For the most dedicated of us Iron Maiden fans, it can be quite a challenge tracking down every tribute album of new material by aspiring artists or established and popular acts who just want to pay tribute to the band that inspired them to success. Always spoiling things for us is Paul Di’Anno and his has-been/never-was cohorts who put out the same material over and over again in a repackaged format. The Soldier has Returned is just a repackaging of the Dead Line label’s release “666: The Number one Beast, Vol. 1.” Nothing new here at all. Worse, it’s nothing worth listening to, either. Di’Anno covers his own tracks which give nothing new or different to make them worth a listen. In fact, every track on this release sounds like the same thing you’d expect to hear from a cover band–musicians doing the best they can to faithfully reproduce the original sound. How boring is that? The Dickinson era songs are sung by several other B-listers like Steve Overland, Steve Grimmet and Doogie White, and they offer the only variations to the overall sound. Overland is comically bad, but Grimmet and White do a decent job. Still, I recommend you save your money and buy a $2 used copy of the original release. Heck, for about the same price as this one, or even less, you can probably pick up the Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 package of the original “666: The Number One Beast together.”
1. Steve Overland (FM) – Can I Play With Madness
2. Steve Grimmett (Grim Reaper) – 2 Minutes To Midnight
3. Paul Dianno (Killers) – Wrathchild
4. Doogie White (Rainbow) – Hallowed Be Thy Name
5. Paul Dianno (Killers) – Running Free
6. Doogie White (Rainbow) – The Evil That Men Do
7. Paul Dianno (Killers) – Phantom Of The Opera
8. Steve Grimmett (Grim Reaper) – Number Of The Beast
9. Paul Dianno (Killers) – Iron Maiden
10. Steve Overland (FM) – Run To The Hills
11. Gary Barden (MSG) – The Trooper
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