And so we come to the top three...
Prodigal son (Killers)
Being a ballads kind of guy, as everyone knows, it will be of little surprise to anyone that Maiden's two ballads occupy slots near the top of my countdown. But though “Strange world” took me by surprise, “Prodigal son” just slammed me to the floor and kept me there, hardly able to breathe. Following on from a throat-tearing, axe-wielding, heartstopping anthem like the title track, it was a total change of pace, a real what you Americans would I guess call curveball, and it certainly threw me. The use of the word “Lamia” in the song has always puzzled me: the first time I heard that (well the only time really) word used was in Genesis's “The lamb lies down on Broadway”, and surely Maiden had no interest in Peter Gabriel's conceptual masterpiece? Of course, when I checked later --- when I could, with the advent of the Internet and Wiki --- I found out that Lamia was an ancient Libyan queen who fell under a curse and became a demon who ate children. Who knew, huh?
Even so, the usage of the name has always mystified me. I don't know what “Prodigal son” is about. Is Harris (who wrote it of course) retelling the ancient tale, or using it as a metaphor, or even the basis for his own story? Again, Di'Anno puts in a powerfully understated performance, but it's really the guitarwork of Murray and Smith that make the song, especially the minute-long instrumental introduction. The song has a beautiful, rolling melody that though it never really changes that much over the course of the song doesn't seem repetitive.
And of course there's the obligatory solo, which has touches of Arabic/Egyptian in it, but is like the singing very restrained and laidback, with the guys trading licks carefully so as not to destroy the tone of the ballad. Burr's drumming here is exceptional, and of course when is Harris's bass anything else? It was also one of the longest Maiden songs ever written at that time, at just over six minutes. The ending is perfect, with the susurrating drums and the last guitar notes taking it out magically.
Killers (Killers)
Well you didn't really expect this not to feature, did you? A song that at the time served both to encapsulate what Iron Maiden were all about, provide them with an iconic image and deliver some, ah, bitchin' riffs, as well as afford Di'Anno the chance to really let himself go and immerse himself in the persona of the maniacal killer, stalking his victims through the darkened subways, a twisted grin on his slavering face, a hatchet in his hand, blood staining its blade as he lifted it against the moonlight where it glistened, awaiting its next victim. This is of course the image that adorned the second album from Iron Maiden, and made me kind of wary about the kind of music that might reside within (I only bought the debut after getting I think “Number of the Beast” and “Piece of mind”, so about 1983).
The thick, pulsing bass that opens the song is typical of Harris's talent for imbuing his music with a sense of threat and menace, then Di'Anno's roars and screams which drop to a satisfied, gurgling growl with a very large helping of homicidal laughter as the guitars start to screech alongside Burr's thundering delivery just sets the scene for the song. It's quite rightly considered a masterpiece in the band's catalogue, still played and very much requested at all their gigs, often as part of the encore. If anyone who had only heard maybe “Strange world”, “Prodigal son” and a few other tracks were to somehow sneer that Maiden were not metal, (sacrilege of the highest order!) then “Killers” lays any such doubts to rest. Built on a galloping, almost out-of-control guitar line and a racing drumbeat, it's the tale, not surprisingly, of a madman on the loose, but there is a slight twist.
Whether the guy is a schizophrenic or just loses his memory after the kill, the song does contain an idea that he is not in control of his actions when he kills, as the lyric
”Excitement shakes me/ Oh God help me!/ What have I done?/ I've done it again!” amply demonstrates. I also love the way the lyric begins as a narration, a warning ---
”He walks in the subway/ His eyes burn a hole in your back” --- but later changes to the first person , as it's revealed that the narrator is also the killer ---
”He walks in the subway/ My eyes burn a hole in your back” --- clever. A typically punchy, raw guitar solo takes the midsection, the sort of downshifting guitar (don't know how else to describe it: you know the one) coming back in for the conclusion of the song. Again the lines
“Look out I'm coming to getcha!” resurface, and a big maniacal laugh with a scream bring the song to its frenetic conclusion. A true classic, and worthy of being the title track, almost a second signature song for Iron Maiden.
And that brings us to the final choice, my number one early Iron maiden song. Before we see what that is, let's take a leaf out of the pages of countless countdowns and run back through the top ten:
10. Prowler
9. Iron Maiden
8. Purgatory
7 Transylvania
6. Wrathchild
5. Drifter
4. Strange world
3. Prodigal son
2. Killers
And so, we come to the very top. Of course, this is not my alltime favourite Iron Maiden song --- though it would definitely come in the top five --- but of the pre-Dickinson era, it's a song that stands so far apart from the rest of their work that it's almost worthy of having been on a later album. It's an indication of the direction in which they would begin to move on future albums, and it stands proudly at number
Phantom of the opera (Iron Maiden)
Yeah, from the first guitar notes, repeated three times till they rise into that superb solo and then drag in Di'anno's “Oh yeah!” this song has it all. The longest song Maiden had ever recorded until “To tame a land” just edged it by seconds in 1983, and then of course all bets were off with “The rime of the Ancient Mariner”. The first song to show a leaning towards the progressive metal approach that would begin to characterise their work from “Piece of mind” onwards (some would say that “Hallowed be thy name” is the first real progressive metal piece they did, but I don't see it that way), this song became famous outside of the world of metal when its intro was used as the soundtrack to an advertisement for an energy drink here,
Lucozade.
It's the first Maiden song I see that is almost divided into sections. There's the guitar riff opening it and taking it up to the main vocal, then that vocal, then the middle section where Murray racks off an enthralling solo, then another section where it stops and then rises on Harris's pumping bass line, and finally a return to the opening riff to close the whole thing. I don't know whether it changes time signatures, as I'm no musician, but I wouldn't be surprised. Although it's loosely based on the novel and movie of the same name, “Phantom of the opera” takes a darker, more chilling look at the title character, seeing him more as a killer, a sadist, with the lines
”You torture me back at your lair” and
”I know that you're gonna scratch me, maim me and maul” Harris's Phantom is no gentle actor shunned by society and hiding in the shadows watching the love of his life, unable ever to have her. He is a dangerous, deadly and quite possibly insane figure who only wants to torture and kill. A Phantom of the Opera, you might say, for the eighties.
Di'anno's voice and singing style suits this song perfectly, although it is perhaps odd that he is not singing in the persona of the title character, but that of the object of his affections/intentions. Or possibly the hostage he takes. I'm not that familiar with the story, and anyway it probably doesn't matter that much. Nevertheless, he puts in a fine performance --- one of his best with the band --- and really ends up owning the song, as they say. Again, this is a song that, though long at over seven minutes, has no fat and not a second wasted. Every part of it fits together perfectly, like a well-made jigsaw, and the whole picture is stunning to behold. Of course it's still a staple at Maiden concerts, and always will be. There's even a shock at the end, when the last words are spoken, a kind of snarled echo brings them back acapella, which was, the first time I heard it, a shock as (Old Fart Alert! Old Fart Alert!) I prepared to lift the needle from the record only to have my hand almost jump across the vinyl as Di'Anno's voice came back from out of the void to assault my ears one more time. Freaky, man, and not a little scary!
Because it is, as I see it, the best constructed song in the early Iron Maiden catalogue, because it is sung perfectly and because even now, over forty years later, it's still shouted for, demanded and greeted with delighted abandon when it's played at gigs, “Phantom of the Opera” is my alltime favourite number one early Iron Maiden song.