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iwarrior
Joined: 05 Apr 2002 Posts: 3526 Location: Pittsburgh,PA
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Posted: Tue Sep 17, 2002 12:48 pm Post subject: Why Iron Maiden's Piece Of Mind Rules My World |
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The first time I heard this record,I was about 13. It had already been out for about 4 years,and in that time it had been widely regarded as a classic. Once I heard the brief drum solo that opens lead track Where Eagles Dare, it was easy to hear why. There was something so fierce about Piece Of Mind. Perhaps it was the production of Martin Birch, or the primal screams of Bruce Dickinson. Maybe it was nine-round axe duel between Adrian Smith and Dave Murray or the masterful rhythm section of Steve Harris and Nicko McBrain at work. I think it was all of those, but most importantly, it was the songwriting that made this album the highlight of metal's most creatively stellar year,1983. Listen to the aural acrobatics of the aforementioned Where Eagles Dare which features one of the best examples of daring riffery and acrobatic melody the metal genre has to offer. Even the album's weakest track, Quest For Fire,thrusts, dodges, lunges, and parries with proud cunning. Every composition on Piece Of Mind broke ground, and the album as a whole could not have been written by any other band.
Piece of Mind is one of those records that always seemed to be not unlike an anthology of self-contained stories. When reading the acknowledgements, it comes as no surprise that the band thanks Alistair MacLean and Frank Herbert for the inspiration that their respective novels brought to their work. My young mind was engrossed in the rich escapism of the lyrics and still is to this day. Where Eagles Dare sent us on a mission to infiltrate a castle in the Austrian Alps. The intricate dirge Revelations told a tale of Biblical intrigue. Flight Of Icarus brought the myth of one who tempts fate with man-made wings to a whole new generation. Die With Your Boots On gave us a warnings from Nostradamus. The Trooper, with its rousing, galloping, twin-lead guitar riff, put us right onto a battlefield during the Crimean war. Still Life told us a ghost story. Quest For Fire took us back to prehistoric times. Sun And Steel took us into the mind of Japanese swordsman Miyamoto Musashi, and the grand epic of a finale To Tame A Land thrusted us into the futuristic world of Frank Herbert's desert world Arrakis. Never before or since has a album taken me to so many fantastic realms of adventure,fantasy,and fear in less than fifty minutes. This, combined with everything else I have wrote, is what makes Piece Of Mind the definitive Maiden experience. All in all it remains a swashbuckling thriller of sound and fury that has withstood the onslaught of Father Time long enough to become my favorite album ever |
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nitro4040
Joined: 14 Jan 1999 Posts: 1926
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Posted: Tue Sep 17, 2002 12:54 pm Post subject: Why Iron Maiden's Piece Of Mind Rules My World |
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Killers and Number fo the Beast are bettter. [img]images/smiles/icon_razz.gif[/img] |
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Jake
Joined: 02 Mar 1999 Posts: 4963
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Posted: Tue Sep 17, 2002 1:31 pm Post subject: Why Iron Maiden's Piece Of Mind Rules My World |
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I used to like the Diano stuff far better, but now I like Killers and Piece of Mind the best, and then there's just lots of Maiden material thats good really. But those two are the best albums. I suppose I still really like the self titled.
Piece of Mind certainly has a good 5 or 6 song run from Where Eagles Dare to Still Life. Despite the fact that I do like much of the Number of the Beast material, I've never thought that the album fits together very well. Naturally the album is important to Maiden's career, but it just doesn't flow. Piece of Mind flows all the way until Sun and Steel and then the last three songs are ok, but not great. Quest for Fire is just silly. To Tame a Land is pretty good, but is cut off from the rest of the album by silly songs. |
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Tyrannorabbit
Joined: 04 Oct 2000 Posts: 3985 Location: Canada
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Posted: Tue Sep 17, 2002 3:55 pm Post subject: Why Iron Maiden's Piece Of Mind Rules My World |
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I dig all of this album except for "Quest For Fire", which I've never been able to much stand. If it weren't for that song, this might've been my favorite...as it is, _The Number Of The Beast_ is my favorite. |
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MAIDENFAN
Joined: 28 Mar 2002 Posts: 78 Location: CLEVELAND, OHIO
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Posted: Tue Sep 17, 2002 4:02 pm Post subject: Why Iron Maiden's Piece Of Mind Rules My World |
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The first Maiden album i ever heard was powerslave back in 85 i was a junior in highschool then and let me tell u brother, 17 years later Maiden still rules my life! I have bought every single maiden album since then on the first day that they are released. And yes that even includes x-factor and virtual. I still wear maiden shirts when i go out and i must say i get alot of comments on them most of them good. Iron Maiden forever! |
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FALCON
Joined: 19 Nov 1998 Posts: 1019 Location: Phoenix AZ USA
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Posted: Tue Sep 17, 2002 6:39 pm Post subject: Why Iron Maiden's Piece Of Mind Rules My World |
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Nice lil Warrior-His-story Mr. Iwarrior, as my favorite is "Powerslave", but can't knock your proper glory and nice comments for an album that melts your Soul.
For me that album hasn't been written yet (always striving for that sound) yet Pain of Salavation_One Hour, Ark_Burn the Sun, Heavy Bones S/T, and Fates Warning_Awaken come quickly to mind as mindblowing experiences for me... |
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Wyvern
Joined: 03 May 2002 Posts: 2214 Location: Costa Rica
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Posted: Tue Sep 17, 2002 7:41 pm Post subject: Why Iron Maiden's Piece Of Mind Rules My World |
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Because is the best album of IM in history. Was my first, have the best IM song ever ('Flight Of Icarus'), is the song and album that turn me into metal, is great, is powerful, is melodic, is intelligent, is cool, is what metal should have been stayed at instead of making all these changes and turns, during the late 80's, the 90's and the XXI century.
And everybody can complain, about the money machine they supposedly are turning into, but no one can take the value of that album away from me.
[i]O God of Earth and altar, bow down and hear our cry...[/i] [img]images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img] |
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Wyvern
Joined: 03 May 2002 Posts: 2214 Location: Costa Rica
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Posted: Tue Sep 17, 2002 7:43 pm Post subject: Why Iron Maiden's Piece Of Mind Rules My World |
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quote: Originally posted by Jake:
I used to like the Diano stuff far better, but now I like Killers and Piece of Mind the best,
I'm not alone, Jake is [b]da man[/b] [img]images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img] |
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iwarrior
Joined: 05 Apr 2002 Posts: 3526 Location: Pittsburgh,PA
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Posted: Wed Sep 18, 2002 4:27 am Post subject: Why Iron Maiden's Piece Of Mind Rules My World |
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quote: Originally posted by FALCON:
Nice lil Warrior-His-story Mr. Iwarrior, as my favorite is "Powerslave", but can't knock your proper glory and nice comments for an album that melts your Soul.
For me that album hasn't been written yet (always striving for that sound) yet Pain of Salavation_One Hour, Ark_Burn the Sun, Heavy Bones S/T, and Fates Warning_Awaken come quickly to mind as mindblowing experiences for me...
Thanks to you and everyone else for your comments. Maybe someday something will come along and usurp its throne in my skull,but it hasn't happened yet. Hopefully when it does,it'll be another Maiden album. |
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