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

ZowieZiggy
Prog Reviewer
4 stars The previous Maiden album, "Piece of Mind" was a bit of a deception. The ultra fast rhythms were gone and place was left for heavier and slower-paced music.

Fortunately, "Powerslave" will be different. Great beats again with a wild opener : "Aces High". But the whole of this album is a fully loaded with the highest energy. I particularly like "Two Minutes to Midnight" and its great guitar break.

This guitar orgy goes on and on, tirelessly. "Flash On The Blade" and its almost punkish mood is just another song which is accelerated to the max. Powerful and effective. Even if all these numbers aren't masterpieces, they are a pleasant metal "symphony".

Because in terms of prog, I'm afraid that the average progheads won't be very pleased with a work like this. Several songs are longer than average, but this won't mean complex song construction. Just extended simple (but good) tracks. For guitar and metallic sounds lovers. In this respect, "The Duellists" is one of the best and most achieved song. One of the highlights.

The title track is also a more elaborate one. Pleasant and melodic middle section (guitar oriented, would you believe). This will only be a short breathe of a smoother moment but the listener is quickly reverted into the fury. A highlight as well.

And finally, "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" as the closing number. Their first true epic. From heavy metal to some spacey and ambient parts for about two minutes (the very first ones in their career so far). But I can't really consider this as the archetype of a prog song. It is a creative metal one, that's for sure.

I guess that it has been a deep inspiration for some long "Dream Theater" pieces. Very strong bass and a bombastic wall of sound even if it starts as a "Sabbath" song. The best song of this very good album.

Seven out of ten? Not yet possible, man! Gosh!

Four stars.

ZowieZiggy | 4/5 |

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.