IRON MAIDEN — Killers (review)

IRON MAIDEN — Killers album cover Album · 1981 · NWoBHM Buy this album from MMA partners
4.5/5 ·
Time Signature
Another life...

Genre: NWoBHM

While not completely up to scratch compared to the other early days Maiden albums (that is, the other 1980s albums), "Killers" is nonetheless teeming with great Maiden classics, like "Killer" and "Wrathchild", but also some more obscure tunes like "Murders in the Rue Morgue" and "Purgatory" (which was nonetheless released in single format). "Killers" is an essential addition to any Iron Maiden collection.

It opens out with the short, yet epic, instrumental track "The Ides Of March", and with an opening like this, the listener cannot but expect something big. Those expectations are, to some extent, met in the sense that there are plenty of great rock songs on the album, but none of them reaches the same level of epicness as the opener.

Most of the tracks on this album are actually quite dirty and mostly uptempo - I don't know if the comparisons between this album and punk music in general holds, but the songs on this album certainly have the same discharge of energy that might characterize punk music, but the level of musical proficiency on this album is much higher than that of punk music.

My favorite tracks on this album are found among the more obscure ones, such as "Murders in the Rue Morgue" with its uptempo verse and groovy chorus, "Another Life" with its kind of disintegrated or patchworky structure and admittedly punky bridge, the groovy "Innocent Exile", the other instrumental "Genghis Khan" with its unpredictable tempo changes (come to think of it, this track is a brilliant heavy metal masterpiece!), and the breakneck "Purgatory" with its guitar-harmony-based verse riff and catchy chorus. "Wrathchild" is a classic, of course, and I think that "Killer" is a song which has perfect congruity between the brutal lyrics and the kind of scary and dark musical composition. "Prodigal Son" is a melancholic ballad which does not really sound Maiden-esque, but it is actually quite good I think and showcases Paul Di'Anno's singing abilities quite well.

Speaking of Di'Anno, this was his last album with Maiden, before being kicked out of the band for not living up to the degree of self discipline expected by Steve Harris, and what an exit release this is! I really like D'Anno's work on this album - there is a really raw quality to his voice which suits the songs perfectly.

This album should appeal to any fan of traditional heavy metal, and certainly it belongs in any Maiden fan's CD collection.
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