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Rating:
We all know Iron Maiden, the pioneers of heavy metal who have inspired many bands after them to join the rock world..live one of the best bands ever..much is said about them, of course, many of you from what I have seen think they are overrated failed fools, others that they are the best, inimitable, Dickinson has a great voice, etc. certainly after The Number Of The Beast in 1982 (first album with Dickinson on vocals after Paul Di'Anno's departure from the band) there was a change in sound, and good Bruce was the protagonist among the riffs of Murray and Adrian Smith, the usual great bass of Harris, and on drums the new Nicko McBrain, who I must say doesn't make you miss Clive Burr.
After The Number, Maiden had a tremendous success, releasing Piece Of Mind in 1983 and in 1984 Powerslave, which many consider their most accomplished album, with the cover featuring the usual monster Eddie (gimmick or commercial idea??) this time in an Egyptian version, starting strong with one of their most famous songs "Aces High," like "Invaders" from The Number Of The Beast starting strong with a chorus that would become famous, a piece about World War II evocative but repetitive when Dickinson screams "Rolleee Mane Raeneeeeee" well guys I found it really embarrassing we move on with a masterpiece "2 Minutes To Midnight," very fast and violent one of the most successful ones that immediately engages us with the famous opening riff, what can I say, wonderful, but after these two tracks, it falls down like the old Piece Of Mind; the problems surface and are evident, no ideas no ideas the next three songs are irritating and mundane, and they will show us the already evident limits of Iron.
The penultimate song after the previous tracks is "Powerslave," the title track is laughable, the riff is supposed to remind us of ancient Egypt, I almost see them with the Bangles (the ones from Walk Like An Egyptian) along with puppet/zombie/pharaoh and monumental scenographies no no..guys, the music needs to vary or the scheme stays the same, let's do Run To The Hills, The Number Of The Beast, Hallowed Be Thy Name, and Aces High with some fireworks, not all of us are 15 years old, and records need to be listened to form an opinion, and after "Powerslave" strangely enough comes the last track which is wonderful "The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner" is truly a beautiful song, but guys, why always propose the usual three little songs/singles and the rest the usual routine, Harris's gallop, two riffs, and Dickinson yelling the chorus, in Fear Of The Dark always the ballad at the end which would become their flagship in any concert (Rock In Rio, impressive), the Maiden could have done more, like other bands they have been ruined by music for its own sake, by self-indulgence by settling (as long as the fans sing the most famous songs like U2).
But Powerslave is not a three-star album, sometimes breaking away from the standard is necessary, Maiden in the following years did not do so, with Somewhere In Time, from which only "Heaven Can Wait" and the title track are salvageable (Wasted Years embarrassing), Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son from 1988, which many consider their last salvageable studio work, indeed takes many elements from metal that would make Blind Guardian famous with interesting keyboards and lyrics, and indeed is their best work in my opinion, afterwards, disgusting albums like "No Prayer For The Dying" and "Fear Of The Dark" were released, nauseating with the subsequent departures of Dickinson and the arrival of a new jester/guitarist Janick Gers totally incapable taken to do some clowning to excite the various seventeen-year-olds, finally in 2010 (I'm not mentioning the previous ones, I'm ashamed) "The Final Frontier" comes out and it's a vile and revolting work, obscene in its banality, we're now reaching the levels of a joke even the cover turns out almost crappier than the album, and they, the Iron Maiden it doesn't surprise me to find them with a Madonna or a Katy Perry now the farce is complete if they had focused on sound instead of thinking about Egypt and Blade Runner-style scenarios for their various tours (see Somewhere On Tour).
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
01 Aces High (04:31)
There goes the siren that warns of the air raid
Then comes the sound of the guns sending flak
Out for the scramble we've got to get airborne
Got to get up for the coming attack.
Jump in the cockpit and start up the engines
Remove all the wheelblocks theres no time to waste
Gathering speed as we head down the runway
Gotta get airborne before it's too late
Running, scrambling, flying
Rolling, turning, diving, going in again
Running, scrambling, flying
Rolling, turning, diving
Run, live to fly, fly to live, do or die
Won't you run, live to fly, fly to live, Aces high.
Move in to fire at the mainstream of bombers
Let off a sharp burst and then turn away
Roll over, spin round to come in behind them
Move to their blindsides and firing again
Bandits at 8 o'clock move in behind us
Ten ME-109's out of the sun
Ascending and turning our spitfires to face them
Heading straight for them I press down my guns.
Rolling, turning, diving
Rolling, turning, diving (doing it again)
Rolling, turning, diving
Rolling, turning, diving
Run, live to fly, fly to live, do or die
Won't you run, live to fly, fly to live, Aces high
02 2 Minutes to Midnight (06:01)
Kill for gain or shoot to maim
But we don't need a reason
The Golden Goose is on the loose
And never out of season.
Blackened pride still burns inside
This shell of bloody treason
Here's my gun for a barrel of fun
For the love of living death.
The killer's breed or the Demon's seed,
The glamour, the fortune and the pain,
Go to war again, blood is freedom's stain,
Don't you pray for my soul anymore.
2 minutes to midnight,
The hands that threaten doom.
2 minutes to midnight,
To kill the unborn in the womb.
The blind men shout let the creatures out
We'll show the unbelievers,
The Napalm screams of human flames
Of a prime time Belsen feast...YEAH!
As the reasons for the carnage cut their meat
and lick the gravy,
We oil the jaws of the war machine
and feed it with our babies.
The killer's breed or the Demon's seed,
The glamour, the fortune and the pain,
Go to war again, blood is freedom's stain,
Don't you pray for my soul anymore.
2 minutes to midnight,
The hands that threaten doom.
2 minutes to midnight,
To kill the unborn in the womb.
The body bags and little rags of children
torn in two,
And the jellied brains of those who remain
to put the finger right on you
As the madmen play on words and make us all
dance to their song,
To the tune of starving millions
to make a better kind of gun.
The killer's breed or the Demon's seed,
The glamour, the fortune and the pain,
Go to war again, blood is freedom's stain,
Don't you pray for my soul anymore.
2 minutes to midnight,
The hands that threaten doom.
2 minutes to midnight,
To kill the unborn in the womb.
Midnight... is all night...
Midnight... all night...
04 Flash of the Blade (04:07)
As a young boy chasing dragons with your wooden sword so mighty,
You're St. George or you're David and you always killed the beast.
Times change very quickly,
and you had to grow up early,
A house in smoking ruins and the bodies at your feet.
CHORUS
You'll die as you lived
In a flash of the blade,
In a corner forgot by no one.
You lived for the touch
For the feel of the steel
One man, and his honour.
The smell of rancid leather
The steely iron mask
As you cut and thrust and parried at the fencing master's call.
He taught you all he ever knew
To fear no mortal man
and now you'll wreak your vengeance
In the screams of evil men.
CHORUS 2x
05 The Duellists (06:09)
He threw down the glove you made the mistake
Of picking it up now you're gone
The choosing of guns or fighting with swords
The choice of weapons is done
He'll tear you apart as soon as you start
You know you don't have a chance.
OH...OH...Fight for the Honour
Fight for the Splendour
Fight for the Pleasure
OH...OH...Fight for the Honour
Fight for the Splendour
Fight for your Life!
Ready to start the duel begins
the best man wins in the end.
A lunge and a feint, a parry too late
A cut to the chest and you're down
Seeing the stain then feeling the pain
Feeling the sweat on your brow.
OH...OH...Fight for the Honour
Fight for the Splendour
Fight for the Pleasure
OH...OH...Fight for the Honour
Fight for the Splendour
Fight for your Life!
The fighting resumes, a silence looms the
Swordsmen move 'gainst each other
A cut and a thrust, a parry, a blow,
a stab to the heart and you're down
The Angel of Death hears your last breath
Meanwhile the reaper looks on.
OH...OH...Fought for the Honour
Fought for the Splendour
Fought for the Pleasure
OH...OH...Fought for the Honour
Fought for the Splendour
Fought to the Death
06 Back in the Village (05:05)
Turn the spotlights on the people,
Switch the dial and eat the worm,
Take your chances, kill the engine,
Drop your bombs and let it burn.
White flags shot to ribbons,
The truce is black and burned,
Shellshock in the kitchen,
Tables overturned.
Back in the village again,
In the village,
I'm back in the village again.
Throwing dice now, rolling loaded,
I see sixes all the way.
In a black hole, and I'm spinning
As my wings get shot away.
Questions are a burden
And answers are a prison for oneself
Shellshock in the kitchen
Tables start to burn.
Back in the village again,
In the village,
I'm back in the village again.
No breaks on the inside,
Paper cats and burning barns,
Theres a fox among the chickens,
And a killer in the hounds.
Questions are a burden
And answers are a prison for oneself
Shellshock in the kitchen
Tables start to burn.
Back in the village again,
In the village,
I'm back in the village again.
But still we walk into the valley
And others try to kill the inner flame
We're burning brighter than before
I don't have a number, I'M A NAME!
Back in the village again,
In the village,
I'm back in the village again.
Back in the village again,
In the village,
I'm back in the village again.
Back in the village
I'm back in the village
I'm back in the village again.
07 Powerslave (07:13)
Into the Abyss I'll fall-the eye of Horus
Into the eyes of the night-watching me go
Green is the cat's eye that glows-
in this Temple
Enter the risen Osiris-risen again.
Tell me why I had to be a Powerslave
I don't wanna die, I'm a God,
why can't I live on?
When the Life Giver dies,
all around is laid waste.
And in my last hour,
I'm a slave to the Power of Death.
When I was living this lie-Fear was my game
People would worship and fall-
drop to their knees.
So bring me the blood and red wine
for the one to succeed me,
for he is a man and a God-
and He will die too.
Tell me why I had to be a Powerslave
I don't wanna die, I'm a God,
why can't I live on?
When the Life Giver dies,
all around is laid to waste.
And in my last hour,
I'm a slave to the Power of Death.
Now I am cold but a ghost lives in my veins,
Silent the terror that reigned-
marbled in stone.
A shell of a man God preserved-
a thousand ages,
But open the gates of my Hell-
I will strike from my grave.
Tell me why I had to be a Powerslave
I don't wanna die, I'm a God,
why can't I live on?
When the Life Giver dies,
all around is laid waste.
And in my last hour,
I'm a slave to the Power of Death,
Slave to the Power of Death...
Slave to the Power of Death...
08 Rime of the Ancient Mariner (13:41)
Hear the rime of the Ancient Mariner
See his eyes as he stops one of three
Mesmerises one of the wedding guests
Stay here and listen to the nightmares
of the sea.
And the music plays on, as the bride passes by
Caught by his spell and
the Mariner tells his tale.
Driven south to the land of the snow and ice
To a place where nobody's been
Through the snow fog flies on the albatross
Hailed in God's name,
hoping good luck it brings.
And the ship sails on, back to the north
Through the fog and ice and
the albatross follows on
The mariner kills the bird of good omen
His shipmates cry against what he's done
But when the fog clears, they justify him
And make themselves part of the crime.
Sailing on and on and North across the sea
Sailing on and on and North 'til all is calm.
The albatross begins with its vengeance
A terrible curse a thirst has begun
His shipmates blame the bad luck on the Mariner
About his neck, the dead bird is hung.
And the curse goes on and on and on at sea,
And the thirst goes on and on for them and me.
"Day after day, day after day,
we stuck nor breath nor motion
As idle as a painted ship upon a painted ocean
Water, water everywhere and
all the boards did shrink
Water, water everywhere nor any drop to drink."
There, calls the Mariner,
there comes a ship over the line
But how can she sail with no wind
in her sails and no tide.
See...onward she comes
Onward she nears, out of the sun
See...she has no crew
She has no life, wait but there's two
Death and she life in Death,
they throw their dice for the crew
She wins the Mariner and he belongs to her now.
Then...crew one by one
They drop down dead, two hundred men
She...She, Life in Death,
She lets him live, her chosen one.
"One after one by the star dogged moon,
too quick for groan or sigh
each turned his face with a ghastly pang,
and cursed me with his eye
four times fifty living men
(and I heard nor sigh nor groan),
with heavy thump, a lifeless lump,
they dropped down one by one."
The curse it lives on in their eyes
The Mariner he wished he'd die
Along with the sea creatures
But they lived on, so did he.
And by the light of the moon
He prays for their beauty not doom
With heart he blesses them
God's creatures all of them too
Then the spell starts to break
The albatross falls from his neck
Sinks down like lead into the sea
Then down in falls comes the rain.
Hear the groans of the long dead seamen
See them stir and they start to rise
Bodies lifted by good spirits
None of them speak
and they're lifeless in their eyes.
And revenge is still sought, penance starts again
Cast into a trance and the nightmare carries on.
Now the curse is finally lifted
And the Mariner sights his home
Spirits go from the long dead bodies
Form their own light and
the Mariner's left alone.
And then a boat came sailing towards him
It was a joy he could not believe
The pilots boat, his son and the hermit.
Penance of life will fall onto Him.
And the ship sinks like lead into the sea
And the hermit shrieves the Mariner of his sins.
The Mariner's bound to tell of his story
To tell his tale wherever he goes
To teach God's word by his own example
That we must love all things that God made.
And the wedding guest's a sad and wiser man
And the tale goes on and on and on.
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Other reviews
By AR (Anonima Recensori)
"The first track, the famous 'Aces High,' leaves you breathless with a sustained bass and soaring guitars."
"The last track 'The Rime of The Ancient Mariner' is a historic piece… still played and acclaimed by fans twenty years later."
By Suengiu_metal88
This CD with a cover that takes us back to the times of ancient Egypt has been one of Iron Maiden’s greatest masterpieces.
‘Rime Of The Ancient Mariner,’ with its thirteen minutes of song, might seem like a tiresome song at first, but when Steve takes the helm of it all, we discover an extraordinary Maiden style that encourages us never to stop listening.
By fritz
Powerslave, the perfect synthesis of the band’s furious early approach and their exploration of new sounds.
'Rime Of The Ancient Mariner' is nothing short of a not quite perfect assembly of at least three or four songs, complete with a central part recited by an off-screen voice.
By the x factor
Masterpiece, masterpiece, masterpiece. The right word for this album, really beautiful, with perfectly crafted riffs and solos studied in minute detail.
The longest and most ambitious song of the entire Maiden repertoire... a song to listen to all in one breath, which never becomes boring.
By nik
The CD in question can be considered perfect in every aspect: cover, production (keep in mind that 22 years have passed) and songs.
'Rime Of The Ancient Mariner'... in just under 15 minutes is encapsulated the best Iron has recorded: A track to pass on to posterity.
