Progarchives, the progressive rock ultimate discography
Iron Maiden - Powerslave CD (album) cover

POWERSLAVE

Iron Maiden

 

Prog Related

4.15 | 848 ratings

From Progarchives.com, the ultimate progressive rock music website

Mellotron Storm
Prog Reviewer
5 stars These guys were the first band to play in an Eastern bloc country with full arena production.They also broke the record for most sellouts at the Longbeach venue in California on this tour. Bet you guys didn't know prog was this popular did you ? Haha.This record along with "Number Of The Beast" are the two most popular IRON MAIDEN releases among non-prog fans. For me it's this one and "Piece Of Mind". The twin lead guitar attack of Murray and Smith and the incredible vocals of Bruce (the human siren), and the world class bass playing of Harris has made these guys a force all over the earth. Steve Harris wrote 4 of the 8 tracks.

The first two songs were actually released as singles."Aces High" is about WWII fighter pilots and the imagery is just fantastic ! "Two Minutes To Midnight" is about the threat of nucleur war.The only instrumental "Losfer Words" is so intense. The rhythm here is punishing to say the least as the guitars play over top.This is a top three song on this record.The next four songs are great and all are part of the Egyptian theme of this album. "Flash Of The Blade" opens with such a good guitar melody and it comes and goes throughout. The song turns heavy when the vocals come in. Just a great sounding tune. "The Duellists" has a killer rhythm with huge bass lines from Harris. Check out the guitar 3 minutes in and a minute later.

"Back To The Village" has some amazing guitar to open then that killer rhythm section takes over with vocals. Outstanding sound 3 minutes in. "Powerslave" has a haunting intro and when it kicks into gear it doesn't get much better than this. Bruce spits out the words. A calm after 2 1/2 minutes as this absolutely gorgeous guitar comes in followed by a ripping assault. Just an incredible instrumental section here. It turns heavy 5 minutes in with vocals to end it. The best song in my opinion is the epic "Rime Of The Ancient Mariner". A very progressive and long song at 13 1/2 minutes. Again the rhythm is killer as vocals join in. A calm 5 minutes in and you can hear that the ship and crew are adrift at sea. The spoken words and sound affects are an excellent touch. At 9 minutes in they sound like SABBATH circa "Master Of Reality". Then we get that galloping rhythm after 11 minutes.

The louder this record is played the better it sounds ! Up the irons !

Mellotron Storm | 5/5 |

MEMBERS LOGIN ZONE

As a registered member (register here if not), you can post rating/reviews (& edit later), comments reviews and submit new albums.

You are not logged, please complete authentication before continuing (use forum credentials).

Forum user
Forum password

Share this IRON MAIDEN review

Social review comments () BETA







Review related links

Copyright Prog Archives, All rights reserved. | Legal Notice | Privacy Policy | Advertise | RSS + syndications

Other sites in the MAC network: JazzMusicArchives.com — jazz music reviews and archives | MetalMusicArchives.com — metal music reviews and archives

Donate monthly and keep PA fast-loading and ad-free forever.