En Vivo (LP)

Hearing Iron Maiden fans sing along to a new song like "El Dorodo" with the same ferocity that's applied to classic cuts like "Number of the Beast," "Two Minutes to Midnight," and "Hallowed Be Thy Name" must be invigorating for a group that has toured and recorded steadily for almost 40 years and never had a proper hit, let alone a commercial radio presence. 2010's Final Frontier (their 15th studio album), while by no means earth shattering, offered up further proof that the venerable New Wave of British Heavy Metal practitioners were unwilling to spend their twilight years clinging to the commercial safety of past glories. 2012's En Vivo! (their tenth live album), which was recorded in Santiago, Chile's Estadio Nacional Julio Mart¡nez Pr danos stadium during the Final Frontier tour, finds Iron Maiden solidly straddling the line between both eras, offering up equal servings of material both new and old, and integrating them seamlessly into each other, just they like they always do. ~ James Christopher Monger