Iron Maiden - Piece of Mind

Piece of Mind marks a turning point for Iron Maiden, the album that introduced drummer Nicko McBrain and locked in the lineup that would carry the band through its most celebrated run. Released in 1983, it found the band decamping to Jersey to write in an out-of-season hotel restaurant before heading to Compass Point Studios in Nassau to record with producer Martin Birch, who by then had become as central to the Maiden sound as any member of the band.

McBrain's arrival gave the songs a new sense of power and precision, evident right away on "The Trooper," a galloping, Steve Harris-driven anthem built around the Charge of the Light Brigade that remains one of the band's signature live moments. "Flight of Icarus" brought a more direct, radio-friendly edge and became the band's first single to chart in the US, while the rest of the record balanced that accessibility with the kind of intricate, mythologically-minded songwriting Maiden had been sharpening since Bruce Dickinson joined.

The album reached number 14 on the Billboard 200 and went platinum, extending Iron Maiden's hot streak and proving the band could absorb a lineup change without losing momentum. It's held up as one of the strongest records from their classic era, a bridge between the raw aggression of their early years and the more expansive songwriting still to come.

This 2015 remaster lands on 180-gram vinyl for the first time, giving longtime fans a heavier, cleaner pressing of an album that's long deserved one. It's a must for anyone filling out their Maiden collection on wax.