Piece of Mind: Iron Maiden's Metal Masterpiece

With the success of 1982's Number of the Beast, one would think Iron Maiden would be hard pressed to follow it with an equal or better record, but they did just that with Piece of Mind.

Despite bringing in a new drummer in yet another personnel change, 1983's Piece of Mind turned out to be an amazing album and it defined Maiden's modern, mid-late 1980s sound.

The album was quickly recorded at Compass Point Studios in the Bahamas from January to March, 1983, and is the first to feature drummer Nicko McBrain after former skin-basher Clive Burr was ousted from Maiden in December, 1982.

Coming off the phenomenal Beast album and tour, the band was getting comfortable with each other as singer Bruce Dickinson had time to get fully adjusted to the workings of Iron Maiden. Dickinson had more influence on the songwriting, composing "Revelations", while co-writing on "Flight of Icarus", "Die with your Boots On", and "Sun and Steel".

"I think on this album, because Bruce has been in a band awhile and was also very involved with the writing, he's more relaxed," said bassist Steve Harris in a 1983 interview with Kevin Thompson for Artist Magazine. "So the vocal performance is tremendous. He's so quick in the studio because his ear for pitch is so good - he just gets up there and bang, it retains a great live feel."

Most of the songs were written at Hotel le Chalet in New Jersey during the hotel’s off-season, then recorded down in Nassau.

Certainly, Piece of Mind sets the mark for the "new Maiden" in terms of personnel and how the band sounds on record. It's the first record in a string of albums that includes Powerslave, Somewhere in Time and Seventh Son of Seventh Son to have that clean, crisp, modern, Maiden metal sound.

"I think it's now becoming what Iron Maiden is all about, and we expect it's going to develop from there," said Harris at the time.

Sound of the Mind

The distinct sound of Piece of Mind is in no small part thanks to producer Martin "Black Night" Birch, who began working with the band on the Killers record. While Number of the Beast had a very doomy, dark feel to it (like it was recorded in a catacomb), Piece of Mind was very crisp and open.

"Martin has always added his expertise in the studio and his great ability at recording our sounds," noted Harris. "We've only just come to this point in our drum and guitar sounds, which are exceptional now - it's just a team growing up together."

The album came together very quickly, with Harris noting "Where Eagles Dare" was recorded in two takes.

"Revelations" was a Dickinson song that Harris feels comes off much better live than on the album. Same with "Flight of Icarus", which was the first single off the record (it hit No.12 on the Billboard Rock Chart). Harris prefers it better live because it's faster, and if he had his druthers, the band would have put more pace into it on the record, but Dickinson argued for a slower, more plodding beat.

Backwards Message on Piece of Mind

The backwards recording before "Still Life" was Maiden getting back at all the religious freaks who came down on the because of Number of the Beast. The recording is actually a drunken McBrain doing an impersonation of Idi Amin (leader of Uganda in the 1970s), so the accent is very thick. Played forwards its says: "What ho, said da t'ing wid da t'ree bonce. Don't meddle wit t'ings you don't understand."

McBrain said the band had enough of being labelled as Satanic: "We were sick and tired of being labelled as Devil worshippers and all this bollocks by these fucking morons in the States, so we thought, 'Right, you want to take the piss? We'll show you how to take the bleeding piss, my son!' And one of the boys taped me in the middle of this Idi Amin routine I used to do when I'd had a few drinks. I remember it distinctly ended with the words, 'Don't meddle wid t'ings yo don't understand.' We thought, if people were going to be stupid about this sort of thing, we might as well give them something to be really stupid about, you know?"

Another cool song on the album and very underrated, is "To Tame A Land", which was based on the "Dune" novels by Frank Herbert. Interestingly, back in 1983, Harris said it's the best song he's ever written up to that point.

With Piece of Mind, Iron Maiden really came into their own and began a string of phenomenal records that carried on until 1990, when Adrian Smith left the band while in pre-production for "No Prayer for the Dying".

Check out the five best Maiden songs with Paul Di'Anno

Playlist: Best of Iron Maiden (1980-1988)

Many of Iron Maiden's older fans consider their body of work from 1980-1988 as their finest era. From their first album to the brilliant Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, the band was at the peak of their powers whether it was with original singer Paul Di'Anno or Bruce Dickinson.

The following playlist highlights 32 of Maiden's biggest songs as well as some of the more underrated tracks like "To Tame a Land" from Piece of Mind. Check it out and Up the Irons!

The Five Best Iron Maiden Songs with Paul Di'Anno

Original Iron Maiden singer Paul Di'Anno only appeared on three of the band's records - Iron Maiden, Killers and Maiden Japan - but he certainly left his mark on some of Maiden's best songs with his gruff vocals and snarly East London attitude. Di'Anno, who joined the band in 1978, was ultimately fired in 1981 by manager Rod Smallwood, after bassist and bandleader Steve Harris questioned Di'Anno's commitment to the band, which was being undermined by his affection for booze and cocaine. Nevertheless, Di'Anno had a huge impact with fans and here are five of the best songs he recorded during his brief tenure with Iron Maiden.

Prowler

The opening track from Maiden's 1980 self-titled debut album, "Prowler" is arguably one of Maiden's best songs, period. It's got a punk feel to it that's perfectly suited to Di'Anno's gruff vocal style. Lyrically it's about a perverted creep who gets off masturbating in the bushes as he peeps at various ladies passing by. A major highlight of the track is Dave Murray's blistering guitar solo while the band keeps it rocking in double time. Steve Harris wrote the music and lyrics.

Phantom of the Opera

Another track from their first record, "Phantom of the Opera" features Iron Maiden at their epic, progressive-metal best. At 7:02, it's a longer track with plenty of tempo and feel changes throughout. Penned by Steve Harris, Phantom is a shining example of where the band would go on later albums. The guitar solos by Dave Murray and Dennis Stratton are tastefully executed, while drummer Clive Burr lays down an absolutely furious drum beat during the verses, while also showing his great feel on the slower parts of the song. "Phantom of the Opera" has featured prominently in Maiden's live shows for years and is a favourite of Harris's.

Drifter

A song that maybe flies under the radar a bit, "Drifter" is the last track on 1981's Killers album, but it's an all-out rocker. From the opening guitar notes to Di'Anno's scream of "Walk Away", "Drifter" - written by Steve Harris - delivers thanks to a punky verse offset by a slower bridge with a beautiful, slow Dave Murray solo. After the last verse, Adrian Smith delivers one of the best guitar solos on the entire record (using a wah wah) that carries the track to the end, where Di'Anno shows his vocal chops on that last, ear-splitting scream. It's such a good song, in fact, that Maiden has dusted it off and played it during a few tours over the past decade.

Murders in the Rue Morgue

Based on the Edgar Allan Poe of the same name, "Murders in the Rue Morgue" is a song narrated from the first person with an amazing feel that almost puts the listener on the streets in Paris, harkening to Maiden's ability to paint pictures with music. A highlight comes from the twin guitar solo of Dave Murray and Adrian Smith, while Di'Anno lays down a convincingly menacing vocal track as the killer of two young girls.

Killers

On "Killers", Di'Anno is at his best, whether it's the powerful opening screams or the conviction he brings in the vocal delivery during the verses. It's a song where Di'Anno gets a rare songwriting credit (alongside Steve Harris) and it's one of Iron Maiden's best early tracks with its driving energy and foreboding lyrics about a serial killer who murders with knife. Harris sets the tone with a dark bass intro and it takes off from there. This is arguably Di'Anno's finest moment in his three years with Iron Maiden.

Check out how Iron Maiden forged their sound on the Killers album.

Five of the Greatest Metal Concerts Recorded on Video

There's nothing like watching a great band rocking at their peak on a night when they really have their proverbial shit together. These five videos are among the best hard rock/heavy metal concerts ever recorded live. Not necessarily the best ever, but certainly among them.

Guns N Roses live at the Ritz in 1988

This amazing gig was recorded on the second leg of their North American tour at the Ritz in New York on Feb. 2, 1988 for MTV. The pro-shot video captures the Gunners at their best, well before they became the world's biggest rock band. The punky rawness and intensity are there as Slash, Axl, Duff, Izzy and Steven Adler give 'er on stage. It's a great look at the band in such a small setting.

Judas Priest Live Vengeance Tour in Memphis (1982)

Judas Priest were peaking when they released Screaming for Vengeance in 1982 and the concert footage filmed in Memphis, Tenn. shows how good they sounded live. Sadly, there used to be the full concert shown on one Youtube video, but Sony has monetized it and broken it down song by song (17 tracks in all). But it's still worth watching as the band absolutely kicks ass. There's hardly a mistake throughout and Priest vocalist Rob Halford doesn't miss a note in this show. It's a must see for Priest and classic metal fans. "Riding on the Wind" is stellar, as is "Victim of Changes".

Iron Maiden Live After Death from 1985

Released as video along with a double album of the same name, Live After Death captures Iron Maiden on their first ever released pro-shot video. The video was shot during the World Slavery Tour in 1985 in Long Beach, Calif. At that time, Iron Maiden was the biggest metal band in the world and it features their classic lineup in fine form. Again, there is no single youtube video of the entire show, but all songs from the full video can be found.

Van Halen Live Without a Net from 1986

Recorded on the 5150 tour in 1986 at New Haven, Conn., Live Without a Net captured the mighty Van Halen on its first tour without David Lee Roth. The video shows Sammy Hagar - their newly minted vocalist at the time - and Eddie Van Halen getting along famously, while the band is simply kicking it - just watch "5150".

Alice in Chains live at the Moore in 1990

This is one of the few pro-shot Alice in Chains shows with Layne Staley and was recorded in December, 1990 at the Moore in Seattle, before the band would begin a year on the road touring to support the Facelift album. The video captures a night where Staley is dialled in, his voice simply booming as the band cranks out material from Facelift. This was Alice in Chains before Staley and bassist Mike Starr became addicted to heroin. The sheer power they had live is all right there on tape.

Making "Killers": How Iron Maiden Got the "Maiden Sound"

Most Iron Maiden fans rave about the Killers album, while others think it's overrated. But everyone agrees it's the record that gave birth to Iron Maiden's unique sound.

Released on Feb. 2, 1981, Killers featured a much bigger, better sound than Maiden's self-titled debut album. And that is thanks to Maiden uber producer Martin Birch, whom the band first believed was too big to work with them.

Prior to recording their 1980 debut, Maiden bassist and leader Steve Harris originally wanted Birch to produce the record, but didn't think someone of Birch's stature would want to work with the band at the time, when hardly anyone knew who they were. "We all talked about him, but we thought, like, 'We’re not worthy'," recalled Harris.

Birch had just been busy in 1979 working on Black Sabbath's massive Heaven and Hell album, and he'd also worked with Deep Purple, Rainbow and Wishbone Ash, so it's no wonder Harris thought he was out of their league.

But Birch was certainly up for the task. He met Harris, likely in June 1980, and told him he would have loved to have worked on Maiden's debut album, which ended up being sloppily produced by Will Malone. From there, the rest is history and Birch would hone Iron Maiden into one of the greatest metal bands of all-time, working on every album through 1992's Fear of the Dark.

Killers Essentially Recorded Live in Studio

Killers producer Martin Birch in studio

The first thing Birch - who was dubbed Martin 'Headmaster' Birch on the Killer's liner notes (one of many nicknames the band bestowed upon him) - did was set up mics in one room and get the band to play live. He told the band to play the songs as if they were playing a concert, and they'd work on overdubs and different takes from there. They recorded Killers in just three months (November 1980 - January 1981) at Battery Studios in London.

Guitarist Adrian Smith, who had just joined the band after they'd booted Dennis Stratton, recalls how Birch was quite the taskmaster in the studio - fair but firm: "I’d never worked with a producer who was so totally involved in the whole process. He was a good laugh, but when we were working, he cracked the whip," said Smith.

What Birch did on Killers was help create the unique sound fans instantly recognize as Iron Maiden. There's a dark tone edged into the overall sound, with a low end, fat drum sound, guitars that are perfectly slotted in the mix, dominant, but not over-the-top bass and Paul Di'Anno's vocals coming through at just the right level. A key to the Maiden sound was how every element of every instrument sound stood out. There was nothing buried in the mix.

Most of the songs were around from when the band had gone into the studio to do their first record, and every track, save for "Killers" (co-written with vocalist Paul Di'Anno) was penned by Harris. And the only two songs that were new were "Murders in the Rue Morgue" and "Prodigal Son", a ballad.

Part of the unique Maiden sound comes on "Murders in the Rue Morgue", where Harris helps create the dark mood in the intro by playing bass harmonics.

There are two instrumentals on the album, the opener "The Ides of March" and the phenomenal "Genghis Khan", which features an amazing beat from drummer Clive Burr and some seriously heavy, thrashing guitar riffs.

"Wrathchild" had originally been recorded on the Metal for Mutha's compilation, released a year before Killers. The version that appears on Killers shows how much Maiden had matured in just a year. Burr's drumming in particular is much more smooth, while the overall sound difference is night and day.

While most rock critics at the time gave Killers unfavourable reviews, it has some of their best songs: "Drifter" and "Purgatory" among them. And Harris still looks back on the album with great reverence, saying "I loved The Number Of The Beast, but I didn’t think it was our best album at the time, and I still don’t."

Killers Artwork Cements Eddie in Maiden Lore

Along with the music, Killers really brought the artwork (see above) of Derek Riggs and Maiden's mascot, Eddie, to the forefront with that instantly recognizable album cover.

It depicts a late night scene in East London near a sex shop where Eddie is gleefully clutching a hatchet dripping blood, while his victim clutches hopelessly in vain to his T-shirt while assorted peeping toms peer down at the scene from behind drawn curtains. It’s become one of heavy metal’s most iconic cover images.

The cover also helps get the listener into the mindset of the album's dark tone and lyrics.

Check out how Iron Maiden made and recorded their amazing Piece of Mind album

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