If you are just discovering Maiden or have never heard this album do not delay in hearing it! Maiden grabbed the music scene by the balls with Number of the Beast and with Piece of Mind, they pulled...HARD! Iron Maiden in my opinion epitomize everything Heavy Metal could be and this release is a perfect example of ideal Heavy Metal (I guess you could call me a fan! ) The nitpicking I have read in the other reviews are silly. "Icarus" is not 100 percent accurate to the story? Since when do musicians (or writers or any artists) have to stick with the original of anything? These are'nt Cliff's Notes they're rock songs! "Maiden were better with DiAnno?" Everyones got their opinion but then again there will always be contrary persons that long for the bad old days just to complain and appear to know something the rest don't. If you really rather listen to Dianno over Bruce, I've got a butter churn and a steam driven car that you'll probably love compared to the sucky new contraptions that all us suckers are using! Up The Irons!

In a collection of over one thousand CDs, cassettes, and records spanning just about every genre of music, this is the one I will forever call my "Favorite Album Of All-Time". This album bursts with themes and technique most other bands just can't grasp the way Iron Maiden has throughout their entire existence. Running through the album, topics include: mythology ("Flight of Icarus"), prehistoric history ("Quest For Fire"), dual-sword wielding sumarai Musashi ("Sunlight And Steel"), fantasy/horror ("Still Life"), military history ("The Trooper"), a Clint Eastwood WWII film ("Where Eagles Dare"), the Holy Bible ("Revelations"), prophecy ("Die With Your Boots On"), and classic Frank Herbert science fiction ("To Tame A Land"). It's a dark album yet it never sounds oppressive. Every song has the trademark dual harmony guitar solos of Murray & Smith, superb bass playing from 'Arry, drumming perfection from Nicko, and the superior operatic/dramatic vocals of Bruce Dickinson - All cylinders firing and all at their creative peak. This is simply the best recorded example of what heavy metal should sound like.

I don't usually review albums that are considered "classics" (no need to), but PIECE OF MIND is so good that I just had to comment... 1983 saw the release of two landmark albums, DIO's HOLY DIVER, and IRON MAIDEN's PIECE OF MIND. Heavy Metal was changed forever. P.O.M. opens up with the thunderous "Where Eagles Dare," which gives the listener a hint of what is to come. "Revelations" follows up with some Progressive Rock overtones, and shows some great dynamics and tempo changes. The album also features their first (semi) radio-friendly song in "Flight Of Icarus," which shows that you can have a "catchy" song that is still heavy. "Die With Your Boots On," and "Still Life" are two of the best straight-ahead Metal songs of all time, and "The Trooper" is one of their signature songs with it's frenzied energy. "Sun And Steel" is a solid song with a great chorus hook, while "Quest For Fire" is a decent album track. The album closes with its weakest track in "To Tame A Land," which is based on the classic science ficiton novel DUNE. TTAL is one of (Bass player) Steve Harris' earliest Progressive Rock songs (which became his obsession on THE X FACTOR). Like the songs on X FACTOR, it is not instantly accessible, but does have a tendency to grow on some listeners. As a whole, P.O.M. is arguably MAIDEN's best album, and easily one of the ten best Metal albums ever! -(I would also highly recommend DIO's HOLY DIVER and LAST IN LINE, MAIDEN'S POWERSLAVE, and Bruce Dickinson's ACCIDENT OF BIRTH)

After Maiden released " Number Of The Beast " in 1982 to great success, they had to release a follow-up that would capture the intensity and ultimately be better. In fact the only things keeping this album from being perfect are the atrocious " Quest For Fire " and the annoying " Die With Your Boots On " They would reach perfection on 1984's masterpiece Powerslave. I'm a harsh grader and I try to give a great idea of what the song is like. Anyway here's my grades.

Song Grades

1. Where Eagles Dare-Maiden's best opening track and best combat song. This song has a classic guitar solo. Definitely in the top 5 maiden tunes. It's got the same format as The Duellists of Powerslave, intro-vocals-long instrumental-bridge-ending vocals. The guitar solo actually feels like a plane flying through the mountains like this song is describing.
Final Grade-A

2. Revelations-If it weren't for " Hallowed Be Thy Name " this would be Maiden's greatest achievement. It comes really close to beating out Metallica's " Creeping Death " as the best song about Ancient Egypt. On their next album they would make an excellent sequel to this song in the name of " Powerslave " Everything about this song is perfect. You just got to hear it.
Final Grade-A+

3. Flight Of Icarus-It may sound a little cheesy, but this song has a good guitar solo and is enjoyable and I like the part where he says " his eyes are ablaze see the madman in his gaze " This was their first single released from this album.
Final Grade-B+

4. Die With Your Boots On-Here comes the first misstep in the CD. This song may be catchy the first couple of times you hear it, but by the fifth time you'll be skipping it. It may be a live favorite, but the chorus is annoying. I like the guitars in this song though.
Final Grade-C+

5. The Trooper-This is perhaps the song Maiden is most known for. It's a great combat song, but not as good as " Where Eagles Dare " This song perhaps was the inspiration for Metallica to do the classic " For Whom The Bell Tolls " one year later.
Final Grade-A-

6. Still Life-I think this is one of Maiden's most underrated songs. This song kind of serves as the unofficial title track because of the lyric " nightmares, give me piece of mind " Really haunting song about nightmares.
Final Grade-A-

7. Quest For Fire-competes for worst Dickenson-era song with " Invaders " , " Deja-Vu " and the especially putrid " Assasin " off " No Prayer For The Dying " It's one thing to have a song that's slightly cheesy like " Flight Of Icarus " but that song's still powerful and memorable. The cheese-meter is going off the scale on this song. The lyrics stink and the vocals stink. This song is 3 minutes and 42 seconds of unintentional comedy. The only thing that's keeping me from giving this song an F is that It's sometimes a guilty pleasure to listen to.
Final Grade-D-

8. Sun And Steel-Good song about an ancient samurai. This song however doesn't fit the theme of this album. I put on my copy of " Powerslave " after the two swordfighting songs. The guitar intro is especially good and so is the 1st verse.
Final Grade-B+

9. To Tame A Land-the epic of this album. Harris the bassist even says that its the best song he's ever written. I disagree because " Hallowed Be Thy Name ", " Revelations ", " Rime Of The Ancient Mariner ", and some other songs are better. This is still one of Maiden's best epics and one of their top 10 songs. It's based on the book " Dune " but they couldn't call it that for legal reason's.
Final Grade-A

I think this album served as Metallica's influence for " Ride The Lightning " You can clearly hear the influence. In fact this album could have been better than " Powerslave " if it wasn't for " Quest For Fire " and " Die With Your Boots On " Still 7 out 9 isn't bad. In my book that's a classic.

In the spring of 1983 I heard a song on the radio that introduced me to a world of dueling guitars, screeching vocals and pounding rythymns. The song was "Flight of Icarus" and the album from which it came quickly became one of my all-time favorites. THIS IS CLASSIC IRON MAIDEN. The album immediately grabs onto you with the crunching "Where Eagles Dare", from there Maiden concert staples such as "Die With Your Boots On" and "The Trooper" explode one after another. The closing number "To Tame a Land" has one of the best outro's of any Maiden song. Maiden's sound on this album took a major step forward with the inclusion of ex-Trust drummer Nicko McBrain, after originally drummer Clive Burr left after 1982's Number of the Beast tour. The production is hot and the songs are alive with aggression and fire. This album set the table for Maiden's metal dominance of the 80's that has been recaptured again with the recent release of "Brave New World" Any Maiden fan would be remiss without a copy of this classic album.