Production credits are adapted from the 7-inch vinyl, and 12-inch vinyl covers. Vocalist Bruce Dickinson states that he found the ensuing argument so amusing that he decided to record it with a concealed tape recorder. The crew member was unable to communicate the message effectively, which unfortunately distracted McBrain and had a negative impact on his solo, causing him to yell at the roadie afterwards. During the concert, Harris' bass gear broke down, so he asked the nearest roadie to tell McBrain to extend his drum solo. Beckett were from Newcastle and had a great singer called Terry Wilson Slesser (incidentally I was Beckett's agent prior to meeting Maiden).' 'Mission from 'Arry' Īnother B-side, entitled 'Mission from 'Arry', is a recording of an argument between bassist Steve Harris and drummer Nicko McBrain, which took place after a show in Allentown, Pennsylvania, during the band's World Piece Tour. Adrian used to do a cover of another of their songs 'Rainclouds' in his band 'Evil Ways'. The band's manager, Rod Smallwood, commented this version: 'This was originally done by a band called Beckett who the band liked a lot. Īccording to Nicko McBrain, commenting on the single in 'Listen with Nicko Part VI' (as part of The First Ten Years series), the members of Iron Maiden were friends with members of Beckett. On the original release, it is titled 'A Rainbow's Gold'. The song was written by Terry Slesser and Kenny Mountain, respectively the band's vocalist and guitarist. The first B-side is a cover of British progressive rock band Beckett's 'Rainbow's Gold', which was featured on their self-titled album released in 1974. According to Dickinson, the song critically addresses 'the romance of war' in general rather than the Cold War in particular. The atomic clock, set at 12 minutes to midnight in 1972, regressed thereafter among US–Soviet tensions, reaching three minutes to midnight in 1984 – the year this track was released – and at that time the most dangerous clock reading since 1953.

In September 1953 the clock reached two minutes to midnight, the closest it ever got to midnight in the 20th century, when the United States and Soviet Union tested H-bombs within nine months of one another. The song title references the Doomsday Clock, the symbolic clock used by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, which represents a countdown to potential global catastrophe. The song attacks the commercialisation of war and how it is used to fuel the global economy ('The golden goose is on the loose and never out of season'), how rich politicians profit directly from it ('as the reasons for the carnage cut their meat and lick the gravy') and how after a war concludes, the world is left in a far worse condition than before the war began, resulting in future wars and the development of more powerful weaponry ('to the tune of starving millions to make a better kind of gun'). The band's first single to exceed five minutes in length, it remained their longest until the release of ' Infinite Dreams' in November 1989.Ī protest song about nuclear war, '2 Minutes to Midnight' was written by Adrian Smith and Bruce Dickinson. It rose to number 11 on the UK Singles Chart and number 25 on Billboard Top Album Tracks. It was released as the band's tenth single, and first from the album on 6 August 1984. ' 2 Minutes to Midnight' is a song by the British heavy metal band Iron Maiden, featured on their fifth studio album, Powerslave (1984). 1984 single by Iron Maiden '2 Minutes to Midnight'

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