Well boys and girls, what could have been an outstanding special issue turn out to be a bit of a disappointing to me. Don't get me wrong , the mag is a great read and the facts are very accurate but it has several low points.
The majority of the photos, 99%, are very well known, the advertising on the cover of Ross Halfin new and unseen photos is just crap talk. Second Mr. Macbrian and Mr.Janick Gers weren't interviewed ( I'm suspicious it was because of this fact that Maiden didn't advertised this issue in their site as they did for the Billboard magazine special May 2008 issue). Third, the mag has 100 pages, no more no less than 36...yes boys and girls, 36, were burnt in 5 transcribed songs, one of them Phantom Of The Opera, which is a very long song, 3 short songs would have been more than enough, 14 full and two half pages for music advertisement is also ridiculous in a so called special issue. The unseen sketches from Derek Riggs that are advertised on the front cover are really just 6 representing the evolution of the painting that Derek made for the cover of his book ( also featured in his book), just that and no more. So, from a magazine of 100 pages we only get 50 with interesting stuff, the rest was burnt in advertising's and transcribed songs, very disappointing, they could learn a bit with past killer issues from Kerrang Legends in 2002 and Metal Hammer collectors edition 2005, and also the French magazines, that is really SPECIAL issues...
The majority of the photos, 99%, are very well known, the advertising on the cover of Ross Halfin new and unseen photos is just crap talk. Second Mr. Macbrian and Mr.Janick Gers weren't interviewed ( I'm suspicious it was because of this fact that Maiden didn't advertised this issue in their site as they did for the Billboard magazine special May 2008 issue). Third, the mag has 100 pages, no more no less than 36...yes boys and girls, 36, were burnt in 5 transcribed songs, one of them Phantom Of The Opera, which is a very long song, 3 short songs would have been more than enough, 14 full and two half pages for music advertisement is also ridiculous in a so called special issue. The unseen sketches from Derek Riggs that are advertised on the front cover are really just 6 representing the evolution of the painting that Derek made for the cover of his book ( also featured in his book), just that and no more. So, from a magazine of 100 pages we only get 50 with interesting stuff, the rest was burnt in advertising's and transcribed songs, very disappointing, they could learn a bit with past killer issues from Kerrang Legends in 2002 and Metal Hammer collectors edition 2005, and also the French magazines, that is really SPECIAL issues...
