Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson to Host Online Listening Party for ‘Powerslave’

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While Iron Maiden have a pretty sterling back catalog across the board, 1984’s Powerslave will always hold a special place in the hearts of fans. Between its beyond-memorable tracks — acrobatic opener “Aces High,” full-bodied anti-war anthem “2 Minutes to Midnight,” regal title track “Powerslave,” and the epic 13-minute “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” — and its depiction of Eddie as an Egyptian pharaoh on the cover, this album feels like Maiden at their most majestic. Now, fans, can enjoy this heavy metal milestone alongside one of its creators, as frontman Bruce Dickinson has announced that he’ll be hosting an online Powerslave listening party.

The listening party will be part of Charlatans frontman Tim Burgess’ Twitter Listening Parties, which kicked off shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic swept the earth and shit really hit the fan. Powerslave will be the 666th edition of the event (which makes one wonder why they didn’t pick Number of the Beast for it, but hey, we’ll take it).

“We started these listening parties at the beginning of the first lockdown and thought we’d do a couple of weeks of them until everything got back to normal,” Burgess told NME. “Nick Mason hosted our Saucerful of Secrets listening party to celebrate our 500th and someone tweeted that we should mark the 666th as a special occasion.

“Naturally, we tweeted Iron Maiden and they said they’d love to join us.”

Maiden tweeted a video for the listening party, in which Dickinson himself, sporting some very quarantinish long hair, says, “Right, where are you going to be at 9pm on Friday, the 12th of February? Yes, Friday the 12th of February, at 9pm, it is Tim’s Twitter Listening Party…number six hundred and sixty-six.” Pointing to a copy of Powerslave, Bruce says, “This album. This person. That time. Be there…and I will let you in on a few interesting secrets. And it’s gonna be fun. And what a great album.”

Fans can listen along to Powerslave via the Listening Party Twitter account this Friday, February 12th, at 9pm GMT.

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Words by Chris Krovatin

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