990–2010'' is a

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

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 ...

, containing a selection of songs originally released on the eight studio albums from ''

No Prayer for the Dying ''No Prayer for the Dying'' is the eighth studio album by English heavy metal band Iron Maiden. It is their first album to feature Janick Gers on guitar, who replaced Adrian Smith. Smith left the band during the pre-production phase, unhappy w ...

'' to ''

The Final Frontier ''The Final Frontier'' is the fifteenth studio album by English heavy metal band Iron Maiden. It was released on 13 August 2010 in Germany, Austria and Finland, 17 August in North America, 18 August in Japan, and 16 August worldwide. At 76&nbs ...

''. The title is lifted from the 1992 single, "

From Here to Eternity ''From Here to Eternity'' is a 1953 American drama romance war film directed by Fred Zinnemann, and written by Daniel Taradash, based on the 1951 novel of the same name by James Jones. The picture deals with the tribulations of three U.S. Arm ...

", although it is not featured in this release.

Background

The album was announced on 15 March 2011, to be released by

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

on 23 May, although this was later changed to 6 June. Unlike their previous compilation (''

Somewhere Back in Time ''Somewhere Back in Time - The Best of: 1980 - 1989'' is a best of release by the British heavy metal band Iron Maiden, containing a selection of songs originally recorded for their first eight albums (including ''Live After Death''). Backgroun ...

''), the release covered two CDs to encompass longer tracks, such as "Paschendale", although the price remained that of a single disc record. As with ''Somewhere Back in Time'', each track is sung by

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 ...

rather than

Blaze Bayley Blaze Bayley (born Bayley Alexander Cooke, 29 May 1963) is an English heavy metal singer. He was the lead singer of Wolfsbane from 1984 to 1994 (and currently since 2010, following reunions in 2007 and 2009). He was also the lead singer of Ir ...

(who sang on ''

The X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003 ...

'' and ''

Virtual XI ''Virtual XI'' (pronounced "Virtual Eleven") is the eleventh studio album by English heavy metal band Iron Maiden, released on 23 March 1998. It is the band's second and final album with Blaze Bayley on vocals. It also marks the first album to ...

''), the band again opting to use later live versions of songs which originally featured other lead vocalists.

Artwork

The album 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 ...

, and serves to reference each relevant studio release. Three representations of

Eddie Eddie or Eddy may refer to: Science and technology *Eddy (fluid dynamics), the swirling of a fluid and the reverse current created when the fluid flows past an obstacle * Eddie (text editor), a text editor originally for BeOS and now ported to Lin ...

appear, one dressed in

Grim Reaper Death is frequently imagined as a personified force. In some mythologies, a character known as the Grim Reaper (usually depicted as a berobed skeleton wielding a scythe) causes the victim's death by coming to collect that person's soul. Other b ...

attire (as in '' Dance of Death''), one atop the tank from '' A Matter of Life and Death'' – which is imprinted with the "Cross-Keys" symbol from ''

'' – and a large burning

wicker man A wicker man was purportedly a large wicker statue in which the druids (priests of Celtic paganism) Human sacrifice, sacrificed humans and Animal sacrifice, animals by burning. The main evidence for this practice is a sentence by Ancient Rome, Ro ...

( the first single from ''

Brave New World ''Brave New World'' is a dystopian novel by English author Aldous Huxley, written in 1931 and published in 1932. Largely set in a futuristic World State, whose citizens are environmentally engineered into an intelligence-based social hierarch ...

''). The artwork also contains the tree from ''

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 ...

'', the tombstone from ''

'', a large "X" on the tree trunk (representing ''

'') and the twisted figures and burnt building structure from the ''

'' cover.

Reception

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 ...

'' described the album as representing "Gold from every era", claiming that, although "weighted towards the... last five studio albums", the "earlier singles... fight their corner remarkably well." The review also argues that some of the release's later songs "match anything from Maiden's 80s heyday." In their July 2011 issue, ''

Metal Hammer ''Metal Hammer'' is a heavy metal music magazine and website founded in 1983, published in the United Kingdom by Future, with other language editions available in numerous other countries. ''Metal Hammer'' features news, reviews and long-form ...

'' praised the compilation for doing "an excellent job of gathering the heartiest wheat over the last two decades", although deeming

's absence from the album a "glitch" albeit "for the best."

Track listing

Personnel

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

– vocals * Dave Murray – guitars *

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 ...

– guitars *

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 ...

– guitars (except on "Holy Smoke", "Tailgunner", "Be Quick or Be Dead", "Afraid to Shoot Strangers", and "Bring Your Daughter... to the Slaughter") * Steve Harris – bass,

keyboard 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 ...

s *

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 ;Additional musicians *

Michael Kenney 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 ...

– keyboards on "Sign of the Cross", "Afraid to Shoot Strangers", "Fear of the Dark" and "The Clansman" (uncredited) ;Production *Ade Emsley – mastering *Stuart Crouch –

art direction Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and unify the visi ...

, design *Melanie Hunter – art direction, design *Anthony Dry – art direction, design *

– cover illustration *

John McMurtrie John McMurtrie (born 1969) is a British music photographer. He makes portraits of musicians, usually in the heavy rock arena. He has shot covers for ''Metal Hammer'' magazine and ''Total Guitar'' magazine and also contributes to ''Rolling Stone'' ...

– 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 * Andy Taylor – management

Charts

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:From Fear To Eternity (album) 2011 compilation albums Iron Maiden compilation albums EMI Records compilation albums Heavy metal compilation albums