Album
Powerslave
Powerslave is Iron Maiden's fifth studio album, issued through EMI on 3 September 1984. It followed Piece of Mind and was the first time the band kept the same personnel from one studio record to the next, a line-up that stayed put for two more albums. "2 Minutes to Midnight" and "Aces High" were the singles, and the Ancient Egypt imagery of the title track gave the sleeve its look.
The closing "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" sets Coleridge's poem to music, working in lines from the original, and at 13 minutes 45 seconds it remained the band's longest song for over three decades, until "Empire of the Clouds" arrived in 2015. It is also their last album to date with an instrumental. The World Slavery Tour that followed was among their most gruelling, and it produced the live album Live After Death.
Powerslave: tracklist, credits and charts
8 tracks · 50:54Tracklist
- 1Aces HighSteve Harris4:32
- 22 Minutes to MidnightBruce Dickinson and Adrian Smith6:03
- 3Losfer Words (Big ’Orra)Steve Harris4:15
- 4Flash of the BladeBruce Dickinson4:05
- 5The DuellistsSteve Harris6:07
- 6Back in the VillageBruce Dickinson and Adrian Smith5:02
- 7PowerslaveBruce Dickinson7:11
- 8Rime of the Ancient MarinerSteve Harris13:39
- Produced by
- Martin Birch
- Recorded at
- Compass Point (Nassau, Bahamas)
- Recorded
- February–June 1984
- Mixed by
- Martin Birch
- Mixed at
- Electric Lady Studios
- Engineered by
- Martin Birch
- Label
- EMI
- Length
- 50:54
Line-up
- Steve Harris · electric bass guitar
- Nicko McBrain · drums (drum set)
- Dave Murray · electric guitar
- Adrian Smith · electric guitar
- Bruce Dickinson · lead vocals
Singles
- “2 Minutes to Midnight” · 6 August 1984
- “Aces High” · 22 October 1984
Peak chart positions
| Chart | Peak |
|---|---|
| UK Albums Chart · 1984–1985 | 2 |
| US Billboard 200 · 1984–1985 | 21 |
| Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts) · 1984–1985 | 4 |
| Norwegian Albums · 1992 | 4 |
| Scottish Albums · 2019–2026 | 4 |
| Dutch Albums · 1984–1985 | 5 |
| Swedish Albums · 1984–1985 | 5 |
| UK Rock & Metal Albums · 2019–2026 | 8 |
| German Albums · 1984–1985 | 9 |
| Swiss Albums · 1984–1985 | 10 |
All 24 charts
| New Zealand Albums · 1984–1985 | 11 |
| Japanese Albums (Oricon) · 1984–1985 | 13 |
| Austrian Albums · 1984–1985 | 15 |
| Canadian Albums (RPM) · 1984–1985 | 21 |
| Italian Albums (Musica e dischi) · 1984–1985 | 21 |
| Hungarian Albums · 2019–2026 | 23 |
| Australian Albums (ARIA) · 1984–1985 | 26 |
| Croatian International Albums (HDU) · 2019–2026 | 26 |
| Italian Albums (FIMI) · 2019–2026 | 35 |
| Finnish Albums · 2013 | 64 |
| Italian Albums · 2006 | 64 |
| Spanish Albums · 2019–2026 | 73 |
| Belgian Albums (Wallonia) · 2019–2026 | 109 |
| Belgian Albums (Flanders) · 2019–2026 | 188 |
Certifications
| Region | Certification |
|---|---|
| Canada | 2× Platinum |
| Germany | Gold |
| Italy · 2026 | Gold |
| Japan · 1984 | Gold |
| Spain · 1984 | Gold |
| United Kingdom · 1984 | Gold |
| United States | Platinum |
From MusicBrainz, Wikipedia and Wikidata. Only what the sources record is shown.
82.5
Popularity (0–100, vs the whole vault)
7.5k
ListenBrainz listeners
203k
Wikipedia views, last 12 months
53k
Deezer fans (all editions)
Released the same week
Also released on 3 September
Every year →More from Iron Maiden
Full discography →
The Soundhouse Tapes
1979
Iron Maiden
1980
Live!! + One
1980
Killers
1981
Maiden Japan
1981
The Number of the Beast
1982
Iron Maiden Lo mejor de Iron Maiden 1983
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1983
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No me puedes dejar así / Decídete
1983
Piece of Mind
1983
Iron Maiden Christmas EP 1984
Christmas EP
1984
Live After Death
1985
Iron Maiden Audio Pieces 1986
Audio Pieces
1986
Somewhere in Time
1986
Iron Maiden Maiden Mania 80–87 1987
Maiden Mania 80–87
1987
Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
1988
Maiden England
1989
The First Ten Years
1990
No Prayer for the Dying
1990
Fear of the Dark
1992
A Real Live One
1993
A Real Dead One
1993
Live at Donington: August 22nd 1992
1993
The X Factor
1995
Best of the Beast
1996
Iron Maiden An Introduction to… Virtual XI 1998
An Introduction to… Virtual XI
1998
Virtual XI
1998
A Real Live Dead One
1998
Ed Hunter
1999
Brave New World
2000
Rock in Rio
2002
Iron Maiden Eddie's Archive 2002
Eddie's Archive
2002
Edward the Great
2002
BBC Archives
2002
Beast Over Hammersmith
2002
Dance of Death
2003
No More Lies: Dance of Death Souvenir EP
2004
The Essential Iron Maiden
2005
Death on the Road
2005
A Matter of Life and Death
2006
Somewhere Back in Time
2008
Somewhere Back in Time: The Best of 1980–1989
2008
Iron Maiden Flight 666 2009
Flight 666
2009
The Final Frontier
2010
From Fear to Eternity: The Best of 1990–2010
2011
En Vivo!
2012
Maiden England ’88
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The Book of Souls
2015
The Book of Souls: Live Chapter
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Nights of the Dead, Legacy of the Beast: Live in Mexico City
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Senjutsu
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The best of 1984
All of 1984 →
Ride the Lightning
Metallica · 1984
The Works
Queen · 1984
Iron Maiden Christmas EP 1984
Christmas EP
Iron Maiden · 1984
Fistful of Metal
Anthrax · 1984
’74 Jailbreak
AC/DC · 1984
Projects in the Jungle
Pantera · 1984
The Warning
Queensrÿche · 1984
Live Undead / Haunting the Chapel
Slayer · 1984
Live Undead
Slayer · 1984
Haunting the Chapel
Slayer · 1984
No Remorse
Motörhead · 1984
Prince of Darkness
Ozzy Osbourne · 1984
More on EMI
The label →The Number of the Beast
Iron Maiden · 1982
A Night at the Opera
Queen · 1975
Piece of Mind
Iron Maiden · 1983
Fear of the Dark
Iron Maiden · 1992
Hot Space
Queen · 1982
Somewhere in Time
Iron Maiden · 1986
Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
Iron Maiden · 1988
The Works
Queen · 1984
A Kind of Magic
Queen · 1986
13
Black Sabbath · 2013
Queen II
Queen · 1974
Dance of Death
Iron Maiden · 2003
Releases and pressings
How we know the release date wikipedia + musicbrainz + wikidata
| Source | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|
| MusicBrainz | 3 September 1984 | |
| Wikipedia infobox | 3 September 1984 | |
| Wikidata | 3 September 1984 | |
| US release | 3 September 1984 | earliest US date |
| UK / Europe release | 3 September 1984 | earliest UK or European date |
37 editions
| Date | Country | Label | Barcode | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | IT | EMI | 077774604529 | other |
| — | IT | EMI | 5099924020015 | other |
| 1984 | DE | EMI | other | |
| 1984 | PT | EMI | other | |
| 1984 | FR | EMI | 5099924020046 | other |
| 1984 | CA | Capitol Records | other | |
| 1984 | NL | EMI Music Netherlands | other | |
| 3 September 1984 | GB | EMI | 077774604529 | original |
| 3 September 1984 | XE | EMI | 5099924020015 | original |
| 3 September 1984 | US | Capitol Records | original | |
| 3 September 1984 | GB | EMI | 5099924020015 | original |
| 3 September 1984 | GB | EMI | original | |
| 3 September 1984 | NZ | EMI Music New Zealand | original | |
| 17 September 1984 | AU | EMI | other | |
| 21 September 1984 | JP | EMI | other | |
| 21 September 1984 | JP | EMI | other | |
| 1985 | US | Capitol Records | 077774604529 | other |
| 22 May 1985 | JP | EMI | other | |
| 1986 | XE | EMI | other | |
| 1990 | JP | EMI | 4988006648463 | other |
| 1995 | US | Castle Records | 600234010624 | other |
| 1995 | GB | EMI United Kingdom | 724383587223 | other |
| 28 June 1995 | JP | COOLPRICE | 4988006708044 | other |
| 1998 | GB | Raw Power | 602923013121 | other |
| 1998 | CA | EMI Music Canada | 724349692008 | other |
| 1998 | CO | EMI | 724349692008 | other |
| 1998 | RU | Gala Records | 094637952504 | other |
| 14 September 1998 | GB | EMI | 724349692008 | other |
| 2002 | US | Columbia | 696998604421 | other |
| 26 March 2002 | US | Sanctuary Records | 696998621220 | other |
| 27 October 2014 | US | BMG | 881034121523 | other |
| 2015 | XW | Sanctuary Records | other | |
| 2015 | US | Sanctuary Records | 0881034134462 | remaster |
| 2015 | XW | Parlophone | 0825646129195 | remaster |
| 16 November 2018 | XW | Parlophone | 190295524203 | remaster |
| 2019 | US | Sanctuary Records | 4050538427028 | other |
| 29 March 2019 | XE | Parlophone | 0190295567712 | other |
Cover art sources
itunes · native: native 1500x1500
| Source | Size | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| itunes ✓ | 1500×1500 | native: native 1500x1500 |
| coverartarchive | 1280×1280 | upscaled |
| deezer | 1200×1200 | upscaled |
| fanarttv | 1000×1000 | upscaled |