IRON MAIDEN released "Powerslave" across Europe on September 3rd, 1984, through EMI, with the American release following eleven days later on Capitol. Martin Birch produced the band's fifth album, and the Egyptian theme ran through everything from Derek Riggs's sleeve to the stage set that followed. "2 Minutes to Midnight" and "Aces High" opened it at full speed, but the record's centre of gravity is "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" — thirteen minutes and forty-five seconds adapted from Coleridge, and the band's longest song until 2015. It entered the UK chart at number two, reached twelve in the US and went platinum there. The World Slavery Tour that followed lasted eleven months across twenty-eight countries and is still described by the band as the most punishing they ever undertook.
