242 MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT IRON MAIDEN

(1984)

Heavy metal’s quintessential nuclear protest anthem

Written by singer Bruce Dickinson and guitarist Adrian Smith, the first single from Maiden’s fifth album Powerslave is undoubtedly one of the band’s catchiest songs. The main riff is played using open A-string pedal tones against diads on the D and G strings – taking Ritchie Blackmore’s Smoke On The Water concept to newer, faster and more metallic extremes. Smith and fellow guitarist Dave Murray were experimenting with Ibanez Roadstars around this time, so it’s likely that these were the instruments used for the sessions, fed through the Boss and MXR pedals and Marshall JMP amps seen on the World Slavery Tour of the same year.