Iron Maiden (Official Thread)
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Just start with their first one and go from there.
I can't move on from the first
Sweaty
ThE OtHeR rAmOnE
I like all the albums except the ones without Bruce (I have one of them and it's not on par)
I saw them at the weekend and they were awesome, played a great set and really put on a show for all their fans.
I saw them at the weekend and they were awesome, played a great set and really put on a show for all their fans.
METALPRIEST
Senior Member
30 Years Ago
Powerslave
Powerslave
Johnny-Too-Good
Senior Member
From 'Classic Rock' -
Maiden 1985: Dickinson and Harris power to the people
For their fifth album, Iron Maiden faced the daunting task of matching or even bettering what they'd achieved with Piece Of Mind in 1983. What they did was, if anything, even better. Powerslave remains one of the strongest pillars of Maiden mythology and metal history,. In tribute we've delved through the archives and combed the trivia to give you this insight into the album that boldly used the Eye of Horus in the lyrics for the title track - not many metal bands would have been so daring!
The band wrote most of the songs for the Powerslave album in Jersey, which is where they also wrote the Piece Of Mind album.
The actual recording was done at Compass Point Studios in Nassau. It was mixed at Electric Ladyland in New York.
Maiden experienced consistent equipment failure in the studio. And when the air conditioning broke down, the workmen sent to repair it brought their own step ladder and...well, this is what Nicko McBrain said: “The funny thing is, the minute the step ladder was set up in the room all the rest of the recording equipment suddenly started functioning properly! I know it sounds ridiculous, but that's what happened...and we all started staring at this step ladder and ribbing each other going, 'It must be the step ladder-it's shaped like a pyramid!'. I tell you, we didn't let them take that step ladder away for days!"
Aces High was inspired by the Battle Of Britain, the first battle to be fought solely in the air.
Aces High was the second single to be released from Powerslave, peaking at number 20 in the UK. Although the B side for this is credited as being a cover of Nektar's King Of Twilight, it was actually a medley of that song and Crying In The Dark, another Nektar track.
2 Minutes To Midnight is based on the Doomsday Clock, which counted down to potential global disaster through political confrontations. Midnight is the symbolic trigger, and the closest the clock has ever gotten to this was in September 1953, when it stood at... 2 Minutes To Midnight.
2 Minutes To Midnight was released as the first single from the album, peaking at number 11 in the UK. One of the sides was Mission From 'Arry. This was an actual argument between Nickp McBrain and Steve Harris, secretly recorded by Bruce Dickinson.
Rime Of The Ancient Mariner was based on the poem of the same titled, written by 18th/19th century writer Samuel Taylor Coleridge. It also quotes two sections from the poem.
If you look closely at the album sleeve, you'll spot artist Derek Riggs put his logo into the painting. It's right above the pyramid entrance.
The phrases 'Bollocks', 'Indiana Jones Was Here 1941', 'What A Load Of Crap' and 'Wot, No Guiness?' are also used on the cover. Written in hieroglyphics. Oh, and there's also a drawing of Mickey Mouse.
This was the first album Maiden had recorded with the same line-up as on their last one.
Flash Of The Blade was used on the soundtrack to the 1985 Dario Argento movie Phenomena.
The Duellist was inspired by the 1978 Ridley Scott film of the same title. This in turn was based on the 1908 Joseph Conrad novel The Duel.
Back In The Village was inspired by the cult 1960s TV series The Prisoner, as was the song The Prisoner, from The Number Of The Beast. Some have claimed that when Dickinson sings 'I see sixes all the way' here, you can hear someone whispering 'six six six' in the background.
The album reached number two in the UK and number 21 in the US. It was also the first Maiden album to chart in Switzerland.
The subsequent world tour lasted 11 months and went to 28 countries. Dubbed The World Slavery Tour, it began on August 9, 1984 in Warsaw and ended at Irvine Meadows in California on July 5, 1985 – 331 days and 187 gigs
Maiden 1985: Dickinson and Harris power to the people
For their fifth album, Iron Maiden faced the daunting task of matching or even bettering what they'd achieved with Piece Of Mind in 1983. What they did was, if anything, even better. Powerslave remains one of the strongest pillars of Maiden mythology and metal history,. In tribute we've delved through the archives and combed the trivia to give you this insight into the album that boldly used the Eye of Horus in the lyrics for the title track - not many metal bands would have been so daring!
The band wrote most of the songs for the Powerslave album in Jersey, which is where they also wrote the Piece Of Mind album.
The actual recording was done at Compass Point Studios in Nassau. It was mixed at Electric Ladyland in New York.
Maiden experienced consistent equipment failure in the studio. And when the air conditioning broke down, the workmen sent to repair it brought their own step ladder and...well, this is what Nicko McBrain said: “The funny thing is, the minute the step ladder was set up in the room all the rest of the recording equipment suddenly started functioning properly! I know it sounds ridiculous, but that's what happened...and we all started staring at this step ladder and ribbing each other going, 'It must be the step ladder-it's shaped like a pyramid!'. I tell you, we didn't let them take that step ladder away for days!"
Aces High was inspired by the Battle Of Britain, the first battle to be fought solely in the air.
Aces High was the second single to be released from Powerslave, peaking at number 20 in the UK. Although the B side for this is credited as being a cover of Nektar's King Of Twilight, it was actually a medley of that song and Crying In The Dark, another Nektar track.
2 Minutes To Midnight is based on the Doomsday Clock, which counted down to potential global disaster through political confrontations. Midnight is the symbolic trigger, and the closest the clock has ever gotten to this was in September 1953, when it stood at... 2 Minutes To Midnight.
2 Minutes To Midnight was released as the first single from the album, peaking at number 11 in the UK. One of the sides was Mission From 'Arry. This was an actual argument between Nickp McBrain and Steve Harris, secretly recorded by Bruce Dickinson.
Rime Of The Ancient Mariner was based on the poem of the same titled, written by 18th/19th century writer Samuel Taylor Coleridge. It also quotes two sections from the poem.
If you look closely at the album sleeve, you'll spot artist Derek Riggs put his logo into the painting. It's right above the pyramid entrance.
The phrases 'Bollocks', 'Indiana Jones Was Here 1941', 'What A Load Of Crap' and 'Wot, No Guiness?' are also used on the cover. Written in hieroglyphics. Oh, and there's also a drawing of Mickey Mouse.
This was the first album Maiden had recorded with the same line-up as on their last one.
Flash Of The Blade was used on the soundtrack to the 1985 Dario Argento movie Phenomena.
The Duellist was inspired by the 1978 Ridley Scott film of the same title. This in turn was based on the 1908 Joseph Conrad novel The Duel.
Back In The Village was inspired by the cult 1960s TV series The Prisoner, as was the song The Prisoner, from The Number Of The Beast. Some have claimed that when Dickinson sings 'I see sixes all the way' here, you can hear someone whispering 'six six six' in the background.
The album reached number two in the UK and number 21 in the US. It was also the first Maiden album to chart in Switzerland.
The subsequent world tour lasted 11 months and went to 28 countries. Dubbed The World Slavery Tour, it began on August 9, 1984 in Warsaw and ended at Irvine Meadows in California on July 5, 1985 – 331 days and 187 gigs
Johnny-Too-Good
Senior Member
From 'Ultimate Classic Rock' -
Over the past three or so decades, British heavy metal icons Iron Maiden
have given their fans more incredible albums than they could have ever hoped for. But 1984’s ‘Powerslave’ is special; if it isn’t universally regarded as their all-time best album, it is in many ways the quintessential Iron Maiden LP. Even though it was the band’s fifth studio album in five years, ‘Powerslave’ was the first to include the same lineup as its predecessor: singer Bruce Dickinson, guitarists Dave Murray and Adrian Smith, bassist Steve Harris and drummer Nicko McBrain. ‘Powerslave’ also marks the last time Maiden fans were in agreement about one of the group’s records. So with that in mind, we rank its songs, from worst to best.
8
‘Losfer Words (Big ‘Orra)
There’s just something missing from 'Powerslave'’s oddly titled third cut, ‘Losfer Words (Big ‘Orra)’… Oh yeah, the vocals! This was Iron Maiden’s final foray into instrumental compositions, evidently because their enthusiasm for them was starting to wear thin at this point.
7
‘Flash of the Blade’
‘Powerslave’'s fourth track finds Dickinson expounding on his love of competitive fencing, as his lyric “cuts and thrusts and parries” around his bandmates’ athletic metallic performance. There’s also a refreshing simplicity — and brevity — to ‘Flash of the Blade’ that would take a backseat to the longer epics found on Maiden’s next few albums.
6
‘Back in the Village
A particularly spirited and rambunctious little number, ‘Back in the Village’ showcases guitarist Smith in fiery form, while songwriting partner Dickinson sings a somewhat scattered, but very entertaining, lyrical mishmash, simultaneously predicting his next extracurricular hobby (piloting airplanes) and revisiting the British TV classic ‘The Prisoner,’ a show that had already shown up in ‘The Number of the Beast.’
5
'The Duellists'
You could say that ‘The Duellists’ is no more than a big brother to its fencing-inspired predecessor ’Flash of the Blade,’ but the song takes the subject to the next level of instrumental complexity and utilizes Harris' familiar charging guitar gallop, heard in other Maiden adventures like ‘Where Eagles Dare’ and ‘Hallowed Be Thy Name.'
4
‘Rime of the Ancient Mariner’
Even in 1984, when the songwriting excesses of '70s prog-rock were still a not-so-distant memory, a metal epic lasting nearly 14 minutes was a positively jaw-dropping proposition. But Maiden possessed the talent, vision and pure guts to dare such an enterprise, spinning the words of 18th-century poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge across multiple musical passages of stunning variety, and rewarding fans with a metallic behemoth for the ages.
3
‘Powerslave’
An album as imposing and magnificent as ‘Powerslave’ demands an equally commanding and majestic title track, and Iron Maiden deliver here. Dickinson’s fascination with ancient Egyptian religion and tradition is the main subject, but the band brings a suitably morbid and metal interpretation to the tomb, as they muse metallic on an entire civilization developed around the cult of death. How metal is that?
2
‘Aces High’
If ‘Flash of the Blade’ wins with its straightforwardness, the spectacular ‘Aces High’ scores a victory for the ages: a pulse-raising album-launching juggernaut that Iron Maiden has arguably yet to match, never mind top. Too bad the band didn't include Winston’s Churchill’s celebrated “We shall fight on the beaches ... ” speech before the song, like it did on the World Slavery Tour.
1.
‘2 Minutes to Midnight’
A stone-cold Cold War metal classic, '2 Minutes to Midnight' was inspired by the infamous Doomsday Clock (which counts down humanity's time until total annihilation), and the song's bleak and terrifying lyrics rank among Maiden’s very best. The music is great, too, infusing the band's familiar t echnical proficiency with an undeniable hook.
Over the past three or so decades, British heavy metal icons Iron Maiden
have given their fans more incredible albums than they could have ever hoped for. But 1984’s ‘Powerslave’ is special; if it isn’t universally regarded as their all-time best album, it is in many ways the quintessential Iron Maiden LP. Even though it was the band’s fifth studio album in five years, ‘Powerslave’ was the first to include the same lineup as its predecessor: singer Bruce Dickinson, guitarists Dave Murray and Adrian Smith, bassist Steve Harris and drummer Nicko McBrain. ‘Powerslave’ also marks the last time Maiden fans were in agreement about one of the group’s records. So with that in mind, we rank its songs, from worst to best.
8
‘Losfer Words (Big ‘Orra)
There’s just something missing from 'Powerslave'’s oddly titled third cut, ‘Losfer Words (Big ‘Orra)’… Oh yeah, the vocals! This was Iron Maiden’s final foray into instrumental compositions, evidently because their enthusiasm for them was starting to wear thin at this point.
7
‘Flash of the Blade’
‘Powerslave’'s fourth track finds Dickinson expounding on his love of competitive fencing, as his lyric “cuts and thrusts and parries” around his bandmates’ athletic metallic performance. There’s also a refreshing simplicity — and brevity — to ‘Flash of the Blade’ that would take a backseat to the longer epics found on Maiden’s next few albums.
6
‘Back in the Village
A particularly spirited and rambunctious little number, ‘Back in the Village’ showcases guitarist Smith in fiery form, while songwriting partner Dickinson sings a somewhat scattered, but very entertaining, lyrical mishmash, simultaneously predicting his next extracurricular hobby (piloting airplanes) and revisiting the British TV classic ‘The Prisoner,’ a show that had already shown up in ‘The Number of the Beast.’
5
'The Duellists'
You could say that ‘The Duellists’ is no more than a big brother to its fencing-inspired predecessor ’Flash of the Blade,’ but the song takes the subject to the next level of instrumental complexity and utilizes Harris' familiar charging guitar gallop, heard in other Maiden adventures like ‘Where Eagles Dare’ and ‘Hallowed Be Thy Name.'
4
‘Rime of the Ancient Mariner’
Even in 1984, when the songwriting excesses of '70s prog-rock were still a not-so-distant memory, a metal epic lasting nearly 14 minutes was a positively jaw-dropping proposition. But Maiden possessed the talent, vision and pure guts to dare such an enterprise, spinning the words of 18th-century poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge across multiple musical passages of stunning variety, and rewarding fans with a metallic behemoth for the ages.
3
‘Powerslave’
An album as imposing and magnificent as ‘Powerslave’ demands an equally commanding and majestic title track, and Iron Maiden deliver here. Dickinson’s fascination with ancient Egyptian religion and tradition is the main subject, but the band brings a suitably morbid and metal interpretation to the tomb, as they muse metallic on an entire civilization developed around the cult of death. How metal is that?
2
‘Aces High’
If ‘Flash of the Blade’ wins with its straightforwardness, the spectacular ‘Aces High’ scores a victory for the ages: a pulse-raising album-launching juggernaut that Iron Maiden has arguably yet to match, never mind top. Too bad the band didn't include Winston’s Churchill’s celebrated “We shall fight on the beaches ... ” speech before the song, like it did on the World Slavery Tour.
1.
‘2 Minutes to Midnight’
A stone-cold Cold War metal classic, '2 Minutes to Midnight' was inspired by the infamous Doomsday Clock (which counts down humanity's time until total annihilation), and the song's bleak and terrifying lyrics rank among Maiden’s very best. The music is great, too, infusing the band's familiar t echnical proficiency with an undeniable hook.
Ar-Pharazon
Senior Member
- Joined
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- Posts
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Mission From 'arry is probably the funniest thing I've ever heard. I'm so glad I bought the 2 disc sets from Castle back in 1995. They included all the B-Sides.
The title track, Powerslave, is one of my favorite IM tracks.
The title track, Powerslave, is one of my favorite IM tracks.
Saw them 3 times, in 2008, 2010 and 2013. My favorite albums are Somewhere In Time and Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son.
