For a long time my favourite album, but in recent years it's slightly topped by SIT and probably also SSOASS. The differences are minor and of course it can also depend on the day I play it. I have to admit that the high quality level is not the same from start to finish (“Flash of the Blade”, “Losfer Words” and “Back to the Village” are not my favourite Maiden tracks) but this album contains some of my favourite Maiden songs of all time: “Rime of the Ancient Mariner”, “Powerslave”, “Aces High” and “The Duellists”. Apart from Aces High (nr. 32) these are all in my top 10, and I still find Rime the best song ever made.
"The Duellists" is for me the ultimate "forgotten song" in Maiden’s catalogue. I like it because of the brilliant mid piece. GREAT melodic guitar work, with the rhythm tandem McBrain/Harris underneath it. The song has a catchy chorus, that stays in your head (not the way the chorus of TAATG stays in your head!). No weak parts. Unlike most Maiden songs, the tempo is all the time the same, but despite this, the song has an enormous drive!
On Powerslave we can hear a different way of guitar playing than on Piece of Mind. Adrian often plays different things than Dave. E.g. in “Rime…” and in “The Duellists” Adrian plays open long chords where Dave plays fast rhythm guitar (powerchords). For someone who likes to hear more variation and details in the guitar work, Powerslave is definitely the better “product”!
Realizing this, it's quite odd that this album features only two songs written by a guitarist (Adrian Smith)! It’s one of the very few albums without a Dave Murray-track on it. This album is especially a Steve and Bruce product.
The bass can be heard very well, and all sounds by Harris are clear to the ears, and the guitars are more separated to the side channels, compared with the full and fat guitars on the previous album.
The ultimate Iron Maiden experience ever was witnessing “Rime Of The Ancient Mariner” on Wacken Open Air, in 2008.
...and then, down in falls comes the RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!