Piece of Mind: individual album judgement by yours truly

Where Eagles Dare 10/10
Revelations 9/10
Flight Of Icarus 9/10
Die With Your Boots On 9/10
The Trooper 10/10
Still Life 9/10
Quest For Fire 8/10
Sun And Steel 8/10
To Tame A Land 9/10

Average song rating 9
Album overall rating 91%
 
1. Where eagles dare 10
2. Revelations 9,5
3. Flight of Icarus 9,5
4. Die with your boots on 9,5
5. The Trooper 10
6. Still Life 9,5
7. Quest for fire 8
8. Sun and Steel 9
9. To Tame a land 10

9,4

F***ING BRILLIANT
 
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Iron_Maiden_-_Piece_Of_Mind.jpg

Piece Of Mind - Iron Maiden
Format: Vinyl

Where Eagles Dare - A furious drum beat kicks off the reknown 4th album from Iron Maiden, Bruce delivers strong vocals on this track. Adrian and Dave lay on a guitar assault and General Steve keeps the band in line with some strong bass guitar work. A really strong song, which also doesn't feel its 6 minute length. Bounced between a 9.5 and a 10 so I figured just give it a 10... - 10/10

Revelations - A song with a killer intro riff, but Bruce's vocals for some reason don't do too much for me in past listens. The varying speed of the song is a nice change. I quite frankly haven't heard this song since last summer in full since I refused to listen to it, I'm glad I did since now it feels fresh and I have found some appreciation for it. - 8.5/10

Flight Of Icarus - A great riff to head bang to opens up the 3rd track, Bruce delivers amazing vocals. Chorus isn't perfect but it is incredibly well structured for a live sing a long style. Great solo into breakdown and overall the rest of the song is absolutely perfect. - 10/10

Die With Your Boots On - Side 1 closes with another war themed track, a nice riff which hints of what is come in the future introduces the song. A fun fast paced track - 9/10

The Trooper - Side 2 kicks off with another absolute monstrous classic rocker. The Trooper has a memorizing opening riff. The aggression in the guitar, bass and drums is unreal. The chorus is easily chantable. And Bruce doesn't lay up throughout the song. - 10/10

Still Life - An odd spoken intro leads into the second track on side 2, a calmer intro ensues, soon becoming louder faster and heavier. A solid track overall - 8.5/10

Quest For Fire - A solid track, with a nice solo, not great lyrically or musically but still a decent listen - 7.5/10

Sun And Steel - A track which picks up the pace once more. I like the riff, the chorus is solid. - 8/10

To Tame A Land - The final track on the album is the longest one. A nice extended intro leads into a heavier riff. Bruce's vocals feel rushed due to Steve's word filling style. Overall not an amazing track but fairly solid - 8

Overall 89%
 
PIECE OF MIND (1983)

1. Where Eagles Dare - 10/10
A furious drum intro announces Nicko McBrain to the band. Meanwhile, Bruce has a ball with the vocals and H and Dave go wild with the guitars. Great opener.

2. Revelations - 10/10
A testament to the talent of Bruce as a songwriter, this comment on religion is a classic Maiden song and works even better live than it does in studio.

3. Flight Of Icarus - 10/10
A reinvention of the Greek myth and another showcase for Bruce as a vocalist. He hits some amazing notes in this one.

4. Die With Your Boots On - 9/10
Most of this song is awesome, but the chorus is a slight step down in quality. Still, great stuff.

5. The Trooper - 10/10
One of the defining songs in metal history. Guitars, energy, and a unique chorus make it stand out amongst its peers.

6. Still Life - 10/10
Still the best song on the album. The way they bring across the madness of the narrator is truly phenomenal.

7. Quest For Fire - 7/10
Definitely the weak one out, but it’s not all that bad. It just lacks the spark most of the other songs have.

8. Sun And Steel - 9/10
What brings this song up from QFF is that multi-tracked chorus, which is awesome. This one has that spark.

9. To Tame A Land - 9/10
In an attempt to out-hallow Hallowed, Steve came up with probably the weirdest of all the band’s epics. The star is again Bruce, but even with some wonky lyricism the song is a success. I just don’t think it matches the might of some of these songs as much as it should.

Even better than TNOTB and proof that the quality of that album wasn’t just a one time thing. They’re really going places here.

Rating: 93%
 
My ratings:

Where Eagles Dare: 8
Revelations: 10
Flight of Icarus: 7
Die With Your Boots On: 7,5
The Trooper: 9,5
Still Life: 10
Quest for Fire: 8
Sun and Steel: 8,5
To Tame a Land: 10

Overall: 8,7
 
PieceofMind89 said:
Where Eagles Dare- 10/10
Revelations- 10/10
Flight of Icarus- 10/10
Die with Your Boots On- 9/10
The Trooper- 10/10
Still Life- 10/10
Quest for Fire- 8/10
Sun and Still- 8.5/10
To Tame a Land- 10/10

Total: 9.5/10
Click to expand...

I've noticed by looking at various websites that the casual Maiden fan and casual metal fan will choose either TNOTB or Powerslave as the best album.
The hardcore Maiden fans will choose Killers, Piece of Mind, Somewhere in Time or SSOASS as the best album.

For me it's either POM or SIT.
 
PieceofMind89 said:
I've noticed by looking at various websites that the casual Maiden fan and casual metal fan will choose either TNOTB or Powerslave as the best album.
The hardcore Maiden fans will choose Killers, Piece of Mind, Somewhere in Time or SSOASS as the best album.

For me it's either POM or SIT.
Click to expand...
That is very true. My pick is SIT.
 
PieceofMind89 said:
I've noticed by looking at various websites that the casual Maiden fan and casual metal fan will choose either TNOTB or Powerslave as the best album.
The hardcore Maiden fans will choose Killers, Piece of Mind, Somewhere in Time or SSOASS as the best album.

For me it's either POM or SIT.
Click to expand...
I’m a hardcore fan, and my personal favorite is Powerslave.
 
Where Eagles Dare: 7/10
Revelations: 9/10
Flight Of Icarus: 8/10
Die With Your Boots On: 7/10
The Trooper: 9/10
Still Life: 9/10
Quest For Fire: 3/10
Sun And Steel: 2/10
To Tame a Land: 8/10

Based on song ratings alone, my score for this album would be 6.9/10, rounded up. Of course, these ratings don't tell the whole story. It's a good album with some of Maiden's hardest riffs (Where Eagles Dare, To Tame a Land), but unfortunately it also has two of Maiden's lamest 80's tracks (Quest For Fire, Sun and Steel). I think Sun and Steel might actually be my least favorite Iron Maiden song ever. I think the chorus is dumb. This album is atleast in my Top Ten Maiden albums. It beats Number of the Beast in my book.

  1. Somewhere in Time
  2. Iron Maiden
  3. A Matter of Life and Death
  4. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
  5. The X Factor
  6. Powerslave
  7. Brave New World
  8. Piece of Mind
  9. The Number of the Beast
  10. Fear of the Dark
  11. Virtual XI
  12. Dance of Death
  13. The Book of Souls
  14. Killers
  15. The Final Frontier
  16. No Prayer For the Dying
 
Hi all.

It's been a while since I last posted (I maybe have 2 or 3 posts?), but I was just listening to this album and realized how much it has started to grow on me. I've only been listening to Maiden for about 7 months now, and have mainly stuck with the Di'anno stuff, NOTB, PS, and a few tracks from the other 80's albums. I never fully got into POM until the past few days - it just has that growing effect on you that albums like PS don't have (because many of those songs are liked instantaneously, at least through my experience). I've always loved Where Eagles Dare and the Trooper (how typical), but I'll be damned if Die With Your Boots on and Still Life aren't my favorites now. I really just want to praise this album for offering a unique experience in that aspect, and for it's killer production (the guitar tones sound like no other I've ever heard on any other Maiden album).

Where Eagles Dare - 10/10
Revelations - 9/10
Flight of Icarus - 8/10
Die With Your Boots on - 10/10
The Trooper - 10/10
Still Life - 10/10
Quest for Fire - 5/10
Sun and Steel - 8/10
To Tame a Land - 8.5/10
 
I'm pretty sure that Piece of Mind is considered one of the best produced Iron Maiden albums, and for damned good reason. It's a truly grand album that slides a bit on the back three tracks, but still holds up today as one of the best metal albums of all time.
 
Since I've now more or less commented and scored Killers and TNOTB, why not to drop a line or two about this one too... Here's some snippets from sort of a review I wrote elsewhere last year that genuinely sum up my thoughts of the album rather well:

It tells a lot about the overall quality of the record that the first five songs have been featured several times on the setlists of subsequent tours following the Piece of Mind tour. I wish this was the case with Still Life (Murray/Harris) too. Opening with the famous Idi Amin imitation by Nicko McBrain, Still Life is definitely one of the saddest Maiden setlist omissions over the years; it returned for a couple of shows for Seventh Tour and there's a brilliant live version of it in Maiden England concert video, but after that... nothing. It's one of those songs that arguably should have been featured on Eddie Rips Up the World or Maiden England tour setlist. Quest for Fire and Sun and Steel are the only songs on the record that have never been played live. On another album, Sun and Steel might have made it to the set, for it's a great little rocker with catchy chorus, it's just often outshadowed by the outstanding quality of the other songs on the record – except Quest for Fire, which is clearly the weakest link here. It's not abysmal song, but the lyrics are pretty poor and it just doesn't live up to what the rest of the album is. In other words, it's pretty much the "Gangland" of this album.

Even with Quest for Fire's more or less lackluster quality, two shorter and straightforward numbers definitely balance the album very well between a tad bit more meandering Still Life and epic, mystic and beautifully constructed To Tame a Land. --It's an fantastic album closer with beautiful melodies and a couple of ingenious and surprising parts you often find from 80's Harris-songs. I like most of the more recent stuff he's written, but his pattern has also become less surprising than back in the day, but then again, it's only natural to form some sort of formula and comfort zone for your songwriting after being decades in the music industry. To Tame a Land is on the long list of songs many fans would love to hear performed by the current lineup and whil it's absence from the setlists ever since is sad, most likely it'll never be dusted off again due to it's challenging nature.

The Number of the Beast deserves all the praise it can get for many reasons, but Piece of Mind is one step up from it, and that's saying quite a lot. It has a great, recognizable sound and unbelievable rhytmic section, accompanied by some of the most iconic guitar patterns. Bruce Dickinson's soaring vocals carry to unbelievable heights, even literally. Most of the songs were played live with a lot faster tempo, especially back in the 80's, and arguably even too fast. Piece of Mind – at least the original mix – has one of the best dynamics on any Maiden records so it doesn't feel too slow at any point. Even with a little drop in quality during Quest for Fire, the album maintains it's recognizable sound and atmosphere from the thundering start to it's epic end. It never strays anywhere it shouldn't go and the musicianship of the then very young band really impresses you. The Number of the Beast and Powerslave are both amazing albums, but Piece of Mind ,released between the two mentioned classics, might be just a tad bit more coherent. The first output of the "classic lineup", which many consider as their definite one, couldn't have been much, if any, better.

I gave it 5/5, so I guess 9 to 10 /10 is just as appropriate.

While the album itself isn't quite my very favourite pick to listen from start to finish (my love for live versions of POM stuff might have something do with this), songs like Flight of Icarus, Revelations and Still Life are among some of the most important Maiden songs for me. And witnessing Where Eagles Dare played live last year was out of this world... Acutally, one of my favourite aspects of the album is how well it translates into live performances: the dynamic and the tempo on the record are perfectly fine, but more outrageous and raw approach of the live performances gives the songs another, different yet equally amazing dimension. The way songs like Revelations and Flight of Icarus kick off live... wow.

Killers: around 7.5
The Number of the Beast: around 8
Piece of Mind: around 9 or even above?
 
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