Behind the Iron Curtain (Iron Maiden video)
Encyclopedia
Behind the Iron Curtain is a discontinued VHS
/Beta
/LaserDisc
/VHD video by the English metal band Iron Maiden
. The video features footage of the band on the road in Eastern Europe
in 1984, performing concerts in Hungary
, Poland
, Yugoslavia
and Czechoslovakia
as part of the World Slavery Tour
. The title refers to the fact that the band were touring inside the Iron Curtain
(countries within the Eastern Bloc
of the Soviet Union
); unusual given the area's separation from the West
due to the then-ongoing Cold War
. Aside from two promotional videos from the album Powerslave
, the video also contains two live tracks and interviews with band members.
The video has no MPAA rating and has a running length of 30 minutes. An expanded 58 minute version of the documentary is included on disc 2 of the Live After Death
DVD. This expanded version was broadcasted by MTV in 1984 and was until the release of the Live After Death DVD only available on several bootleg recordings. Analysis of the tracks revealed that the audio of the tracks on the original video differ from the audio of the expanded documentary on the DVD version.
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
/Beta
Betamax
Betamax was a consumer-level analog videocassette magnetic tape recording format developed by Sony, released on May 10, 1975. The cassettes contain -wide videotape in a design similar to the earlier, professional wide, U-matic format...
/LaserDisc
Laserdisc
LaserDisc was a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium. Initially licensed, sold, and marketed as MCA DiscoVision in North America in 1978, the technology was previously referred to interally as Optical Videodisc System, Reflective Optical Videodisc, Laser Optical...
/VHD video by the English metal band Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band from Leyton in east London, formed in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. Since their inception, the band's discography has grown to include a total of thirty-six albums: fifteen studio albums; eleven live albums; four EPs; and six...
. The video features footage of the band on the road in Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
in 1984, performing concerts in Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
and Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
as part of the World Slavery Tour
World Slavery Tour
The World Slavery Tour was a concert tour by the heavy metal band Iron Maiden in support of their fifth album, Powerslave, beginning in Warsaw, Poland on 9 August 1984 and ending at Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre in Irvine, California on 5 July 1985...
. The title refers to the fact that the band were touring inside the Iron Curtain
Iron Curtain
The concept of the Iron Curtain symbolized the ideological fighting and physical boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1989...
(countries within the Eastern Bloc
Eastern bloc
The term Eastern Bloc or Communist Bloc refers to the former communist states of Eastern and Central Europe, generally the Soviet Union and the countries of the Warsaw Pact...
of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
); unusual given the area's separation from the West
Western world
The Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term referring to the countries of Western Europe , the countries of the Americas, as well all countries of Northern and Central Europe, Australia and New Zealand...
due to the then-ongoing Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
. Aside from two promotional videos from the album Powerslave
Powerslave (album)
Powerslave is the fifth studio album by the English heavy metal band Iron Maiden, released on 3 September 1984 on EMI in Europe and its sister label Capitol Records in the US ....
, the video also contains two live tracks and interviews with band members.
The video has no MPAA rating and has a running length of 30 minutes. An expanded 58 minute version of the documentary is included on disc 2 of the Live After Death
Live After Death (video)
Live After Death is the video compendium to the double-live Iron Maiden album of the same name. Released in VHS/Beta/LaserDisc/VHD/Hi-8 and DVD....
DVD. This expanded version was broadcasted by MTV in 1984 and was until the release of the Live After Death DVD only available on several bootleg recordings. Analysis of the tracks revealed that the audio of the tracks on the original video differ from the audio of the expanded documentary on the DVD version.
Track listing of the original video version
All tracks by Steve Harris except were noted- "2 Minutes to Midnight2 Minutes to Midnight"2 Minutes to Midnight" is the second track from British heavy metal band Iron Maiden's fifth album Powerslave. It was released as the band's tenth single on 6 August 1984 and rose to number 11 in the UK Singles Chart and number 25 on Billboard Top Album Tracks.The song was written by Adrian Smith...
(Studio Version)" (Bruce Dickinson, Adrian Smith) - "Aces HighAces High (song)"Aces High" is a song by British heavy metal band Iron Maiden, written by bassist Steve Harris. It is Iron Maiden's eleventh single and the second from the 1984 studio album Powerslave...
(Studio Version)" - "Hallowed Be Thy NameHallowed Be Thy Name"Hallowed Be Thy Name" is a song written by Steve Harris for the 1982 Iron Maiden album The Number of The Beast.The song includes 2 guitar solos: the first is played by Dave Murray,and second was played by Adrian Smith from 1982 until 1988.From 1990, second solo is played by Janick Gers...
(recorded live in Katowice, Poland on 14 August 1984)" - "Run to the HillsRun to the Hills"Run to the Hills" was Iron Maiden's sixth single and the first single from their 1982 album The Number of the Beast. The lyrics clearly discuss the violence visited upon Native Americans in the Nineteenth Century. Several lines appear to address the Sioux Wars, a conflict between the Lakota...
(recorded live in Budapest, Hungary on 17 August 1984)"
Track listing of the expanded MTV documentary
- "Aces HighAces High (song)"Aces High" is a song by British heavy metal band Iron Maiden, written by bassist Steve Harris. It is Iron Maiden's eleventh single and the second from the 1984 studio album Powerslave...
(recording date unclear)" - "The TrooperThe Trooper"The Trooper" is a song written by Iron Maiden bass player Steve Harris. It is Iron Maiden's ninth single, and the second from their 1983 album Piece of Mind. The single was released on 20 June 1983...
(recorded live in Poznan, Poland on 11 August 1984)" - "22 Acacia Avenue (recording date unclear)"
- "The Number Of The Beast (recorded live in Poznan, Poland on 11 August 1984)"
- "Hallowed Be Thy NameHallowed Be Thy Name"Hallowed Be Thy Name" is a song written by Steve Harris for the 1982 Iron Maiden album The Number of The Beast.The song includes 2 guitar solos: the first is played by Dave Murray,and second was played by Adrian Smith from 1982 until 1988.From 1990, second solo is played by Janick Gers...
(recorded live in Poznan, Poland on 11 August 1984)" - "2 Minutes to Midnight2 Minutes to Midnight"2 Minutes to Midnight" is the second track from British heavy metal band Iron Maiden's fifth album Powerslave. It was released as the band's tenth single on 6 August 1984 and rose to number 11 in the UK Singles Chart and number 25 on Billboard Top Album Tracks.The song was written by Adrian Smith...
(recording live in Budapest, Hungary on 17 August 1984)" - "Run to the HillsRun to the Hills"Run to the Hills" was Iron Maiden's sixth single and the first single from their 1982 album The Number of the Beast. The lyrics clearly discuss the violence visited upon Native Americans in the Nineteenth Century. Several lines appear to address the Sioux Wars, a conflict between the Lakota...
(recorded live in Budapest, Hungary on 17 August 1984)"
Personnel
- Bruce DickinsonBruce DickinsonPaul Bruce Dickinson is an English singer, songwriter, airline pilot, fencer, broadcaster, author, screenwriter, actor and marketing director, best known as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden....
- vocals - Dave MurrayDave Murray (musician)David Michael Murray is an English guitarist and songwriter best known as one of the earliest members of the British heavy metal band Iron Maiden.-Biography:...
- guitar - Adrian SmithAdrian SmithAdrian Frederick "H" Smith is an English musician and one of three guitarists in the heavy metal band, Iron Maiden. He is also one of the band's regular songwriters and, along with bassist Steve Harris, performs backing vocals on some songs.-Biography:While at school, Smith purchased his first...
- guitar - Steve HarrisSteve Harris (musician)Stephen Percy "Steve" Harris is an English musician and songwriter, known as the bassist, occasional keyboardist, backing vocalist and primary songwriter of the British heavy metal band Iron Maiden, which he founded in 1975...
- bass - Nicko McBrainNicko McBrainMichael Henry "Nicko" McBrain is an English musician, best known as the drummer for Iron Maiden, which he joined in 1982, prior to which he had played for Streetwalkers, Pat Travers, and the French political band, Trust.-Biography:...
- drums