Author: Rok Klemše
Artist: Iron Maiden
Label: EMI Records
Release: 1983
Right around the corner from The Number of the Beast, Piece of Mind was already waiting in 1983. If The Number of the Beast was still a kind of bridge or transition between Iron Maiden’s NWOBHM era (Iron Maiden and Killers) and the Dickinson era, Piece of Mind delivered that true epic Iron Maiden sound. Piece of Mind is the first real step in the development of the classic Maiden sound as we know it from the eighties, and the lineup on this album is a classic too. Shortly after The Number of the Beast came out, Clive Burr left the band over “musical differences”, and luckily Nicko McBrain quickly stepped in. Burr is a great drummer, best known for his raw energy, but in my opinion Nicko’s precision and drumming finesse top him. Fans prove as much, too: they warmed to Nicko right away, and his lovable schnoz quickly became the band’s second mascot. The classic, legendary Maiden lineup stayed unchanged in this form for almost eight years and recorded a cult trio of heavy metal albums. Piece of Mind was originally titled Food For Thought, but it soon got a more refined name. Another fun fact: the original plan was for our favorite monster to meet a grisly end, but the lads thought that was too cruel. So Eddie got “just” a lobotomy. Nicko’s arrival let Iron Maiden perfect their style down to the last detail: Dickinson’s soaring vocals, artillery-barrage drums, classic guitar melodies and Harris’s galloping bass turned Piece of Mind into the best-selling Maiden record up to that point.
The new guy in the band naturally had to prove himself, and what better way than the intro to the record? Poor Nicko spent a whole day sweating over a drum intro and put together an extremely complex piece. Harris wanted something simple, Nicko played him a few patterns, and that’s how we got the great intro to the album opener, Where Eagles Dare. Its lyrics are based on Alistair MacLean’s cult war novel from 1967, which was turned into a well-known film the following year with Richard Burton and “Clint” Eastwood in the leading roles. Instrumentally it’s a real little epic masterpiece: the riffs and chords are totally simple, yet they build an incredible war atmosphere, backed up by the sound of machine guns in the instrumental section. The solos are proper epic treats, and Dickinson takes the song to a whole other level with flawless, epic vocal lines. One of the best opening tracks ever, and sadly one we hear live far too rarely. Dickinson’s half-ballad Revelations slows the album’s tempo down, with fantastic, deep lyrics that Bruce stitched together from bits of Christian mythology and the occult themes of his beloved Aleister Crowley. Lyrics that practically beg for deeper exploration and reflection couldn’t have found a better home than Revelations, a song full of mysticism, incredible melodies, an excellent bass line and acoustic guitars with an air raid siren watching over them. Another eternal classic, which is followed without mercy by yet another. Flight of the Icarus is of course tied to the Greek legend of the mythological first flyer. Dickinson did admit they bent the story a little and turned it into an allegory about youthful rebellion against authority, but that makes it no less brilliant. Flight of the Icarus kicks off with a fantastic combination of guitars and groove bass, cut through by a heavenly vocal line, followed by an incredibly epic, infectious chorus. It’s more than obvious the song was written for a wider audience, but if anyone knows how to write a good catchy, mainstream tune, it’s Iron Maiden. The instrumental section, with its timeless, dreamy solos, is more than excellent, though it could have been a bit longer. One of my favorite tracks is the dynamic Die With Your Boots On, one more proof that you can make art out of simple things. True, it’s not among the best songs, but the simple structure is effective and sticks in your memory fast. Die With Your Boots On is about the expectation of an apocalyptic future, a topic that was all too relevant in the Cold War era when the song was written. With The Trooper, Maiden continued their run of war songs. Thanks to its killer opening riffs, one of the best-known moments in metal history, The Trooper became one of the band’s most famous songs, and it’s certainly the first association when Piece of Mind is mentioned. The song, about the senseless slaughter of the light cavalry in 1854 during the Crimean War (1853-1856) between Britain and Russia, flawlessly captures just one of many examples of generals playing with human lives, with pure, raw energy and power and a harrowing lyric. The event was recounted in the excellent poem The Charge of the Light Brigade by Lord Tennyson (Bruce borrows his verses when introducing The Trooper at gigs: “Cannon to the right of them/Cannon to the left of them/Cannon to the front of them/Volley’d and Thunder’d!”). The Trooper is a timeless metal classic and one of the best Iron Maiden songs ever! Next up, Maiden treat the purists who accused them of Satanism by sticking the spoken-word bit back at the start of Still Life. Who else but a slightly tipsy Nicko doing his impression of dictator Idi Amin Dada: “What ho said the t’ing with the three “bonce”, do not meddle with things you don’t understand…” But the lads soon get serious and, with Still Life, deliver one of the album’s most beautiful moments. The dreamy, melancholic atmosphere and divinely sung lines perfectly capture the theme of the lyrics, about someone obsessed with spirits in the water who eventually joins them. Many suggest the lyrics refer to Clark Ashton Smith’s novella Genius Loci, or Ramsey Campbell’s short story The Inhabitant of the Lake. Either way, it’s one of the best tracks on the album, with a mighty atmosphere and incredible energy. Sadly, the streak of six fantastic classics ends with Quest For Fire, which is based on the 1981 film of the same name by Jean-Jacques Annaud. Quest For Fire is mostly spoiled by its brainless lyrics, which we’re not exactly used to from Maiden; otherwise it’s a pretty solid song, with a catchy melody and a pretty good but also average chorus. An even weaker song is Sun and Steel, with otherwise interesting Dickinson lyrics about the legendary samurai Miyamoto Musashi, said to be the greatest swordsman of all time. No wonder Dickinson picked him for the lyrics, but even that doesn’t change the fact that it’s a very average song that doesn’t deserve such good company. For that reason, neither of these two songs has ever been played live. But if this duo disappoints, Harris makes up for it across the board with the off-the-charts epic closer of the record, To Tame a Land. The song was originally supposed to be called Dune, after Frank Herbert’s brilliant sci-fi series, but the gentleman in question wouldn’t allow the name to be used. I hope Herbert regretted it, may he rest in peace, because this is a brilliant masterpiece from the first second to the last. To Tame a Land opens with a slow, calm, dreamy intro with an oriental flavor that explodes into a driving rhythm, which tips over into a heavenly instrumental section inspired by the classical piece Asturias by Spanish composer Isaac Albéniz, and ends with a calm finish again. Lyrically, too, To Tame a Land is a lovely tribute to an epic saga, one that will seem far-fetched to the uninitiated, but will transport those in the know straight to Arrakis, among the Fremen and the sandworm riding. You couldn’t ask for a better closer to a great album!
Piece of Mind is Maiden’s most mature release up to that point, and it became a timeless heavy metal classic. It would very likely have gone down as the Maiden lineup’s best release, too, had the two fillers been left out or swapped for better replacements. Still, it’s one of the boldest and brightest moments of Iron Maiden’s career, and honestly of metal as a whole, one that set the legends even more firmly on the metal throne, where they remain today, despite a few missteps.
Lineup
Bruce Dickinson – vocals
Steve Harris – bass
Dave Murray – lead and rhythm guitar
Adrian Smith – lead and rhythm guitar
Nicko McBrain – drums
Production
Martin Birch
Tracklist
1. Where Eagles Dare 06:13
2. Revelations 06:48
3. Flight Of Icarus 03:51
4. Die With Your Boots On 05:26
5. The Trooper 04:12
6. Still Life 04:57
7. Quest For Fire 03:42
8. Sun And Steel 03:27
9. To Tame A Land 07:25
