Iron Maiden's Reviews

Killers

This here is a "killer" album!

Iron Maiden's 1980 debut took the United Kingdom by storm. Though most of the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal bands scattered across the country achieved very little success, Maiden's earth-shattering debut was a premonition of things to come. In 1981, guitarist Dennis Stratton was replaced by the now legendary Adrian Smith. This brought the line-up to Paul Di'Anno on vocals (this was his last studio album with the band), Steve Harris on bass (he's the band's chief songwriter as well), Clive Burr on drums, and Adrian Smith and Dave Murray on guitars. This is Killers, the band's second studio album. Read on for track-by-track comments, as well as my comments on this remaster series.

Ides of March - This opening instrmental is probably the band's weakest song of the variety, but as an album opener, it works very well.

Wrathchild - Many Maiden fans dub this relentless hard rock assault one of the two best songs to feature Paul Di'Anno's vocals. Who can blame them?

Murders in the Rue Morgue - This tune's a bit more on the melodic rock side, but it's still nothing short of excellent. One of the band's most underrated songs.

Another Life - The lyrics here are a bit redundant, but it's still a pretty good song. Don't skip it - it's not worth doing.

Genghis Khan - IRON MAIDEN'S BEST INSTRUMENTAL EVER! Listen to it, and you'll see why.

Innocent Exile - This one's about a man who was accused of a crime he didn't committ. It's not a bad song, but probably is the weakest one on here.

Killers - The title track is another fast and furious rock assault on your senses you'd have to be stupid not to love! Did the band ever have a bad title track? Well, maybe No Prayer For The Dying, but we'll get to that in a later review...

Prodigal Son - A ballad? Yup. And a damn good one too! Another one of the band's most underrated songs, this one must be heard to be believed.

Purgatory - Another melodic rocker. The lyrics themselves aren't the strength here, but rather how they're delivered. Di'Anno is in top shape here.

Drifters - A good closing track. It's no masterpiece, but it certainly gets the job done.

BONUS TRACK:

Twilight Zone - THIS IS NOT THE GOLDEN EARRING SONG. Though this track doesn't really stand out for much, hearing Di'Anno hit the high notes is priceless!

Now for my comments on the remasters series - as a die-hard Maiden fan, I AM SEVERELY DISAPPOINTED. Sure, the sound quality is improved over the original CD issues and there is some cool enhanced CD footage (all the remasters before the X Factor have this), but this reissue is lacking the most important thing a remaster needs: BONUS TRACKS. We get one bonus cut (Sanctuary), but that just isn't enough. The total play time is about 45:00, and you can fit 80:00 on a CD. There were a plethora of rare tracks from this era that have never before been issued by the band (except for in the restrictively expensive box set. These rarities include demos, compilation tracks, B-Sides, interviews, BBC session tracks, and others.) To put it simply, if you already own the original issue of this album on CD, it's really not necessary to get the new remaster.

Iron Maiden's sophomore album is a great album. However, take my advice. If you're new to Maiden, start with The Number Of The Beast, and stick to buying the albums with Dickinson on vocals. Even though this is a great album, I recommend the Di'Anno and Bayley albums to true fans only, as they don't really capture the band in its prime. Put simply, this is a great album, it's just not a great album to start with.

Buy this album on Amazon at $16.98