Tickets There Likes: Iron Maiden – Powerslave
I tried writing this review last night and have about three paragraphs done at home but I can’t stand the idea of that Radiohead chaps face at the top of my blog so I’m rushing through this one to replace his fecking hideously boring presence with the mighty Maiden’s Powerslave cover. I hope all of my readers are Iron Maiden fans because people, this is the real stuff right here. Forget the Kings of Leon, Killers and all that other rubbish, if you want to have fun, Maiden are the men (or AC/DC, but what ever).
I suppose being a TT Likes and all, I’d better bore you all with the usual speal of how I discovered the band. It was back in nineteen hundred and ninety three (1993). Roughly a year after the Leppard, Guns N Roses and Meatloaf phase had settled in. I saw a copy of their A Real Live One tape in the new release section of Sligo’s Record Room. I was completely taken with the cover and had to get it. In those days I didn’t buy many record because I had no money and not a lot of access to stores that sold them. I remember loving their sound as soon as I heard it and everything went from there. It’s not a very exciting story and I couldn’t be bothered trying to invent wacky stories and lies to keep yis entertained. I did managed to meet Dave Murray a few years ago but that’s not very exciting either, we were both hammered and nearly went for a drink in his hotel until I realized myself and my girlfriend would be stranded in town if we didn’t catch the night link and I had no other money for taxi’s. Thinking back that was a very, very stupid thing to do but it’s in the past.
I didn’t manage to get my hands of Powerslave until 98 when I picked a copy up in Athlone shopping center. They easily had the best Maiden section any shop can boast outside of Dublin (or at least they did in those days), and it’s remained my favorite Maiden album ever since. First of all you have Aces High , then 2 Minutes to Midnight which basically means it’s the greatest maiden album of all time two songs in. Then you have Losfer Words, a nice metal instrumental before Flash of the Blade which is a grand wee number similar to their earlier material. The Duellists is a savage typical Maiden number with a savage wee chorus as is Back in the Village (except this is probably my least favorite number ion the record) but the best is yet to come. The albums title track is one of the bands finest moments. One of the best riffs the band has ever written and some of their most surreal lyrics. It’s just such a grand and mighty anthem that adds that classic Maiden danger that makes their legacy as strong as it is. The album winds up with the incredible, riff filled Rime of the Ancient Mariner. A lengthy wee track but filled with surprises, changes, harmonies, melodies and everything else Maiden could squeeze in. Seeing this one live is real treat.
Well that’s it, short and sweet but I don’t like to repeat the exact same praises and such in every single review. Also, the album only has eight songs and as I’ve said before, this isn’t exactly an album review series, more of a ‘why I like this’ series 😀
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