(1981)
Steve, Dave, Paul, Adrian and Clive
2. Wrathchild (Harris)
3. Murders in the Rue Morgue (Harris)
4. Another Life (Harris)
5. Ganghis Khan (Harris)
6. Innocent Exile (Harris)
7. Killers (Di'Anno/Harris)
8. Prodigal Son (Harris)
9. Purgatory (Harris)
10. Twilight Zone (Harris/Murray)
11. Drifter (Harris)
It's odd, because I thought I'd like this album a lot more than the debut, because Adrian was present. And when I first played the album, as The Ides of March kicked in (with some fantastic drumming by Clive), I still thought that this would be the better album. You can instantly tell that Adrian is there. What's more, the opening instrumental blends so seemlessly into Wrathchild that you'd be forgiven for thinking they were the same song. And still, even though this was the studio of Wrathchild, it remained a brilliant song, not slipping at all unlike some songs on the previous album.
It's only when Murders in the Rue Morgue kicks in that it becomes apparent this is a different kind of Maiden. It's a punk song, but that's fine, because it's still a good song. I love how it begins slowly then builds and explodes into the main riffage.
Another Life is punky, but more metally, but regardless, it's a good song. Genghis Khan is a great instrumental, but for some reason the main second riff seems a little silly. Still, if you close your eyes, picturing ol' Genghis and his men storming over the hills isn't especially hard, so I suppose the tracks succeeds in that respect. Innocent Exile is another very punky song, but it's not as good as the other songs so far.
Which brings us to the title track, and quite easily the best track on the album. For all my moaning so far, this is a stunning song, and it should definitely be a concert regular. Steve's thumping bass intro, slowly building and bulding, accompanied by Paul's occasional screams, really make the song all the more powrful as it flies into the verses and chorus. If Killers did have an epic, it'd be this song, despite it not being the longest on the album.
The next song, Prodigal Son, is probably the most un-Maiden like song ever. It's not because it's to mellow or 'soft' for Maiden, because there have been many calmer songs throughout the band's history, from the debuts's Strange World right up to Dance of Death's Journeyman. Both of those songs are excellent, yet Prodigal Son just... isn't. I can't really pin it down (much like why I can't pin down why I dont like Bruce's solo song Laughing in the Hiding Bush), but I guess there's just something about it that doesn't click with me.. I'm listening to it now, reading the lyrics as I go, and I just dont feel anything. Bleh. Let's just leave it alone.
Things get better as Purgatory begins. It's a fairly short song, but full of energy. I do think it's as long as it needs to be, though, and any longer would probably spoil it. Twilight Zone is an incredibly short song, which begins nice enough, but really doesn't go anywhere, plus there's no time for any solos. The albums closes with Drifter which, although being decidely lighter in tone (especially lyrical content) from the rest of the album, really isn't particually good. It's okay, but nothing more. Definitely a song which one really appreciates live.
In closing then, Killers is my least favourite Iron Maidne album so far. One of the factors is it's too punky, but a larger factor is it's just not as musically good as the other albums. Indeed, I only view about half of the album as great, with only a couple of songs reaching the status of excellent. Another thing, is too many songs end in rapid jamming; it just gets tiresome after a while.
Still, Killers is by no means bad. It's still home to some marvelous songs. Ah well. It's growing on me all the time, however.