Track Listing

1. Aces High
2. 2 Minutes to Midnight
3. Losfer Words (Big 'Orra) [Instrumental]
4. Flash of the Blade
5. Duellists
6. Back in the Village
7. Powerslave
8. Rime of the Ancient Mariner

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2750 in Music
• Brand: Sony
• Released on: 2002-03-26
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Enhanced, Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
• Dimensions: .26 pounds

Customer Reviews

Epic Metal At It's Best!
Iron Maiden's "Powerslave" was to metal what Michael Jackson's "Thriller" was to pop. If you were a fan of heavy metal in the 80's then this album was the soundtrack to your Saturday night out with the guys. There is just so much on this album to rave about, be it the killer chorus of "2 Minutes to Midnight", the great guitar track of "Flash of the Blade, the cool "Egyptian" sound to the title cut, of the epic "Rime of the Ancient Mariner". There was something here for every metal fan. Iron Maiden has made a career out of defying the norm, and in a time when most bands were riding the metal-pop wave, writing songs about Girls..Girls..Girls, or Talking Dirty to Me, Maiden's subject matter was the RAF during WWII and the Blitz with "Aces High". "Powerslave" is about Egyptian mythology, and the album also features a song about fencing "Flash of the Blade". Not your typical song matter for an 80's metal band. But the highlight of the album for me is "Rime of the Ancient Mariner", based on an 18th Century poem, this 12 minute epic tells the tale of a doomed captain and his ship, and is musically one of the most impressive songs in Maiden's catalog. If you haven't heard this song, then buy this album immediately! It's worth the price of the cd alone. It doesn't matter if you think "Powerslave" is Maiden's best album, or if you like "Beast" or "Piece of Mind" or any one of their other albums better, you have to respect Iron Maiden for what they accomplished with "Powerslave".

Maidens Finest Album
Im going to start by saying this album is in my top 5 favorite cds and i have over 100.

1. Aces High: This starts the album off with a bang. The guitar riffing is fast, high pitched, and adrenline pumping, not a very heavy song, but still metal and just as good.There is also a great solo by Dave Murray. You'll like this song if you like faster, higher pitched, metal songs. 10/10

2. Two Minutes to Midnight: This was Maidens highest single of this album and for good reason, it has a cool riff and a very catchy chorus. Bruce dickinson does a pretty good vocal performance on this song. The guitar riff is much like Ted Nugent's Stormtrooping. 10/10

3. Losfer Words (Big Orra):This was Maidens last instrumenatal,
and unfortunatly it was not another Ghengis Khan. It has a fast heavy Prog Rock Sounding riff to it, this song is complety unique and I haven't heard anything like it. 8/10

4. Flash of the blade: The song starts out with a unusual riff that sound like it could be part of a Ozzy Osbourne guitar solo.
when the lyrics start both guitarists do your typical iron maiden power cord riffing. There is a cool sychronized solo played in octaves in the guitar bridge. 8/10

5. The Duellists. Starts off with more heavy guitar riffing. Steve Harris plays his bass great in this song, providing a good backup sound in the chorus and the guitar solo that follows. Some parts of this song are very heavy, other parts are filled with melody, and in some parts there is both. There is an excellent guitar bridge and solo. 9/10

6. Back in the Village: It's a decent song but it pales in comparison to all the other songs, it has a really wierd sounding main riff. When the guitar solo starts at 2:30 the song gets really good with good riffs and a guitar solo. 7/10 but 9/10 for the solo

7. Powerslave: This is the secound best song on the album, the opening guitar riff is fast, galloping, and vicous sounding. Then it gets even better during the chorus when the riff changes into something even nastier and faster then the opening one. After the secound chorus the song complety mellows out into a slow beatiful guitar solo, this goes on for a minute then the drums kick in and in launches a fast, powerful, absoluty rocking guitar solo, with Steve Harris's Bass loudly playing along in a catchy little rhythm during the solos.
11/10

8. Rime of the Ancient Mariner. The album ends with one maidens finest songs ever. Every single memmber of the band shines on this song, there are more good guitar riffs in this song then on any 10 Nu-Metal albums, nevermind make that 20 albums, i kinda forgot how bad nu-metal is. This song is complety fasicnating and still amazes me. The whole album is worth the price just for this 14 minute epic masterpiece.
13/10

Sorry if you didn't understand me or i rambled on, but i just love this album, buy it!

Please tell me what you thought of my review by pressing yes or no, im just curious to see if i was helpful at all. Thanks for reading.

and one other thing listen to wrathchild (the reviewer below me.) he is absoluty right about everything he said, screw king diamond and all that satanic sh*t.

One of the Best Iron Maiden Albums
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!