POWERSLAVE

'Powerslave' by Iron Maiden is a good example of what a decent 80s metal album sounds like... but not much more. The follow-up to 'Piece of Mind', one of their more successful releases, is a somewhat disappointing venture into common ground, as the British new wave metal legends present a collection of eight songs, recorded at Nassau Point Studio in the Bahamas, that does not necessarily expand their sound. It has to be said that up to that point Iron Maiden had been gaining momentum, with each release reaching a wider audience, performing better commercially, and so on. However, what I think is that out of their first five studio albums, 'Children of the Damned' is the one that deserves the most attention, as the rest seems a bit incomplete still, maybe lacking this crispy cohesiveness that they would later develop, with albums like 'Seventh Son' or 'Brave New World'.

As for 'Powerslave', it is a powerful, energetic and uplifting recording, kicking off with two awesome and kickass singles, those being 'Aces High' and '2 Minutes to Midnight'. As usual, the primary writer (or rather, contributor) to the essence of the album, is the band's brilliant bass player Steve Harris, undoubtedly one of the most important and influential bassists of his generation, the rest of the band is performing not worse. Bruce Dickinson also sounds like a beast on this album, and there is a very strong Ian Gillan influence on several moments of his phrasing and screaming throughout the album. 'The Duellists' is an interesting song, the title track is really good, and the 13-minute 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner' has to be the big winner of the album, as it can be safely said, Maiden went full on prog with this one! A multi-section epic, with shifting moods and tempos, it is a severely promising composition, and a side of the band's sound that would be best developed on the aforementioned 'Seventh Son'.

What I know is that 'Powerslave' is a bit polarizing for fans and critics of the band alike; For me - I know I have heard heaps of better albums, and I am certain that they have released much stronger LPs. Not a bad album by any stretch of the imagination, but not a mind-blowing and game-changing either.