Iron Maiden's Piece of Mind

Whimsical artwork of a demented Eddie in the nuthouse from the album cover: Piece of Mind


Piece of Mind by Iron Maiden has got to be their best album, possibly only a close second to Powerslave.

Maiden's 4th studio album, Piece of Mind released in 1983, is just singer Bruce Dickinson's second album with the band. Track #5 The Trooper still stands as a fan favorite to this day. While The Trooper is certainly a great song with a catchy riff, it's not one of my favorites off the album.

Track List:
1. "Where Eagles Dare" (Steve Harris) – 6:10
2. "Revelations" (Bruce Dickinson) – 6:48
3. "Flight of Icarus" (Dickinson, Adrian Smith) – 3:51
4. "Die With Your Boots On" (Dickinson, Smith, Harris) – 5:28
5. "The Trooper" (Harris) – 4:15
6. "Still Life" (Dave Murray, Harris) – 4:53
7. "Quest for Fire" (Harris) – 3:41
8. "Sun and Steel" (Dickinson, Smith) – 3:26
9. "To Tame a Land" (Harris) – 7:27

I got to say that track 8 -Sun and Steel (which I thought was called "Sund and Steel" for the longest time due to a downloading error, even tho Sund isnt a word)is my favorite off of Piece of Mind. It's a true battle anthem sounding metal song. Bruce's soaring, high vocals jump big intervals on the song's chorus. I like the lyrics a lot too which have to do with with some kind of young warrior -either a knight or possibly a ninja. I like to think it's about a girl warrior.

Opening lyrics from Sun and Steel:
"You killed your first man at 13,
Killer instinct, Animal supreme,
By 16 you had learned to fight
The way of the warrior, you took it as your right."

The other songs on this album are on par with Sun and Steel. Standouts are: Where Eagles Dare and Flight of Icarus. Something about their hooks is just a little catchier than the rest of the songs on the album. They are good lengths, not too short to leave you wanting more and not too long and repetitive (as sometimes Iron Maiden tends to be). To Tame a Land has a great, mystical and ethereal quality to it, not as hard as the other songs but my least favorite song is Die with your Boots on -it's got a kind of metal cheese factor, still a good song, but not one of my favorites of any Iron Maiden album. If you are familiar with Maiden's big hits, give Piece of Mind a listen because it provides some of the band's best work that the casual Maiden listener might not be familiar with.

Just try to watch this live performance of Flight of Icarus and NOT think of Spinal Tap!