"Aces High" is a song by English heavy metal band

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. While fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harri ...

, written by the band's bassist Steve Harris. It is Iron Maiden's eleventh

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

release and the second from their fifth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

, ''

Powerslave ''Powerslave'' is the fifth studio album by the English heavy metal band Iron Maiden, released on 3 September 1984 through EMI Records in Europe and its sister label Capitol Records in North America. It was re-released by Sanctuary and Columbia ...

'' (1984). The first B-side is a cover of

Nektar Nektar (German for ''nectar'') is an English progressive rock band formed in Hamburg, West Germany in 1969, by guitarist and lead vocalist Roye Albrighton, keyboardist Allan "Taff" Freemon, bassist Derek "Mo" Moore, and drummer Ron Howden. H ...

's "King of Twilight", from their 1972 album ''

A Tab in the Ocean ''A Tab in the Ocean'' is the second album from German-based English progressive rock band Nektar. English Heavy metal music, heavy metal band Iron Maiden covered the song "King of Twilight", also mixing in parts of "Crying in the Dark" creatin ...

''. Their cover is actually a medley of the songs "Crying in the Dark" and "King of Twilight", the last two songs on the album. The Japanese 12" was mixed with the B-side covers from "The Trooper" and "2 Minutes to Midnight" singles.

Song information

The song's lyrics are written from the viewpoint of a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

fighting during the

Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain, also known as the Air Battle for England (german: die Luftschlacht um England), was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defende ...

(1940), the first military engagement to be fought entirely with aircraft. The artwork depicts the band's mascot,

Eddie the Head Eddie (also known as Eddie the Head) is the mascot for the English heavy metal band Iron Maiden. He is a perennial fixture of the group's artwork, appearing in all of their album covers (as well as most of their singles) and in their merchandise, ...

, in the cockpit of a

Supermarine Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Grif ...

, one of the principal aircraft to participate in that battle. "Aces High" is one of Iron Maiden's most popular songs, and has been covered numerous times. It is featured in the video game ''

Madden NFL 10 ''Madden NFL 10'' is an American football video game based on the National Football League that was published by EA Sports and developed by EA Tiburon. The 21st installment of the ''Madden NFL'' series, it is the first game to feature two players o ...

'', the MTV show ''

Nitro Circus ''Nitro Circus'' is an "action sport collective" led by Travis Pastrana, featuring his friends and him traveling around the world riding dirtbikes, BASE jumping, and performing stunts. Co-founded in 2003 by Pastrana, Nitro Circus has become a m ...

'', and

Steve Peat Steve Peat (born 17 June 1974 in Chapeltown, South Yorkshire), nicknamed "Sheffield Steel" or more commonly just "Peaty", is a professional downhill mountain biker who was born and lives in Chapeltown, Sheffield, England. Prior to his career a ...

's segment in the mountain bike film ''New World Disorder III''.

Colin McKay Colin McKay (born August 29, 1975) is a Canadian professional skateboarder who is widely recognized for his involvement with the original Plan B Skateboards "superteam" (bunch of OG's) as well as the subsequent relaunch of the brand in 2005. E ...

used the song on his part of the skate video ''Plan B Questionable''. It can also be found in the soundtrack of the game '' Carmageddon II: Carpocalypse Now''.

Live performances

"Aces High" is frequently used as the opening song for Iron Maiden concerts. As seen in concert videos such as ''

Live After Death ''Live After Death'' is a live album by English heavy metal band Iron Maiden, originally released in October 1985 on EMI in Europe and its sister label Capitol Records in the US (it was re-released by Sanctuary/Columbia Records in the US in 200 ...

'' and '' Iron Maiden: Flight 666'', it is usually preceded by

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...

's "

We shall fight on the beaches "We shall fight on the beaches" is a common title given to a speech delivered by the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom on 4 June 1940. This was the second of three major sp ...

" speech with the sound of planes in the background. Churchill's speech was also included at the beginning of the song's music video. In a 2014 interview with ''Q'' magazine,

Gerard Way Gerard Arthur Way (born April 9, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter, and comic book writer. He is best known as the lead vocalist and co-founder of the rock band My Chemical Romance. He released his debut solo album, ''Hesitant Alien'', i ...

said that "the live version of 'Aces High' off the ''Live After Death'' album was the song that first made iminterested in performing live." "Aces High" has been performed on five Iron Maiden Tours (''

World Slavery Tour The World Slavery Tour was a concert tour by the heavy metal band Iron Maiden in support of their fifth album, ''Powerslave'', beginning in Warsaw, Poland on 9 August 1984 and ending in Irvine, California on 5 July 1985. Background The tour w ...

'', ''

The Ed Hunter Tour ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

'', ''

Somewhere Back in Time World Tour Somewhere Back in Time World Tour was a concert tour by the Heavy metal music, heavy metal band Iron Maiden in 2008 and 2009, focused on the band's 1980s material, in particular songs from ''Powerslave'', ''Somewhere in Time (Iron Maiden album) ...

'', ''

Maiden England World Tour The Maiden England World Tour was a concert tour by Iron Maiden, which began on 21 June 2012 in Charlotte, North Carolina and ended on 5 July 2014 with a performance at the Sonisphere Festival at Knebworth, UK. The tour's setlist was largely ba ...

'' and ''

Legacy of the Beast World Tour The Legacy of the Beast World Tour was a concert tour by British heavy metal band Iron Maiden, named after the comic and mobile game released by the band in 2017. Described as a "history/hits tour", Iron Maiden manager Rod Smallwood has revealed ...

''). It was the opener to all five tours in which it was performed except for the Maiden England World Tour where it was moved to the encore.

Track listing

;7" single ;12" single ;Japanese and Brazilian 12" maxi single

Personnel

Production credits are adapted from the 7-inch vinyl, and 12-inch vinyl covers.> ;Iron Maiden *

Bruce Dickinson Paul Bruce Dickinson (born 7 August 1958) is an English singer who has been the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden from 1981 to 1993 and 1999–present. He is known for his wide-ranging operatic vocal style and energetic stage ...

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

* Dave Murray -

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

Adrian Smith Adrian Frederick "H" Smith (born 27 February 1957) is an English guitarist best known as a member of heavy metal band Iron Maiden, for whom he also writes songs and performs backing vocals both live and in the studio. Smith grew up in London ...

- guitar * Steve Harris -

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

Nicko McBrain Michael Henry "Nicko" McBrain (born 5 June 1952) is an English musician, best known as the drummer of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden since 1982. Having played in small pub bands since 1966 from the age of 14, McBrain paid his bills after grad ...

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

;Production *

Martin Birch Martin Birch (27 December 19489 August 2020) was a British music producer and sound engineer. He became renowned for engineering and producing albums recorded predominantly by British rock bands, including Deep Purple, Rainbow, Fleetwood Mac, W ...

– producer,

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

Derek Riggs Derek Riggs (born 13 February 1958) is a contemporary British artist best known for creating the band Iron Maiden's mascot, "Eddie". Career Born in Portsmouth, England, Riggs is a self-taught artist, both in his traditional painting and in his ...

– cover illustration

Appearances

* A version recorded in the summer of 1996 by

Arch Enemy Arch Enemy is a Swedish melodic death metal band, originally a supergroup from Halmstad, formed in 1995. Its members were in bands such as Carcass, Armageddon, Carnage, Mercyful Fate, Spiritual Beggars, The Agonist, Nevermore, and Eucharist. ...

was – as guitarist

Michael Amott Michael Amott (born 28 July 1969) is a Swedish guitarist, founding member of the metal bands Arch Enemy, Spiritual Beggars and Carnage, as well as a former member of Carcass. He is the older brother of Christopher Amott. Amott was ranked No ...

observed in the

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes. Origin Liner notes are desce ...

to ''

Wages of Sin ''Wages of Sin'' is the fourth studio album by the Swedish melodic death metal band Arch Enemy. It is the first Arch Enemy album to feature the vocals of Angela Gossow. It is also the first album they use Standard-C tuning, which they still use ...

'' (on which the cut reappears) – "released on the Japanese Iron Maiden

tribute album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records coll ...

''Made in Tribute''. This one turned out really intense, and was easily one of the better songs on a really terrible collection of Iron Maiden cover versions." * It was covered in 2005 by

Jeff Scott Soto Jeff Scott Soto (born November 4, 1965) is an American rock singer of Puerto Rican descent. He is best known for being the vocalist on Yngwie Malmsteen's first two albums, and (briefly) the lead vocalist for Journey in 2006–2007. Soto also sa ...

(

Yngwie Malmsteen Yngwie Johan Malmsteen ( ; born Lars Johan Yngve Lannerbäck, 30 June 1963) is a Swedish guitarist. He first became known in the 1980s for his neoclassical playing style in heavy metal, and has released 22 studio albums in a career spanning ov ...

Nuno Bettencourt Nuno Duarte Gil Mendes Bettencourt (born September 20, 1966) is a Portuguese-American guitarist, singer-songwriter, record producer, and businessman. He became known as the lead guitarist of the Boston rock band Extreme. He has also recorded ...

( Extreme),

Billy Sheehan William Sheehan (born March 19, 1953) is an American musician. He is best known for playing the bass guitar with acts such as Talas, Steve Vai, David Lee Roth, Mr. Big, Niacin, and The Winery Dogs. He is also known for his "lead bass" playing ...

( Mr. Big,

Niacin Niacin, also known as nicotinic acid, is an organic compound and a form of vitamin B3, an essential human nutrient. It can be manufactured by plants and animals from the amino acid tryptophan. Niacin is obtained in the diet from a variet ...

), and

Vinny Appice Vincent Samson Appice (born September 13, 1957) is an American rock drummer best known for his work with the bands Dio, Black Sabbath, and Heaven & Hell. Of Italian descent, he is the younger brother of drummer Carmine Appice. Career Appice ...

(

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath were an English rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy met ...

, Dio) – drums on the tribute album

Numbers from the Beast This is a list of albums recorded in tribute to the British heavy metal music, heavy metal band Iron Maiden. ''The Maiden Years Volume 1 – Tribute to Iron Maiden'' ''Made in Tribute: A Tribute to the Best Band in a Whole Goddamn World! ...

. * It was covered in 2006 by

Concord Dawn Concord Dawn is a New Zealand drum and bass group, active since mid-1999, consisting of Matt Harvey (aka Matty C). Until 2010, Evan Short was one half of the group. They were courted by local electronic music label Kog Transmissions and release ...

(featuring State of Mind) on the album Chaos by Design. * It was covered in 2006 by

The Iron Maidens The Iron Maidens are an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, formed in 2001 as an all-female tribute act to English heavy metal band Iron Maiden. The band currently consists of drummer Linda McDonald, bassist Wanda Ortiz, lead vocalist ...

on the album

* It was covered in 2008 by

Children of Bodom Children of Bodom was a Finnish melodic death metal band from Espoo. Formed in 1993 as Inearthed, the final line-up of the group upon their split in 2019 consisted of Alexi Laiho (lead guitar, lead vocals), Jaska Raatikainen (drums), Henkka Sep ...

on the album Skeletons in the Closet. *It was covered in 2011 by

Reinxeed Majestica (formerly ReinXeed) is a Symphonic metal, symphonic/power metal band from Boden, Sweden. They were formed in 2000 by vocalist Tommy Johansson (musician), Tommy Johansson. They are influenced by soundtrack focused films such as ''The Lor ...

on the album 1912. *It was covered in 2020 by Japanese metal band

Nemophila ''Nemophila'' is a genus found in the flowering plant family Boraginaceae. Most of the species in ''Nemophila'' contain the phrase "baby blue eyes" in their common names. ''N. menziesii'' has the common name of "baby blue eyes". ''N. parviflora' ...

Chart performance

References

External links

Aces High - original video on Youtube
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aces High (Song) Iron Maiden songs 1984 singles Songs about the military Songs about World War II Songs written by Steve Harris (musician) 1984 songs EMI Records singles Capitol Records singles

Song information

Live performances

Track listing

Personnel

Appearances

Chart performance

See also

Notes

References

External links