‘Twas a cool day in both Australia and Canada when three of us braved the scorching desert sands of Powerslave! Joined by the legendary bicyclegs, Harrison and I took a deep dive into all eight tracks and all four B-sides. Each time, our guest has picked a personal favourite album and bicyclelegs’ passion for Powerslave is obvious. Join us for some deep insight into the songs, the lyrics and subject matter, the musicianship and of course the artwork!
As for physical product, we’ll see the vinyl and the new zoetrope vinyl too. There are some special Reaction figures by Super 7 relevant to the album, and some singles too.
Taking the wheel at the end, Harrison will tell us of the tour, the setlists, and the songs that were played and how frequently. Harrison is a musical tour encyclopedia, and this is always a highlight of the show.
Don’t miss this awesome episode, and be sure to like and subscribe if you haven’t already.
Friday April 4 at 7:00 P.M. E.S.T. / 8:00 P.M. Atlantic. Enjoy on YouTube.
RECORD STORE TALES #1151: An Egg of a Day: End of August Scores
I have a coworker whose parents recently passed. This is always sad, but the time came for my coworker to purge her mom’s music collection. Periodically when this happens, people come to me to ask my opinion. Essentially, she wanted to know: “is there anything here that I shouldn’t take to the local Beat Goes On because it might be worth more?” She didn’t think much of her chances, but wanted to be sure.
“Sure, I’ll pop over and have a look,” I said. “I can’t promise you anything but I can at least have a look.”
That was good enough for her.
“I bet I find a bunch of Lawrence Welk!” I joked to Tim Durling and Jex Russell. You know the kind of record collection I mean.
Indeed, I did find Lawrence Welk in the very first box of vinyl. I had a laugh and kept digging. To everyone’s surprise, I found things that might indeed have been valuable, and they had no idea how it got into that collection.
First of all, she had a really nice stack of 78s. Big Crosby was the first one I saw. I have no idea on value of 78s, but this were stored well and all seemed in good condition. It might have been my first time handling a stack of 78’s like that. They are thicker than an LP, and much heavier. They require a special stylus as well as a turntable that can go up to 78. I used to have that equipment. She even had a cylinder, whether Edison or a competing brand, that was out for professional appraisal. So, this collection I was looking at had these formats:
LPs
45s
78s
Cassettes
8-tracks
CDs
and one cylinder
Pretty wild scope. The genres were all over the place, from easy listening and country (the usual suspects) to disco, jazz, oldies, and even progressive rock and heavy metal, as you’ll see. This, I did not expect.
Then I spied an album called Egg. Something about it jumped out at me. I flipped it around and there were black and white photos of long haired guys jamming. That struck me as out of place in this collection, so I set it aside. Somebody looked it up, and it can sell for easily over $100. Everyone seemed really impressed by my ability to sniff this out. I am no expert, folks. Not at all. But it looked out of place, which is why I took a second glance. It turns out Egg were an English progressive rock band, and the album was released in 1970. Very surprising, but they felt that this one find justified me coming over and looking at their records, so I was happy.
Original price: $6.99
I found some things I wanted for myself and made an offer. I left with the following titles:
Guns N’ Roses – “You Could Be Mine” 1991 Geffen cassette single. I own it on CD, but never on cassette. Why not? In this day and age of owning everything on every format, why not?
The Best Of ZZ Top 1977 Wea Music cassette. A staple, but one that I somehow have never owned before on any format. Stone cold classic compilation.
John Williams and the Boston Pops – Pops In Space 1980, Philips, made in Holland. This contains music from some of Williams science fiction classics: Superman, The Empire Strikes Back (which was brand new in 1980), Star Wars, and Close Encounters. I haven’t seen this one before.
Oscar Peterson – The Trio – Live from Chicago 1961 Verve/1986 Polygram CD. My second Oscar Peterson score this summer. You rarely find Oscar in the wild, and never this one.
Johnny Cash – His Greatest Hits, Volume II1971 Columbia 8-track. This was the Cash album I grew up with in the car with my dad, albeit on cassette. This cartridge is in great shape, and resides in a bright red shell. This is my first red shell 8-track tape.
When I called my dad to tell him of my musical scores, he was surprised at the 8-track. While he clearly remembers that Cash album, he asked me “Do you have anything that plays an 8-track?” This is a common question that we collectors get. No I do not. I don’t have a way to play a Minidisc, a DAT, or a DCC either but I would love to have some in my collection. My collecting desires are no longer strictly just to have music to play. Now I collect music I can’t even play too! Just to have a piece of history.
After we completely examined the collection and left some advice, I departed with my treasures. Since we were in the neighbourhood, I decided to visit the old Toys R Us/HMV store. There, I finally decided to pick up Iron Maiden’s Powerslave on vinyl, edging me closer to completing the 1980s collection. Now, all I should need are the first two Di’Anno albums (I think). Powerslave was $36 and hard to pull the trigger on, since I can distinctly remember a time when Sam the Record Man was swinning in new copies for $6.99 each, and that sticks with you. I finally have it now.
A successful Saturday. Time to listen to some music!
It was a marathon, but it was never dull! With Pete Jones on board, we completely dissected every track on these two 40 year old albums:
Judas Priest – Defenders of the Faith – 13 January 1984 – peaked at #18 in the US and went platinum. Produced by Tom Allom, his fifth with Priest.
Iron Maiden – Powerslave – 3 Sept 1984 – peaked at #21 in the US and went platinum. Produced by Martin Birch, his fourth with Maiden.
Harrison Kopp arrived at the end of the show and between he, Peter and myself, we chose a winner. It was a 2-1 vote.
Lyrically and musically we broke down each track to the individual parts. We shone light and appreciation on all the players, for what they contributed to each of these epic metal masterpieces. At the end of the day, it was clear that though both bands are often lumped together, these two albums are completely different. They have different moods, different directions, and different lyrical themes. Both are important albums to 80s metal, and to the respective band catalogues.
Subject matter broken down in detail:
The bass, drum, and guitar parts to each song.
Lyrical themes to each song and album.
The B-sides and bonus tracks.
The true and hilarious story behind Mission From ‘Arry.
Connections between Becket and Iron Maiden.
Personal stories and impact of these records.
Live performances and songs that have never been played live.
You will also be treated to a live performance of “Freewheel Burning” by Mike!
They call Peter the Professor and for good reason. He came prepared with tour information and intimate knowledge of the construction of these songs.
Though it pained me to have to pick a winner, we did!
We hope you enjoyed the show, and a big thank-you to Peter for contributing two hours of your Friday night! Of course, always nice to see Harrison.
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!
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 onFacebook!
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!
I’m not sure what prompted Iron Maiden to put out their first greatest hits disc in 1996, but at least they did it in style. Originally available as a limited edition 2 CD book set, it was pretty extravagant packaging for the time. My only beef is by the nature of such packaging, the paper sleeves will always scratch your discs, 100% of the time.
This album was also available in a standard edition single disc, with the songs in a different running order. I don’t have that one so I’m not going to talk aboot it.
The 2 disc version, perhaps to emphasize that Blaze Bayley is the current Maiden vocalist, starts at the present and then rewinds all the way back to the beginning, closing with The Soundhouse Tapes! An interesting approach indeed. As a listening experience I’m not sure that it works that well.
Since we’re starting at the present, the album kicks off with a new song. “Virus” is 6:30 of same-old same-old X Factor Maiden, but not as good as anything on that album. It drags and drags for three minutes before finally kicking into gear, but it is otherwise repetitive and boring until then. Lyrically, it is another attack on the sicknesses in society, much like “Be Quick Or Be Dead” and “Justice of the Peace” were.
Then back in time one year, to “Sign of the Cross”, the dramatic 11 minute epic from The X Factor, as well as “Man on the Edge”. (I would have preferred “Lord of the Flies” to “Man on the Edge”, but perhaps “Man” was the bigger single of the two.)
To bridge into the Fear of the Dark album, a new live version of “Afraid To Shoot Strangers” is featured, with Blaze Bayley singing. It’s a good live version, but it’s immediately obvious that Blaze is no Bruce.
Bruce takes over on the next track, “Be Quick Or Be Dead”, and we’re back in the saddle. Singles (including the popular live version of “Fear of the Dark”) and album tracks are counted down from 1993 to 1986’s Somewhere In Time album, ending disc 1 with “Wasted Years”, a great closer. My beef here: I would have preferred the single “Stranger In A Strange Land” to the album track “Heaven Can Wait” (but I know the Heavy Metal OverloRd doesn’t agree with me!)
Disc 2 is the glory years, if you will, everything from Live After Death to the beginning. It begins with the epic “Rime of the Ancient Mariner”, a ballsy move for a greatest hits album, and the live version at that. Chasing it is the live single version of “Running Free”. Then we count them down, all the singles from Powerslave to “Run To The Hills”, plus “Where Eagles Dare” and “Hallowed Be Thy Name” thrown in for good measure.
Then it’s the Di’Anno years, which are given an unfortunately brief expose. “Wrathchild”, from Killers is one of the best songs from that era, but the only included track from that album. Maiden’s first epic, “Phantom of the Opera” and the single “Sanctuary” represent the debut Iron Maiden. Finally, an unreleased track from The Soundhouse Tapes sessions (“Strange World”), and the rare Soundhouse version of “Iron Maiden” close the set. To read my review of The Soundhouse Tapes and these tracks, click here.
There was also a 4 LP vinyl edition available, with 7 extra tracks: “Seventh Son of a Seventh Son”, “The Prisoner”, “Killers”, “Remember Tomorrow”, an exclusive live version of “Revelations” from the Piece of Mind tour, plus the final two songs from The Soundhouse Tapes, “Prowler” and “Invasion”. You can read a story about the 4 LP edition by clicking here.
And there you have it, Maiden’s first greatest hits set, with lots of the hits and plenty of rarities thrown in for the collectors. I confess that I don’t listen to it often, and this time for this review was the first time in roughly two years.
The cover art was once again by Derek Riggs, doing a sort of mash-up of his (and nobody else’s) Eddie’s. It’s a suitably glorious piece of art for such a monument of metal. The inside of the book is loaded with concert dates, lyrics, liner notes, and chart positions, as well as more Eddie’s and photos!
I still want to talk about the single, “Virus”, but I think that it should get an article of its own. Check back soon for that!
Curiosity: the cover features an ad for the never-to-be Iron Maiden video game, Melt! Maiden did eventually release a video game, but we’re not going there yet….
I don’t wanna die, I’m a god, why can’t I live on?
How much did I love Powerslave, especially after taking Ancient Egypt in highschool? Finally I knew what the Eye of Horus was, and what the hell the lyrics were about! When I was growing up and first getting into Maiden, Powerslave was the current album. The neighbor kid had it. We literally stared at that album cover for hours.
Derek Riggs outdid himself on the artwork this time, really outdid himself. The Egyptian theme of the artwork allowed him to weave all sorts of hidden messages into the hyroglyphs. I don’t have the LP, but I could swear that somewhere on the cover (front or back) it says “Indiana Jones was here”!
I taped the album from that neighbor, unfortunately on one of the worst sounding Scotch blanks I ever heard. It was unlistenable. Then my dad bought me the tape from the local music store, but even it sounded terrible — warbly. I found that many Capitol Records releases in the mid-80’s in Canada had awful cassette quality. From my Maidens to my Helix, they were mostly unplayable.
It was a long while before I got a listenable version of the album. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks — holy crap, this is GOOD!
“Aces High” and “2 Minutes To Midnight” are the two singles, and of course they lead the album. I only wish “Churchill’s Speech” was included as it was in the “Aces High” video! As kids we always preferred “Aces High”. It combines the manic speed of early Maiden, with the anthemic Dickinson choruses. Just great.
“Aces High” was yet another song that my dad didn’t mind me listening to out loud, since it was about one his favourite historical subjects: the Battle of Britain.
“2 Minutes”, a reference to the Doomsday Clock,was a Dickinson/Smith composition. At 6 minutes long, it wasn’t an obvious single. Vocally, it’s a lot less catchy than “Aces High”. Bruce doesn’t so much sing a melody as he does spit the words out like a furious machine gun! Musically, the riff seems lifted directly from later Budgie, and early Diamond Head. See if you can spot it.
Up next is an instrumental, the first since Killers! “Losfer Words (Big ‘Orra)” is really the only weak song on the album. As an instrumental, it’s not as exciting as something like “The Ides of March”. The riff is rather simple and it sounds like an unfinished song, like Bruce didn’t show up that day or something. The guitar playing (well, all the playing) is of course stellar, there’s always that!
Then comes “Flash of the Blade”, a fucking awesome track, and one of my favourites. I remember trying to learn that riff as a kid, as it’s catchy but uncomplicated. This one’s penned by Dickinson alone, and is about…of course…fencing. Like Steve Harris was on the exact same wavelength, his song, “The Duelists” is up next. Yet another song incorporating fencing, this one was my personal pick for a third single. I remember even drawing my own cover art, with Eddie dueling the Devil! The middle section is an intricate dance of delicate guitars, you can almost picture the men parrying and feinting.
And that ended side one. Side two opened with “Back In The Village”. This would be the only other song beside “Losfer Words” that doesn’t make my road tapes. Another Smith/Dickinson song, it’s got a cool signiture Adrian riff, but up against the rest of these songs, it just doesn’t stand out to me.
But “Powerslave” does! This is another solo Bruce writing credit, and a powerful song it is! Bruce metalizes Ancient Egypt with that cool riff, and his lyrics are a labyrinth of Egyptian mythology. Very cool. The best part of the song however is the middle section. The song slows down at roughly 3 minutes, and there’s some pretty amazing soloing (sounds like Dave). Then things pick up at 3:52, and Adrian plays my favourite Iron Maiden guitar solo of all time! (Of all time, Kanye!) Damn I love that solo! I always have, even when all I had were those crappy cassettes. And as if that wasn’t enough, then there’s a harmony part with Dave and Adrian together, and then Dave’s off on another amazing solo of his own!
(For the record: if there was a second favourite Maiden guitar solo for me, it’s “The Wicker Man”, also performed by Adrian.)
Before you know it, we are at the end. But not quite, for the final song on Powerslave is 14 minutes long! “Rime Of The Ancient Mariner”, based of course on Coleridge, is the latest and perhaps the greatest so far of Steve’s epics. I don’t know if I want to even think about ranking his epics anymore, but “Rime” is certainly a favourite. That opening riff alone would have made a song on its own. But this is a complex song, and it twists and turns and goes through all sorts of different adventures before we’re done. As kids I remember were all blown away that this whole song was written by just one guy!
Talking about “Rime” in words is tough. Lyrically I loved it. Suddenly I understood Coleridge, and it wasn’t at all painful! But musically this is just about perfect. Bruce’s delivery is flawless, and the guitars are woven into epic and amazing solos once again. Just about every section of this song is memorable. It lags a bit in the atmospheric middle section, but this is soon replaced by a triumphant vocal with bright bass guitar melodies.
This 2 CD deluxe edition includes a bonus disc with all the B-side goodies. Didn’t you always love that cover for “Aces High”? Eddie in the Spitfire, flying on, even with a bullet in his head? The B-sides include a live version of “Number of the Beast” that used to annoy us as kids, since Bruce only sings “six!” and gets the audience to finish with “six six!”. With hindsight, who cares, it’s a great live version. It’s just funny how I have that memory so very distinctly!
“King of Twilight”, a cover from a band called Nektar, isn’t a standout though. I like that “Ahh, ahhh, ahh” section and I love the pounding drums. Otherwise it’s not a road tape classic.
“2 Minutes To Midnight” had two excellent B-sides: “Rainbow’s Gold” and “Mission From ‘Arry”. The riff that kicks off “Rainbow’s Gold” is just really catchy, as is that vocal melody. This is a cover from somebody called Beckett. Gotta give Maiden credit for trying obscure covers! Love this song.
And…”Mission From ‘Arry”. Not a song at all, here’s the story. One night, Nicko was asked to extend his drum solo while Harris (‘Arry) got his bass rig up and running. ‘Arry sent his roadie to tell Nicko, who was distracted by the roadie and fucked up his drum solo. Furious he launched into said roadie and gave him a good solid dressing down. After the show, Steve in turn told Nicko that he was out of line and to apologize. In walked Bruce Dickinson with a hidden tape recorder and a mischievous grin! The rest is history, as released on this B-side!
Now, I’m from Canada and I don’t know my British slang that well. Do you guys often use phrases like “Fuck my old boots!”?
I don’t think Powerslave was the album that Piece Of Mind was, but maybe I like it a fraction better than Beast. I dunno. It’s so hard to rank, we’re really splitting hairs here. Powerslave was a little colder sounding, a little brittle compared to the past. Steve’s bass is a little rinky, not warm and deep enough. But that’s the sound of the LP, the songs still rise above.
Alright folks, strap yourselves in and get ready for the ride. After the positive feedback from my series of Kiss reviews, I’ve decided to go with popular demand and do all the Iron Maiden next. We’re going to talk about every studio album, every live album, every compilation, and every rarity that I have access to. But why not start off with a Record Store Tale? Here’s how I acquired rare editions of the crucial first 10 albums….
RECORD STORE TALES PART 116:
IRON MAIDEN’s Gonna Get Ya…No Matter How Far!
My love of Maiden is well documented. The very first blog here at LeBrain’s Record Store Tales, Part 1, was called “Run To The Hills”. It describes the first time I ever heard the band. I don’t need to explain to you why I love Iron Maiden. If you’re reading this, chances are that you already understand. Iron Maiden are more than just a band. They are a passion. With a band like Maiden, the fans strive to own everything.
The setting: Early 1996, when we still carried new CD stock. One of our suppliers dropped off a brand new catalogue. Inside, was a new listing. An exciting new listing!
Iron Maiden were reissuing their first 10 albums in 2 CD editions, with a bonus disc of B-sides! Picture discs! Iron Maiden, Killers, The Number of the Beast, Peace of Mind, Powerslave, Live After Death, Somewhere In Time, Seventh Son, No Prayer, and Fear of the Dark! Knowing that Maiden usually released a minimum of two singles per album, with a minimum of 2 B-sides per single, this was a MUST for me. I didn’t have all the Maiden singles. Not even close. Some of these songs, like “Burning Ambition” and “Invasion”, I’d never even heard before! Now I was going to have the chance to own them on CD.
The discs were expensive, even with my staff discount. But there was absolutely no way I was missing these. As an added incentive, I didn’t even own all the Maiden albums on CD yet. Most of these albums I still only owned on cassette or vinyl! So really, it was a win-win situation. Not only was I getting the B-sides, but I was also getting all the Maiden albums on CD with a minimum of overlap with my existing collection. Plus, these were picture discs with Derek Riggs’ singles artwork. Picture discs were something of a novelty at the time. Today, most CDs are picture discs and nobody cares if they are.
My boss warned me: “If you order these, you better make sure you buy them all.” There was absolutely no question of that, I’m surprised he even mentioned it, knowing what a collector I am. It’s too bad we didn’t order more, for stock. The rarity of these discs has shown that we could have sold them quickly, or better yet, hung onto them for a couple years and jacked up the price once they were out of print.
The supplier we were ordering from, the name of which escapes me, was a small-time supplier, and usually couldn’t get everything we ordered. They had about a 50% success rate. Yet he listed all these European imports that our main supplier usually shied away from. The Maiden reissues were all from Europe. I crossed my fingers. I wanted all 10. Not “some”, but all! “Some” would not do it!
A week later, the first five Maidens arrived! The following week, another chunk of Maiden shipped! They only failed to get me one disc: Fear of the Dark. Resolving to get it somehow, it turns out I didn’t need to worry about it. Two weeks later, even that one arrived. Total expenditure: About $300 with taxes! I had all 10. My Maiden B-side collection: almost complete! [Note: When I go through the Maiden reviews, we’ll cover all the B-sides, including songs that are not on these deluxe editions.]
I settled in for some long, long nights of listening. I made a compilation tape of all the B-sides that I had (including up to the current album, The X Factor), and it ended up being 3 tapes, 100 minute cassettes, which I still have. To knock so many songs off my wishlist in one fell swoop like this was the kind of thing I lived for. This was the perk of working in a record store. What a score! Today, I don’t know anybody else who has the full set of 10.
Be sure to check back in the coming days and weeks for all the reviews, starting with The Soundhouse Tapes, to the present day…
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