Once the touring schedule for that album had been completed, the band could concentrate on the writing session for their follow up, something that was going to be a tough ask. The first part of that puzzle had already occurred by this point. Drummer Clive Burr, who had been a staple of the first three albums, had been let go by the band after he had taken a short leave of absence due to the death of his father. Filling in for him while he was away was drummer of the band Trust, Nicko McBrain. On Burr’s return, a meeting occurred where the band had decided that they needed to move in a different direction. What brought this on? There is no definitive answer to this. Several reports at the time suggested it was drugs and alcohol that had caused the separation, but more reliable quotes suggest that Clive and band leader Steve Harris had had too many disagreements and Steve’s patience had run out. Clive was quoted in “Classic Rock” magazine two years before his sad demise from multiple Sclerosis as saying - “Steve used to say I played the songs too fast, he was always telling me to slow down. My abiding memory of recording “The Number Of The Beast” album is Steve telling me to slow down.” There were odd spats, he says, but nothing major, nothing serious. Bruce Dickinson in his autobiography says he felt Clive’s dismissal came from personality conflicts with Steve, but that he had always wished he had been able to stay longer, as his drumming was his favourite of Maiden’s drummers. Without knowing anything for certain, it appears from the outside that when Nicko came in for Clive for those shows, something clicked for Steve Harris and he decided that it was this style of drumming the band needed, and he made that decision to fire Clive and hire Nicko full time. Nicko, of course, has been Iron Maiden’s drummer ever since.
The other major change for this album was that Bruce Dickinson was now officially able to contribute to the writing process. Because of contractual problems with his previous band Samson, Bruce was legally unable to be credited on any of that album’s songs, despite the fact that it was later revealed that he had made significant contributions to the songs "The Prisoner", "Children of the Damned" and "Run to the Hills". Now however he was free to be completely involved in the writing process and be credited for this. It gave the band an amazing set of songwriters in Steve Harris, Adrian Smith and Bruce Dickinson, who were able to write songs on their own but also with each other, something that began to create the amazing template for the Iron Maiden albums of the 1980’s. With Dave Murray also offering his one or two contributions per album, it truly made the band a full unit on the writing front.
When it came ot the writing and recording, the band left UK soil to do both. The writing for the album took place off the coast of France in Jersey in January of 1983, before they moved to the Bahamas to complete that job and then also record the album.
One of the interesting parts about this part of Iron Maiden’s career was the controversy that had come with their previous album and the branding of the band as satanists and devil worshippers as a result. Despite the ridiculousness of those claims, mostly from the conservative religious elements in the US, the band was somewhat branded in some places as a result. On this album, they decided to fight back. In an interlude directly preceding the track “Still Life”, there is an incomprehensible recording, which for all money sounds like it is backwards masking. As it turns out, that is exactly what it is. In order to put the wind up the kind of people who like to protest about ‘this kind of thing happening’ on albums, the band actually recorded Nicko saying "What ho said the t'ing with the three 'bonce', don't meddle with things you don't understand...", and then put it on the album backwards, no doubt driving those that like to protest about this kind of thing mad. And, let’s face it, could there ever be a better way to fight back against that kind of simple thinking than doing exactly this?
There are many elements that still make this a great album. First off, the writing and inspiration of the tracks. For me, I think it is a terrific thing to have so many songs here inspired by stories, either in the written form in the shape of books or poems or short stories, or by movies and the stories told in that art form. And that’s what helps make the songs interesting even 40 years later, because the stories are still there to be told and heard. And then you have the music itself, and the highly developed way it has progressed since their first album just three years previous. Yes, the drums are different because of the change of drummer, that is to be expected. And Nicko is spectacular on this album. But the guitars and the melodic trade off between Adrian and Dave throughout are immense. The switching of solos, the harmony guitars when used, and the amazing rhythm riffs are even more intense and perfectly constructed that they were even on “The Number of the Beast”. And that galloping bass guitar of Steve Harris that is completely unique in metal at the time. All of it combines here to make an unreal album.
And in some places it is just the small things that make it so amazing. The machine guns in the album opener “Where Eagles Dare” are actually just Nicko on his hi-hats. His amazing fills that flesh out the song so much but are often overlooked when it comes to the brilliance of the track itself. Even if you haven’t seen the film that the song is based on, you can almost see it occurring before you anyway as you listen to the song. And Bruce’s vocals lines, into that final high pitches scream at the end of the song is just shivers down the spine stuff. So much air guitaring goes on while this song is played. It is one of the great album openers of all time. This is followed by Bruce’s amazing “Revelations”, which swings between the faster and heavier to the moody and thoughtful, the power of the track being in his own incomparable vocals. His lyrics here, combined from several sources and focusing especially on the writings of Aleister Crowley, are mesmerising, and beautifully expressed.
Many people remained surprised that “Flight of Icarus” was released as the first single from the album, but given its length made it radio friendly, and the verse-chorus-verse-chorus-chorus composition also gave it that radio friendly appeal, perhaps in the long run it was not. Of course, it proved a hit in the US where it reached number 8, so the question is probably moot. Based around the Greek mythology story of Icarus it proved a hit to those who studied ancient history in high school. Side One of the album then concludes with the galloping joy of “Die With Your Boots On”, based on the story of Nostradamus and his visions that many believe foretold the future. Beyond that though, two great guitar solos and that superb bass guitar from Steve Harris drive the song along at the perfect clip and make it one of the best, most underrated Iron Maiden songs in their catalogue.
“The Trooper” is still regarded by most fans as the band’s greatest ever song. Everything about it seems iconic. The cover to the single, the second and final single released from the album, which of course then sold in the millions on T-shirts and posters. The sight of Eddie coming at you with the tattered Union Jack and the sword in his other hand is still one of the most decorated in music history. The amazing combination of the twin guitars on this song is unparalleled, with both Adrian and Dave producing an amazing performance. What makes the song so unique though is the fact that it tells the story of the Charge of the Light Brigade, one of the most famous battles of the Crimean War, and the galloping of Steve Harris’s bass guitar correlates perfectly to the sound of galloping horses, becoming the most iconic of songs as a result. And the sight of Bruce Dickinson standing astride on stage in both the music video for the song, and every night they play it live on stage, completes what is the perfect storm in heavy metal music. 40 years on, it has lost none of its power and standing in the metal world.
“Still Life”, preceded by Nicko’s reverse warning, is another of Maiden’s most underrated songs, and as Dave Murray’s sole co-written track again proves that less can be more. This is a beautifully moody yet melodically heavy track, that builds and wanes perfectly, lulling you into its spell before crashing into the main crunching riff and Bruce’s mood-changing vocals. It is an awesome song, one of my all time favourites with two perfectly played solos again through the middle of the song.
“Quest for Fire”, on the other hand, often gets short shrift when discussed by fans and critics alike. Unlike the other songs here, it seems a fairly simple one, with the only real outstanding feature being Steve basslines, especially through the chorus. Perhaps that is so, and it seems unlikely that anyone would ever put “Quest for Fire” on a pedestal. But to be honest, it never bothered me in the slightest growing up with the album, or now. It is part of the furniture, a song that is a part of Piece of Mind, and that is all that has ever mattered to me. But it is interesting that “Quest for Fire” is often paired up with “Sun and Steel” as being the weak links of the album, and I say interesting because I freaking LOVE “Sun and Steel”. Similar in what many call a ‘simple’ style, I love Bruce’s harmony vocals through the chorus, the melodic guitars especially in the solos, and Bruce’s climbing vocals at the end of the song. I still love it.
What is surely not in dispute is the awesomeness of the album’s closing track, “To Tame a Land”. Based on the novel “Dune” by Frank Herbert, "To Tame a Land" was meant to be called "Dune". They sought permission from Herbert’s agents to do so (much as they had done with Patrick McGoohan for “The Prisoner” on the previous album) but apparently the message they got back as quoted as such - "Frank Herbert doesn't like rock bands, particularly heavy rock bands, and especially bands like Iron Maiden". Thus this epic track is called “To Tame a Land” which to be honest is a much better sounding name for a song of this stature than “Dune”. It is one of Maiden’s most elaborately brilliant songs, amazingly sung by Bruce Dickinson, and then performed by the band itself. Nicko’s drumming is superb and also helps to dictate the mood of the track which is quite a feat for a drummer on this scale. Much like the opening track, even if you don’t know “Dune”, the song paints its own picture and allows you to see everything that the band wants you to see. And it also dictates to you once it has finished that you must turn the album over, and start it all over again.
You may have guessed by now that “Piece of Mind” is an album that I think pretty highly of. I didn’t actually hear the album until the final weeks of 1985, some two and a half years after it had been released. It was the very start of my journey into the love and obsession with the heavy metal genre of music. The previous week I had been handed a cassette with Iron Maiden’s next album, “Powerslave” recorded on it, and then my impatience for new material in this genre was curbed slightly by my heavy metal music dealer providing me with a copy of this album as well. And I began listening to both albums in the two weeks that led up to Xmas that year. Perhaps surprisingly, one song began to stick in my mind, and I began to play it over and over until I had all the lyrics right. That song was “Flight of Icarus”, and it became the song that truly got me into Iron Maiden. From there, the remainder of the album came along for the ride, first with “Die with Your Boots On” and of course “The Trooper”, which soon outstripped “Flight of Icarus” and became the anthem of my final two years of high school. I walked our school cross country the following year with my metal dealer, singing the whole album from start to finish to pass the time, playing each guitar solo on beautifully immaculate air guitars. I began bringing my portable cassette deck to school, so we could listen to this album and others like it during lunch and recess every day. My taped version had “The Trooper” where it jumped a couple of times – in fact, all of us in our group at high school did, because our same metal dealing mate was recording his album for everyone, and his vinyl jumped in the same spot every time. In fact, until we got “Live After Death”, we didn’t even have a copy of the song that was the full version without skipping. That was the joy and bane of the vinyl days of music. The band we were in during the early 1990’s played “The Trooper” in every setlist, and even began to play “Still Life” to rapturous applause during the concluding days of that band’s existence. I have “The Trooper” poster, framed and hanging on my wall in the Metal Cavern. And my 15 year old son Josh has one on his wall as well.
By the time I’d returned to school at the beginning of 1986, I was hooked, an addict. Iron Maiden was a drug, and this album was the affinity of it. It was the beginning of a journey for me, one that in 1986 included Iron Maiden, and the discovery of Metallica and Ronnie James Dio, the three artists that for me have defined a major portion of my teenage years, and my post-teens life. And for those last 30 years, if I was ever asked what my favourite albums of all time are, I can still confidently narrow down as my top three of all time. A Metallica one with crosses all over the front cover, an album that has a pyramid emblazoned on its front cover, and “Piece of Mind”. Come at me with suggestions that you think might be better. You’d be wrong.
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