Well guess who had the smart idea to tour America this summer instead of Europe? Iron Maiden did. And thank god they did because unless you want to shell out a trillion dollars for Gigantour, which (except for Megadeth and Motörhead), has a pretty sorry lineup, is all that there is. Now I’m not saying that we are stuck with Maiden, I’m ecstatic to have them back. But I am kind of worried. Last time they came around they decided to do the anti-Somewhere Back in Time tour, meaning that most of the set list was from Fear of the Dark forward. That meant that I didn’t get to hear stuff like “The Trooper”, “Run to the Hills”, “Aces High”, “Two Minutes to Midnight” etc. So I left that show a little disappointed and I must say that I am a little apprehensive about this one. The band says that this tour will be about two-thirds Maiden England, the supporting tour for Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, and one-third other stuff. I can only hope that that other one-third is closer to their Somewhere Back in Time tour.
But lets get on to the main point. In celebration of Maiden’s North American tour I’ve decided to go back and take a look at their 1984 release Powerslave.
This is the last album of Maiden’s holy trinity, the other two of course being The Number of the Beast, and Piece of Mind. While this album doesn’t quite capture the sheer inspiration and amazement of The Number of the Beast, it does beat out its immediate predecessor. Where Piece of Mind succeeded it soared but when it fell short it became slightly boring.
Powerslave takes the term epic to a whole new level. It begins by slapping you in the face with two of metals greatest songs of all time: “Aces High” and “Two Minutes to Midnight”. The former is about air battles during World War I while the latter is all about nuclear destruction, making numerous references to the Doomsday Clock. Interestingly the album then shifts into an instrumental. Instrumental pieces are generally left for the back end of the album so that the singles can go first. The only thing is that this instrumental is really pretty strong. Most instrumentals just end up being the band stroking their own ego but here we have a great demonstration as to why Maiden has one of the best instrumental sections in music.
Next up is “Flash of the Blade”, a personal favorite (that is until Avenged Sevenfold promptly ruined it with their cover). There’s something about that chorus that is just so goddam catchy.
Bruce Dickinson happens to be a professional fencer (among many other talents [he’s a renaissance man]) and he named his own fencing organization after the next track “The Duellists”. This song has Dickinson spitting out words faster than most of Maiden’s songs but it’s a great song.
“Back in the Village” is another highlight and one that I would like to see Maiden do live more often.
The title track opens with and ominous laugh and then dives right into its galloping riff and Dickinson’s soaring vocals. Just like the Egyptian theme on the cover, the Middle Eastern influences are immediately apparent. This song is probably one of the weaker ones off of this album (I’m not a fan of drawn out bridges) but it still gets the job done.
Okay so how long would you say the average metal song is? Five minutes? Six? Maybe eight? Any of those are good guesses and most songs that go over that time are unnecessary pieces where the band has crammed too many scraps into boring extended plays. The last track on Powerslave, “Rime of the Ancient Mariner”, breaks all of those conventions. This is one of Maiden’s best songs and is right up there with “Hallowed Be Thy Name” and “The Trooper”. Some how Maiden seem to have a never-ending supply of great riffs. And the one that they use here plays great with the whole nautical theme. Remember how I said I’m not a fan of long bridges? I love this one and it’s one of their longest. And the lyrics here are some of the best that Harris has ever written (although some of the credit should go to Samuel Coleridge who originally wrote the epic poem that the song is based on, and some of the actual lines from the poem are spoken during the bridge). While most people would go to one of the two openers I go straight to this song as the best on the album. This is easily Maiden’s second best album and definitely one of the best of all time. A must have for metalheads.
Aces High
Two Minutes to Midnight
Flash of the Blade
Rime of the Ancient Mariner
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