The Battle of ’84: Iron Maiden – Powerslave vs. Judas Priest – Defenders of the Faith

GRAB A STACK OF ROCK With Mike and the Mad Metal Man
Episode 62: The Battle of ’84: Iron Maiden – Powerslave vs. Judas Priest – Defenders of the Faith

It is finally time:  the Battle of ’84 has arrived!  40 years ago, two metal monsters released crucial albums:

  • Judas Priest – Defenders of the Faith – 13 January 1984 – peaked at #18 in the US and went platinum.
  • Iron Maiden – Powerslave – 3 Sept 1984 – peaked at #21 in the US and went platinum.

But which album, track for track, is better?

Tonight, Peter Jones and I will attempt to answer that question.  After appearing once with Pete on a favourite episode of Rock Daydream Nation, he finally joins Grab A Stack of Rock.  Peter is a musician, who understands the vocabulary of drums and will explain it all tonight.  (Check out his latest Contrarians episode with Martin Popoff!)  Will the drumming colour his impressions of these two landmark albums of the 80s?  We shall see tonight.

We shall dissect each and every track, including the bonus tracks & B-sides.  Who shall reign?  Find out tonight…live!

 

 

Friday June 7 at 7:00 P.M. E.S.T. / 8:00 P.M. Atlantic.   Enjoy on YouTube or on Facebook!

This is likely the last evening show of the summer of 2024.  Afternoon shows occur at 3:00 PM on Fridays, when I have an available co-host.  Thanks for watching, and stay tuned…

The next show is an interview with author Angie Moon, regarding her debut music/true time book, Crime of the Century, June 21 on Grab A Stack of Rock!

23 comments

      1. Powerslave might be more consistent, but Defenders has several euphoric moments like The Sentinel and the dual leads in Freewheel Burning that Maiden can’t touch. Basically the whole first side of Defenders is perfect, and there are plenty of gems on side two also. “Back in the Village” is filler for anyone who says Powerslave is all killer. The instrumental on it is lame too.

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  3. Listening to Defenders and wondering if you’re still a Powerslave?

    Have u digested that mega Priest box set u got a few Christmases ago? What will be this year’s the Christmas box set? I got Live Evil on the way since it was on sale and that BJ Japan collection.

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    1. I’ve definitely played it a few times! I prefer the audio on those CDs to the overly loud Priest remasters from the early 2000s.

      I have a LOT of box sets on my wishlist. Thin Lizzy, Marillion, Deep Purple, there are many but I don’t think I will be getting any this year as there are other things we need for the house.

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