Description
Us pressing
Flight of Icarus was Iron Maiden’s first single from their 1983 album, Piece of Mind. It was the band’s first single to be released in the United States, becoming one of their few songs to gain substantial airplay, peaking at No. 8 on the Billboard Top Album Tracks chart – the highest position of any Iron Maiden single in the US. It was also a success in the UK, peaking at No. 11 on the UK Singles Chart. The song is loosely based on the ancient Greek myth of Icarus who was imprisoned with his father Daedalus in the palace of Knossos on Crete. In an attempt to escape, the pair fabricated wings from feathers and wax so they could fly away. Unfortunately Icarus, not heeding the advice of his father, flew too close to the Sun, melting the wax that held the feathers and thus fell to his death in the sea. Vocalist Bruce Dickinson modified the original tale to make it an allegory of teenage rebellion against adult authority, which caused the death of Icarus in this case. The single cover, in something of a parody of the original myth, portrays a winged Eddie killing Icarus with a flamethrower. Icarus resembles the figure in Evening: Fall of Day, by William Rimmer, which was used as a label logo by Led Zeppelin. According to the artist, Derek Riggs, this is a reference to Led Zeppelin’s break-up a few years before. The song received criticism in the UK on release, with Garry Bushell commenting, Plodding rather than powerful, it seemed universally unpopular with hardcore British metallurgists whose worst fears were bolstered by the number’s release as the first American single. Bassist Steve Harris has since said that releasing ‘Icarus’ in the States was a mistake, going on to state that I do wish we’d had time to break it in live before we recorded it, it’s a lot more powerful live, a lot faster and heavier. In support of the song, Dickinson stated, Steve never liked it. He thought it was too slow, but I wanted it to be that rock steady sort of beat. I knew it would get onto American radio if we kept it that way, and I was right.
Track listing
1. Flight Of Icarus
2. Ive Got The Fire-Montrose cover