Customer Reviews

Powerslave

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

[Before you start reading this review, I want to apologize for making it so long. I had a lot to say, and there was no short way to do it.]

By 1984, no one had any doubts in Bruce Dickinson's ability to be the frontman for Iron Maiden. Thanks to his music stylings that differed greatly from those of ex-frontman Paul Di'Anno, the band was becoming a worldwide sensation overnight. His first two albums with the band were nothing short of excellent. And, come 1984, the Powerslave album was released. This is the second of the four studio albums to feature the classic Dickinson/Smith/Murray/Harris/McBrain line-up, and many fans call it their favorite. Read on for track summaries and my comments on this remaster series.

Aces High - To put it simply, you can not start an album better than this. Of every dogfighting (aerial combat) song the band has ever done, this is by far the best one. It's gotta be heard to be appreciated.

Two Minutes to Midnight - The band's primary songwriter, Steve Harris, didn't write this one, so it must be a bad song, right? DEAD WRONG. THIS IS ONE OF THE GREATEST METAL SONGS OF ALL TIME! The band is in its prime, and it really shows.

Losfer Words (Big 'Orra) - Maiden's fourth and final instrumental. This is tied with Transylvania for the title of "second best Iron Maiden instrumental" (Genghis Khan from Killers is first.) This is another excellent track.

Flash of the Blade - A fast and frantic melodic rocker, this is, you guessed it, another excellent track! It seems almost as if it and the song before and after it were designed to go together. Listen to the three all in a row and see what I mean.

The Duelists - The last song in the chain of "similar songs." This is a song about, you guessed it, dueling. It's an excellent song, but it seems just a bit too similar to the two before it.

Back in the Village - An often overlooked masterpiece. This is a great song with some killer vocals by Bruce, and Adrian and Dave play some damn good guitar.

Powerslave - The title track is, oddly enough, the only one that really fits the cover of the album. It sounds a bit idfferent than the other stuff on here, but it's all good. Of all of Maiden's songs, this one has one of the most memorable choruses.

Rime of the Ancient Mariner - Here it is, the fourteen minute epic (Maiden's longest song ever.) A plethora of different styles are explored during the lengthy track, so don't count on getting bored somewhere in the middle.

Now for my comments on the remasters series - as a die-hard Maiden fan, I AM SEVERELY DISAPPOINTED. Sure, the sound quality is improved over the original CD issues and there is some cool enhanced CD footage (all the remasters before the X Factor have this), but this reissue is lacking the most important thing a remaster needs: BONUS TRACKS. The album doesn't come too close to filling the eighty minutes you can fit on a CD, And there were a plethora of rare tracks from this era that have never before been issued by the band (except for in the restrictively expensive box set.) To put it simply, if you already own the original issue of this album on CD, it's really not necessary to get the new remaster.

Powerslave is a classic, no questions asked. In my opinion, it's about tied with Piece Of Mind as far as overall quality goes, and it's slightly better than Number Of the Beast (all of which are better than the two Di'Anno albums, of which the first one is the superior of the two.) If you're a Maiden fan, casual or die-hard, you can't live without this album!

If you are a true Maiden fan, you'll love this cd. It contains possibly the best instrumental piece ever (Losfer Words). If you're a true Maiden fan you should already have this cd or get it right away. "Rimes of the Ancient Mariner" is the best 13 minute song based on a poem (Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Coleridge). Powerslave is an essential cd for your collection. Every song is true Maiden from "Aces High" to "Rimes of the Ancient Mariner". Possibly the best cd you could invest in.

Another for the collection for me of the 8 picture disc series to celebrate their 2013 UK tour. This was the very first album of Iron Maiden I had ever listened to and first heard it when I was in grade 7 during show and tell at a Catholic Elementary school. Since then I have been a long time metal fan and a long time Iron Maiden fan. The large gate fold album covers and the amazing pictured art of the vinyl disc is fantastic and makes a great gift to any Iron Maiden fan or to some degree art collector in my opinion. Fantastic re-release of the picture discs albums released back in the 90's.

Wow, what can someone say about this incredible album that hasn't already been said? All metal and hard rock fans should at least listen to, if not own this fantastic piece of music. It's 100% brilliant, well produced by Martin Birch showing Iron Maiden at one of their creative and artistic high points. When the record came out, I was so amazed by what I heard I bought a second vinyl record in case I wore out the first one. And I still have that record sealed to this day because shortly after that, CDs came out. I saw Maiden on their Powerslave tour in the 1980's and that concert was one of the top three I have ever seen (with Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin). 'Aces High' and 'Two Minutes to Midnight' are two of the best back-to-back tracks in rock history. This album is simply GREAT, GREAT, GREAT!

Powerslave was the breakthrough album in America for Iron Maiden. With such classics as Aces High, 2 mins to 12:00, Powerslave and Rime of the Ancient mariner there's no wonder why. The quality of the production is unsurpassed and, musically, the guys went to the maximum of their capabilities.

1-Aces high : The ultimate album opener. Fast and furious with a killer chorus. A masterpiece that is just uncomparable. 10/10
2-2 mins to 12:00 : It takes a special song to follow Aces high. 2 minutes does it great. 9,5/10
3-Losfer words (Big 'Orra) : A very melodic instrumental piece. 8,5/10
4-Flash of the blade : A super fast-paced rocker. Very solid. 8,5/10
5-The duellists : Very unknown and underrated song. The guitars and bass are just amazing. 9/10
6-Back in the village : In my opinion, the most underrated song of Iron Maiden. Technically, their best ever. 9,5/10
7-Powerslave : You can almost feel that you're in Egypt ! Adrian Smith solo is full of emotion. After hearing this song, you will be a slave to the power of Maiden. 10/10
8-Rime of the ancient mariner : The best song of all time. A 13 minutes song of that intensity and excellence is a "tour de force". The masterpiece of all masterpieces. Bottom line. 10/10

For some, it's the ultime Maiden album, for others the middle part is weak. The songs need time to grow but they are brilliant. Maybe not my favourite but near the top. A must.

In 1984 Heavy Metal band Iron Maiden once again released a great heavy metal album with "Powerslave".For this album the band explored Egyptian history with the title track,and tought the guitars on "Flash Of The Blade" do have an egyptian sound in one part of the song its not really related to Egypt that much so the cover art even if its really cool is not really appropriate for the album overral.Still don't judge an album by its cover as its what's in it that matters.Powerslave is filled with classic tracks such as the fast "Aces High" or the famous "Two Minutes To Midnight" and its the second of four albums by the classic lineup of Harris-Murray-Dickinson-Smith-McBrain.This album is weaker than its predeccesors "Piece Of Mind" and "The Number Of The Beast" but is still very good and its a timeless album.

The album starts out with what i consider the best opener track of any Maiden album,"Aces High" a fast song,fast guitars,drumming and signing and its not only one of the best songs of the album its one of Iron Maiden's best songs.Next is the catchy "Two Minutes To Midnight" with a great sing along chorus,its a classic."Losfer Words(Big Orra)" is a solid instrumental that features a great guitar solo,its the fourth and last instrumental done by the band up to this point.Then its "Flash Of The Blade" wich i beleve is a great track from this album and an underrated song of Iron Maiden."The Duelist" is nearly an instrumental with Bruce singing not sitting much here,it has a few tempo changes and its mostly good."Back In The Village",its good but i am not too crazy about this one."Powerslave" is another supurb song on this album,the title track is very good,Bruce's vocals and the guitars gives it an Egyptian feel.

Last but not least is 13 and a half minutes song "Rimes Of The Ancient Mariner" based on the famous poem of the same name written in the 18th century.It has many complex arrangements such as a voca-only part latter in the song and tempo changes,its an epic song at best,its probably the song i admire the most of Maiden's career as its quite good and complex,and its a thirteen minutes song that you can actually listen from beggening to end.

The tour for this album,the World Slavery Tour was quite succesfull and got Maiden to play probabaly what was the most physicaly instense tour as it was filled with many,many dates according to the band.I like the Egyptian stage that they used for that era,that was really cool with all the sarcophagus and stuff.This remaster edition has two bonus videos,"Aces High" and "Two Minutes To Midnight" wich are good yes,but there isn't anything else,no bonus song or anything wich is disapointing,but the album as it is is still worth buying.The photos in the booklet are nice too,and there is even a summary of important dates of this album such as single releases,world tour starting and such.This album is strongly recommended,4 and a half stars.

Aces High, Two Minutes to Midnight, Powerslave, Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner, The Duellists (What's Left?)-all Maiden classics! Masterpiece!

For me there were 3 minor complaints with this album: The 3rd, 4th, 5th, & 6th songs sound a little too similar one after the other; the main riff of 'Ancient Mariner' sounds a little less than impressive following 'Village' & 'Powerslave'; and the album's 2 epic songs (Powerslave & Mariner) are both at the end. I've found a perfect solution - re-arranging a couple of songs:

1.) Aces High
2.) 2 Minutes To Midnight
3.) Los'fer Words
4.) Back In the Village
5.) Powerslave

6.) Flash Of the Blade
7.) The Duelists
8.) Rime Of the Ancient Mariner

It breaks up the "sameness" of the songs in the middle, The epic song 'Powrslave' ends side 1 with an exclamation mark, and 'Mariner' sounds better following 'Flash' & 'Duelists' to end side 2. 'Flash' makes for a killer opener for side 2 as well. Storywise it also makes more sense for 'Village' to follow the other wartime stories 'Aces' & 'Minutes' after the short break (Los'fer Words). I can also get into 'Mariner' easier after a couple of sword fighting songs instead of another epic (Egyptian) song. I like this album even better now. Try it and enjoy!

I don't understand the hype with this album, and I am a huge Maiden fan. In my opinion it is one of the weaker releases with Dickinson. However, it still has great tracks I enjoy listening to like 2 minutes to midnight, aces high, powerslave and rime of the ancient mariner. Losfer Words is also pretty good, but not as good as previous instrumentals. Also, I find that the other songs on the album are weak. If you are a huge Maiden fan I understand why you would buy this album, but if not I suggest checking out the self-titled debut or Piece of Mind, both which are better overall in my opinion.

I don't understand the hype with this album and I am a huge Iron Maiden fan. For me it is one of the weaker albums with Dickinson. However, there are still great songs on the album that I enjoy listening to including Aces High, 2 minutes to Midnight, Powerslave and the Rime of the Ancient Mariner. Losfer Words is a pretty good tune, but not as good as their previous instrumentals. Apart from that, the other songs I find are weak. If you are a big maiden fan then I understand why you would get this album, but if not you should check out the self-titled debut or piece of mind, which are both better in my opinion.