• Voto:
Ladies & Gentlemen, questo non è un semplice album di una semplice heavy metal band, questo è un capolavoro, è un disco perfetto, è un'icona, l'essenza stessa del metal di classe. Un disco assai più maturo del precedente The Number Of The Beast, tanto a livello di suoni che suprattutto a livello di testi, che percorrono il sottile confine tra realtà e filosofia, tra epicità e dissilusione, tra sogno e incubo, tra epicità e riflessione. Il viaggio nell'affascinante microcosmo del disco parte con Where Eagles Dare, che racconta di una spedizione di guerra sulle montagne nel corso di una bufera di neve. L'atmosfera è molto epica e sostenuta come si addice ad una opener, piccolissimo difetto la durata di 6 minuti, a mio modesto parere ne bastavano 4. Revelations è uno dei picchi assoluti di bellezza e poesia mai raggiunti dalla Vergine di Ferro. Bruce Dickinson, che aveva rilevano al microfono Paul Di'Anno scrive un testo a dir poco aulico e visionario, coronato da intrecci di chitarre, ora veementi e ora carezzevoli, che accompagnano l'ascoltatore in un viaggio al confine del giorno e della notte, tra paesaggi mistici e surreali, una canzone che ti cambia la vita. Più diretta ma altrettanto epica è Flight Of Icarus, ideale manifesto dell'illusione umana di potersi spingere oltre i propri liiti naturali. The Trooper è "subdola e ingannevole" le sonorità del pezzo potrebbero far pensare a un brano epic metal inneggiante alla guerra, e invece parla di un soldato semplice che viene abbattuto e muore solo e dimenticato in una guerra napoleonica. Testi così belli e profondi sono rintracciabili anche in The Aftermath, The Edge Of Darkness, Como Estais Amigo, Paschendale e For The Greater Good Of God. Dimenticavo Die With Your Boots On, una sorta di 2 Minutes To Midnight allo stato embrionale, soprattutto nell'intro chitarristica; testo ironico verso i profeti di sciagure (se proprio dovete morire, ameno morite combattendo.... dice in testo) Still Life riprende le tematiche dell'incubo e del mistero già trattate in Killers con Prodigal Son e Purgatory e in Iron Maiden con Strange World, ma è una canzone più convenzionamente maiden-style delle precedanti come sonorità. Quest For Fire è meravigliosa, un potenziale inno da stadio, non mi spiego perchè gli Irons gli preferiscono la ben più anonima Run To The Hills. Qui Bruce Dickinson è più epico che mai: sembra davvero un Bardo mentre declama la scoperta del fuoco e l'evoluzione dell'uomo primitivo. Bellissima e sottovalutatissima anche Sun And Steel, dotata di un ritornello davvero killer, come il samurai di cui parla la canzone. Questo impagabile viaggio onirico si chiude con To Tame A Land, atmosfere arabeggianti e potenza wagneriana, e poi solo sentire il vecchio Bruce Bruce declamare frasi solenni e parole sconosciute (Muab'dib, Gom Jabbar, Kwizathch Haderach, Kaladan...) vale il prezzo del disco. IMMORTALE, VOTO 10/10
"She came to me with a serpent kiss
and the eyes of the sun rose on her lips
moonlight catches silver tears I cried...".
Elenco tracce testi samples e video
01 Where Eagles Dare (06:10)
It's snowing outside, the rumbling sound
of engines roar in the night
The mission is near the confident men
are waiting to drop from the sky
The Blizzard goes on, but still they must fly
No one should go where eagles dare
Bavarian Alps that lay all around
They seem to stare from below
The enemy lines a long time passed
Are lying deep in the snow
Into the night they fall through the sky
No one should fly where eagles dare
Their closing in, the fortress is near
It's standing high in the sky
The cable car's the only way in
it's really impossible to climb
They make their way, but maybe too late
They've got to try to save the day
The panicking cries, the roaring of guns
Are echoing all around the valley
The mission complete, they make to scape
Away from the Eagles Nest
They dared to go where no one would try
They chose to fly where eagles dare
02 Revelations (06:48)
"O God of Earth and Altar,
Bow down and hear our cry,
Our earthly rulers falter,
Our people drift and die,
The walls of gold entomb us,
The swords of scorn divide,
Take not thy thunder from us,
But take away our pride."
(G. K. Chesterton; English Hymnal)
Just a babe in the black abyss
No reason for a place like this
The walls are cold and souls cry out in pain
An easy way for the blind to go
A clever path for the fools who know
The secret of the hanged man - the smile on his lips
The light of the blind - you'll see
The venom that tears my spine
The eyes of the Nile are opening - you'll see
She came to me with a serpents kiss
As the eye of the sun rose on her lips
Moonlight catches silver tears I cry
So we lay in the black embrace
And the seed is sown in a holy place
And I watched, and I waited for the dawn
The light of the blind - you'll see
The venom that tears my spine
The eyes of the Nile are opening - you'll see
Solo: Dave / Adrian
Bind all of us together
Ablaze with hope and free
No storm or heavy weather
Will rock the boat you'll see
The time has come to close your eyes
And still the wind and rain
For the one who will be king
Is the watcher in the ring
It is you
03 Flight of Icarus (03:51)
As the sun breaks, above the ground,
An old man stands on the hill,
As the ground warms, to the first rays of light
A birdsong shatters the still.
His eyes are a blaze,
See the madman in his gaze.
Fly, on your way, like an eagle,
Fly as high as the sun,
On your way, like an eagle,
Fly and touch the sun.
Now the crowd breaks and a young boy appears
Looks the old man in the eye
As he spreads his wings and shouts at the crowd
In the name of God my father I'll fly.
His eyes seem so glazed
As he flies on the wings of a dream,
Now he knows his father betrayed
Now his wings turn to ashes to ashes his grave.
Fly, on your way, like an eagle,
Fly as high as the sun,
On your way, like an eagle,
Fly, touch the sun.
04 Die With Your Boots On (05:28)
Another Prophet of Disaster
Who says the ship is lost,
Another Prophet of Disaster
Leaving you to count the cost.
Taunting us with Visions,
Afflicting us with fear,
Predicting War for millions,
In the hope that one appears.
No point asking when it is,
No point asking who's to go,
No point asking what's the game,
No point asking who's to blame.
'cos if you're gonna die, if you're gonna die,
'cos if you're gonna die, if you're gonna die,
If you're gonna die, die with your boots on.
If you're gonna try, we'll stick around,
Gonna cry, just move along,
If you're gonna die, you're gonna die.
In 13 the Beast is rising,
The Frenchman did surmise,
Through earthquakes and starvation,
The warlord will arise.
Terror, Death, Destruction,
Pour from the Eastern Sands,
But the truth of all predictions,
Is always in your hands.
If you're gonna die, die with your boots on,
If you're gonna try, we'll stick around,
Gonna cry, just move along,
If you're gonna die, you're gonna die.
05 The Trooper (04:10)
You'll take my life but I'll take yours too
You'll fire your musket but I'll run you through
So when you're waiting for the next attack
You'd better stand there's no turning back.
The bugle sounds and the charge begins
But on this battlefield no one wins
The smell of acrid smoke and horses breath
As I plunge on into certain death.
The horse he sweats with fear we break to run
The mighty roar of the Russian guns
And as we race towards the human wall
The screams of pain as my comrades fall
We hurdle bodies that lay on the ground
And the Russians fire another round
We get so near yet so far away
We were meant to fight another day.
We get so close near enough to fight
When a Russian gets me in his sights
He pulls the trigger and I feel the blow
A burst of rounds take my horse below.
And as I lay there gazing at the sky
My body's numb and my throat is dry
And as I lay forgotten and alone
Without a tear I draw my parting groan
08 Sun and Steel (03:26)
You killed your first man at 13
Killer instinct, Animal supreme
By 16 you had learned to fight
The way of the warrior, you took it as your right
Sunlight, falling on your steel
Death in life is your ideal
Life is like a wheel
Sunlight, falling on your steel
Death in life is your ideal
Life is like a wheel
Through earth and water, fire and wind
You came at last - nothing was the end
Make a cut by fire and stone
Take you and your blade and break you both in two
Break you both in two
Sunlight, falling on your steel
Death in life is your ideal
Life is like a wheel
Sunlight, falling on your steel
Death in life is your ideal
Life is like a wheel - rolling on and on
Sunlight, falling on your steel
Death in life is your ideal
Life is like a wheel
Sunlight, falling on your steel
Death in life is your ideal
Life is like a wheel
Sunlight, falling on your steel
Death in life is your ideal
Life is like a wheel
Sunlight, falling on your steel
Death in life is your ideal
Life is like a wheel - and it`s rolling still
Carico i commenti... con calma
Altre recensioni
Di cliffburton86
Piece of mind resta tutto oggi una pietra miliare del metal in generale.
L’arrivo del batterista... portò un senso ritmico più quadrato e solido, oltre ad una versatilità maggiore rispetto al suo predecessore.
Di Spike Joe
Capolavoro. Questa è la parola più appropriata per un album di questo calibro.
Nessun fan degli Iron Maiden o amante della "new wave" dovrebbe lasciarsi scappare un album di questo calibro.
Di Filippo Guzzardi
Iron Maiden is Heavy Metal ‘cause Heavy Metal is Piece Of Mind.
Definire esaltante (per non dire devastante) una song come 'The Trooper' è semplice e pura constatazione.
