By the time they released
Piece Of Mind in 1983, Iron Maiden were already a household name in the heavy metal scene. The runaway success of their two previous albums,
Killers and
Number Of The Beast had given them much-needed mediatic exposure.
Number in particular had put Maiden in a very favourable position within the underground. They had managed to obtain an excellent singer in Bruce Bruce Dickinson (formerly of Samson) and the more focused songwriting managed to obtain the publics appraisal. However, there were still some edges to be smoothed. Those edges were dealt with on
Piece Of Mind.
First of all, yes,
Piece Of Mind is indeed the album that features
The Trooper, perhaps Maidens best-known song. However, it would be entirely inaccurate to merely reduce
Piece to that one song. The whole album is so good and balanced that, by doing that, one would be doing it a disservice.
Actually, a very rare thing occurs in this album: there are absolutely no weaker tracks. Every track is a potential hit, and while most have been criminally forgotten by the tides of time (
Sun and Steel, anyone?) others have gone on to gain their place in Maiden history.
High points in this album are a dime a dozen.
Where Eagles Dare is a battering ram of an intro track,
Flight Of Icarus is pure heavy metal and
Still Life is one of the best metal ballads on offer. As for the two more forgotten tracks,
Die With Your Boots On and
Sun And Steel, theyre top-caliber hardnheavy songs that deserved to have been classics. And then theres
The Trooper, which shadows everything else under its instantly recognisable intro lead. The album closes with a long, more progressive track called
To Tame A Land, that is seven minutes long but doesnt feel like such.
As for the musicianship, it's tight, with both guitarists (at the time, Iron Maiden were a five-piece) delivering scorching yet melodic solos. As for Steve Harris, his playing style is among the most recognisable in the music scene, and Nicko McBrain provides solid backup in his debut as the Maiden drummer (he was formerly in french hardrockers Trust). But the real winner here is Bruce Dickinson's performance. Much more controlled than on his frantically high-pitched debut on
Number, Bruce gives a lesson on how to sing good heavy metal. His collocation is perfect, and although most of the time he wanders in a middle-pitched register, he occasionally shows that he can climb up the octaves scale, too (which, of course, everyone had gathered from his performance in the previous album). This attention to detail only adds to the overall quality of the album.
And so we have come to the point in the review where I usually discuss the albums downsides. But since there arent really any, Ill cut this review short and recommend straight away that all you metalheads go out there and get this one NOW!
