Edward the Great
Compilation album by
Iron Maiden
Released4 November 2002
Recorded1982–2001/2003 (2005 reissue)
GenreHeavy metal
Length74:04[1]
LabelEMI
Iron Maiden compilations chronology
Best of the 'B' Sides
(2002) 		Edward the Great
(2002) 		The Essential Iron Maiden
(2005)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]

Edward the Great: The Greatest Hits is Iron Maiden's third "best-of album", originally released on 4 November 2002. Unlike the band's other works by the group collecting together songs from different albums, such as Best of the Beast, Edward the Great does not feature any material from the group's first two albums, which featured Paul Di'Anno as vocalist, but does include material from Blaze Bayley's five-year tenure with the band.

Background

According to Mick Wall, the collection was controversial amongst fans as it was released not long after previous compilations such as Best of the Beast and Ed Hunter.[3] Bassist and founder member Steve Harris comments, "We did get a bit of flak for the Edward the Great album but it wasn't aimed at the hardcore fan, it was aimed at the peripheral people who've heard the name or seen the name on a T-shirt and wouldn't know which record to pick up."[3] To satisfy "the real collector", the band released the Eddie's Archive box set simultaneously.[3]

In 2005, a revised edition was released in Europe, Asia and South America with an updated track-listing. The new version coincided with the release of The Essential Iron Maiden compilation, released solely in North America, and featured songs from the Dance of Death album as well as an alternate live version of "Fear of the Dark".[4] The updated CD also added the song "Brave New World" from the album of the same name and the booklet included a new foreword by Iron Maiden manager Rod Smallwood, replacing the original foreword by founding member Steve Harris. The album cover does not differentiate between the two editions.[4]

Track listing

Original track listing (2002)

Original track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Original albumLength
1."Run to the Hills"Steve Harris1982 ~ The Number of the Beast3:55
2."The Number of the Beast"Harris1982 ~ The Number of the Beast4:52
3."Flight of Icarus"Bruce Dickinson, Adrian Smith1983 ~ Piece of Mind3:52
4."The Trooper"Harris1983 ~ Piece of Mind4:11
5."2 Minutes to Midnight"Smith, Dickinson1984 ~ Powerslave6:00
6."Wasted Years"Smith1986 ~ Somewhere in Time5:06
7."Can I Play With Madness"Smith, Dickinson, Harris1988 ~ Seventh Son of a Seventh Son3:31
8."The Evil That Men Do"Smith, Dickinson, Harris1988 ~ Seventh Son of a Seventh Son4:34
9."The Clairvoyant"Harris1988 ~ Seventh Son of a Seventh Son4:27
10."Infinite Dreams"Harris1988 ~ Seventh Son of a Seventh Son6:10
11."Holy Smoke"Harris, Dickinson1990 ~ No Prayer for the Dying3:48
12."Bring Your Daughter... to the Slaughter"Dickinson1990 ~ No Prayer for the Dying4:44
13."Man on the Edge"Blaze Bayley, Janick Gers1995 ~ The X Factor4:12
14."Futureal"Harris, Bayley1998 ~ Virtual XI2:55
15."The Wicker Man"Smith, Harris, Dickinson2000 ~ Brave New World4:34
16."Fear of the Dark" (Live in Rock in Rio, Brazil 2001)Harris2002 ~ Rock in Rio (1992 ~ Fear of the Dark)8:04
Total length:74:55

Revised track listing (2005)

Revised track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Original albumLength
1."Run to the Hills"Harris1982 ~ The Number of the Beast3:55
2."The Number of the Beast"Harris1982 ~ The Number of the Beast4:52
3."The Trooper"Harris1983 ~ Piece of Mind4:11
4."Flight of Icarus"Smith, Dickinson1983 ~ Piece of Mind3:52
5."2 Minutes to Midnight"Smith, Dickinson1984 ~ Powerslave6:00
6."Wasted Years"Smith1986 ~ Somewhere in Time5:06
7."Can I Play With Madness"Smith, Dickinson, Harris1988 ~ Seventh Son of a Seventh Son3:31
8."The Evil That Men Do"Smith, Dickinson, Harris1988 ~ Seventh Son of a Seventh Son4:34
9."Bring Your Daughter... to the Slaughter"Dickinson1990 ~ No Prayer for the Dying4:44
10."Man on the Edge"Bayley, Gers1995 ~ The X Factor4:12
11."Futureal"Harris, Bayley1998 ~ Virtual XI2:55
12."The Wicker Man"Smith, Harris, Dickinson2000 ~ Brave New World4:34
13."Brave New World"Dave Murray, Harris, Dickinson2000 ~ Brave New World6:18
14."Wildest Dreams"Smith, Harris2003 ~ Dance of Death3:52
15."Rainmaker"Murray, Harris, Dickinson2003 ~ Dance of Death3:48
16."Fear of the Dark" (Live in Westfalenhallen, Germany 2003)Harris2005 ~ Death on the Road (1992 ~ Fear of the Dark)7:28
Total length:73:52

Personnel

Production and performance credits are adapted from the album liner notes.[1]

Iron Maiden
Production

Charts

Chart (2002-2003) Peak
position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[5] 46
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[6] 34
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[7] 242
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[8] 16
UK Albums (OCC)[9] 57

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[10] Gold 50,000^
Finland (Musiikkituottajat)[11] Gold 15,201[11]
Sweden (GLF)[12] Gold 30,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[13] Gold 100,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ^ a b Edward the Great (Media notes). Iron Maiden. EMI. 4 November 2002.((cite AV media notes)): CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  2. ^ Henderson, Alex. Iron Maiden – Edward the Great: Greatest Hits at AllMusic. Retrieved 26 June 2011.
  3. ^ a b c Wall, Mick (2004). Iron Maiden: Run to the Hills, the Authorised Biography (3rd ed.). Sanctuary Publishing. p. 365. ISBN 1-86074-542-3.
  4. ^ a b "The Essential Iron Maiden". Ironmaiden.com. Retrieved 13 January 2012.[permanent dead link]
  5. ^ "Ultratop.be – Iron Maiden – Edward the Great - The Greatest Hits" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  6. ^ "Iron Maiden: Edward the Great - The Greatest Hits" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
  7. ^ Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005 (in Japanese). Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
  8. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Iron Maiden – Edward the Great - The Greatest Hits". Hung Medien. Retrieved 13 September 2015.
  9. ^ "Iron Maiden | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
  10. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Iron Maiden – Edward the Great". Music Canada. 12 October 2006. Retrieved 29 April 2013.
  11. ^ a b "Iron Maiden" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 29 April 2013.
  12. ^ "Guld- och Platinacertifikat − År 2003" (PDF) (in Swedish). IFPI Sweden. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 May 2011. Retrieved 29 April 2013.
  13. ^ "British album certifications – Iron Maiden – Edward the Great". British Phonographic Industry. 11 September 2015.


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