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.

Revelations ch. xxi v. 1. (Quoted inside the Piece Of Mind sleeve)

What does it mean? It might be alluding to the eastern concept of nirvana, which when achieved features the extinction of individual consciousness and desire (hence, no 'Brain'). It could also be referring to Christianity, implying that it is for brainless morons. But it is most probably referring to the lobotomisation of Eddie... you can see on the album cover that he has had is brain removed and his skull is now screwed shut.

The original idea for the cover was to kill Eddie, but the band thought that it was too extreme. The trepanation is, according to a Bruce Dickinson interview, an allusion to an old Aztec ritual during human sacrifices. The album was originally going to be called Food For Thought, but they finally decided to give it a more subtle name.

Commercially Piece Of Mind was a huge success, and was even voted the number one metal LP of all time in a KERRANG! magazine poll. It was also the first album with drummer Nicko McBrain, completing a line-up which would last through four studio albums the longest stable line-up in Maiden history.

The comments by Steve Harris were taken from an interview with John Stix in July 1983.

Recorded at:
Compass Point, Nassau

Assistant engineers:
Denis Haliburton, Frank Gibson

Mixed at:
Electric Lady Sound Studios, New York

Assistant mixing engineer:
Bruce Buchhalter

Remastered by:
Simon Hayworth at Chop 'Em Out (1998 re-release)

All titles published by:
Zomba Music Publishers Ltd

Managed by:
Rod "Sheriff of Huddersfield" Smallwood for Sanctuary Music (overseas)Ltd. and Andy "I don't know about that" Taylor For Sanctuary Music Ltd.

Sleeve illustrations by:
Derek "Dr. Death" Riggs

Cover conception and design by:
Iron Maiden, Rod Smallwood and Derek Riggs

Photos by:
Simon "Bullseye" Fowler (original 1983 release)
Ross Halfin, Robert Ellis and Simon Fowler (1998 re-release)

Art continuation by:
Keith Peacock for The Artful Dodgers Ltd. (original 1983 release)

IronMaiden wanna thank the following: Rod and Andy: The Killer Krew Tony"Wiggy" Wigens, Dicky "Der Fuhrer" Bell, Dave "Mega" Lights, Doug"Supersonic" Hall, John "JT" Thompson, Peter "Charles I" Kirkman, Bill"See yoo Jimmy" Barclay, Warren "Falling in love again" Poppe, Michael"Intense Man" Kenney, Bill "Never go 'ome" Bailey, Keith Wilfort FC,Paul Raxworthy, Michael McNamee, Gerry Sayer, Dennis Brown, Rob Laird,Newton Gomes, Jean McPherson, Abigail "Thing" Allt: Ronan, Derek andRoger at Meteorlite: Turbosound: Charlie Kail and his BrilliantConstructions: Paul Fowler: Neal Peppe: Neal, Mitchie and Family: DaveDimartino: John Jackson: Bill Elson and all at ATI: Masa: Alex"Alectron" Alexandrou: Ibanez, Paiste, Dean Markley, Marshall,Rotosound, Chas. Foote: Ross "I'll murder you at squash" Halfin, BobEllis, Simon Fowler: Vic Vella: Ira and Homeboy: Barry Drinkwater andthe Kiwis Clutch, Rangy and Jeff: Morris, Tim, Dave and MCP: Howard"Eagle Eye" Jones: Roy, Karen and Calstar: Bill Liebowitz: Dave Mallet:The De Carteret family, St. Ouen's Manor: Charles du Quesne: Peter,Nick, Frank and the girls at Le Chalet: Moses, Lorraine, Ivy and thegirls at Compass Point: Tom Pearson: Arthur knowles and the MidlandBank: The Earl of Essex (The pub not the bloke): Donny and Robin at theWaterloo, Nassau: Bruce Ravid: Bars, McDonalds and video shopseverywhere: Remy and Ruddles: Clive, Ralph, Keith and Jan at Zomba:Marvin and Derek: Jim Hamar and Frank Conge: The Chadwell Heath maidenCrew Mark, Chris, Adam, Titch and Paul: Pat "Butcher" Cash for thetennis lessons: Keith Sharp for the soccer (not lessons!): ScottMcGuire: Mark and Lea: The Pied Piper and the Chicago Mutants: PatMcKenna and Robin Ivison: Jay Walberg: Patrick McGoohan: Barry Clayton:Ken Holmes: Chris Ambler: "Catsmeat" Waller: Jimmy Bolton, Aunt Janet:Melbourne Sports F.C.: Frank Herbert and Alister Maclean for theinspiration of their works: Orion Pictures: ******** to Mastercard.

No synthesisers or ulterior motives.

A Very Special Thanks to Clive Burr good luck mate.

To all the Headbangers, Earthdogs, Hell rats and Rivetheads everywhere THANKS.

Iron Maiden Fan Club:

P.O.Box 3803, Harlow, Essex, CM17 0NZ, England

Telephone/Fax: +44 (0)1279 442666

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