The first
time I record listening to the name Iron Maiden
was with the band Magnitude 9 (I think
it was 2005), because they have covered the song Flight
of Icarus. After that, everything I heard about them was bad and full of
prejudice, mentioning they were involved with occultism and Satanism, till one
day, in a Literature class in a prep-course for college, back in 2011, the
teacher mentioned some songs of their songs that were inspired by books and
even cultural events. In my (then) narrowed vision of the world and music, I
tried to imagine if that was possible.
When I got
home, I took my sister's laptop, went to the public library, connected to the
Wi-Fi and started looking out for answers and I was astonished by the amount of
information and misinformation there was out there about them. The first one
that can be overridden is the one about occultism and Satanism. The drummer,
Nicko McBrain, is a professed Christian. Being a Christian myself, though I
respect and have never treated differently those who take part in these
practices, I can't sing and listen to something that goes the opposite way of
what I believe. That is hypocrisy! And I see that Nicko wouldn't be playing
anything that hurts his faith.
After
reading tons of articles, interviews, it was time to listen to some songs. The
internet speed wasn't that fast where I was. I mentioned to my physiotherapist,
during one of the sessions, about this desire to know more about them. Since he
was a friend of the family, the next day he was knocking at my mum's door and
brought a three-set of CDs with many MP3s so I could copy and listen to and,
among many artists, there were a lot of Iron
Maiden. One of the few complete albums, instead of random songs, was the
Piece of Mind, the band's fourth
full-length album. I can never thank him enough. Okay, okay... As far as I'm
able, I buy the official releases of what I like and encourage everyone to do
so. If it isn't possible, stream it via official platforms. Also, the Piece of Mind was the first album I acquired
from the band just because of how much I love it.
As my
former Literature teacher said, there is huge influence by books and cultural
events. In this album, you can find references like:
- Where Eagles Dare - partially
inspired by a movie of same name released in 1968, directed by Brian G.
Hutton;
- The Trooper - about a soldier
in the Battle of Balaclava, which happened during the Crimean War in 1854,
and the lyrics are, in part, based on the poem "The Charge of the
Light Brigade" by Alfred Lord Tennyson;
- Still Life - inspired by the
short story "The Inhabitant of the Lake" by the author Ramsey
Campbell;
- To Tame A Land - inspired by
the book "Dune", written by Frank Herbert.
I won't
name all of them, but these are some worth of the shout out.
This album
is remarkable for many things like the huge success in America, the entrance of
the current drummer Nicko McBrain and for its extensive world tour. Also, the
album captures what the band was bringing since the very first album in 1980:
fast-paced song, galloping, catchy choruses and much energy.
The songs I
like the most, as they are played in the album, are:
- Where Eagles Dare
- Flight Of Icarus
- Die With Your Boots
- The Trooper
- Sun And Steel
- To Tame A Land
Put any
prejudice aside. Search for information. You may be missing some gems out there
as I was for quite some time.
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Listen on:
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YouTube Music
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Reference:
https://loudwire.com/iron-maiden-piece-of-mind-anniversary/
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