Formed in London, England, in 1976, Iron Maiden was from the start, the brainchild of Steve Harris - the bassist. Named after a medieval torture device, the music was suitably heavy and hard on the senses.It was just at this time that a new breed of young British bands began to emerge. This movement, which began to break cover in 1979 and 1980, was known as the "New Wave Of British Heavy Metal" or NWOBHM. Iron Maiden were one of the foremost bands in the genre.

Piece of Mind is one of my favorite Iron Maiden albums, although it is not my most favorite, that would be "The Number of the Beast". Piece of Mind was released in 16th May, 1983 and went on to become a huge commercial success.(U.S. Sales Certification--Platinum ) This was the album where Iron Maiden lineup as we know them got cemented. Nicko McBrain replaced Clive Burr as the drummer completing the lineup of Steve Harris(Bass), Dave Murray(guitar),Adrian Smith (Guitar) and Bruce Dickinson (vocals) that would last through the next four studio albums - the longest stable lineup in Maiden History.
Onto the songs.

WHERE EAGLES DARE:
The album starts with a bang with "Where eagles dare" with an awesome drum intro. This used to be a concert opener for a long time and has a lot of energy. Also makes a good introduction to Nicko's skill and style. It is based on an Alistair Maclean novel, which was also made into a movie starring Clint Eastwood and Richard Burton, about a WWII covert rescue of an American general from a Nazi stronghold in the Bavarian Alps.

REVELATIONS:
This is one of my favorite songs and it starts with the following english hymnal by G.K.Chesterton
O God of Earth and Altar
Bow down and hear our cry
Our earthly rulers falter
Our people drift and die
The walls of gold entomb us
The swords of scorn divide
Take not thy thunder from us
But take away our pride."
G. K. Chesterton; English Hymnal
Dickinson shows why is he is one of the more highly rated singers in heavy metal in this song. The dude flat out sings this one, hitting all the highs and lows!

FLIGHT OF ICARUS:
This song is based on the greek mythological tale of Icarus who tried to escape along with his father Daedalus, from King Minos of Crete. They used wings from wax and feathers to try and fly out of imprisonment. Icarus flew too near the sun, melting the wax that held the feathers, and he fell to his death in the sea. This is an extremely catchy song with a singalong chorus and a maiden classic. Also features a short and sweet solo by Dave Murray

DIE WITH YOUR BOOTS ON:
This song continues in the same vein where flight of icarus left off. Another great maiden riff, with two ripping solos by the axemen - Murray and Smith.

THE TROOPER:
The Trooper is perhaps the most famous and recognisable of Maiden's songs, along with Run To The Hills. It describes a British cavalry charge against the Russian army during the Crimean War (1853-1856) at Balaclava on 25th October 1854, and immortalised by Lord Tennyson's poem The Charge Of The Light Brigade (first published on 9th December, 1854 and reprinted in 1855).Steve Harris' trademark gallop is in full force here.It's an atmospheric song and the power and emotion of this song make it an all-time classic, and one of the best Maiden songs ever!

STILL LIFE:
This song probably became famous because of the backwards message just before Still Life begins. The message is actually Nicko McBrain speaking in a thick accent (actually doing his impression of Idi Amin Dada) and saying:

Hmm, Hmmm
What ho said the monster with the three heads, don't meddle with things you don't understand

The message was mainly intended for the religious bigots who had condemned the band as devil worshippers after their last album - The number of the beast. This is an extremely powerful and compelling song, and for me it represents the climax of the Piece Of Mind album.

QUEST FOR FIRE & SUN AND STEEL:
These two tracks are the weak ones on this album. They are not actually fillers, they are much better than say the nu-metal stuff being churned out by the current bands. But compared to the other songs on the album, they do not pass muster.

TO TAME A LAND:
But Maiden makes up for the two above mentioned tracks with the epic album closer - To Tame a Land.It is based on Frank Herbert's (1920-1986) novel Dune, one of the greatest science fiction epics of all time .The song's lyrics won't make much sense unless you are familiar with the book.
The reason why the song was not called "Dune", as anyone would have expected it to be, was explained during the subsequent tour in support of the album. Bruce gave his view on the matter during a concert in Stockholm, Sweden, on 5th June 1983:

"Next song is all about a gentleman who wrote a science-fiction book called "Dune", this one (...). He's an American called Mr. Frank Herbert, this particular gentleman, alright? And Mr. Herbert, as it turns out, is a bit of a c*?&t actually, because he... among other things he said that if we called this track that we wrote on the album "Dune", that he'd sue us and stop the album coming out, and all kinds of very unpleasant things... So we had to re-title the track which is on the new album, and we had to call it To Tame A Land."
- Bruce Dickinson - Stockholm, 5th June, 1983

Musically however, it is a brilliant masterpiece that begins slowly, breaks into a powerful driving rhythm, and ends with a long and interesting instrumental section , which slowly retreats back to the original opening softness.





Recommended: Yes

Great Music to Play While: Driving