(Rated this album with 6 out of 10) Reviewed by
Richard Walsh
from Amersham,England
Good album,not as good as its predecessor but still enough to keep me satisfied and still worth a buy definately.All the tracks are a good listen.The best on the album for me are obviously the title track and "Wrathchild."However,the down point about this album is that it contains no real Maiden classics that will stay in your head or be remembered. The album starts well with the good intro of "The ideas of march",leading onto the greater"Wrathchild"-here I think DiAnno shows great talent on the vocals."Murders in the rue morgue"is another impressive track.The album at this point for me on the next 3 tracks goes a bit underpar-not that it is bad but isnt so much my cup of tea. However,the album really opens up at"Killers"which is the best track for me-I like the lyrics,tune and the clever use of guitar playing.The following track"Prodigal son" seems to be in a somewhat different genre to the rest of the album but I still like it for what it is.The remainder of the album is reasnoble although I find that DiAnno gets annoying on the vocals in some areas going over the top,like when he makes an almost squeaking noise in "Twilight Zone."Paul DiAnno shows he has talent but after hearing this album I was glad that Bruce would be taking over the vocals on the next album.I have nothing against DiAnno but I dont think he is as well suited to Maiden as Bruce is,I mean listening to the following albums can you really imagine him singing all time great Maiden songs such as"The Number Of The Beast","Hallowed Be Thy Name",and "Fear Of The Dark" to nearly the great effect that Bruce has done. To appreciate Paul Di Anno properly,Id say that the first album "Iron Maiden"is more of a listen,as in my opinion he comes across better in this one.Still,Killers is pretty cool.
