I keep rollin’ random albums and
the Odyssey keeps rollin’ on. Here’s the latest.
Disc 679 is…. Killers
Artist: Iron
Maiden
Year of Release: 1981
What’s up with the Cover? Iron Maiden’s long-time
mascot, Eddie. Here we see Eddie early into his career of mayhem. He was very
hands-on back then, although the hands on in this case are those of Eddie’s
victim, clutching at his t-shirt. Never mess with a metal-head’s tight white
t-shirt. No wonder Eddie felt it necessary to hack him bloody with his hatchet.
How I Came To Know It: I have only vague recollections
of this album as a kid, since I was pretty young when it came out (eleven). I
discovered it after I had become a devoted Iron Maiden fan through their later
records.
How It Stacks Up: I have seven Iron Maiden albums, and I like all of
them. I’ll put this one 4th or 5th out of 7, simply
because there is so much awesome to choose from.
Rating: 4 stars
Bruce Dickinson is one of rock and roll’s great
vocalists, but as “Killers” demonstrates, Iron Maiden was a pretty kick ass
band before he even joined them.
Maiden’s first two albums were made with vocalist
Paul Di’Anno, and as much as I love Bruce Dickinson, Di’Anno is not a huge step
down. His vocals don’t have the same awesome power at the top range, but he
comes close and on songs like “Wrathchild”
he delivers a raw roar that has its own qualities that Dickinson can’t produce.
That isn’t to say this version of Maiden is that
different than the next. The soaring melodies and power riffs that would define
them a year later on Dickinson’s debut, “Number of the Beast” are already
taking shape here, particularly on the title track, which has the same hectic
pace and classical underpinnings. Di’Anno brings a hint of punk to the equation,
but with plenty enough power to remain solidly as one of the founders of the new
wave of British heavy metal.
If anything, “Killers” demonstrates how bassist
Steve Harris is the core of the band. Harris writes the vast majority of the songs,
and the rest of the boys are there to play along – fortunately with a lot of
skill. Harris is the architect of the Maiden sound, delivering anthemic
melodies, grounded in intricate bass licks that always lurk in the background.
In fact, you can enjoy “Killers” equally well
listening to the vocals and guitar riffs, or letting your ear drop down and
just grooving on Harris’ masterful bass playing. Because this album is a bit
sparser than many that would come later, the bass stands out even more.
Subject-wise, the band is already grooving on all
those great characters from history and literature that thoughtful teenage boys
dig. We’ve got the monstrous horror of Edgar Allan Poe’s “Murders in the Rue
Morgue.” Here the story is reimagined from the perspective of someone who is
innocent but caught at the scene of the crime with blood on their hands, and
forced to flee. It is a thoughtful twist on the original story.
The historical offering is the instrumental “Genghis Khan” which seems a worthy topic
of any heavy metal band. I’ll just say Iron Maiden does him justice. As the
album progresses the band works in songs about the souls of the damned,
tormented ghosts and the murderers that sent them to their graves. It is
ghastly good fun all around.
The album ends with “Drifter,” a song that expertly mixes all the elements heard on the
album so far. Harris has a ridiculously fast and amazing bass section, lead
guitar Adrian Smith is given a chance to tease some seventies blues-rock out of
his guitar and Di’Anno adds a punky edge to the whole thing that at times has
him sounding like a young, angry Paul Stanley. The song moves in and out of
different tempos as well, presumably because to do anything less would be to
bore the genius that is Steve Harris.
“Killers” is a great record that is too often lost
in the shadow of “Number of the Beast” and the coming of Bruce Dickinson. For
all that, it has rightfully earned a place as one of Maiden’s classic albums,
bloody hatchet and all.
Best tracks (with artists): Wrathchild, Murders in the Rue
Morgue, Another Life, Genghis Khan, Drifter
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