Album · Compilation
Somewhere Back in Time: The Best of 1980–1989
Somewhere Back in Time: The Best of 1980–1989 is an Iron Maiden compilation on EMI, released in May 2008. It gathers songs from the band's first eight releases of the decade, including the live album Live After Death, so it draws on both studio and concert recordings.
The collection sits between the band's 2006 studio album A Matter of Life and Death and 2010's The Final Frontier, and it looks back at the years when Iron Maiden built their name. It is a handy way in for anyone new to the band's 1980s work, and a tidy refresher for fans who already know those records well.
Somewhere Back in Time: The Best of 1980–1989: tracklist, credits and charts
15 tracks · 1:10:55Tracklist
- Disc 1
- 1Churchill's Speech0:49
- 2Aces High (live)Steve Harris4:36
- 32 Minutes to MidnightBruce Dickinson and Adrian Smith6:00
- 4The TrooperSteve Harris4:11
- 5Wasted YearsAdrian Smith5:06
- 6Children of the DamnedSteve Harris4:35
- 7The Number of the BeastSteve Harris4:53
- 8Run to the HillsSteve Harris3:53
- Disc 2
- 1Phantom of the Opera (live)Steve Harris7:21
- 2The Evil That Men DoDickinson, Harris, Smith4:34
- 3Wrathchild (live)Steve Harris3:07
- 4Can I Play With MadnessDickinson, Harris, Smith3:31
- 5PowerslaveBruce Dickinson6:47
- 6Hallowed Be Thy NameSteve Harris7:12
- 7Iron Maiden (live)Steve Harris4:20
- Produced by
- Martin Birch
- Recorded at
- Long Beach Arena, Compass Point Studios, Wisseloord Studios, Battery Studios, Eventim Apollo, Musicland Studios
- Recorded
- 1982–1988
- Mixed by
- Nick Basich, Martin Birch
- Mixed at
- Electric Lady Studios, Battery Studios
- Engineered by
- Nick Basich, Martin Birch, Ricky DeLena, Albert Boekholt, Bruce Buchalter, Bernd Maier
- Label
- EMI
- Length
- 1:10:55
Line-up
- Steve Harris · electric bass guitar, background vocals, bass synthesizer, synthesizer, bass guitar
- Nicko McBrain · drums (drum set), percussion
- Dave Murray · electric guitar, guitar synthesizer, guitar
- Adrian Smith · electric guitar, background vocals, synthesizer, guitar
- Bruce Dickinson · lead vocals
- Clive Burr · drums (drum set)
Peak chart positions
| Chart | Peak |
|---|---|
| UK Albums Chart · 2008 | 14 |
| US Billboard 200 · 2008 | 58 |
| Swedish Albums · 2008 | 2 |
| Finnish Albums · 2008 | 3 |
| Norwegian Albums · 2008 | 3 |
| Canadian Albums (Billboard) · 2008 | 7 |
| Scotland (Official Charts Company) · 2008 | 14 |
| Belgian Albums (Flanders) · 2008 | 19 |
| New Zealand Albums · 2008 | 24 |
| Austrian Albums · 2008 | 26 |
All 20 charts
| Italian Albums · 2008 | 27 |
| Swiss Albums · 2008 | 31 |
| Belgian Albums (Wallonia) · 2008 | 36 |
| Spanish Albums · 2008 | 36 |
| Japanese Albums (Oricon) · 2008 | 39 |
| Mexican Albums · 2009 | 47 |
| Greek Albums · 2010 | 56 |
| Dutch Albums · 2008 | 74 |
| Australian Albums (ARIA) · 2008 | 81 |
| German Albums · 2008 | 84 |
Certifications
| Region | Certification |
|---|---|
| Finland | Gold |
| New Zealand · 2025 | Gold |
| Sweden · 2008 | Gold |
| United Kingdom · 2024 | Platinum |
From MusicBrainz, Wikipedia and Wikidata. Only what the sources record is shown.
32.4
Popularity (0–100, vs the whole vault)
8
ListenBrainz listeners
30k
Wikipedia views, last 12 months
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Deezer fans (all editions)
Released the same week
Also released on 12 May
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1980
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1980
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1981
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1982
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Christmas EP
1984
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1985
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1986
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1986
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1987
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1988
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1989
The First Ten Years
1990
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1990
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1992
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1993
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1993
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1993
The X Factor
1995
Best of the Beast
1996
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1998
Virtual XI
1998
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1998
Ed Hunter
1999
Brave New World
2000
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2002
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2002
Edward the Great
2002
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2002
Beast Over Hammersmith
2002
Dance of Death
2003
No More Lies: Dance of Death Souvenir EP
2004
The Essential Iron Maiden
2005
Death on the Road
2005
A Matter of Life and Death
2006
Somewhere Back in Time
2008
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2009
The Final Frontier
2010
From Fear to Eternity: The Best of 1990–2010
2011
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Releases and pressings
How we know the release date wikipedia 2008-05-12; musicbrainz + wikidata 2008-05-09 (3 days apart, likely another territory)
| Source | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|
| MusicBrainz | 9 May 2008 | ignored lone early release dated 2008-04-07 |
| Wikipedia infobox | 12 May 2008 | |
| Wikidata | 9 May 2008 | |
| US release | 13 May 2008 | earliest US date |
| UK / Europe release | 7 April 2008 | earliest UK or European date |
6 editions
| Date | Country | Label | Barcode | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | XE | EMI | 5099921470714 | other |
| 2008 | JP | EMI | 4988006862227 | other |
| 7 April 2008 | GB | Parlophone | original | |
| 9 May 2008 | DE | EMI | 5099921470721 | other |
| 12 May 2008 | XE | EMI | 5099921470721 | other |
| 13 May 2008 | US | — | 886973047828 | other |
Cover art sources
itunes · native: native 1650x1650
| Source | Size | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| itunes ✓ | 1650×1650 | native: native 1650x1650 |
| coverartarchive | 3300×2479 | rejected |
| fanarttv | 1000×1000 | upscaled |