Powerslave

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For other uses, see Powerslave (disambiguation).
Powerslave
Iron Maiden - Powerslave.jpg
Studio album by Iron Maiden
Released 3 September 1984
Recorded February – June 1984[1] at Compass Point Studios, Nassau, Bahamas
Genre Heavy metal
Length 51:12[2]
Label EMI
Capitol (North America)
Producer Martin Birch
Iron Maiden studio albums chronology
Piece of Mind
(1983)Piece of Mind1983		 Powerslave
(1984)		 Somewhere in Time
(1986)Somewhere in Time1986
Singles from Powerslave
  1. "2 Minutes to Midnight"
    Released: 6 August 1984
  2. "Aces High"
    Released: 22 October 1984
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic 4.5/5 stars[3]
Kerrang! very favourable[4]
Sputnikmusic 5.0/5[5]

Powerslave is the fifth studio album by the English heavy metal band Iron Maiden, released on 3 September 1984 on EMI in Europe and its sister label Capitol Records in North America. It was re-released by Sanctuary/Columbia Records in the US in 2002.

It is notable for its Ancient Egyptian theme displayed in the cover artwork, lifted from the title track, which was carried over to the album's supporting tour. "The World Slavery Tour" began in Warsaw, Poland on 9 August 1984—and is widely regarded as being the band's longest and most arduous to date—and lead to the live album Live After Death.

The release also contains a musical re-telling of Samuel Taylor Coleridge's "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner", which uses pieces of the original poem as lyrics. At 13 minutes and 45 seconds in length, it was Iron Maiden's longest song for over 31 years, until it was surpassed by the 18-minute "Empire of the Clouds" from The Book of Souls (2015).

Powerslave is also notable as being the band's first album to feature the same personnel as their previous studio release. This lineup would remain intact for two further studio releases.

"2 Minutes to Midnight" and "Aces High" were released as singles.

Background, writing and recording

Tattoo of Anubis on Mike Johansen's right arm from the Powerslave album cover

on Following the conclusion of their highly successful World Piece Tour in December 1983, during which Iron Maiden headlined large venues and arenas in the US for the first time in their career,[6] the band took three weeks off in January 1984 before regrouping in Jersey.[1] As with Powerslave's predecessor Piece of Mind (1983), this was where most of the album's writing took place before the band began recording at Compass Point Studios in Nassau, Bahamas.[7]

Bassist Steve Harris recalled how, under time pressure, the song "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" was written in a relatively short space of time.[8] Influenced by Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem of the same name (drawing heavily from his 1815-16 gloss),[9] the song directly quotes two passages from the poem, the former including the famous lines: 'Water, water everywhere - nor any drop to drink'.[10] At over thirteen minutes long, the track contains several distinct sections with differing moods and would become a fan favourite.[3] During the 2008-09 Somewhere Back in Time World Tour, guitarist Dave Murray, vocalist Bruce Dickinson and Harris cited the song as their favourite from that tour to play live.[11]

Once finished, the band undertook another short break while the album was mixed at Electric Lady Studios, New York, before reconvening in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida to rehearse for the World Slavery Tour.[12] The tour began in Poland in August 1984 and ended in California in late 1985.[13] The stage set was an eye-opener, echoing the album cover, including monumental pedestals several stories high atop which the musicians appeared at times during the show.[9] The set amply filled even the gigantic proscenium of Radio City Music Hall. It was also the first time a heavy metal band had taken a full set behind the Iron Curtain, visiting Poland and Hungary, a landmark achievement at the time.[13] The tour continued into South America for the first time where they played to an estimated audience of 300,000 at the inaugural Rock in Rio as special guests to the band Queen.[8] The Live After Death album and video, recorded over four nights at Long Beach Arena in LA and Hammersmith Odeon in London,[14] were also released and respectively peaked at No. 2 and No. 1 in the UK charts.[15]

In total, the tour was thirteen months long and touched 28 countries.[13] Powerslave debuted at No. 2 in the UK Albums Chart, as a result of their record company (EMI's) third Now That's What I Call Music! pop compilation.[13][15][16] According to both Nicko McBrain and Adrian Smith, Powerslave began making Iron Maiden famous "very fast, very quickly," such as in Brazil, where hundreds of fans waited outside hotels and restaurants for the band.[8]

"Flash of the Blade" was included on the soundtrack of Dario Argento's 1985 horror film Phenomena and was covered by the American band Avenged Sevenfold on their double live album/DVD, Live in the LBC & Diamonds in the Rough. Rhapsody of Fire have also recorded a cover of the song that is featured on the deluxe edition of their album From Chaos to Eternity. The song "Flash of the Blade" can also be heard in the Jem and the Holograms episode "Kimber's Rebellion", just after the cartoon band members return home from Paris, on a boom-box stereo being carried by a passerby.

Track listing

Side one
No. Title Writer(s) Length
1. "Aces High"   Steve Harris 4:31
2. "2 Minutes to Midnight"   Adrian Smith, Bruce Dickinson 6:04
3. "Losfer Words (Big 'Orra)" (Instrumental) Harris 4:15
4. "Flash of the Blade"   Dickinson 4:05
5. "The Duellists"   Harris 6:18
Side two
No. Title Writer(s) Length
6. "Back in the Village"   Smith, Dickinson 5:02
7. "Powerslave"   Dickinson 7:12
8. "Rime of the Ancient Mariner"   Harris 13:45
Total length:
 51:12
1995 reissue bonus disc
No. Title Writer(s) Length
1. "Rainbow's Gold" (Beckett cover) Terry Slesser, Kenny Mountain 4:57
2. "Mission From 'Arry"   Harris, Nicko McBrain 6:42
3. "King of Twilight" (Nektar cover) Roye Albrighton, Mick Brockett, Allan Freeman, Ron Howden, Derek "Mo" Moore 4:53
4. "The Number of the Beast" (live) Harris 4:57

Subsequent releases

  • The 1995 re-release contains a bonus disc, which contains the B-sides of the original singles.
  • It was re-released in 1998 with an extra multimedia section, which featured the music videos for "Aces High" and "2 Minutes to Midnight".
  • Originally, "Back in the Village" and "Powerslave" had running times of 5:02 and 7:12 respectively,[2] but when remastered for the 1998 reissue, the introduction to "Powerslave" was merged with the end of "Back in the Village", resulting in "Powerslave"'s length being cut to 6:48 and "Back in the Village" being extended to 5:21. Also, in the remastered release, silences at the beginning and end of some tracks were cut, which caused the total length of the album to be cut down to 50:34.

Personnel

Production and performance credits are adapted from the album liner notes.[2][17]

Iron Maiden
Additional personnel

Additional notes

Catalogue

  • (1984 LP) EMI POWER 1/EJ 2402001 [UK]
  • (1984 LP) Capitol ST-12321 [USA]
  • (1984 CD) EMI/Capitol CDP 7 46045 2 [Worldwide]
  • (1998 CD) EMI 7243 4 96920 0 8 [UK]
  • (1998 CD) Sanctuary/Metal Is/Columbia CK-86212 [USA]
  • (2002 CD) Sanctuary CK-86044 [Album Replica] [USA]

Charts

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Canada (Music Canada)[34] 2× Platinum 200,000
Germany (BVMI)[35] Gold 250,000
United Kingdom (BPI)[36] Gold 100,000
United States (RIAA)[37] 1× Platinum 1,000,000

^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

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  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  33. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  34. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  35. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  36. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Enter Powerslave in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Gold in the field By Award. Click Search
  37. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
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