“The Duellists” is a song about a sword fight fail, and the honor that goes with dying gloriously by the sword. The lyrics go into a lot of detail about the actual fight. What is interesting is that actual time passed of this sword fight could have been very short, maybe a minute or two ? How many songs are about a minute or two in someone’s life? Please comment if you know of any others.

The song starts out with a very well placed kick and snare drum leading into a 12/8 time signature in the key of E minor. In the first few measures my favorite thing to listen to is the steady snare drum placed very well in between the crash cymbals at the end of each measure. The bass keeps it interesting by moving up a minor 3rd during the 3rd and 4th repeats.

Although I really like Bruce Dickinson’s voice, and the lyrics are rather cool, I would have to say that the vocal performances during the verse are some of his weakest vocal takes I’ve heard. This is ironic, because the vocals on the chorus are amazing!

On to the chorus!

Nice key change. The vocals are absolutely wailing here. Take THAT Pavarotti! BOOYAAA! When I hear this, I want to learn how to use my sword better.

I think the strongest part of this song is the instrumental section. This is exactly the kind of stuff you will never hear on the radio.

Staccato guitar harmonies in metal are somewhat rare (can you name a few?). I also want to mention that the bass part behind the first harmony section is one of the most difficult in classic metal.

The highlight of the song to me is the guitar solo played by Adrian Smith. Very nice melodies and it really sets a unique mood. I especially like the slow descending arpeggio and how he repeats is twice as fast. I also like the fast chromatic blues lick.

Following the solo is a long harmony section which carries out the mood of the song. The space underneath the long harmony notes is refreshing.

The last verse and chorus are similar to the previous ones, with the highlight being the death of the character and the cool vocal tone Bruce has on the very last note.

The wild metal free-form ending reminds us of a slightly more daring era of music.

The beginning guitar intro instantly sets the mood of the album after Aces High rings its last note. This is the point in the album where you KNOW it is going to be really good.  I like the guitar sound in the intro: Soft but present, mostly coming out of one speaker, with some slight delay/reverb coming out of the other speaker. Everything sounds really big when the whole band enters. This intro is really well mixed by producer/engineer Martin Birch.

The first vocal line is very strong and confident. What an entrance! You would have to change your pants if you heard this sung by the dude going on before you at a talent show. The singer, Bruce Dickinson, is singing an A4 almost through all the verses. This can get very tiring, but his voice is built for this stuff.

One of the hidden gems of the verses is when the band moves up to D minor on the 3rd repitition (classic blues), while the drummer switches to the ride cymbal from the hi-hat. This is very effective and really builds the song up to the bridge.

What sets the bridge aside from most, is the half-time beat change. They are going all out in the verse, then drop it down for the bridge, then bring it back up, plus one, in the chorus. The bass guitar is doing a nice slow gallop here, while the guitars are playing very colorful 7th chords in A minor over the top. The crescendo is a nice warning that the chorus is coming. An what a chorus it is! Watch out!

A memorable chorus with a nice anthem. This part is very popular with live audiences. “2 Minutes to Midnight!. The guitar underneath the lines “The hands that threaten doom” are very cool. Some picking on a D minor chord followed by a cool descending blues riff leading into the repeat. Some nice vocal layering and very high harmonies.

The 2nd verse is sung brilliantly with brilliant lyrics. The words sound very “metal”,but the message is very strong: “We oil the jaws of the war machine and feed it with our babies.” Deep.

The first guitar solo, in A minor, is played by Dave Murray. The first phrase is very cool with some musical wammy bar and harmony action going on(I’m suprised my spell-checker flagged “wammy”!). Very fluent. This playing sounds like Italian be rolled off the tongue at 1000 words a second. There are some nice chord colors in the background here(F#/D over A minor).

The second guitar solo (played by Adrian Smith) is one of my favorite guitar solos ever. The key switches down to E minor and the beat is cut in half. He starts with a standard blues lick, and hits these out-of-key C# notes with the utmost conviction. It is perfect! This C# theme is pretty common in this solo. There is also a fast descending chromatic run I rather fancy(really? “fancy”?). When the solo gets mellower about half way through, the lead guitar takes these little breaks while the rhythm plays some delicately distorted C and D chords into a short-lived hard hitting progression. The build up coming out of the solo section is pure gold and has your energy on high when the main riff kick back in. Lot’s of raw energy here al the way to the end of the song. Pure metal glory!

I love the last verse! I love when he goes up to the C5 on the last phrase. very melodic and well phrased.

The outro is like water rising up behind a damn. Truly great song-writing here. It feels like your driving in 1st place  in the Indy 500 with a few cars on your tail and then finally you cross the finish line. The last long note belted out by Bruce is awesome! Well done Iron Maiden!

This is the fifth album by this British super-group Iron Maiden. Powerslave was written and recorded when Iron Maiden was an unstoppable force at the top of their game. Unlike a lot of bands who put out mediocre material once they get a lot of wealth and popularity, this album shines with creativity and great performances. This is a classic, timeless album and one of the best produced albums ever in heavy metal.

Production  -

The producer, Martin Birch (brilliant!), does a great job with the instrument tones. I love the drum sounds! I’ve never heard anything like it before. They toms sound like a mysterious Egyptian semi truck crashing through a cement wall. The kick drum is soft, but up front enough. The cymbals are even and well mixed.  So awesome! The guitars are layered  very nicely and have a nice up-front, but soft tone. It sounds like both the rhythm guitars are doubled, which is pretty common. The blend of instrument tones achieve a really nice mood (which is something lacking in many modern albums). I really wish Martin Birch would come out of retirement and record another album for them. I owe a big chunk of their success to this man. All of their albums recorded at Compass Point Studio sound really great.

Performances -

I give props to Adrian Smith for his colorful solos, they are very interesting to listen to. Bruce Dickinson hits all the notes just right and is your guide through the plots of the songs.

Songwriting -

These are some of the best songs in heavy metal, period. “2 Minutes to Midnight”, “Powerslave” and “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” stand out on this album. Every song is well placed.

Song Reviews -

2 Minutes to Midnight

The Duelists (coming soon)

Powerslave (coming soon)

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