At 13 minutes and 45 seconds in length, this was Iron Maiden's longest song for over 30 years until it was surpassed by the 18-minute "Empire of the Clouds" from the 2015 album The Book of Souls.

[2][3][b] As with Powerslave's predecessor Piece of Mind (1983), this was where most of the album's writing took place; the band then began recording it at Compass Point Studios in Nassau, Bahamas.

[5] Once finished, the band undertook another short break while the album was mixed at Electric Lady Studios, New York, before reconvening in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to rehearse for the World Slavery Tour.

[7] The stage set echoed the album cover, including monumental pedestals several stories high, atop which the musicians appeared at times during the show.

[9] The Live After Death album and video, recorded over four nights at Long Beach Arena in LA and Hammersmith Odeon in London,[10] were also released; these respectively peaked at No.

[15] Steve Harris wrote the other single (and album opener) "Aces High" inspired by the Battle of Britain and possibly by the 1976 British war film of the same name.

As it happened with "Transylvania", the band originally intended to write lyrics for it, but could not find any fitting theme; after having listened to the music, they agreed upon leaving it as it was, and gave it its title as a pun.

[20] The album title track, "Powerslave", is narrated from the point of view of an Egyptian pharaoh wondering why he has to die, he who was considered a god by his people, and was written by Dickinson as a partial allegory of his life as a rock-star.

[23] Powerslave received favorable reviews and accolades and was ranked at number 38 on Rolling Stone's list of "100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time" in 2017.

[29] According to both Nicko McBrain and Adrian Smith, Powerslave began making Iron Maiden famous "very fast, very quickly", such as in Brazil, where hundreds of fans waited outside hotels and restaurants for the band.