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Powerslave

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For other uses, see Powerslave (disambiguation).
Untitled
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[2]
Kerrang!very favourable[3]
Sputnikmusic5.0/5[4]

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 the US (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, as well as leading 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 and is, furthermore, Iron Maiden's longest song to date (at 13 minutes and 42 seconds in length).

Powerslave is also notable as being the band's first album to feature the same lineup as the previous one, which would remain intact for two further studio releases.

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

Background, writing and recording

Following the conclusion of their highly successful World Piece Tour in December 1983, during which the group headlined large venues and arenas in the US for the first time in their career,[5] the band took three weeks off in January 1984 before regrouping in Jersey.[1] As with Powerslave's predecessor, Piece of Mind, this was where most of the album's writing took place before the band began recording at Compass Point Studios in Nassau, Bahamas.[6] The band spent weeks drinking on the island, which singer Bruce Dickinson states consisted of Banana Daiquiris,[7] while recording the songs.

Steve Harris recalled how, under time pressure, the song "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" was written in a relatively short space of time.[7] Influenced by Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem of the same name (drawing heavily from his 1815-16 gloss),[8] the song directly quotes two passages from the poem, the former including the famous lines: 'Water, water everywhere - nor any drop to drink'.[9] At over thirteen minutes long, the track contains several distinct sections with differing moods, and would become a fan favourite.[2] During the 'Somewhere Back in Time World Tour', Dave Murray, Bruce Dickinson and Steve Harris cited the song as their favourite from that tour to play live.[10]

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,[11] which began in Poland in August 1984 and ended in California, USA in late 1985.[12] 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.[8] 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, Hungary and Yugoslavia, a landmark achievement at the time.[12] 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.[7] The Live After Death album and video, recorded over four nights at Long Beach Arena in LA and Hammersmith Odeon in London,[13] were also released and respectively peaked at Nos. 2 and 1 in the UK charts.[14]

In total, the tour was 13 months long and touched 28 countries.[12] Powerslave debuted at number two in the UK charts, as a result of their record company (EMI)'s third "Now That's What I Call Music!" pop compilation.[15][12] 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.[7]

"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.

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Aces High"Steve Harris4:29
2."2 Minutes to Midnight"Bruce Dickinson, Adrian Smith6:00
3."Losfer Words (Big 'Orra)" (Instrumental)Harris4:13
4."Flash of the Blade"Dickinson4:03
5."The Duellists"Harris6:06
6."Back in the Village" (5:20 on the 1998 reissue)Dickinson, Smith5:03
7."Powerslave" (6:48 on the 1998 reissue)Dickinson7:12
8."Rime of the Ancient Mariner"Harris13:42
Total length:51:02
1995 reissue bonus disc
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Rainbow's Gold" (Beckett cover)Terry Slesser, Kenny Mountain4:57
2."Mission From 'Arry"Harris, Nicko McBrain6:42
3."King of Twilight" (Nektar cover)Nektar4:53
4."The Number of the Beast" (live)Harris4:57

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 5:03 and 7:12 respectively, 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 5:20.

Personnel

Additional personnel
  • Martin Birch – producer, engineer
  • Frank Gibson – assistant engineer
  • George Marino – mastering
  • Simon Heyworth – remastering
  • Derek Riggs – artwork, design, sleeve design, sleeve idea, sleeve illustration
  • Rod Smallwood – design, sleeve design, sleeve idea
  • Ross Halfin – photography
  • Moshe Brakha – photography

Additional notes

  • Catalogue – (1984 LP) EMI 1-12321, (1984 CD) Capitol C2-46045, (1998 CD) EMI 96920

Charts

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[30] 2× Platinum 200,000^
Germany (BVMI)[31] Gold 250,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[32] Gold 100,000^
United States (RIAA)[33] 2× Platinum 2,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ^ a b Bushell, Garry; Halfin, Ross (1985). Running Free, The Official Story of Iron Maiden (2 ed.). Zomba Books. p. 124. ISBN 0-946391-84-X. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  2. ^ a b Huey, Steve. "Powerslave – Iron Maiden > Review". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 26 June 2011. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  3. ^ Wall, Mick (6 September 1984). "Hero-Glyphics!". Kerrang!. Vol. 76. London, UK: Spotlight Publications Ltd. p. 8. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  4. ^ "Sputnikmusic review". Retrieved 26 June 2011.
  5. ^ Bushell, Garry; Halfin, Ross (1985). Running Free, The Official Story of Iron Maiden (2 ed.). Zomba Books. p. 116. ISBN 0-946391-84-X. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  6. ^ Wall, Mick (2004). Iron Maiden: Run to the Hills, the Authorised Biography (3rd ed.). Sanctuary Publishing. p. 252. ISBN 1-86074-542-3.
  7. ^ a b c d Live After Death: The History of Iron Maiden part 2 (DVD). EMI. 4 February 2008.
  8. ^ a b Wall, Mick (2004). Iron Maiden: Run to the Hills, the Authorised Biography (3rd ed.). Sanctuary Publishing. p. 254. ISBN 1-86074-542-3.
  9. ^ "Rime Of the Ancient Mariner". Lyrics Freak. Retrieved 13 August 2009.
  10. ^ Scot McFadyen, Sam Dunn (directors) (2009). Iron Maiden: Flight 666 (documentary). EMI.
  11. ^ Bushell, Garry; Halfin, Ross (1985). Running Free, The Official Story of Iron Maiden (2 ed.). Zomba Books. p. 125. ISBN 0-946391-84-X. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  12. ^ a b c d Wall, Mick (2004). Iron Maiden: Run to the Hills, the Authorised Biography (3rd ed.). Sanctuary Publishing. p. 253. ISBN 1-86074-542-3.
  13. ^ Bushell, Garry; Halfin, Ross (1985). Running Free, The Official Story of Iron Maiden (2 ed.). Zomba Books. p. 130. ISBN 0-946391-84-X. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  14. ^ "Album positions". Retrieved 30 September 2011.
  15. ^ "UK Albums chart- 15th September 1984". Retrieved 30 September 2011.
  16. ^ Iron Maiden – Powerslave – austriancharts.at (In German). Album Top 75. Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 August 2011.
  17. ^ Dutchcharts.nl – Iron Maiden – Powerslave (In Dutch). Mega Album Top 100. Hung Medien / hitparade.ch. Retrieved 29 August 2011.
  18. ^ Charts.org.nz – Iron Maiden – Powerslave. Top 40 Albums. Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 August 2011
  19. ^ Norwegiancharts.com – Iron Maiden – Powerslave. Top 40 Albums. Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 August 2011.
  20. ^ Swedishcharts.com – Iron Maiden – Powerslave. Albums Top 60. Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 August 2011.
  21. ^ Iron Maiden – Powerslave – hitparade.ch (In German). Albums Top 100. Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 August 2011.
  22. ^ a b Chart Stats – Iron Maiden – Powerslave. Chart Stats. Retrieved 28 August 2011.
  23. ^ Norwegiancharts.com – Iron Maiden – Powerslave. Top 40 Albums. Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 August 2011.
  24. ^ Spanishcharts.com – Iron Maiden – Powerslave. Top 100 Albums. Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 August 2011.
  25. ^ "Iron Maiden German Singles Chart". Retrieved 3 October 2011.
  26. ^ a b "Irish Singles". Retrieved 1 October 2011.
  27. ^ "UK Singles Archive- 25th August 1984". Retrieved 3 October 2011.
  28. ^ "UK Singles Archive- 10th November 1984". Retrieved 3 October 2011.
  29. ^ "UK Albums Archive- 31st March 1990". Retrieved 3 October 2011.
  30. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Iron Maiden – Powerslave". Music Canada. 12 October 2006. Retrieved 28 August 2011.
  31. ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Iron Maiden; 'Powerslave')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 28 August 2011.
  32. ^ "British album certifications – Iron Maiden – Powerslave". British Phonographic Industry. 11 December 1984. Retrieved 28 August 2011. Select albums in the Format field. Select Gold in the Certification field. Type Powerslave in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  33. ^ "American album certifications – Iron Maiden – Powerslave". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 28 August 2011.

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