After a couple tours with questionable openers, Iron Maiden finally gives us a reason to show up early for their latest North American trek–with support from shock-rocker extraordinaire Alice Cooper.  In some regards, it’s a little odd having Alice open the show as his commercial peak came a decade before the headliner’s, but, much like Judas Priest bringing a reconstituted Thin Lizzy on tour last winter, I suppose this is a case of honouring your elders, or something like that.  After all, I’m not sure that Alice Cooper sells out stadiums on his lonesome anymore…

Looking back, it almost seems that neither artist ever really topped these two records.  After breaking ties with the Alice Cooper Band, the Coop would stagger through a decades-long solo career that, aside from a brief revival in the late 80′s, would never reach the heights of his early 70′s output.  Meanwhile, Maiden’s next few albums might have garnered some commercial success (up until Bruce Dickinson left the band), but it’s hard to pit any of them against Powerslave from an artistic standpoint.  While not necessarily their finest hours, you could say that these records captured their respective creators at the climax of their careers–and it’s been one big, long denouement ever since.

Welcome to My Nightmare

After ditching the rest of his original bandmates, Alice bounced back with Welcome to My Nightmare, a horror-themed concept album on which producer Bob Ezrin received several songwriting credits.  This record did fairly well upon release, Top 5 in the US and Australia, with Led Zep’s Physical Graffiti the only thing keeping it from the top spot in Canada back in May ’75.  The record yielded three singles, with “Only Women Bleed” hitting Number 12 on the Billboard charts and the title track cracking the Top 50, though it’s the second song, “The Black Widow,” with its Vincent Price monologue that remains a staple of Alice’s live set to this day.

Alice welcomes us to the proceedings with the title track, which starts off softly, taking on more of a funk/jazz feel as it picks up the pace, complete with saxophone solo.  “Devil’s Food” is classic Cooper, a slowish bluesy rock jam with a great big chorus (a little too much Autotune on the backing vocals, perhaps), though this one doesn’t hit home quite like “School’s Out” or “No More Mr. Nice Guy.”  Mind you, the second half of the track belongs to Vincent Price, who provides a monologue on spiders that leads into “The Black Widow.”  Seemingly keeping the same shuffling backbeat as its predecessor, this spider stings with Cooper’s venomous vocals and some radioactive lead-guitar work.

“Some Folks” is a finger-snapping power ballad, a less-creepy “I Love the Dead” with some jazzy bass-playing, an uplifting chorus and a Memphis horn section that leads us into the album’s two big singles.  “Only Women Bleed” is not your typical Alice Cooper hit; it’s more his answer to “Beth,” another Ezrin-produced piece of adult contemporary pop from an artist that wore a lotta makeup, though this tune actually reminds me more of Supertramp, one of the bands that effectively ruined my childhood.  (Thanks, Dad!)  “Department of Youth” does bring back the rock, a number that sounds somewhat akin to KISS’ “Flaming Youth,” albeit with a bit less bite—I almost hate to say it, but I sorta hear some strains of Supertramp in this tune, too…

“Cold Ethyl” is somewhat heavier, reminiscent of the Stones.  Let’s just say that this tune doesn’t need more cowbell, to put it mildly.  Tis also a tune that makes necrophilia fun again.  The rest of the record is a little less than impressive, however.  Alice adopts a child-like voice for “Years Ago,” a three-minute tune that doesn’t add much to the whole, similar to “Steven,” another piece of piano-based power balladry.  Y’know, it would be easier to follow along with the concept if the lyrics were provided with the album…

“The Awakening” is, you guessed it, another piano ballad!  “Escape” ends the album, a decent 70’s radio-rock number similar to “Department of Youth” with a pretty decent chorus, but again, this tune is fairly mild and laid-back.  Of course, Cooper’s career would head dramatically downhill for 14 years after this one, but it’s hard to consider this the summit or the apex.  Man, the studio band just doesn’t bring the rock like the original group did.  Nuff said.

…

Powerslave

For whatever reason, Powerslave didn’t chart as well in Canada as the last two, peaking at Number 21—the same position it would hold in the States.  But it was another Top 10 hit across Europe, debuting at Number Two in England behind Now That’s What I Call Music 3, an early edition of the pop compilation that included Duran Duran, Cyndi Lauper and Frankie Goes to Hollywood.  Ick.  Mind you, this record should easily chase the addictive pop crap away with its massive opening double-dose of “Aces High” and “2 Minutes to Midnight.”

With its soaring intro and nose-diving guitar attack, overtaken by a jet-fuelled Dickinson vocal, “Aces High” comes screaming out of the gate with power and speed.  Speaking of screaming, I once tried to sing karaoke to this song.  It was not pretty.  Of course, the sound and fury of “Aces” is matched, if not exceeded, by the punishing “2 Minutes to Midnight.”  Featuring one of the most epic, iconic choruses in heavy-metal history, this is the song that got me hooked on Maiden in my formative years.  If I owned a bar, I would play it on the sound system every evening at 11:58 pm and it would never get old.

The next few tunes may not have been smash-hit singles, but I wouldn’t call ‘em filler, either.  “Losfer Words (Big ‘Orra)” is a four-minute instrumental that keeps the juices flowing with its uptempo stomp.  “Flash of the Blade” kinda continues with the power-metal themes scattered throughout Piece of Mind, but y’know, I actually don’t mind this one.  “The Duellists” is another song about swordplay, and with its upbeat tempo, soaring vocals and scintillating solos, it actually kinda makes fencing sound cool.  “Back to the Village” is also a tad familiar, another rip-roaring takeover tune, somewhat akin to “Invaders” from Number of the Beast, though this one has more of a grimy, 70’s rock feel, which is still cool with me.

The title track is pretty epic in its own right, a seven-minute journey into the abyss that asks the fundamental question “Tell me why I have to be a Powerslave?”—but it pales in comparison to its successor, the 13-minute literary masterpiece “Rime of the Ancient Mariner.”  As far as album-closers are concerned, this tune makes “Hallowed Be Thy Name” seem like a brief musical interlude.  Utilizing actual lines from the Samuel Taylor Coleridge poem, this song takes the listener on a sea-faring journey with not a drop to drink.  Twas pretty amazing to see ‘em play it live on the Somewhere Back in Time tour a few years ago!

You know how I said Piece of Mind lacked memorable tunes aside from “The Trooper”?  Well, they seemed to have rectified that on this record, another one of my personal favourites.  To someone (born yesterday) who hasn’t heard Maiden before, I would highly recommend The Number of the Beast and Powerslave, and not necessarily in that order.

THE VERDICT: While Alice ditched his entire backing band for Welcome to My Nightmare, by contrast Powerslave was the first Maiden record to keep the exact same lineup as the one before.  Gotta go with the steady hand here.  And we’re all tied at 2-2 going into the fifth and final round…