Iron Maiden
Piece Of Mind

Before us is the fourth studio album of the Great English band Iron Maiden. This is the second disc of their golden era and the first with new drummer McBrain. Simply put, this is my favorite album. Everything that we love this band so much for is here - Bruce's amazing, powerful, high and clear vocals, the magnificent guitar work of Murray and Smith, the completely unique bass passages of Steve Harris, the drums of Niko's young and charismatic talent ... and of course songs, hits for all time, including two real masterpieces that do not leave the concert lists to this day. Everything is recorded at the highest level, the quality (at that time) is on top, it is felt that the guys are growing from album to album, you can’t drink away the skill. All 9 songs recorded on the album are distinguished by excellent, well-thought-out arrangements, not banal lyrics, and simply, well-remembered choruses and riffs. It all starts with the mid-tempo action movie "Where Eagles Dare", in which the newcomer McBrain, who later became one of the best drummers in the history of heavy music, shows us his high technique of using a drum kit, perfectly matching the rhythm with Steve's bass. The second number is a slower song with a speedy solo, written by Bruce, as always, in his style - mysticism, oriental, biblical motifs ... Next comes the legendary song "Flight Of Icarus", with an awesome riff and Bruce's divine singing. Speeding up the overall tempo is "Die Wiith Your Boots On", a good, fast, but simple song about anticipating a catastrophic event. And then.... the song without which Maiden is not Maiden, the legendary "The Trooper"... Why say anything else? The song that the band will ALWAYS perform at their concerts... The next three songs will blow smoothly, brisk and good numbers to raise morale, not super hits of course, but great songs. Every Iron Maiden album should have an epic. No exception and "Piece Of Mind". The song "To Tame A Land" is Harris' favorite song. The song is based on the book by Dune, and those who read it will immediately feel it. Cool bass riff - a school for any bassist, amazing atmosphere and chic melody... Bottom line ... but why let him down? Classic and all.

For some reason, it is believed that Iron Maiden found their classic sound in 1982, and “Piece Of Mind” is held as an exemplary, but at the same time, dim album of “golden” time. Justice needs to be restored: if “The Number of the Beast” still contained rock and roll action movies and a share of the raw sound of the “Dianno period”, then the reviewed album is a 100% serious heavy metal work. In confirmation of this - a sharp sharp and clear sound of guitars, a harmonious combination of heaviness and melody, which for some reason they will refuse in the next work. And, of course, at that time IM was not equal in technicality. “Piece of Mind” is the forerunner of “Seventh Son ...” and “Somewhere in Time” rather than a contemporary of the spirited-energy or hard rock Holy Diver, Screaming For Vengeance, and Iron Fist. The claim is expressed in the predominance of epics, general restraint and in the tradition of picking up serious themes for songs, which Harris started on the previous album with “Hallowed be thy Name”. The only disc I would put next to it is the equally non-standard “Hail to England” by Manowar. Among the discreet songs-hard workers can be attributed only to the starting track and "Die with your Boots On." Stillife, by the way, is not a game with mystic-occult affairs, but an irony on schizophrenia. My favorites are Revelations and To Tame a Land.

Das 4. Maiden Album und das zweite mit Bruce Dickinson am Gesang, enthält die Hits "The Trooper" und "Flight of Icarus", nicht ganz so gut wie der Vorgänger "Number of the Beast", aber auf hohem musikalischem Niveau, gehört definitiv in jede Iron Maiden Sammlung!