2 Minutes to Midnight
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"2 Minutes to Midnight" is the eleventh single released by Iron Maiden and the first from their Powerslave album. The single was released on 6th August 1984 and rose to number 11 on the UK charts. The song was written by Adrian Smith and Bruce Dickinson.
The song has references to the Doomsday Clock, the symbolic clock used by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. In September 1953 the clock reached 2 minutes to "midnight", the closest the clock ever got to "midnight". This occurred when the United States and Soviet Union tested thermonuclear weapons within nine months of one another. It can generally be interpreted as an anti-war song. The first guitar solo is played by Dave Murray followed by a guitar solo by Adrian Smith.
The b-side "Rainbow's Gold" is a cover song from British progressive rock band Beckett's one and only self-titled album. Adrian Smith played the song's guitar solo. "Mission from 'Arry" (also a b-side) is a recording of a strong argument between bassist Steve Harris and drummer Nicko McBrain. The argument happened during the band's World Piece Tour tour in 1983. During a drum solo by McBrain, Harris began to have trouble with his bass. Harris asked the first person he saw to tell McBrain to extend his drum solo, but the McBrain didn't understand the person's message and got distracted enough to mess up his drum solo. After the show McBrain punched Harris' messenger and so the argument started. Half-way through the argument (when things were starting to cool down), vocalist Bruce Dickinson walked in and started the argument again. What Harris and McBrain didn't know was that Dickinson had a tape recorder in his back pocket.
The video of the song is featured on the video collection Visions of the Beast that was released in 2003. The song can also be found on the soundtrack of .
Track listing
- "2 Minutes to Midnight" (Adrian Smith, Bruce Dickinson) – 6:04
- "Rainbow's Gold" (Beckett cover) – 4:57
- "Mission from 'Arry" – 6:43
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