Piece Of Mind

Piece of Mind is the fourth studio album by British heavy metal band Iron Maiden. It was originally released in 1983 (see 1983 in music) on EMI, and on Capitol in the US; it was reissued later on Sanctuary/Columbia Records. It was the first album to feature drummer Nicko McBrain, who had recently left the Paris-based band Trust. The album ranked 21 on IGN's list of the top 25 metal albums. In 1983, Kerrang! magazine published a poll of the greatest metal albums of all time, with Piece Of Mind ranking number 1, and with The Number of the Beast at number 2. In 1989, Steve Harris announced that Piece Of Mind was the 'best studio album' Iron Maiden had recorded^[4]. Until 2000's Brave New World, this album was Bruce Dickinson's favorite album. It is also the first album to feature their mascot, Eddie, full bodied.

Background

Lyrically, the album reflected the group's interest in books and film. For example, "To Tame a Land" is based on Frank Herbert's science fiction novel Dune. "The Trooper" is inspired by Tennyson's Charge of the Light Brigade. "Still Life" is inspired by fantasy/horror writer Clark Ashton Smith's pre-World War II short story Genius Loci. Other inspirations include "Where Eagles Dare", a film by Brian G. Hutton, and screenplay & novel by Alistair MacLean; "Quest for Fire", based on the film by Jean-Jacques Annaud; the writer G. K. Chesterton who is quoted at the beginning of "Revelations", and "Sun and Steel", based on Japanese writer Mishima's eponymous essay about samurai legend Miyamoto Musashi. More exotic influences include Greek mythology, albeit slightly altered for "Flight of Icarus". Aleister Crowley influenced a good piece of the remaining lyrics of "Revelations," which was written by Dickinson.

This is the first of four Iron Maiden albums that were not named after a song featured on the album itself (though the words "peace of mind" appear prominently in the album's sixth song, "Still Life"). In its earliest phase the album was named Food for Thought but was changed so it would suit the artwork more. The name of the last track was meant to be titled "Dune," but Frank Herbert, who disliked heavy rock bands, denied permission to use his book's name and thus a new name had to be chosen.

Included in the liner notes is a slightly altered version of a passage from the Book of Revelation. As printed in the liner notes, it reads:

"And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more Death. Neither sorrow, nor crying. Neither shall there be any more brain; for the former things are passed away."

The actual text (from Chapter 21, Verse 4) is nearly identical, except that it says "neither shall there be any more pain..." . This change could be seen as a reference to the album's name, or the removal of Eddie's brain on the cover, or to drummer Nicko McBrain's inception into the band for this album. World Piece Tour was the tour supporting the album.