Although formed in 1975 by bass player Steve Harris, it took many years and numerous personnel before his band Iron Maiden were able to get a record deal. After two albums with vocalist Paul Di'Anno, the frontman parted company with the band at the end of 1981, in a genuinely mutual decision; i.e. they summoned him to a band meeting in order to tell him his services were no longer required, only to be informed by the singer himself that he was coming over specifically to tell them he was leaving. His replacement was former Samson vocalist Bruce Dickinson; their 1982 album 'The Number Of The Beast' was well-received by their fans who perhaps might have been forgiven for feeling let-down by the departure of the charismatic but unpredictable Di'Anno.
The band had to follow up that album the next year, this would prove or otherwise whether Dickinson was in this for the long haul. With the 'Piece of Mind' album he was able to take part in writing the material, he contributed to four songs on the album, one of which ('Revelations') he wrote alone. Another change in personnel occurred during this period also; drummer Clive Burr (who had been a member of the band since 1979 and had therefore played on all their albums to date) was replaced by Nicko McBrain amid stories of on-the-road partying getting out of hand. From that point the group's line-up remained stable until 1990, when guitarist Adrian Smith announced his departure.
'Piece Of Mind' (as usual, produced by Martin Birch) was recorded between January and March of 1983 at Compass Point Studios in the Bahamas, and released in May that year. The lead-off single was 'Flight Of Icarus', written by Dickinson and Smith, the lyric was based on the Greek myth of Icarus and Daedalus. Reaching number 14 in the UK charts, it was followed up by 'The Trooper', written by Steve Harris. That song, concerning the ill-fated Charge Of The Light Brigade of 1854 during the Crimean War, would go on to become an enduring live favourite and is still performed at their concerts to this day.
The album was acclaimed by fans and critics, and it went on to reach number 3 in the UK albums chart. The band then embarked on a lengthy tour ('World Piece Tour') beginning in their home country with 23 dates (sadly for this blogger who was then still a teenager with very limited funds, that time around they did not come to Liverpool!) They would remain on the road for the remainder of 1983, taking in numerous European countries as well as playing an extended run in the US and Canada.
An amusing tale concerns the 'backmasking' message heard at the end of the song 'The Trooper'. This message, done by drummer Nicko McBrain in a voice based on that of (former Ugandan leader) Idi Amin, was intended to rebuke and poke fun at their critics (particularly in the US) who mistook them for a 'satanic' band; those who dared risk ruining their record stylus by spinning the LP backwards heard this message:
"What ho said the t'ing with the three 'bonce', do not meddle with things you don't understand..."
That was followed by a belch, before the music recommenced with the track 'Still Life'.
By the end of this tour Dickinson had firmly established himself as Maiden's lead singer; he had now recorded as many albums with them as Di'Anno and had proven himself to be a confident and reliable frontman. They would go from strength to strength from then on in, with their next album 'Powerslave' becoming an even bigger success. They toured that album for a year solid, by which time they were the biggest rock band in the country and arguably one of the biggest in the world.
Iron Maiden were not renowned for their video output; most of their promos at this time consisted of the band performing on a stage with archive film clips intercut. A typical example is their promo for 'The Trooper', which is presented here.
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