Heavier Than Heaven

With the huge success of their previous album “The Number of the Beast”, the band was off the hook and subsequently released “Piece of Mind” the very next year. The second album of the “Golden years”, the Record is a time less and awe-inspiring master piece.

This is the first album to feature the band’s new drummer Nicko McBrain who showcases his super skills in the first of few seconds of the record opener “Where Eagles Dare” and he keeps you wondering why he is as good as Clive Burr. The album’s theme wasn’t preset, but the lyrical approach showed the band’s predilection for film and fiction. The album consists of nine songs out of which five are power-packed and are an out of the world experience to any metal-head. “The Trooper”, is a default in all of the band’s live performances and an overplayed song is a killer nonetheless. “Revelations”, a forerunner to the more famous “Powerslave” of their next album, is a breathtaking song and is solely composed by the front man Bruce Dickinson. The album single “Flight of the Icarus” is an uncomplicated song with one of band’s best ever solos. The finisher and the epic song of the album “To Tame a Land” is an outstanding track which is highly underrated, it is definitely one of the better sounding tracks of the record. Surely one of the classiest albums ever produced and mastered, this took the band into new heights and their greatness then was inexplicable.

The last album to be released in the “golden years” shows the height of the creative progression that the band was heading towards, from the start of their previous album, “Somewhere in Time”. Co-incidentally, the album is also their seventh studio album and it has pulled off a better synth balance and is not very pushy. The record is one of a kind because it’s the first album to have a specific storyline that unfolds through the songs! The story is adorned with obscure, sinister and dark thoughts! The album opener “MOONCHILD” has a brilliant synth start and is followed by “INFINITE DREAMS”; This particular track is filled with delightful tempo changes through out. The weakest track of the record is “THE PROPHECY”; However the song is definitely not a filler!

“THE EVIL THAT MEN DO” and “CAN I PLAY WITH MADNESS?” are beautifully composed heavy metal singles and are featured in most of their live performances. The title song is splendid and top notch and is incomplete without the killer solos! “THE CLAIRVOYANT” is easily the album’s best song with its thundering bass start!

An amazing way to round off the “golden years”, the band’s music had become more progressive and they were considered to be the greatest and the most successful heavy metal band of all time! UP THE IRONS!!