PIECE OF MIND

The second of the Classic Three. This album took Maiden to yet again the next level. Production-wise the sound is a bit grittier than what came before and what would come next, but it just adds to the overall sound. Bruce's voice is becoming even more amazing than the previous album. He hits notes no man could touch in rock before (he'd surpass himself in following albums) The prog influences show more on this album than before as well.

The album opens with one of the best songs on the album Where Eagles Dare. Intricate drums are one of the highlights. Extremely melodic guitar parts carry the song. The middle instrumental section is so powerful and builds great tension, VERY Genesis-like in this song. The vocals aren't really a big part of the song since Dickinson sings very little on this song, but the climatic end to the song, Bruce sings so emotionally that you know right away, this a great song.

Revelations and Flight of Icarus are excellent tunes, again, very epic and melodic. Catchy melodies all around, you can't escape them. Great harmonies in the vocal department as well, especially on FoI, which leads right into...

...THE TROOPER! Easily the best song on the album and probably Maiden's most well known song. Sure they play it live a lot (like EVERY show since this album came out) but if you've heard the song, you know why. Everything is perfect on this song. Best melody, galloping bass riffs, fantastic solos from both Smith and Murray, and of course one of Dickinson's most shining moments "OOOH OH OH OH WHOAH OH OH AH OH". Classic.

The second half isn't 'as' good as the first, but doesnt say much, since it still consists of excellent material.

Still Life, Quest for Fire, and Sun and Steel are great metal songs, sometimes actually playing in a major key, which adds a different sound to the overall "Maiden Sound". Nothing is wrong with these songs, they just dont live up to The Trooper's superiority.

The last song is the epic To Tame a Land. This is a dark song, quite the opposite from the previous 2 or 3 songs. The bass is the feature on this track, playing some haunting melodies with the guitars counterpointing the basslines. It ends a bit anit-climatic but still a great song.

Essential of Maiden's catalouge, for The Trooper and Where Eagles Dare alone, but the rest of the albums owns as well.

GET!

2.5 stars really!!

With finally a stable line-up for a few albums to come, with Nico McBrain (ex early-Pat Travers Band drummer), the group has now a steady drummer, the Maiden will now produce a series of classic 80's metal (which I must recognize is not really my cup of tea), even though one can say that right from the debut, they are all masters in the genre.

With Dickinson instantly recognizable voice, the group sails smooth seas, cruising speeds that can be only envied by other NWOBHMB, IM is just content on convincing already conqured metal public. The least we can say is that with this album, Maiden is not on to break new ground (they never were, but with this one even less than other albums of theirs), so this album has an "already-seen" flavour that makes us casual fans wonder why we actually would consider buying YET ANOTHER Maiden album. Indeed, there is nothing new under the metallic sun. The usual two or three shorter tracks (Flight of Icarus, The Trooper, Sun And Steel) to provide potential hits (the first one anyway), longer material to provide a bit of dramas veering towards what complacent fans will call mini-epics (nothing over the 7.5 minutes though) and a few lower quality fillers: one has to learn not to overflow an album of ideas so there are more for the next albums to come (hey career consultancy exists in metal groups also). Yes they got their formula down pat: they even allow for the odd extremely well placed slow intro to give a breathing space to the young metalhead in between the riff-erama heaven that every young male into tough music only dreams to reach. Maiden's professional attitude is to achieve this on a few occasions per record, something that most of their peers could simply not match.

I usually cannot listen ton such an album in its entirety without developing a start of a migraine, this was the case already when I was in my 20's, but is certainly more the case nowadays. Which is why compassionate progheads are welcome to express their sympathies in a sealed envelope (along with consequent financial gratitude ;-) after I put up with two recent listening session of this album in order to write this review.

So Maiden with not invent hot water and in case they did invent lukewarm water, it was rather by accident rather than by an adventurous approach: every step of this album is well-thought out, but that quality is also its weakness: no surprise, no real fun, just business as usual. By winning without risks, one triumphs without glory. Lacklustre for me, but triumphant for convinced fans, the choice is yours.

Iron Maiden produced a really professionally recorded heavy metal album here: the sound is VERY sharp, the tracks are structured, the instruments are more synchronized than ever, the tones are crystal clear, and the electric guitars are REALLY razor and disciplined. The drums are outstanding, especially on "Where eagles dare". Harris' bass is, as always, fast, restless and very elaborated: he sometimes plays catchy & melodic patterns of high notes, like on "Die with your boots on" and "Quest for fire". There are MANY MELODIC and clean guitar solos. The previous "Number of the Beast" album sounds less crystal clear. Dickinson's lead & backing vocals are very good and catchy, like on "Sun & steel", "Quest for fire" and "Flight of Icarus". The very structured "To tame a land" can be classified as a metal prog song. "Piece of mind" as only a few more mellow moments, like some bits on "Revelations" and "To tame a land". ALL the tracks are excellent. The album sounds a bit like "Powerslave", except the tracks here sound more varied. "Piece of mind" is one of their best albums.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

My first introduction to Iron Maiden only happened in year 2000 when I was listening to M97 - The Classic Rock FM radio station in Jakarta, Indonesia, while I was driving. I immediately called the station and got the song title and artist: It was "Flight of Icarus" from Iron Maiden "Piece of Mind". What an excellent song! To me, music is emotion and "Flight of Icarus" was successful in creating that emotion to me regardless the sub-genre of the music - and I didn't care, really. So I purchased the CD and I played track 3 repetitively - probably 6 to 8 spins only for track 3. Why do I like the track? It's really great music combining excellent guitar riffs, dynamic bass lines and great double guitar work. The vocal part is really clean and powerful. And of course. the chorus line is so memorable ."Fly on your way, like an eagle. Fly as high as the sun, on your way, like an eagle. Fly and touch the sun.". Wow! What a great music segment this one is!

It was quite a big shock to me that this band is finally featured here at this site. I actually consider the band as a hard rock / metal band as most of its structure are straight hard rock music. But it's okay .. again .. music is emotion, my friend! Why debating "prog or non prog?" Just enjoy the music full stop. And this "Piece of Mind" is definitely a hard rock music with good rhythm section and powerful vocal line. As I knew the band quite late - about 20 years after its inception (of course I heard the name but I never heard the music as I don't like its cover - so boring to me). I'm not the right person to talk about who's who Iron Maiden is but for sure I like this album.

Having listened to track 3, finally I made an attempt to listen to other tracks and I was quite surprised that there are good tracks as well. The opening track "Where Eagles Dare" (6:11) resembles good composition with double guitar work in which each guitar player contributes different kind of style. It reminds me to Wishbone Ash as well. I start to enjoy this album as this opening track is a good one to enjoy. "Revelations" (6:48) continues similar style as opening track with double guitar fills at opening part. The music moves with nice guitar riffs combined with nice chorus line where guitar fills are really good.

"Die With Your Boots On" (5:29) is another good composition with soft guitar riffs. "The Trooper" (4:11) is the band's classic where it was also used as Metal program music for the M97 FM Station. This song has a powerful and memorable riffs and excellent music flows using guitar that serves dual roles. "Still Life" (4:53) is probably a track with some prog touch - at least at its structure which contains "curved" segments. "To Tame a Land" (7:27) is to me like an epic with long form music and varied styles. The composition is good and it has a balanced combination of hard and soft parts - all are delivered with powerful vocal and nice double guitar work. This is not to miss for any of you who love rock music. Keep on rockin' ..!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

Piece of Mind is the sophomore effort with Bruce Dickinson in the band. The band continues to write solid metal music here. All the elements of Iron Maiden are here, but I have a problem with it. There's no progression, no adventure. It just sounds as if Iron Maiden just threw a bunch of songs of the same style, making this album non-essential.

Where Eagles Dare is a rare excellent opener, as many openers are just a typical catchy fast paced metal song. Yes, it's fast paced. Yes, it's catchy, but this one is also an excellent piece of music, with interesting riffs and an extended guitar solo. Revelations is another long song. It's well done and all, but it just doesn't grab me that much. Maybe the riffs are not as imaginative as they were in the previous albums. Same goes for Flight of the Icarus , but I have to admit that the chorus is interesting, with the vocal harmonies and the drum beats that are introduced when the vocals go "Like an eagle." Die with your Boots on also sounds like anything that's been done before, with uninteresting riffs and solos, but this one is worse because of the horrible vocal harmonies present. Fortunately, the next song redeems the worst song. The Trooper is easily the best song of the album, with a genius use of double guitars, insanely catchy guitar riffs, wonderful rhythms, superb guitar solo, and the sublime harmonized chorus hook. Still Life is a nice straightforward song that has better riffs and ideas (like the mellow intro) than the songs preceding "The Trooper." The next two songs are unremarkable but To Tame a Land , while not on the same level of Phantom of the Opera, is a very strong mini-epic with a mellow intro and solid songwriting. There are many brilliant musical moments throughout this song and if I'm not mistaken, Harris called it the best song he has ever written, at least up to that point.

The reason to get this album is mainly the great opener, the epic closer, and the short perfection that is "The Trooper". The rest ranges from poor to good. There are many other albums you could buy instead of this one, but if you are a fan of the band and possess their best album, it won't hurt to get this.

In the liner notes the band says "No synthesisers or ulterior motives". And they also say "To all the headbangers, earthdogs, hell rats and rivetheads everywhere-THANKS". This record is one of my desert island discs. And I agree with greenback that the big difference between this one and "Powerslave" is the variety found on "Piece Of Mind".

"Where Eagles Dare" is truly an amazing song with Nicko's drumming really standing out. And of course Bruce's vocals are incredible throughout. I still remember driving along side the Niagara River approaching the Falls on our honeymoon on a hot and humid afternoon with this song absolutely blasting out of car. Ah, the good old days. "Revelations" has a lot of tempo changes. Starting out slowly but powerfully things accelerate quickly when Bruce yells "go". There are such beautiful guitar melodies in this song as well as the galloping rythym that IRON MAIDEN is famous for. There is a scathing guitar solo after 4 minutes. Excellent !

"Flight Of Icarus" has a thunderous intro of bass and drums that is ground shaking. There is a screaming guitar solo and the song ends with "the human siren" belting it out. "Die With Your Boots On" is a straight ahead rocker with vocal harmonies from the rest of the band. Great guitar solo 3 minutes in.This song gets better as it goes. "The Trooper" starts off running, and the guitar melodies are some of the best these ears have ever heard. The melody is galloping now and Bruce's vocals are powerful, this can't be played too loud. "Still Life" opens with a change of pace, even Bruce's vocals are reserved. But this all changes rather quickly as pounding drums introduce an uptempo melody the rest of the way. "Quest For Fire" is a good song about the cave man days, with an atmospheric guitar solo. "Sun And Steel" is a straight forward rock tune with a galloping rhythm. "To Tame A Land" is an amazing song ! It's really a journey with great lyrics. There is a guitar solo over top of the rhythm of heavy drums and bass as the tension builds.

I can't recommend this album high enough, this is classic MAIDEN !

The Number of the Beast, along with the first two albums, had cemented Iron Maiden as one of the leaders of the NWOBHM movement. The addition of Bruce Dickinson had ushered in an entirely new approach for Maiden; rather than Di'Anno's punky growl, the band now had a singer who could give the vocals an operatic bent, soaring above the thunderous noise of the guitars and drums. This resulted in Maiden soon diverting from more striaghtforward traditional metal to the fantasy-themed power metal, which they would soon conquer. Piece of Mind shows the completion of the classic lineup with new drummer Nicko McBrain. His inventive yet simple kitwork would complement Steve's galloping basslines like no previous drummer could. It also marks the full lyrical transtion to fantasy lyrics which had only been in a few Maiden songs up til that point. Bruce adds his Purple and VDGG influences to Steve's already strong songwriting to make some of the best fantasy lyrics in power metal.

The album opens with "Where Eagles Dare." Nicko wastes no time in announcing that he is the new Maiden drummer with the best performance ever heard on a Maiden song. Likewise, Bruce's performance is also his best. The song's chugging mid-tempo riff grabs you from the start and refuses to let go.

"Revelations" continues Bruce's strong performances. Amazingly he sounds even better than he did on Number of the Beast. It's very melodic and is another Boblical reference (remember the title track from NotB).

"Flight of Icarus" is the first of three straightforward rockers that comprise the middle of the album (think of Run to the Hills and NoTB from the last album, but ass on). This is a vocal stunner, with Bruce hitting some very high notes. It brings the tempo of the album back up to a mid-level chug.

"Die With Your Boots On" is where the trademark gallop comes in. This is very starightforward, but it's an addictive track with a catchy chorus.

"The Trooper" has Steve's best bassline, and it's one of his finest performances. The song deals with a soldier (duh) who is mortally wounded in battle. This song is a Maiden classic.

"Still Life" has a creepy intro complete with backwards speaking. The vocals are great, and this really varies the triple punch of the album's middle.

"Quest For Fire" and "Sun and Steel" are a little weak. They are straightforward but lack the punch of Die With Your Boots On and Flight of Icarus.

"To Tame a Land" is a great mini-epic closer that is very dark. The guitars here are the best on the album, though not as good as the fretwork that would be on their next opus.

This album is almost as good as its successor Powerslave, though this album is more varied than their magnum opus. This is Bruce Dickinson's album. His vocals here are a good portion of his best work. His lyrical contributions have ensured that Piece of Mind cements the band within power metal. Nicko mcBrain is the next most significant member; his inventive bass drums and cymbals making Maiden more progressive than it ever was. Maiden and metal fans must own this album along with everything Maiden has made from the debut through 7th Son, then from Brave New World on. Proggies, however, will find this album too straightforward.

Grade: B

This is one of the greatest bands of all time, the gods of Heavy Metal and maybe Prog? No, you ask me about the Progness of the great gods of Metal, but really I must admit, this album is actually quite Progressive, but not yet to the point of great Progressive Metal like Dream Theater, Pain of Salvation or even Opeth.

This album kicks off with the energetic song, Where Eagles Dare and catches you right into its catchy, intense Heavy metal riffs along with Bruce Dickinson's amazing presence. The album of course contains two of the most famous Maiden songs, being Flight of Icarus and the Trooper being the more popular one. I must admit, these popular, catchy Iron Maiden songs is what catchiness these days in popular music needs. The album intensifies at Still Life, one of my favorite Maiden songs of all time. Such a great tune and a fitting climax to the album.

The album ends with Quest for Fire, Sun and Steel and to Lame a Land, all very good songs, and had a huge helping hand in influencing many developing Power Metal bands.

This album might not be as progressive as some of Maiden's later albums, but this album is a turning point in Maiden history due to the enormous turnaround in the band's sound and material. This is a landmark nail in Maiden history and also one of their best albums, despite it being not Progressive.

This album is highly recommended for all fans of Metal and is a good addition for all music listeners.

4- Metal listeners 3- Prog Listeners

I've finally heard this album enough times as to be ready to share my thoughts about it. Even though it was released after THE NUMBER OF THE BEAST, I review it now because I just got it a few days ago.

PIECE OF MIND marked the debut in Iron Maiden of now-legendary drummer Nicko McBrain. He replaced Clive Burr who had to leave the band due to personal problems (later he would develop a physical illness, and Iron Maiden have proved their worth by helping him in this hours of need). His style is quite similar, though I'd say McBrain's drumming is even more precise, accurate, and more virtuosic. The trademark ride- cymbal rhythm that McBrain loves to do (when he actually follows the hits of the bass drum) is incredibly simple but for me they bring a special flavor to the Beast's faster tracks (where it's usually used). The addition couldn't be more fortunate, as McBrain is really the ideal drummer for the British metal machine.

The music itself is only slightly more developed than in the previous album, but at the same time, it isn't. There are better textures and some interesting ideas, plus the recording for sure sounds way better. But there aren't really great songs as "Hallowed Be Thy Name" was in the preceding record. There are a couple of really weak songs, something that actually represents a decline in quality from the not-brilliant but at least bad-songs-free NUMBER OF THE BEAST.

Where Eagles Dare (8.5/10) As if to say "Hey, we have a new drummer", the album kicks off with a drum intro by McBrain. What unfolds is a very enjoyable track that is among the classics from the band and that, surprisingly, wasn't one of the first singles from the album. From the start the drummer shows that he's no amateur, and this, his first appearance in a Maiden album, proves that he's precise, accurate, creative. The bass work is great, as is the guitars'. The instrumental section flies and flies above our heads, and the lyrics remind us of the film of the same name with Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood where two ally spies got into a Nazi fortress high on top a hill. The solo takes us to those heights, and the song succeeds. Surprise: another good opener for an Iron Maiden album.

Revelations (8.5/10) This one starts slowly, as if carrying some extra weight, then it gets more melodic, even more pensive, and then the onslaught of energy comes. It doesn't last long, as the melodic section arrives again. Good performance by Dickinson, a good song, it may lack some hooks but it's powerful and heroic nevertheless.

Flight of Icarus (7/10) One of the singles of the album, I don't see why this is one of the band's usual live songs. The chorus is certainly epic, but could be better. What IS epic is Harris' work, magnificent for such a slow-tempo song. This track doesn't deserve its fame, in my view, though that doesn't mean is bad. Is just not great.

Die With Your Boots On (5.5/10) As I said, this album has a couple weak tracks. This one starts promising, with good energy and a good riff, but then the obnoxious chorus strikes and ruins everything. And, to make matters worse, it appears and reappears again and again. A simple heavy metal track in Judas Priest's vein, I don't like it at all.

The Trooper (9/10) What a change! The main riff, melody of this song is legendary stuff, the kind that surely makes every fan in a Maiden concert tremble and want to scream out loud along with The Beast. Sadly the song doesn't have a chorus that would've make this a true anthem, (the song just has NO chorus at all) but the energy and the memorable opening make it the best in this record.

Still Life (7.5/10) This one starts softly, atmospherically, a conversation between all the electric-string instruments. Dickinson joins the dialogue as an intruder but his great vocals make him a star in the debate. The song never gets anywhere, but it's enjoyable. Nothing amazing, though. Forgettable.

Quest for Fire (6/10) This very short song has a weird beginning where we expect something much faster and then we get a rather mid-tempo rhythm, with Dickinson hitting an awkward falsetto that just doesn't fit him that well. An average song, with no interesting features, but nothing offensive neither. Mediocre.

Sun and Steel (6.5/10) An even shorter song, it starts with energy but no originality. The chorus is just weak, sounds slightly cheesy. Another forgettable filler. The solo is good enough to kick the rating up a notch.

To Tame a Land (6.5/10) The beginning is quiet, reminds us of the glories of "Hallowed Be Thy Name". The main verse isn't fantastic, the riff is not interesting. One of the few weak closers by The Beast, it leaves our minds just seconds after it got in. I expected a great short-epic conclusion, I got all that without the "great" part. Near the end, when it gets faster, some of the grace is saved, and we left the PIECE OF MIND experience with somewhat of a mixed feeling, not knowing what to make out of the last uneven track.

All in all, a disappointing album, specially coming after such a classic as THE NUMBER OF THE BEAST. While that album wasn't perfect either, every song on it was at least decent. Here we have a few advances towards progressiveness but also we take a few steps back towards boredom. For sure, this and NO PRAYER FOR THE DYING are in a battle to decide which one is my least favorite Maiden album. PIECE OF MIND wins, but just by a hair. And, to be more precise, because of a "Trooper".

Recommended for: Hardcore fans of Maiden. Completionists. And also to non-fans who want to have Maiden's best songs and can't get a hold of a Greatest Hits with "The Trooper" on it.

.there would not be any peace of mind without that song in your collection, that wouldn't be a true feast of the Beast.

A solid metal album progressing on the framework created by "Number of the Beast", this one features more experimentation in song structure as well as varying tempos and moods, the final result being one of Maiden's most celebrated works. From the soaring chorus of "Flight of Icarus" to the duel-guitar assault of "Trooper", metal heads will find lots to love; for my own part, the fantasy lyrics and dynamic composition of "Revelations" is the standout track, with the moody "To Tame a Land's" growing climax close behind. Although clearly the spiritual successor to the more interesting "Number of the Beast", "Piece of Mind" holds its own because of its sheer enthusiasm and energy. Deservedly one of the band's most entertaining classic albums which won't dissapoint.

Songwriting 3 Instrumental Performances 4 Lyrics/Vocals 4 Style/Emotion/Replay 3

Peaced together

Iron Maiden's fourth album had the unenviable challenge of following on from the highly regarded "Number of the beast". The album sees the band attempting to add greater development to their songs, thus taking them beyond mere heavy rock.

The familiar aggression is still there of course, Steve Harris combining with new drummer Nicko McBrain to provide the long lasting powerhouse rhythm section. After the typical all guns blazing start with "Where eagles dare", "Revelations" has a surprisingly Wishbone Ash like feel. The twin lead guitars and slightly slower but variable pace combine to make for a highly satisfactory prog influenced number.

"Flight of Icarus" is clearly more commercially orientated, the massed vocal chorus being designed to form an anthem for the masses to join in with. "Die with your boots on" is the weakest of the bunch here, being a very ordinary single paced piece of rock metal with banal lyrics - If you're gonna die, die with your boots on. If you're gonna die just stick around. Gonna cry, just move along, if you're gonna die, you're gonna die..

"The trooper" continues the theme of death on the battlefield in an upbeat frenzy. Just another unremarkable Iron Maiden song really. "Still life" misleadingly sets out as a soft number, opening with backward spoken vocals then harmonised lead and acoustic guitars combining effectively. Soon however we are into more orthodox Maiden territory, the track leading off a trio of shorter IM standards.

The closing "To tame a land" was inspired by the "Dune" novels. It is similar in structure to "Revelations", being a slightly more complex, but nonetheless totally identifiable metallic rock tale.

In all, a good album which will satisfy the Iron Maiden faithful. The album contains a couple of well arranged and performed longer pieces which make it a worthwhile acquisition. There are however a number of disappointingly prosaic songs which appear to have been churned out in by the numbers fashion.

Derek Riggs superb sleeve illustration once again makes the clear case for LP sleeves over CD booklets.

Iron Maiden is a heavy metal band hailing from England, that has become a household name for anyone with a slight interest in hard rock and heavy metal during the 27 years they have released music so far. Piece of Mind was their fourth studio album, released back in 1983.

Many fans, especially their older fans, think this album is the high point of the bands career. Which is understandable, for many reasons. Piece of Mind was the first studio release with what by most is seen as the classic Iron Maiden line-up; Dickinson-Murray-Smith-Harris-McBrain. On this album they take a final goodbye to the more obvious musical influences from the past; and for the most part have a very strong personal identity stamped to the music made.

And although the band seek out some calmer and mellow moods on this album, the music is clearly heavy metal from start to finish. Examples of the progressive leanings they would explore further on later releases can be found; especially on second track "Revelations"; but most of all this is a heavy metal album high on melody, a good balance between riffs, riff pattens and drawn out guitar chords to form melodies; some really nice harmonic and melodic guitar soloing, and at times beautiful and imaginative underscoring of the melody line from Steve Harris on the bass guitar. With excellent rhythms courtesy of Nicko on the drums, and mostly good vocals from Dickinson.

The songs are a mixed affair on this release though. The band seems to have decided what direction to follow at this time, but still seem to be exploring how to best utilize their musicianship in this style. Some really cheesy choruses are to be found here too; that probably sounded much better in 1983 than they do in 2007. There's quite a few goodies on this release though; and for many "The Trooper" is the absolute highlight on this release; a track combining the best parts of the sound Iron Maiden pursued before 1983 with some of the best parts the band would pursue after 1983.

I would lie to you if I told you that this Maiden album is drastically different from the previous ones. From a pure hard-rock debut, the evolution towards almost full heavy metal is now finalized.

There will also be some attempts to develop more elaborate songs as if the "Purple" shadow was still hanging above their heads. But these are not truly convincing. Neither "Where Eagles Dare", nor "Revelations".

While "Killers" was a bomb from start to finish, this album is slower paced. More AOR-oriented which is not necessary a good news. "Flight of Icarus" is one example and is only saved by a great guitar break. One of my fave is the fully hard-rocking "Die With Your Boots On". Energetic, aggressive and powerful. Traditional Maiden. Finally.

This album won't feature lots of great stuff. The band has released much better than this album. IMO, it is their weakest effort so far. These crazy beats are almost forgotten, few great guitar breaks (like in "Still Life" - well named!). I guess that Maiden maniacs are still pleased with this delivery but I can't be too laudatory about it.

Still, "Quest Of Fire" or "Sun & Steel" are more in accordance with my Maiden expectations (especially the latter which takes up again with their wildest rock music). Last numbers are stronger (a casting mistake maybe). The closing (and longest) being the best one IMO.

But it is not enough to make this album unforgettable. Just a good heavy metal one. Deserving an average rating of five out of ten on my rating scale.

Oh yes, I was about to forget. One advice for progheads maybe : stay away of this album, since you would hardly find ten seconds of whatever progressive music you could think of.

Three stars.

Piece of Mind is the fourth album from Iron Maiden, and it is often forgotten as it is placed between two very essential albums in Iron Maiden´s discography namely The Number of the Beast and Powerslave. Piece of Mind is not to be forgotten though as there are many great songs on the album. It´s the album where Bruce Dickinson began to put his mark on the songs and he even contributed to the song writing here too. This is also the first album with new drummer Nicko McBrain who has replaced Clive Burr.

The album starts with the powerful Where Eagles Dare where Bruce Dickinson sings in the very high end of his considerable register. The man is just a fantastic singer. It´s a very good opener and an enjoyable song. Revelations which is a song written by Bruce Dickinson follows and it´s a very beautiful yet at times heavy song. I must admit I prefer the live version from the Live After Death album which is a bit faster paced but the original version on Piece of Mind is also very good. Then comes Flight of Icarus which is a very melodic and majestic song. It´s another classic Iron Maiden song. Side 1 of the original LP ends with Die With Your Boots On. Even though this is considered an Iron Maiden classic I have always found it below standard, and it´s the song on Piece of Mind I like the least. The only thing I enjoy about Die With Your Boots On is the beautiful guitar solo.

Side 2 of the original LP starts with one of the ultimate Iron Maiden classics in The Trooper, fast paced and melodic riffing drives this song forward. Bruce sounds very inspired here. The Trooper is definitely one of the highlights on Piece of Mind. Still Life is another favorite of mine. It´s kind of a different sounding Iron Maiden song and maybe that´s what I like about it. It certainly helps the variation on the album. It´s a very melodic song and it has some great guitar solos. Quest for Fire is a mid tempo song which I never thought was anything special. It´s allright though. I appreciate Sun and Steel just a notch more, but it´s definitely not the best song here either. The last song saves the last star for Piece of Mind as I have always loved the epic To Tame a Land. It´s another favorite of mine. It´s a very melodic and majestic song with lots of double lead guitar action and solos. I think it´s on par with other epic Iron Maiden songs like Hallowed By Thy Name, Alexander The Great and Rime of the Ancient Mariner.

I have only positive things to say about Iron Maiden as musicians. They are all very well playing and their compositional skills are very high too.

The production is not the best Iron Maiden production, and I prefer both The Number of the Beast and Powerslaves´s productions to this one, but it´s allright and of course much better than anyone else could conjure up in heavy metal in 1983.

To sum up this is an excellent album filled with classic Iron Maiden songs. There are a few weak moments on Piece of Mind, but generally it´s an excellent album. I wouldn´t call it progressive even though songs like Revelations and To Tame a Land does have progressive tendencies. That doesn´t make it a bad album though and I will rate it 4 stars

In a time when 2.5 ruled the earth...

See! See! I TOLD you this was going to happen! What the crap is this? I'll tell you what this is! This is dull, dull, eighties radio metal! In their attempt to keep putting out unstoppable metal albums, Iron Maiden has stripped away all their uniqueness that made me fall in love with the band, and reduced themselves to a third rate heavy metal band.

Piece of Mind is not quite the career low I make it out to be, but it's just such a disappointment. A disappointment I could see coming a million miles away, but a disappointment nonetheless.

"Where Eagles Dare" is a fairly lifeless piece of radio metal. Toe-tappin' fer sure, but it lacks the memorability and energy of all other Maiden openers thus far, and about halfway through, I loose interest. "Revelations" tries to fool you with a moody intro, but it's not much better. It speeds up a little towards the middle, which is cool, but hardly enough to save it.

"Flight of Icarus" at least sounds a little more like the band wants to play it, but as soon as that picks up, Dickinson starts to remind me why I think he's an irritating little Dio-wannabe. But, hey, at least it's short and headbangin', and that's all I can ask for at this point.

"Die With Your Boots On" is also a little more energy laden, but it's also fairly mindless with the warfare imagery (seriously, what's up with the screwy vocals?). Especially when it's paired up with "The Trooper," the album's best, and only classic number. A great galloping bassline and artillery mimicking percussion frames a truly headbanging look at the Charge of the Light Brigade. Only from Iron Maiden; too bad they can't keep it up.

Backwards "hidden" vocals certainly can't save "Still Life," which tries to go all moody and powerful, but just ends up sounding like a bad Number of the Beast outtake. At least here I can tell that they're really trying to be intelligent and tricky (it's not H.P. Lovecraft related, is it?), but c'mon! It's just not very good is all.

Now, "Quest For Fire" is just plain fun, since the strong opening riffage is immediately followed by the line: "In a time when dinosaurs ruled the earth!" Oh yeah. It's THAT good. Sadly, any cool music that could come from the song (and it's one of the more decent offerings) is swamped by the subject matter. "Sun and Steel" is slightly less embarrassing, and a solid, if not terribly original sounding, Dungeons and Dinosaurs metallic offering (it's about swords!).

Ah, but we've saved the least for last. "To Tame a Land" is the most pointless Iron Maiden epic to date. The moody intro is actually effective, but it quickly dissolves into unimaginative Arabic riffage that just ponders on and on and on over its seven minutes without ever actually really doing anything. C'mon guys! I could write a better epic about sand worms in five minutes...

So the basic problem with Piece is that, when the Maiden try to create something purely headbangin', it comes out cheap. All the "lesser" material on the album is something that any number of bands, from which I expect far less, could produce. And they'd probably do it better too. Aha! But when they try and do something intelligent and recapture their earlier glory, they fall flat on their faces (is it any wonder than Frank Herbert didn't let 'em actually name "Too Lame a Land" after one of the Dune novels?).

I mean, of course the classic Maiden sound is here, which is most of why I give it so "high" a rating. Everything thumps along with the standard "Maiden formula," so I don't mind the noise that's coming out of my stereo, I just wish it had been...you know, attached to tricky solos, or cool lyrics, or...crap, how about a memorable riff here or there, huh? Would that kill you?

Perhaps it would. Most of the time, it sounds like only Dickinson is keeping faith in the band, and sometimes, even HE sounds as lifeless as the rest of the musicians. Luckily enough though, Steve Harris was a smart enough lad that he able to use this dreadful album as a springboard to catapult him to Powerslave. I mean, can't you hear the start of "Powerslave" in "To Tame a Land," and "Two Minutes to Midnight" in "Die With Your Boots On?" Surely I don't have to point out "Where Eagles Dare" and "Aces High"...

How Steve-o was able to pull a minor metal masterpiece like Slave out of this Piece of Crap is beyond me, but just be glad he did. Skip over this one, download "The Trooper" and go right to Slave, for your own good.

Piece of Mind continues some of the commercial metal tendencies of the preceding Number of The Beast but this time Maiden was blessed by a thundering blast of inspiration, energy and ambition.

The opening Where Eagles Dare is one of the best tracks they've ever written and displays a stunning musical growth and maturity. This is their first song that goes beyond competent hard-rock and explores the proggy aspects of earlier masters like Rainbow and Judas Priest. Everything Maiden does here had been done before them but they pull it off well enough. Also Revelations is a very powerful and accomplished piece. Plenty of references to Rush here, the quote from Anthem at minute 4 being the most obvious.

The following three tracks, Flight of The Icarus, Die With Your Boots On and The Trooper are catchy and commercial but have that typical Maiden style with those galloping rhythms. With Still Life, Maiden launches into 3 other songs that are less appealing, featuring their trademark riffing but rather predictable anthemic choruses that lack the inspiration of the previous batch of songs. The album ends in great style with the superb To Tame A Land.

Piece of mind is not entirely consistent but the 2 opening tracks and the album closer balance out the run of the mill material in the second half.

Iron Maiden - Piece of Mind (1984)

By now Iron Maiden had become one of the biggest metal-acts of the globe and expectations were high for the fourth release. Iron Maiden changed their style a bit by excluding the rock'n roll/punk of the Paul Di'Anno era. Also Nicko McBrain enters the band, giving Iron Maiden some new grounds to explore. The band originally named the album 'Dune', but they didn't get the rights to do so.

Where Eagles Dare is an interesting track with great drums of McBrain and atmospheric guitar parts. Still this track isn't as convincing as other Iron Maiden opening tracks. Revelations is however one of my favorite track ever. The track was written by Bruce Dickinson and has a very un-orthodox form. There are many instrumental and vocal parts and a lot of extrovert vocals by Dickinson. The clean-guitar with melodic bass-line part in the middle and ending of the song is memorable. Love this one! Flight of Icarus had been released as a single, but turns out to be a great Iron Maiden song. The guitar solo's on the end are great! Die With Your Boots On is great metal-track, but not as appealing as others. The Trooper needs little introduction: It's an Iron Maiden anthem with great instrumental parts (and a perfect two-part guitar solo in the middle!) and aggressive vocals by Bruce. Still Life is even better with it's nice atmospheric and fearsome vocals and melodics parts. Quest for Fire and Sun and Steel are two less inventive tracks and the reason some discard this album. The songs are fun, but just not as good as other songs. To Tame A Land is however one of the best Iron Maiden epics with perfect instrumental parts and inventive songwriting. The bass is very good on this song.

Conclusion. This album has some of Iron Maiden's best songs and some mediocre tracks. Still it is a very good album for fans but perhaps less interesting for others. I will give it three stars, but my personal opinion of the album is higher. Essential for fans, interesting for metal fans and perhaps a good addition for others. For those who embrace the digital era I recommend to listen to To Tame A Land, Revelations, Still Life and The Trooper.

* I've listened to this album some more, and I must say it is worth at least four stars. There are to many favorite Maiden tracks on this one.

The followup to the "Number of the Beast" is a lacklustre effort with some shining moments, but a whole bunch of forgettable tracks that nobody cares about anymore. However this album does have the excellent 'Flight of Icarus' that is perhaps one of the all time great metal tracks of the 80s. The film clip was wonderful eye candy and you can never forget that awesome chorus, or the riff that drives it.

Back in the 80s I remember seeing many IM posters of songs from this album primarily 'The Trooper' with Eddie looking very paramilitary. Also 'Where Eagles Dare' and 'Die With Your Boots' had the same anti-war thematic content; a theme that IM would continue on subsequent albums including the more recent "A Matter of Life and Death".

'Revelations' has the same themes as 'Number of the Beast' that began with a reading from Revelation in the Bible.

'To Tame a Land' is a lengthy track with memorable riffs and a brilliant lead break from Smith and Murray with Harris's bass driving it along. The track was covered recently by Dream Theater and sounds as relevant today as in the early 80s. Overall this album has some great moments and deserves 3 stars at least.

Fly as High as the Sky!

After becoming heavy metal legends with their previous album The Number of the Beast, Iron Maiden proved they were far from out of ideas with Piece of Mind. Released just a year after The Number of the Beast, Iron Maiden had already changed significantly by this point. First of all, on this album Bruce Dickinson's creative influence begins to really shine through. He co-wrote many of the tracks on Piece of Mind, and even wrote one of the songs with no help from the other bandmates. He's a fantastic songwriter, and it's great to hear that he's leaving his mark on Iron Maiden's music. Secondly, this is the debut of now-legendary drummer Nicko McBrain. Clive Burr is a great drummer and I have an infinite respect for him, but Nicko McBrain is simply one of the best heavy metal drummers out there. He really is a key part of Iron Maiden, and a complete monster behind the drumkit as well.

The sound here is unmistakably Iron Maiden. Although there have been some changes in Iron Maiden since The Number of the Beast, their sound is generally the same. Of course, judging by the immense critical and commercial success of their previous masterwork, that's definitely not a problem. Piece of Mind shows Iron Maiden incorporating a few more prog influences into their sound, but that wouldn't happen completely until Powerslave.

Piece of Mind is a 9-track, 44:38 album. All of the songs here are pretty great except for maybe Still Life, which is decent. Die With Your Boots On and Sun and Steel are far from Iron Maiden's best, but they're still decent tracks. This is one of Iron Maiden's more inconsistent albums, but highlights like Where Eagles Dare, Revelations, The Trooper, and To Tame a Land make Piece of Mind an essential Maiden album.

Like most Iron Maiden albums, the musicianship is possibly the best part about the music. They are an exceptionally tight-playing group of virtuoso musicians, and Piece of Mind was when they really began showing this. On this album they acquired one of the best heavy metal drummers out there (Nicko McBrain), in addition to already having some of the best musicians in metal.

The production quality on Piece of Mind is great. I love the organic sound, yet dynamic enough to display Iron Maiden's powerful music. This isn't quite as good as Powerslave production-wise, but it's still definitely among the better heavy metal productions. By 1983 many bands were using "that terrible 80's sound", but Iron Maiden, thankfully, were never one of them.

Conclusion:

Piece of Mind is yet another great album by Iron Maiden, and even though it's not quite as good as The Number of the Beast, it deserves the 4 star rating just as much. It's really a shame that many people overlook this album since it's between two seminal albums (The Number of the Beast and Powerslave), because it really is just as good as those releases. Highly recommended to all NWoBHM fans.

Part two of the so called Iron Maiden album trilogy, Piece Of Mind is another album filled with familiar hits like Where Eagles Dare, Flight Of Icarus and The Trooper, but is it really all that the fans make it out to be? Let's dive in and see!

The biggest change, this time around, is the fact that the band have managed to fully utilize Bruce Dickinson's vocal style and use it to their advantage on each of these nine tracks. This is also the first of the many album's featuring Nicko McBrain on drums, thus completing the classic Iron Maiden lineup that would last for the remainder of the decade. Things just couldn't be any better... too bad that I don't share the same perception of this album.

The best way to summarize this record is by calling it Iron Maiden playing it safe. The band literally never leaves their comfort zone throughout this entire album. Everything is just so cozy and annoyingly predictable that I honestly get bored while listening to the material. Why call an album something as thought provoking as Piece Of Mind when it's everything but that! The only track that actually has the potential of breaking outside the generic formula is the Dune-inspired mini epic To Tame A Land, but even this composition manages to waste a lot of it's expanded 7+ minute time frame by stomping on the same old ground as always. Let's just say that Rime Of The Ancient Mariner it is not.

I really don't feel like wasting too much time on describing this release since the fans are already well familiar with it's contents while everyone else could do much better by picking up the two Paul Di'Anno-era albums or the two albums that proceeded Piece Of Mind. Yes, Steve Harris does another outstanding job and the Murray/Smith dual guitar action is getting tighter by the minute, but what is it all for when the material is so thin and uninspired? A definite improvement over The Number Of The Beast but not that much more.

**** star songs: Where Eagles Dare (6:11) Revelations (6:48) Flight Of Icarus (3:51) The Trooper (4:11) Still Life (4:53) To Tame A Land (7:27)

*** star songs: Die With Your Boots On (5:29) Quest For Fire (3:42) Sun And Steel (3:26)

Piece of Mind is a just a shade less impressive than its predecessor, The Number of the Beast, for two reasons. The first is that it's more of the same - rather than representing a sudden and impressive development of the band's sound, as the earlier album did, the album simply showcases the band continuing to make the most of Bruce's impressive vocal abilities and developing their prog-influenced song structures. The other reason is that whilst there's plenty of great songs here, there isn't a standout hit quite on the level of the title track from Number of the Beast.

But these are mild quibbles at best; the fact is, with tracks like To Tame A Land, Where Eagles Dare, Flight of Icarus and Die With Your Boots On, this is another key Maiden album which proved that their new musical direction was not exhausted yet.

Clive Burr left due to personal issues and ended up trading places with Nicko McBrain in the band Trust. Nicko's arrival signified that the classic IRON MAIDEN lineup was complete and he more than had the chops to add yet another layer on an already impressive sound making them one of the best and most successful heavy metal bands in history. Eddie went insane from hanging out with Satan too much and had to be institutionalized and kept in a padded cell.

PIECE OF MIND picks up where the previous album left off and continues with similar inspirations including....

Literature: "To Tame A Land" from "Dune," "The Trooper" from "Charge Of The Light Brigade."

Film: "Where Eagles Dare," and "Quest For Fire."

Mythology: "Flight Of Icarus" and "Revelations."

There is also a backwards hidden message on "Still Life" which they included to freak out those who were constantly accusing them of being Satanists. The recording is actually a backwards rendition of Nicko McBrain uttering "What ho said the t'ing with the three 'bonce', do not meddle with things you don't understand...", followed by a belch.

This is one of my all time favorite albums. The album is absolutely phenomenal in how it flows from one track to the other keeping it varied, keeping it intense and stimulating not only your headbanging needs but also your intellectual appreciation for well-crafted lyrics. The chemistry of this band is nothing short of magical.

The ONLY complaint I have about this album is in the song "Quest For Fire" where Bruce operatically insists that dinosaurs walked the Earth at the time man was questing for fire. This chronological faux pas has been a pet peeve of mine since the day I first heard this, yet an extremely minor blemish on an otherwise magnificent masterpiece of metal that just happened to be my very first IRON MAIDEN album.

After the high school content of this album's predecessor and a bumpy relationship with the early Maiden faithful who saw Paul Di'Anno an essential ingredient, this tight offering showed the band's new chemistry knitting beautifully with a now fully developed formula for clever and original progressive heavy metal. They would also become, by far, the hardest working band in the world. Just look at the tour schedules from the late '80s. There's a reason Iron Maiden got so big.

The lyrics are also improved, with less death, rape and mayhem, and more adventure, myth and warfare. A salute to the fearless British fliers of WW II is a vengeful opener in triplet with IM's signature dual guitar harms and Dickinson pulling highs not human in nature. Greek drama 'Flight of Icarus' and sacrificial 'Die with Your Boots On' could've been expanded upon but it's back to business for 'The Trooper' with this lineup at their best, and equally good 'Still Life' reminding of the first two albums. No stride broken in 'Quest for Fire', its Cimmerian imagery and Celtic jigs, the band peaking here with probably the best thing on the album, followed by Saxon-esque and very nice 'Sun and Steel' and totally killer prog number 'To Tame a Land'.

Like a trusted old friend who always brings the goods, Maiden was there with quality heavy music that didn't recognize the climate at a time when most metal bands were finished or too embarrassing to acknowledge. An institution that deserves every bit of credit they get.

Iron Maiden had pretty big shoes to fill after the overwhelming success that their previous album, Number Of The Beast was, to meet the potential that they so clearly had, to many, potential already completely realised. In my opinion, this was not the album to show the incredible talent that was to come or what came before, and stands as my least favourite classic Iron Maiden album. While certain aspects were improved, such as having a grittier, heavier production and a few songs that were more involved, the overall consistency of the album is much lower, having some genuinely bad songs mixed in with the gems.

Where Eagles Dare starts off the album in a way that shows what to come, a mixed bag. I feel that this song goes on for too long without enough variation, the drumming is high energy and incredibly good, and the rest of the instrumentation is just as high quality. Another issue I have outside the fairly repetitive nature of the song is that the vocals sound unusually washed out. Revelations puts the album on track directly afterwards however, filled with amazing riffs, great vocal melodies, and a lot of power all put into this slower paced song. The interplay between the main guitar riff and the bass is definitely my favourite touch in this song however, sure, the rest is great, being varied and highly emotional, but this little detail right here is really what pushes the song even higher, showing amazing intricacy in everything played. If it weren't for The Trooper, Flight Of Icarus would likely be my favouirte single the band had put out during their classic era, the mid paced galloping riff and the absolutely majestic vocals of Bruce, complete with the perfection of the chorus and an awesome lyrical subject matter. The Trooper mamages to be an even better single however, containing may of these elements, but being much faster and more anthemic. While usually being one to feel indifferent to the "woaaaahh" type vocals, it works incredibly well here, and is definitely what brings the song together. Another major highlight is the closing track To Tame A Land, just like with Hallowed Be Thy Name it contains a more proggy structure, the closest thing to a chorus or hook being the guitar riff played after every few lines. The song has a strong middle eastern tinge to it and some good ideas that bleed through, definitely a decent closer, even if it doesn't match up to the perfection of Hallowed Be Thy Name.

If the album had songs on this level all the way through, then it'd be easily one of Maiden's better albums, but while Die With Your Boots On is pretty decent, Still Life, Quest For Fire and Sun and Steel are all quite poor and make it incredibly hard to enjoy this album holistically. Still Life's problem all comes down to being incredibly dull to me, starting off in an interesing and eerie way, before devolving into mediocrity and underwhelming hooks. Quest For Fire is even worse, which is expected when the opening lyrical line is "In a land where dinosaurs walked the earth" while singing about cavemen... yeah. It doesn't help that the vocal delivery here is so absurdly operatic that it crosses into being utterly hilarious, like, I find it impossible to not laugh at this song, doesn't help that it's generally a pretty awful song anyway, being so painfully cheesy. Sun And Steel is better than Quest For Fire, but is just a very barebones, rudimentary metal song, and I find it to be quite lacking in charm and character.

WIth a bit of reworking, this album could have been something amazing, it's just unforutnate that there are songs like Quest For Fire and Still Life mixed in with Revelations and The Trooper. While this album contains a strong set of highlights just like Powerslave, it also has the same issue as it in terms of missing the mark in quite a number of tracks, difference being that the highlights here aren't quite as strong for the most part, and the low points are far lower. Iron Maiden's classic period post Number Of The Beast displayed a gradual progression into absolute greatness, and as the starting point of this progression, it's clear that there'd be some issues with the album for sure, still an enjoyable listen, but not even close to my first pick when it comes to this amazing band.

Best songs: Revelations, Flight of Icarus, The Trooper

Weakest songs: Quest for Fire, Still Life, Sun and Steel

Verdict: Not a bad album by any means, containing a number of amazing metal tracks, but unfortunately also contains some really low quality songs, making this an enjoyable, but ultimately flawed and inconsistent listen.