Piece of Mind

After the Beast On The Road tour, Iron Maiden and Clive Burr parted ways, and he was soon replaced with Nicko Mcbrain. Now, the band had to follow up their most successful album, so they hit the studio and began to record Piece Of Mind. When the album was released, it went 3rd in the UK charts and was globally praised once again, and not long after Iron Maiden embarked on the World Piece Tour.

The production on this album may be Iron Maiden's best to date. The band sounds tight and clean, and Martin Birch did a phenomenal job.. Performances wise, Nicko really shines on his debut, with the drums as featured as they've ever been. Meanwhile, Bruce gives some of his most passionate vocals to date. Meanwhile, Steve, Dave and Adrian give great performances on the bass and guitars. Overall, nobody really seems to be particularly lacking. The art was done by Derek Riggs as usual, and though it is more simple that previous works, it still gives a jolting image to anybody who sees it.

This album is Iron Maiden's first album that really exemplifies the sound they've became known for to this day. Iron Maiden and Killers had a bit of punk and blues influence to them, while Number Of The Beast was a period of transition. Here, the band has fully transitioned away from these influences and are playing more heavy songs. While there are no particular standouts here, nearly every song has awesome moments, and in that is where its beauty lies. Opener "Where Eagles Dare" features incredible drum fills, while "Flight Of Icarus" features amazing vocals. And it is impossible to forget the main riff in "The Trooper", or maybe the soft guitar intro of "Still Life". On a different note, there are a few songs that do lack. While the song "Sun And Steel" has a catchy chorus, it is a bit lost in the overall sound, however even it isn't really bad. However, "Quest For Fire" seems to fail the most here. The riffs sound somewhat recycled from other tracks here, and the lyrics aren't up to snuff.

When looking at this album as a whole, from the amazing opener to the incredible close "To Tame A Land", this album seems to be very strong and consistent. Even though most of the songs don't seem to be featured by the band as much, the overall album is one of Iron Maiden's strongest.