Iron Maiden – Powerslave

Aw man… I had this reissue sitting on the shelf unopened for awhile, I happened to find an OG Canadian version today and so listened to that first and it sounded absolutely incredible and dynamic, one of the best in my collection. Put this reissue on right after listening to that and what a let down. Very noticeable compression and the eq is darker and sounded like a blanket was thrown over what I had just been listening to. I know some of these reissues sound great, the first Iron Maiden album in particular I thought sounded amazing, and the Somewhere in Time reissue was excellent too. This didn’t do it for me. I’m not saying this is bad by any means, vinyl is flat, clean, and quiet. If this is your only copy you’ll be just fine. Just misses the dynamics and excitement of the original. But it’s pretty hard to beat the original which is in my opinion one of the best metal albums ever recorded.

I dont have the bee in my bonnet like the chap/lady below and think this is a very decent pressing. Clean, flat and silent vinyl despite the printed inner. Acceptable mastering. This has NEVER sounded full, rich dynamic and expansive like all Iron Maiden of the period. Its just not been recorded this way. It is what it is. Musically its still top notch if this genre is your thing.

First the good: Lacquer is cut by Chris Bellman. The vinyl is good quality, clean and quiet. The artwork is good.
HOWEVER, the fatal flaw with this is that it's cut from the 2015 remaster source. The sound is dynamically squashed, shrill sounding. No bass, no air. Typical crappy "loudness war" mastering sound. The louder you turn the volume, the worse it sounds. The original Capital CD from over 30 years ago sounds better than this. Disappointing that the potential of a typically excellent sounding Chris Bellman cut is squandered by providing him with a bad sounding source to cut from. I guess if you like the 2015 remaster then you'll like this, but my copy has gone straight to the "vinyl to get rid of" shelf.