Ed Hunter is a greatest hits album and video game released in 1999 by English heavy metal band Iron Maiden and Synthetic Dimensions. The game objective consists of following Iron Maiden's mascot, Eddie, through various levels depicting the band's past album covers. The accompanying CDs have the group's most popular songs, as selected by fans on the band's official website.
| Ed Hunter | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Compilation album & video game by Iron Maiden & Synthetic Dimensions | ||||
| Released | 17 May 1999 | |||
| Recorded | 1980–1998 | |||
| Genre | Heavy metal | |||
| Length | 103:16[1] | |||
| Label | EMI | |||
| Iron Maiden compilations chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [2] |
| Melody Maker | [3] |
The album was released alongside a tour of the same name, in which the band only played songs which were featured in the compilation. The tour itself was also notable for marking the return of former guitarist Adrian Smith and vocalist Bruce Dickinson, who had left the band in 1990 and 1993, respectively.
Overview
editThe band's intention to release their own video game was announced in a sticker which appeared on the case of their 1996 compilation album, Best of the Beast, which stated, "Available soon... Melt, Eddie's own state-of-the-art 3D game." In September 1997, the band announced that the Melt project had been cancelled, with then vocalist Blaze Bayley commenting, "It was crap. Maiden want to give their fans something to blow them away. The new one will."[4] The band also revealed that a different game would be released in its place, with Bayley commenting, "This game is nearly there. You've got to get to Eddie through time and space, heaven and hell..... the works ! It's a shoot 'em up which we promise will out-shoot`em all."[4] Prior to its release, bassist Steve Harris commented that "it's the most amazing thing I've ever seen. I don't get shocked very often, but Ed Hunter was so good. It's like walking into a 3D version of the Somewhere in Time album cover, like going into the bar at the Ruskin Arms, only full of aliens and stuff. You go in and we'll be, like, holograms playing in the corner, or sitting at a table gambling. And then you've actually got the game itself, which is, like, this big shoot-'em-up chase through space and time to catch Eddie. It's brilliant."[5] Originally slated for release in the Spring of 1998,[4] the game was then pushed back to Christmas 1998[6] and eventually July 1999 to tie in with The Ed Hunter Tour.
The package includes three CDs. The first CD contains 14 songs, the second CD contains six songs and the installation program for the game, and the third CD contains the game data. The soundtrack consists of the top 20 songs voted for by Iron Maiden fans on the band's official website.[2] The US version also contained a hidden bonus track of a new vocal version of "Wrathchild" with Bruce Dickinson.[7]
The game passes through various levels, starting in London's East End before progressing to a psychiatric hospital, hell, and other various locations, all of which are lifted from the covers of past Iron Maiden albums.[8] While the gameplay itself consists of shooting the appearing enemies with the mouse cursor, it acts as a rail shooter, meaning that the player has no control over movement apart from occasionally choosing the route he will take through the levels.[8] In spite of this, the user can select which tracks play in the background, although only one song can be chosen for each level, which led to critics complaining about the soundtrack's repetitiveness.[8]
The Ed Hunter Tour was the tour supporting the album and was the first tour with Bruce Dickinson on vocal duties since 1993,[9] and with Adrian Smith on guitar since 1988.[10][11]
Levels
edit- London's East End (Iron Maiden / Killers)
- The Shady Pines Asylum (Piece of Mind)
- The Pits of Hell (The Number of the Beast)
- The Graveyard (Live After Death)
- The Pharaoh's Tomb (Powerslave)
- Blade Runner (Somewhere in Time)
- Futureal
- Finale
Track listing
edit| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Original album | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Iron Maiden" (Live in Long Beach, USA 1985) | Steve Harris | 1985 ~ Live After Death (1980 ~ Iron Maiden) | 4:27 |
| 2. | "The Trooper" | Harris | 1983 ~ Piece of Mind | 4:11 |
| 3. | "The Number of the Beast" | Harris | 1982 ~ The Number of the Beast | 4:51 |
| 4. | "Wrathchild" | Harris | 1981 ~ Killers | 2:54 |
| 5. | "Futureal" | Harris, Blaze Bayley | 1998 ~ Virtual XI | 2:54 |
| 6. | "Fear of the Dark" | Harris | 1992 ~ Fear of the Dark | 7:17 |
| 7. | "Be Quick or Be Dead" | Bruce Dickinson, Janick Gers | 1992 ~ Fear of the Dark | 3:24 |
| 8. | "2 Minutes to Midnight" | Adrian Smith, Dickinson | 1984 ~ Powerslave | 6:00 |
| 9. | "Man on the Edge" | Bayley, Gers | 1995 ~ The X Factor | 4:11 |
| 10. | "Aces High" | Harris | 1984 ~ Powerslave | 4:29 |
| 11. | "The Evil That Men Do" | Smith, Dickinson, Harris | 1988 ~ Seventh Son of a Seventh Son | 4:34 |
| 12. | "Wasted Years" | Smith | 1986 ~ Somewhere in Time | 5:05 |
| 13. | "Powerslave" | Dickinson | 1984 ~ Powerslave | 6:48 |
| 14. | "Hallowed Be Thy Name" | Harris | 1982 ~ The Number of the Beast | 7:14 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Original album | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15. | "Wrathchild" (1999 Version) | Harris | Previously unreleased (1981 ~ Killers) | 2:56 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Original album | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Run to the Hills" | Harris | 1982 ~ The Number of the Beast | 3:54 |
| 2. | "The Clansman" | Harris | 1998 ~ Virtual XI | 8:59 |
| 3. | "Phantom of the Opera" | Harris | 1980 ~ Iron Maiden | 7:06 |
| 4. | "Killers" | Harris, Paul Di'Anno | 1981 ~ Killers | 5:00 |
| 5. | "Stranger in a Strange Land" | Smith | 1986 ~ Somewhere in Time | 5:43 |
| 6. | "Tailgunner" | Harris, Dickinson | 1990 ~ No Prayer for the Dying | 4:15 |
| Total length: | 103:16 | |||
Personnel
editProduction credits are adapted from the album liner notes.[1]
- Iron Maiden
- Steve Harris – bass guitar, producer (disc 1: tracks 5–7 and 9; disc 2: track 2), keyboards (disc 1: track 11; disc 2: track 2)
- Dave Murray – guitar
- Adrian Smith – guitar (all tracks excluding disc 1: tracks 5–7 & 9; disc 2: tracks 2, 3 & 6), keyboards (disc 1, track 11)
- Bruce Dickinson – lead vocals (all tracks excluding disc 1: tracks 4, 5 & 9; disc 2: tracks 2–4)
- Nicko McBrain – drums (all tracks excluding disc 1: tracks 3, 4 & 14; disc 2: tracks 1, 3 & 4)
- Paul Di'Anno – lead vocals (disc 1: track 4; disc 2: tracks 3 & 4)
- Clive Burr – drums (disc 1: tracks 3, 4 & 14; disc 2: tracks 1, 3 & 4)
- Janick Gers – guitar (disc 1: tracks 5–7 & 9; disc 2: tracks 2 & 6)
- Blaze Bayley – lead vocals (disc 1: tracks 5 & 9; disc 2: track 2)
- Dennis Stratton – guitar (disc 2: track 3)
- Additional musicians
- Michael Kenney – keyboards (disc 1: tracks 5–7 & 9; disc 2: track 6)
- Production
- Martin Birch – producer (all tracks excluding disc 1: tracks 5 & 9; disc 2: tracks 2–3)
- Nigel Green – producer (disc 1: tracks 5 & 9; disc 2: track 2)
- Will Malone – producer (disc 2, track 3)
- Simon Heyworth – mastering
- Synthetic Dimensions – sleeve design and artwork
- Ross Halfin – photography
- Rod Smallwood – management
- Andy Taylor – management
- Merck Mercuriadis – management
Charts
edit| Chart (1999) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[12] | 69 |
| Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[13] | 27 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[14] | 94 |
| Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[15] | 43 |
Certifications
edit| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom (BPI)[16] | Silver | 60,000‡ |
|
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. | ||
References
edit- ^ a b Ed Hunter (Media notes). Iron Maiden. EMI. July 1999.
{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - ^ a b Adams, Bret. Iron Maiden - Ed Hunter at AllMusic. Retrieved 5 February 2012.
- ^ Fitzpatrick, Rob (5 June 1999). "Albums: Iron Maiden – Ed Hunter (EMI)". Melody Maker. London: IPC Limited. p. 37. ISSN 0025-9012. Retrieved 10 January 2024 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ a b c "Iron Maiden News Update 18, September 1997". ironmaiden.com. Archived from the original on 12 February 1998. Retrieved 5 February 2012.
- ^ Wall, Mick (2004). Iron Maiden: Run to the Hills, the Authorised Biography (3rd ed.). Sanctuary Publishing. p. 321. ISBN 1-86074-542-3.
- ^ "Iron Maiden Develops Own Game". Billboard. 19 June 1998. Retrieved 14 July 2012.
- ^ "Iron Maiden- Ed Hunter". Amazon. Retrieved 6 February 2012.
- ^ a b c "Iron Maiden: Ed Hunter - the Computer Game". BBC Online. Archived from the original on 6 July 2023. Retrieved 6 February 2012.
- ^ Wall, Mick (2004). Iron Maiden: Run to the Hills, the Authorised Biography (3rd ed.). Sanctuary Publishing. p. 296. ISBN 1-86074-542-3.
- ^ Wall, Mick (2004). Iron Maiden: Run to the Hills, the Authorised Biography (3rd ed.). Sanctuary Publishing. p. 283. ISBN 1-86074-542-3.
- ^ Wall, Mick (2004). Iron Maiden: Run to the Hills, the Authorised Biography (3rd ed.). Sanctuary Publishing. p. 337. ISBN 1-86074-542-3.
- ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Iron Maiden – Ed Hunter" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
- ^ "Iron Maiden: Ed Hunter" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
- ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Iron Maiden – Ed Hunter" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
- ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Iron Maiden – Ed Hunter". Hung Medien. Retrieved 13 September 2015.
- ^ "British album certifications – Iron Maiden – The Hunter". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 29 April 2013.