Iron Maiden - Powerslave
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Free Music Notes for Powerslave
Free Music Review: Another great Maiden classic!
Hit: 5 Stars
After obtaining their new (and current, today) drummer, Nicko McBrain, Maiden produced "Piece of Mind" and received more acclaim and success. 1984 rolls around and they produce "Powerslave" and hit even bigger heights. Some fans claim it's overrated, and that MIGHT be somewhat true... but still, it's a 5 star album in my book. In fact, "Powerslave" was the album that got me hooked into Maiden in the first place, and that fate was forever sealed when I heard "Somewhere in Time." With that said, this review continues:Aces High - An undeniably catchy rocker. This is what Maiden's all about. The trade-off solos here are among the band's finest.
2 Minutes to Midnight - WOW, great! Adrian Smith is in fine form in his guitarmanship here! One of the best non-Steve Harris penned songs the band has ever produced.
Losfer Words - The instrumental track on the album. Not bad, but probably the weakest in comparison to the other tracks.
Flash of the Blade - The VERY FIRST Maiden song I ever listened to. Sounds kinda dull in guitars, but it's intentionally good. I love the subject matter of middle-aged dueling. One of the finest Bruce Dickinson-penned songs. A very underrated song.
The Duellists - Another song involving dueling, this all-out rocker is a pretty good one. The chorus is a little on the weak side, but a decent song overall; give this one a second chance upon first listening.
Back in the Village - A little odd at first with its unique riff, but I like it a lot better now. In fact, what hooked me was the fact that it's part 2 to the "Number of the Beast" track, The Prisoner, also based on the television series!
Powerslave - The monstrous title track of the album. Bruce Dickinson's vocals hit new heights with this song and it's a damn good rocker. However, the magnum opus of this album hasn't come yet...
Rime of the Ancient Mariner - WOW, THIS IS MAIDEN'S BEST EPIC EVER AND THE BEST TRACK FROM THIS ALBUM, HANDS DOWN! Maiden is truly sophisticated here and the instrumentation combined with Bruce's superb vocals makes for one of their finest songs ever. A truly great track that doesn't wear out its 13 minutes.
Overall, a SOLID Maiden album. Takes a little getting used to because it's not as heavy as "Piece of Mind," but the songs are very well-written all the same. With the success of this, they continued with their 1985 live effort, "Live After Death," and would move into the experimental areas...
Free Music Review: Maiden's best??!!! Could be
Hit: 5 Stars
This album is amazing even 20 years after it's release!
1.Aces high- 10/10 One of Maiden's all time best tracks ever. This track starts off with a great melodic riff than expoldes into a blazing rocker with some very powerful vocals by Dickinson and a great guitar solo. And the high note Bruce hits near the end of the song just caps off an already great track.
2.2 Minutes to Midnight- 10/10 Perhaps Iron Maiden's most popular track on the album. A very catchy riff added with some great vocals and a catchy chorus make this a track that fits well into the 80's metal scene yet avoids being poppy. Great layered vocals too!
3.Losfer Words (Big 'Orra)- 10/10 A great instrumental! Very melodic with some great harmony lines and leads and plenty of changes in the song.
4.Flash of the Blade- 10/10 One of Maiden's best tracks ever! The opening guitar line is genious than another guitar part comes in for some trademark Maiden harmony lines! The lyrics are brilliant too and the overall feel of the song is great.
5.The Duellists- 10/10 Another good track. Bruce hits some very high notes here but it's really melodic middle section of the song and the guitar solo that make this track so good.
6.Back in the Village- 10/10 Another great opening line but this track evolves into a classic fast paced Maiden song. Bruce's vocals are strong as always. Bruce belts out a few high pitched screams too! And the guitar solo is great as always
7.Powerslave- One of Maiden's best tracks ever! The first of the 2 epics of the album and the riff is a great Egyptian sounding riff. The vocals and lyrics are haunting aswell. Great vocals and one of the best guitar solos ever in a Maiden song
8.Rime of the Ancient Mariner- 10/10 The second epic which is nearly twice as long as Pwerslave! Classic layered guitar parts too. This song starts off slow than sets off and speeds up which leads into a haunting soft section and than the vocals join back with a more upbeat bass line. Bruce's vocals soar on this track aswell. Bruce's giant scream leads into the most epic part of the song which leads into one of the best solos ever!
This is Iron Maiden at there best! Do yourself a favor and get this album. The band is
Bruce Dickinson- Vocals
Dave Murray- Guitar
Adrian Smith- Guitar
Steve Harris- Bass
Nicko McBrain- Drums
Free Music Review: It's the 5th album, Why not 5 stars?
Hit: 5 Stars
Where to begin with this album? It's packed with 8 riveting tracks. And if your one who judges an album on its opening song, your praise would be through the roof for this one. You can't improve on the first track being ACES HIGH. The lyrics describe, in an incredible wealth of detail, (the first 2 "paragraphs" only get the plane in the air) a bomber in the heat of battle. This is got to be one of the strongest and most catchy tracks on the album, but this is just the beginning. 2 MINUTES 2 MIDNIGHT is next. Unlike most of Maiden's songs, which are written by Steve Harris (great bass player), the lyrics of 2 MINUTES 2 MIDNIGHT were generated by singer Bruce Dickinson and the great guitarist Adrian Smith. This is a hard classic that you have to love. It's a long song, but never loses its energy or momentum. LOSFERWORDS is a terrific and clever title for an instrumental. I believe that this was only their 4th instumental song ( the others are Transylvania, Ides of March and Genghis Khan). This was, however, there best one yet so far. It rides a kind of roller coaster; it builds up and then drops slightly deeper then rises again. You have to hear this song to understand it and it'll knock your socks off. FLASH OF THE BLADE is an amazing song with power and speed that can only be expected from Maiden. THE DUELLISTS is about a duel (duh!). I like it because the song pretty much maintains a steady melody except for the chorus. It rises up into a small crescendo and then drops you back into the song. Very fun to listen to. BACK IN THE VILLAGE is an interesting song that has diffrent side of Maiden but, it's still enjoyable and I like it. Then comes an ominious beginning to a song. A steady sound like whistling wind. Then it kicks in, a heavy thudding of the music. This is POWRESLAVE the title track. And what a track it is! It has the Egyptian kind of guitar tune, which sounds hilarious in among Dickinson wailing the lyrics and te rest of the instruments that are putting out Maiden's usual notes. It is a great song and certainly deserves to be the title track. RIME OF THE ANCIENT MARINER concludes the album, but when you come to its beginning, don't expect leave for a while. This is a long song, based on the poem, and it's awesome. You have to love it. I encourage any of you who haven't got a copy of this to buy one fast. It's to good to miss!!!!Free Music Review: one of the best maiden albums
Hit: 5 Stars
I think we can all agree that this is one of the best Maiden albums. If you don't like the larger genre of heavy metal, then you may not like it, but I can't think of any REAL metal fan who didn't like this album. Aces High, Two Minutes to Midnight, Flash of the Blade, and the rest...all classics. Fans can enjoy Maiden on a number of levels: if you're into the technical guitar work, Murray and Smith never dissapoint, if on the other hand you just like to jam out, Maiden has a serious adrenaline rush behind the play button. Also, McBrain and Harris are extremely talented and provide solid underpinnings, sometimes so solid that you may neglect to appreciate the genius underneath. I look at Maiden's career as having two major peaks and some valleys. The first peak is Seventh Son, up to that point, each album gets better and better, until it peaks at that masterpiece, then dramatically falls off on Fear of the Dark, No Prayer for the Dying and X. The reason for the decade-long valley? I can only guess it can be summed up in two words: No Smith. Adrian Smith must have been a much larger force and influence in the composition. In ~1990, Smith was replaced by ex-Spirit and Maiden afictionado Janick Gers. The band's composition faltered as a result. By ~1999, Maiden decided to take Smith back but kept Gers, resulting in a three guitar line up, which brought back Maiden in a big way on Brave New World. So basically, you can skip Maiden in the 90s, which was when I was discovering them (1990, that is). They came here to Indianapolis but I didn't go because I'd have to sit through the whole Ozzfest thing (or maybe that was Priest, I can't remember). So I still long to see them live, but I've seen their live video, and it probably was a better view anyway. By the way, even though I refer to Maiden's career peaking at Seventh Son, there are still great tunes on the earlier albums, it's just that the albums themselves aren't masterpieces like Seventh Son. So enough of my ranting...Powerslave, Seventh Son and others are classic metal albums that defined the genre. Maiden is sort of the bridge between progressive and pop metal, or the niche that Maiden carved out, heavy metal, somewhere between Motley Crue and Metallica, maybe closer to Megadeth. All up for debate.Free Music Review: One of the Best Iron Maiden Albums
Hit: 5 Stars
The World Slavery Tour was my first concert ever; and in retrospect, what a great concert to start with! By 1984, when "Powerslave" came out, Iron Maiden had established themselves at the top of the heavy metal heap. Their previous album, "Piece of Mind," was a huge seller, and the successful World Piece Tour set the bar high for the band's follow up. The radio was already playing "Two Minutes to Midnight," so I had an idea we'd have more of the same good music.
When "Powerslave" came out, I grabbed a copy as soon at it hit the stores. I still remember the album -- especially the textured front cover and a mass of hieroglyphics to decipher. (See what you lose with CD art?) There's all sorts of little messages Derek Riggs included in the cover, you just needed to have a hieroglyphics key to decipher them. I also recall there being a message scrawled on the vinyl's lead-out that said, "There's only one!" I'm not sure if that was just a random note or if there was anything to it. Who knows, maybe I had the winning album in some sort of meet the band contest.
Even though I had gotten a small sample of the music, I was a bit disappointed on first listen. I guess I was looking to be slapped in the face and bowled over by it, but that didn't happen. Maybe it was because the band's sound had become more technical, weaving together more intricate melodies, I'm not sure. Nevertheless, over the years, I've grown to really love the album.
In retrospect, this is a pretty good place to start if you've never heard a full album from the band's earlier days. I've always thought "The Number of the Beast" was better, but "Powerslave" shows a band reaching their creative peak. You not only get songs that widely regarded as Iron Maiden classics: "Aces High," "2 Minutes to Midnight," and "Rime of the Ancient Mariner," but the other songs round out the album almost to perfection. I have especially grown to love "Back in the Village" and "Flash of the Blade," two songs I'd love to see in the setlist.
One note -- I am especially thankful for "Rime of the Ancient Mariner;" it came along during Freshman year English class. While the song isn't the whole poem , it contained enough to allow me to quote several passages and pass many a quiz!