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Trollheart · 10-31-2013, 01:58 PM

Killers --- Iron Maiden --- 1981 (EMI)

Now this was an album sleeve that scared me when I was younger. Well it would, wouldn't it? Look at the snarly face of Eddie on the cover, bloody axe in his hand, no sign of remorse, pity or even motive on his skeletal face, the despairing hands of his victim gripping his shirt as their owner slides to the ground in a pool of blood. If you want a nightmare that evokes the worst fears of walking home alone through a bad neighbourhood at night, this comes pretty darn close. But looking at the sleeve, I'd always imagined the music within to be equally scary, raw, evil even. I had at the time no idea who or what Iron Maiden were, to the extent (don't laugh) that I thought Eddie was called "the iron maiden" --- yeah, I thought he was a bird. Well, he has long hair hasn't he, and I'm sure we've all dated worse. No? Just me then.

Anyhow, after the revelation that was "The number of the Beast" I immediately began to backtrack and of course this being the album prior to that chartbusting success it was the first one I lighted on. Truth to tell, there were only two, as I bought NOTB when it came out, so had only the two prior albums to sink my suddenly hungry teeth into. I did of course buy the debut, and as mentioned elsewhere I have already reviewed that, but compared to "Killers" it's a big disappointment. "Killers" was I think where Maiden began to grow up and mature as a band, the first signs of what they could be evident in some of the songs here, and whereas "Iron Maiden" had been a raw, primordial but somewhat confused debut, their second outing showed them coming out of the traps guns blazing, with much tighter songwriting, a clear image and of course, far better production, this being the first album that the legendary Martin Birch worked on with them.

It's also the first time we hear Adrian Smith , as he had not been there for the debut, and the album is written almost exclusively solo by Steve Harris, Paul Di'Anno only contributing to the writing of the title track. And of course, as all Maiden fans know, speaking of Di'Anno, this would be the last album to feature him as vocalist. After "Killers", arguments over substance abuse would lead to his being asked to leave the band, to be replaced by Bruce Dickinson, who would take the band to the top of the world, where they remain to this day, one of the most loved and respected, and successful, Heavy Metal bands on the planet.

Maiden have never been ones for instrumentals, so it's perhaps odd that this album features not one but two, the opener being the first, as "The ides of March" sets the scene for the first real track, "Wrathchild", which had appeared on various EPs and demos as well as metal compilation albums such as "Metal for muthas". Steve Harris's iconic basswork opens the track then the twin guitar attack that was to go on to become the trademark of this band changes the whole shape of the songs, and though I was never a fan of his, I will admit Di'Anno does a great job throughout this album. His growling, snarling vocal is just the right side of menace that a song like this, and indeed those that follow, requires. It trundles along nicely, not breakneck speed or anything like it, but then Maiden would never really go down the speed metal route, and while they undeniably wrote fast songs, it was never the most important thing to them.

Dipping into Harris's love of literature and horror, "Murders in the Rue Morgue" is loosely based on the Edgar Allan Poe story, and starts off with a deceptively gentle guitar intro, that slowly turns up to become something of an introductory solo before the whole thing takes off, and this time speed is the thing. The closest to the punk immediacy of the debut, it's a machine-gun fast vocal delivery from Di'Anno, with to his credit completely understandable lyric, while Clive Burr bashes out the drums with manic fury. The partnership between Dave Murray and the new guy really starts to shine here, as they trade licks on the solo, a sound that would become ingrained in Iron Maiden lore and make of both of them legends on the scene.

For a four-minute song it goes by pretty quickly, possibly due to the punkish style of the vocal, and we're into a full-on fretfest to mark the opening of the considerably slower "Another life" with a kind of almost echoing vocal from Paul. This has never been one of my favourite tracks on the album, though I love "Killers" and there's really nothing on the album I don't like. There are no weak tracks, but if there are some less strong and powerful than others, I'd put "Another life" in that category. Great build-up guitar work halfway through as the song really speeds up and then kicking into a searing solo to take it to the final verse and a big screaming guitar ending into the second instrumental. "Genghis Khan" has a sense of, not really that surprisingly, military march in its beat, and of course it's a real chance for Adrian Smith and Dave Murray to show off their guitar chops and further cement the partnership between them that would only be to Maiden's advantage as they went on to take on the world a year later.

Of course, we should not forget Steve, who works his bass like it's an actual six-stringed guitar, and makes it do things perhaps only Phil Lynott or Gene Simmons could do. And the whole thing is as ever driven by the steady, no-nonsense drumming of Clive Burr. Another big guitar opening with Harris massaging his bass like a lover to kick off "Innocent exile", which runs along with a kind of strut/boogie sound, but again it's one of those tracks I'm not overly fond of. With a title like "Killers" it'll come as no surprise that many of the songs concern murder and killing, and this is no exception, with a great Texas boogie style guitar break and some fine riffing from the boys. Di'Anno gets to do his thing too, with a big, tonsil-searing scream to end the song.

The title track is up next, and it's certainly one of my favourite tracks on the album, and in my top ten favourite Maiden songs. The ony one co-written with anyone, Harris is helped out by Di'Anno on this. His urgent bass accompanies shouting and yelling from his co-writer, who then drops about an octave to a menacing, gutteral snarl as the vocal proper begins. With screeching, scratching guitar painting the backdrop, Di'Anno warns of a madman on the loose who will kill without mercy --- "A footstep behind you/ He lunges, prepared for attack!" The drumbeat from Burr helps make this song into a classic, trundling along at just the right speed, like a frightened heartbeat, but to be fair it's really Di'Anno who takes the prize, his persona of the mad killer --- of course it turns out he's talking about himself in the song: "He walks in the subway/ My eyes burn a hole in your back" --- perhaps meant to be schizophrenic or maybe a Jeckyll and Hyde deal, I don't know. It's a powerful song, and certainly deserves to be the title track.

"Killers" is a relatively fast song, thundering along like the retreating, desperate footsteps of the quarry who tries to get away, and in some ways can be seen as a sequel to the title of the debut, but what follows is pure ballad, and a rarity at that. There aren't many Iron Maiden ballads, and after "Strange world" on the debut and this, there won't be another really until "Journeyman", over twenty years later. It's always nice to see how a metal band cope with a ballad, and I'm glad to see they didn't go down the acoustic route, with Smith and Murray showing they can tone it back as easily as they rock it out, and providing a very calming but still heavy backdrop to a really superb vocal from Di'Anno, who really shines on this song.

Fantastic laidback solo on the halfway point, and I think both of the guys take half of it, and really, from the title track to the end there isn't anything to complain about. Like many albums, this has its cutoff point but perhaps uniquely or certainly unusually, it's only in the second half that the album, for me, really gets going and the boys show what they're capable of. "Purgatory" is another rip-roaring rocker, kicking everything back up to ten as the guys head towards the big finish, Clive Burr putting in a fine performance that must have wrecked his arms, and another rapid-fire vocal from Di'Anno with I guess an unintentional message in the lyric as he sings "Please take me away/ So far away!"

And that would have been a decent closer, but Maiden aren't happy with that, so they pull out all the stops and bring the curtain down with a roar of flame and a cloud of smoke as "Drifter" punches its way in, rolling, whining guitars setting up the soundscape as Paul yells "Rock and roll! Yeah!" and the album finishes on a high, the energy practically leaking out of the grooves (you'll forgive an old guy: I bought this on vinyl, remember) and a super hook --- "Gonna sing my song/ And it can't go wrong!" It certainly could not. Sweet little slick solo from one or other of the guys slows the song slightly down before on a mounting scale it rises back up to the speed of the opening, Burr helping usher back in the proper tempo as Di'Anno stands side by side with Harris, Smith and Murray as they go for it, squeezing out every inch of passion and fervour till the song finally end on a high, screeched vocal from Di'Anno, and you feel drained as the last notes fade away. Now that's how to end an album!

TRACKLISTING

1. The ides of March
2. Wrathchild
3. Murders in the Rue Morgue
4. Another life
5. Genghis Khan
6. Innocent exile
7. Killers
8. Prodigal son
9. Purgatory
10. Drifter

Now, before anyone cracks their fingers before the keyboard in preparation for the comment, let me just point out again that I bought this on vinyl and at the time that was the tracklisting. I know that "Twilight zone" was added to later releases, but to me it was and never will be part of the album. I heard it in a twelve-inch single B-side, and that's how I know it. How it fits into the flow of the album for other people I don't know, but I'm intimately acquainted with this album and I know how I expect it to go, and for me there's no room for "Twilight zone", so sue me.

You can see from the talent evident on this album that this was not a band who were going to fade away. Okay, there are no really commercial songs on "Killers", no hit singles and I suppose the mostly darker nature of much of the songwriting would have precluded it from doing well in the charts or on radio. But there was no doubt, I expect, listening to that album in 1981 --- unlike me, who heard it afterwards --- that something great, immense, powerful and altogether unstoppable was coming. This was a monster being born, a wonderful, terrifying, awe-inspiring monster, and to quote WB Yeats, it was beginning to slouch towards Bethlehem to be born.

A year later, its birth cries would ring out across the country, and then the world, and indeed, a terrible, incredible and legendary beauty would be born. And the world would never again be quite the same.

10-31-2013, 01:58 PM	#2022 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,996	Killers --- Iron Maiden --- 1981 (EMI) Now this was an album sleeve that scared me when I was younger. Well it would, wouldn't it? Look at the snarly face of Eddie on the cover, bloody axe in his hand, no sign of remorse, pity or even motive on his skeletal face, the despairing hands of his victim gripping his shirt as their owner slides to the ground in a pool of blood. If you want a nightmare that evokes the worst fears of walking home alone through a bad neighbourhood at night, this comes pretty darn close. But looking at the sleeve, I'd always imagined the music within to be equally scary, raw, evil even. I had at the time no idea who or what Iron Maiden were, to the extent (don't laugh) that I thought Eddie was called "the iron maiden" --- yeah, I thought he was a bird. Well, he has long hair hasn't he, and I'm sure we've all dated worse. No? Just me then. Anyhow, after the revelation that was "The number of the Beast" I immediately began to backtrack and of course this being the album prior to that chartbusting success it was the first one I lighted on. Truth to tell, there were only two, as I bought NOTB when it came out, so had only the two prior albums to sink my suddenly hungry teeth into. I did of course buy the debut, and as mentioned elsewhere I have already reviewed that, but compared to "Killers" it's a big disappointment. "Killers" was I think where Maiden began to grow up and mature as a band, the first signs of what they could be evident in some of the songs here, and whereas "Iron Maiden" had been a raw, primordial but somewhat confused debut, their second outing showed them coming out of the traps guns blazing, with much tighter songwriting, a clear image and of course, far better production, this being the first album that the legendary Martin Birch worked on with them. It's also the first time we hear Adrian Smith , as he had not been there for the debut, and the album is written almost exclusively solo by Steve Harris, Paul Di'Anno only contributing to the writing of the title track. And of course, as all Maiden fans know, speaking of Di'Anno, this would be the last album to feature him as vocalist. After "Killers", arguments over substance abuse would lead to his being asked to leave the band, to be replaced by Bruce Dickinson, who would take the band to the top of the world, where they remain to this day, one of the most loved and respected, and successful, Heavy Metal bands on the planet. Maiden have never been ones for instrumentals, so it's perhaps odd that this album features not one but two, the opener being the first, as "The ides of March" sets the scene for the first real track, "Wrathchild", which had appeared on various EPs and demos as well as metal compilation albums such as "Metal for muthas". Steve Harris's iconic basswork opens the track then the twin guitar attack that was to go on to become the trademark of this band changes the whole shape of the songs, and though I was never a fan of his, I will admit Di'Anno does a great job throughout this album. His growling, snarling vocal is just the right side of menace that a song like this, and indeed those that follow, requires. It trundles along nicely, not breakneck speed or anything like it, but then Maiden would never really go down the speed metal route, and while they undeniably wrote fast songs, it was never the most important thing to them. Dipping into Harris's love of literature and horror, "Murders in the Rue Morgue" is loosely based on the Edgar Allan Poe story, and starts off with a deceptively gentle guitar intro, that slowly turns up to become something of an introductory solo before the whole thing takes off, and this time speed is the thing. The closest to the punk immediacy of the debut, it's a machine-gun fast vocal delivery from Di'Anno, with to his credit completely understandable lyric, while Clive Burr bashes out the drums with manic fury. The partnership between Dave Murray and the new guy really starts to shine here, as they trade licks on the solo, a sound that would become ingrained in Iron Maiden lore and make of both of them legends on the scene. For a four-minute song it goes by pretty quickly, possibly due to the punkish style of the vocal, and we're into a full-on fretfest to mark the opening of the considerably slower "Another life" with a kind of almost echoing vocal from Paul. This has never been one of my favourite tracks on the album, though I love "Killers" and there's really nothing on the album I don't like. There are no weak tracks, but if there are some less strong and powerful than others, I'd put "Another life" in that category. Great build-up guitar work halfway through as the song really speeds up and then kicking into a searing solo to take it to the final verse and a big screaming guitar ending into the second instrumental. "Genghis Khan" has a sense of, not really that surprisingly, military march in its beat, and of course it's a real chance for Adrian Smith and Dave Murray to show off their guitar chops and further cement the partnership between them that would only be to Maiden's advantage as they went on to take on the world a year later. Of course, we should not forget Steve, who works his bass like it's an actual six-stringed guitar, and makes it do things perhaps only Phil Lynott or Gene Simmons could do. And the whole thing is as ever driven by the steady, no-nonsense drumming of Clive Burr. Another big guitar opening with Harris massaging his bass like a lover to kick off "Innocent exile", which runs along with a kind of strut/boogie sound, but again it's one of those tracks I'm not overly fond of. With a title like "Killers" it'll come as no surprise that many of the songs concern murder and killing, and this is no exception, with a great Texas boogie style guitar break and some fine riffing from the boys. Di'Anno gets to do his thing too, with a big, tonsil-searing scream to end the song. The title track is up next, and it's certainly one of my favourite tracks on the album, and in my top ten favourite Maiden songs. The ony one co-written with anyone, Harris is helped out by Di'Anno on this. His urgent bass accompanies shouting and yelling from his co-writer, who then drops about an octave to a menacing, gutteral snarl as the vocal proper begins. With screeching, scratching guitar painting the backdrop, Di'Anno warns of a madman on the loose who will kill without mercy --- "A footstep behind you/ He lunges, prepared for attack!" The drumbeat from Burr helps make this song into a classic, trundling along at just the right speed, like a frightened heartbeat, but to be fair it's really Di'Anno who takes the prize, his persona of the mad killer --- of course it turns out he's talking about himself in the song: "He walks in the subway/ My eyes burn a hole in your back" --- perhaps meant to be schizophrenic or maybe a Jeckyll and Hyde deal, I don't know. It's a powerful song, and certainly deserves to be the title track. "Killers" is a relatively fast song, thundering along like the retreating, desperate footsteps of the quarry who tries to get away, and in some ways can be seen as a sequel to the title of the debut, but what follows is pure ballad, and a rarity at that. There aren't many Iron Maiden ballads, and after "Strange world" on the debut and this, there won't be another really until "Journeyman", over twenty years later. It's always nice to see how a metal band cope with a ballad, and I'm glad to see they didn't go down the acoustic route, with Smith and Murray showing they can tone it back as easily as they rock it out, and providing a very calming but still heavy backdrop to a really superb vocal from Di'Anno, who really shines on this song. Fantastic laidback solo on the halfway point, and I think both of the guys take half of it, and really, from the title track to the end there isn't anything to complain about. Like many albums, this has its cutoff point but perhaps uniquely or certainly unusually, it's only in the second half that the album, for me, really gets going and the boys show what they're capable of. "Purgatory" is another rip-roaring rocker, kicking everything back up to ten as the guys head towards the big finish, Clive Burr putting in a fine performance that must have wrecked his arms, and another rapid-fire vocal from Di'Anno with I guess an unintentional message in the lyric as he sings "Please take me away/ So far away!" And that would have been a decent closer, but Maiden aren't happy with that, so they pull out all the stops and bring the curtain down with a roar of flame and a cloud of smoke as "Drifter" punches its way in, rolling, whining guitars setting up the soundscape as Paul yells "Rock and roll! Yeah!" and the album finishes on a high, the energy practically leaking out of the grooves (you'll forgive an old guy: I bought this on vinyl, remember) and a super hook --- "Gonna sing my song/ And it can't go wrong!" It certainly could not. Sweet little slick solo from one or other of the guys slows the song slightly down before on a mounting scale it rises back up to the speed of the opening, Burr helping usher back in the proper tempo as Di'Anno stands side by side with Harris, Smith and Murray as they go for it, squeezing out every inch of passion and fervour till the song finally end on a high, screeched vocal from Di'Anno, and you feel drained as the last notes fade away. Now that's how to end an album! TRACKLISTING 1. The ides of March 2. Wrathchild 3. Murders in the Rue Morgue 4. Another life 5. Genghis Khan 6. Innocent exile 7. Killers 8. Prodigal son 9. Purgatory 10. Drifter Now, before anyone cracks their fingers before the keyboard in preparation for the comment, let me just point out again that I bought this on vinyl and at the time that was the tracklisting. I know that "Twilight zone" was added to later releases, but to me it was and never will be part of the album. I heard it in a twelve-inch single B-side, and that's how I know it. How it fits into the flow of the album for other people I don't know, but I'm intimately acquainted with this album and I know how I expect it to go, and for me there's no room for "Twilight zone", so sue me. You can see from the talent evident on this album that this was not a band who were going to fade away. Okay, there are no really commercial songs on "Killers", no hit singles and I suppose the mostly darker nature of much of the songwriting would have precluded it from doing well in the charts or on radio. But there was no doubt, I expect, listening to that album in 1981 --- unlike me, who heard it afterwards --- that something great, immense, powerful and altogether unstoppable was coming. This was a monster being born, a wonderful, terrifying, awe-inspiring monster, and to quote WB Yeats, it was beginning to slouch towards Bethlehem to be born. A year later, its birth cries would ring out across the country, and then the world, and indeed, a terrible, incredible and legendary beauty would be born. And the world would never again be quite the same. __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018 Last edited by Trollheart; 11-01-2013 at 01:45 PM.