Iron Maiden – Piece Of Mind

Great Iron Maiden album. Especially the song: The Trooper has it all. Great artwork, one of iron maiden's best albums in my opinion. It's fun putting the record on.

Sounds excellent frankly. What surprised me more is that the recent reissue I own of this album sounds nearly as great, though this original press remains slightly better.

Of the early Dickinson era, _Piece of Mind_ (1983) may well be Iron Maiden’s most underrated album. This is somewhat excusable when you consider that it was preceded by _The Number of the Beast_ (1982) and followed by _Powerslave_ (1984), two of the band’s most popular records. The latter is, in fact, my favorite Dickinson album, and Maiden’s second best; _Killers_ (1981) will always be #1 for me. But back to _Piece of Mind_. Of the tracks it contains, “The Trooper” is the one that has best stood the test of time. “Where Eagles Dare” is also relatively well known, as it is included in _A Real Dead One_ (1993). Then there’s “Flight of Icarus”… and that’s pretty much it. I don’t think many Maiden fans would recommend this album to someone who wants to sample the band’s music. And yet, this is a fantastic album, the hidden gem in Maiden’s excellent (sorry about that adjective) discography. It is also the band’s most referential album.

Iron Maiden are known for their literary and cinematic allusions. Their masterpiece, in my opinion, is “Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” based on the poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. There are many others: “Lord of the Flies,” “Out of the Silent Planet,” “The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner,” “Phantom of the Opera,” “Murders in the Rue Morgue”… the list goes on. And no, “Sanctuary” has nothing to do with Faulkner’s novel. When it comes to _Piece of Mind_, almost all of its songs are based on--or allude to--a work of literature or cinema. The only exception, as far as I know, is “Die with Your Boots On.”

I have just revisited this album, which I heard for the first time 21 years ago. I will comment briefly on each of the songs.

* Where Eagles Dare: based on the 1968 war film starring Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood, it celebrates the courage and determination of a group of Allies who raid a castle where the Nazis are keeping an American prisoner. One of the album’s longer tracks, “Where Eagles Dare” sets the tone thematically speaking. The main concept in _Piece of Mind_ is that of struggle.

* Revelations: a more mellow and melodic piece, this one opens with a stanza from “A Hymn,” by the immortal G. K. Chesterton. The song, which was written by Dickinson, tells a mythical story about “the one who will be King,” “the watcher of the Ring.” The cryptic narrative is reminiscent of the biblical book of Revelation, also known as the Apocalypse. One of Maiden’s best and most underrated songs, if you ask me.

* Flight of Icarus: based on the classical myth that you may find, for instance, in Ovid’s _Metamorphoses_. Icarus flew with the wings that his father, Daedalus, fashioned for him. They were glued with wax, however, and when Icarus flew too close to the sun, the wax melted, he lost his wings, and fell to his death. Smith and Dickinson reinterpret the myth, as they urge Icarus to fly “like an eagle” and “touch the sun.” One should follow one’s dreams, the song seems to say, even in the face of death.

* Die with Your Boots On: a fast-paced song on the topic of war. Great chords, good lyrics. This is one of those songs that you love to listen to, but compared to the rest of the album it seems a bit superficial.

* The Trooper: the classic, based on Tennyson’s “The Charge of the Light Brigade.” “On this battlefield no-one wins.” “I plunge on into certain death.” “As I lay forgotten and alone, / Without a tear I draw my parting groan.” The song describes the futility of war *and* its apparent inevitability. The riff is one of Maiden’s most memorable and recognizable.

* Still Life: what a haunting song. I keep thinking about the poor guy who sees people in the bottom of a pool, asking him to join them… In spite of the album’s cover and title, this is the only song in _Piece of Mind_ that deals with mental instability. Doesn’t this song foreshadow “Fear of the Dark”? The structure, the shift in tempo, the guitar melody in the stanzas… Bruce’s voice is perfect here. The song is based on the 1964 short story “The Inhabitant of the Lake,” by J. Ramsey Campbell, an author in the tradition of H. P. Lovecraft. I have not read the story, I’m sorry to say, but plan on doing so soon.

* Quest for Fire: based on the 1981 film of the same title, which takes place in prehistoric time. Another example of the theme of struggle, in this case the struggle for life, as the characters search for fire.

* Sun and Steel: though the title comes from a book by Yukio Mishima, the song draws from the life of Miyamoto Musashi, the swordsman who wrote _The Book of Five Rings_. The album’s shortest song, this one has only two stanzas. The outstanding element here is the catchy chorus. “Life is like a wheel.”

* To Tame a Land: following the example set in _The Number of the Beast_, the band closes the album with an epic piece. (They would continue this tradition in _Powerslave_, _Somewhere in Time_, _Fear of the Dark_, and, maybe, though definitely with less impressive results, _No Prayer for the Dying_.) In this case, we are treated to material from Frank Herbert’s _Dune_ (1965). This may not have been intentional, but the melody prefigures the Egyptian theme of _Powerslave_.

Great albums don’t necessarily become important albums. I find _Piece of Mind_ more enjoyable than its immediate predecessor, but _The Number of the Beast_ is undoubtedly more “important,” as it was the first Iron Maiden album to feature Bruce Dickinson. _Powerslave_ is musically superior to _Piece of Mind_; I won’t deny that. But why does _No Prayer for the Dying_ get more attention than _Piece of Mind_? If I were to rank Maiden’s albums, _Piece of Mind_ would be #4, after _Killers_, _Powerslave_, and _Seventh Son of a Seventh Son_. Just my opinion. The process by which an album becomes a classic often has nothing to do with the album’s quality. It has more to do with the circumstances that surround it: with context rather than text. The fact that _Piece of Mind_ is not a classic doesn’t make it any less pleasing and memorable.

Steve Harris is back in my living room....this LP sounds amazing. had to turn down the volume a bit. this is the real deal!

This made in Holland edirion sounds amazing. The sound is big, fast, heavy, warm, transparent and crisp.

One of Maiden's very best, so many great songs and riffs ! Up the Irons !

The pressing is excellent, but the album is shite. I loved it when i was a kid, but that's how it sounds to me now; like children's music.
Hasn't aged well, Black Sabbath they ain't

I have a 2018 Brazilian Issue : CD, Album, Reissue, Remastered, Repress, Digipak AB0000300

couldn't be happier with sound, rich, dynamic, just like it would be in my fantasy

This is a killer pressing and sounds killer too. Just get it and enjoy it.