Killers (Iron Maiden album)
Encyclopedia
Killers is the second album by British heavy metal
band Iron Maiden
, released on 2 February 1981 in the UK, and 6 June 1981 in the US. The album was their first with guitarist
Adrian Smith
and their last with vocalist Paul Di'Anno
, who was sacked after problems with his stage performance arose due to his alcohol
and cocaine
use. This was also the first Iron Maiden album made with veteran producer Martin Birch
, who went on to produce their next eight albums before retiring after Fear of the Dark in 1992.
The song "Wrathchild" is the only regularly played track from the album, appearing in almost all their concert tours. The song was covered in 2005 by female tribute band "The Iron Maidens
" on their 2007 album Route 666 and again in 2008 by Gallows
on the tribute CD Maiden Heaven: A Tribute to Iron Maiden released by Kerrang!
magazine. "Wrathchild" was also featured in the PlayStation 2
game Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s
.
, with only minor assistance from the rest of the band (the title track and "Twilight Zone" being the only other songs to receive additional writing credits). Each song, with the exception of "Murders in the Rue Morgue," based on the story of the same name
by Edgar Allan Poe
, and "Prodigal Son," had been written in the years prior to the recording of their debut album, although none were recorded professionally until the "Killers" sessions, apart from "Wrathchild" (an early version featured on the Metal for Muthas
compilation).
The U.S. edition, which came out a few months after it did in the UK, was initially released on Harvest Records
/Capitol Records
and subsequently on Sanctuary Records
/Columbia Records
. "Twilight Zone
" was also added to the album.
The Killer World Tour was the tour in support of the album
and would feature the band's earliest shows in the US, the first being at The Aladdin Casino
, Las Vegas
in support of Judas Priest
.
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
band Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band from Leyton in east London, formed in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. Since their inception, the band's discography has grown to include a total of thirty-six albums: fifteen studio albums; eleven live albums; four EPs; and six...
, released on 2 February 1981 in the UK, and 6 June 1981 in the US. The album was their first with guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
Adrian Smith
Adrian Smith
Adrian Frederick "H" Smith is an English musician and one of three guitarists in the heavy metal band, Iron Maiden. He is also one of the band's regular songwriters and, along with bassist Steve Harris, performs backing vocals on some songs.-Biography:While at school, Smith purchased his first...
and their last with vocalist Paul Di'Anno
Paul Di'Anno
Paul Andrews , better known as Paul Di'Anno, is an English singer best known as the first vocalist to record with the iconic heavy metal band Iron Maiden, from 1978 to 1981....
, who was sacked after problems with his stage performance arose due to his alcohol
Alcohol
In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....
and cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
use. This was also the first Iron Maiden album made with veteran producer Martin Birch
Martin Birch
Martin Birch is a British rock and heavy metal music producer, who became renowned for engineering and producing albums by the British rock bands Deep Purple and Iron Maiden....
, who went on to produce their next eight albums before retiring after Fear of the Dark in 1992.
The song "Wrathchild" is the only regularly played track from the album, appearing in almost all their concert tours. The song was covered in 2005 by female tribute band "The Iron Maidens
The Iron Maidens
The Iron Maidens are an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles, California in 2001 as an all-female tribute act to English heavy metal band Iron Maiden...
" on their 2007 album Route 666 and again in 2008 by Gallows
Gallows (band)
Gallows are a hardcore punk band from Watford, England. The band was formed in 2005 after the disbandment of founding member Laurent Barnard's previous band, My Dad Joe. Gallows' debut album, Orchestra of Wolves, was distributed in the United States by Epitaph Records, and they were subsequently...
on the tribute CD Maiden Heaven: A Tribute to Iron Maiden released by Kerrang!
Kerrang!
Kerrang! is a UK-based magazine devoted to rock music published by Bauer Media Group. It was first published on June 6, 1981 as a one-off supplement in the Sounds newspaper...
magazine. "Wrathchild" was also featured in the PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
game Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s
Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s
Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s is a music video game and the third installment in the popular Guitar Hero series...
.
History
Killers is the only Iron Maiden album to feature two instrumentals and was written almost exclusively by Steve HarrisSteve Harris (musician)
Stephen Percy "Steve" Harris is an English musician and songwriter, known as the bassist, occasional keyboardist, backing vocalist and primary songwriter of the British heavy metal band Iron Maiden, which he founded in 1975...
, with only minor assistance from the rest of the band (the title track and "Twilight Zone" being the only other songs to receive additional writing credits). Each song, with the exception of "Murders in the Rue Morgue," based on the story of the same name
The Murders in the Rue Morgue
"The Murders in the Rue Morgue" is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe published in Graham's Magazine in 1841. It has been claimed as the first detective story; Poe referred to it as one of his "tales of ratiocination". Two works that share some similarities predate Poe's stories, including Das...
by Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective...
, and "Prodigal Son," had been written in the years prior to the recording of their debut album, although none were recorded professionally until the "Killers" sessions, apart from "Wrathchild" (an early version featured on the Metal for Muthas
Metal for Muthas
Metal For Muthas is the name given to a series of heavy metal compilations made during the New Wave of British Heavy Metal. The original compilation was Metal For Muthas , released in February 1980...
compilation).
The U.S. edition, which came out a few months after it did in the UK, was initially released on Harvest Records
Harvest Records
-References:* Harvest Records collectors guide ISBN 978-5-9622-0021-7...
/Capitol Records
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
and subsequently on Sanctuary Records
Sanctuary Records
Sanctuary Records Group Limited was a record label based in the United Kingdom and a subsidiary of Universal Music Group. Until June 2007, it was the largest independent record label in the UK and the largest independent music management company in the world...
/Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
. "Twilight Zone
Twilight Zone (Iron Maiden song)
"Twilight Zone" was the fourth single by Iron Maiden, released on 2 March 1981. The song was also released in the United States as part of the album Killers, but was not included in the British release until the album was re-released in 1998....
" was also added to the album.
The Killer World Tour was the tour in support of the album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
and would feature the band's earliest shows in the US, the first being at The Aladdin Casino
Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino
Planet Hollywood Las Vegas, previously known as The Aladdin, is a casino resort on the Las Vegas Strip, in the unincorporated locale of Paradise, Nevada, United States. Westgate Resorts operates the condo portion of the property, known as PH Towers by Westgate.Planet Hollywood is owned by Caesars...
, Las Vegas
Las Vegas metropolitan area
The Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...
in support of Judas Priest
Judas Priest
Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band from Birmingham, England, formed in 1969. The current line-up consists of lead vocalist Rob Halford, guitarists Glenn Tipton and Richie Faulkner, bassist Ian Hill, and drummer Scott Travis. The band has gone through several drummers over the years,...
.
Track listing
An older cassette version was also released which contained "Women in Uniform" on side two.Album
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Austrian Albums Chart Ö3 Austria Top 40 Ö3 Austria Top 40 is the name of the official Austrian singles chart, as well as the radio show which presents it, aired Fridays on Hitradio Ö3. The show presents the Austrian singles, ringtones and downloads chart. It premiered on 26 November 1968 as Disc Parade and was presented by Ernst Grissemann... |
20 |
| German Albums Chart Media Control Charts The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie... |
10 | |
| Norwegian Albums Chart VG-lista VG-listen is a Norwegian record chart. It is weekly presented in the newspaper VG and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation program Topp 20. It is considered the primary Norwegian record chart, charting albums and singles from countries and continent around the world. The data is collected by... |
19 | |
| Swedish Albums Chart Sverigetopplistan Sverigetopplistan, earlier known as Topplistan and Hitlistan and other names, is since October 2007 the Swedish national record chart, based on sales data from Swedish Recording Industry Association .... |
11 | |
| UK Albums Chart UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
12 | |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 200 | 78 |
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart | Position | Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | "Twilight Zone Twilight Zone (Iron Maiden song) "Twilight Zone" was the fourth single by Iron Maiden, released on 2 March 1981. The song was also released in the United States as part of the album Killers, but was not included in the British release until the album was re-released in 1998.... " |
UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
31 | "Killers" |
| "Purgatory Purgatory (song) "Purgatory" is Iron Maiden's fifth single and only single from the Killers album . This song is a remake of a very early Iron Maiden song originally called "Floating" which they used to play live during 1976 to 1977. According to current drummer Nicko McBrain, "Purgatory" is a faster re-arrangement... " |
52 | |||
| 1990 | "Women in Uniform / Twilight Zone" | UK Albums ChartRe-release of both singles as part of "The First Ten Years The First Ten Years The First Ten Years is a series of 10 CDs and double 12" singles by British heavy metal band Iron Maiden, released between 24 February and 28 April 1990, in commemoration of the band's ten year recording anniversary.... " box set. Exceeded the length limit of the UK Singles chart. |
10 | — |
| "Purgatory / Maiden Japan Maiden Japan Maiden Japan, also known as Heavy Metal Army, is a live EP by the British heavy metal band Iron Maiden. The title is a pun of Deep Purple's live album Made in Japan.... " |
5 |
Personnel
- Paul Di'AnnoPaul Di'AnnoPaul Andrews , better known as Paul Di'Anno, is an English singer best known as the first vocalist to record with the iconic heavy metal band Iron Maiden, from 1978 to 1981....
– vocals - Dave MurrayDave Murray (musician)David Michael Murray is an English guitarist and songwriter best known as one of the earliest members of the British heavy metal band Iron Maiden.-Biography:...
– guitarElectric guitarAn electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker... - Adrian SmithAdrian SmithAdrian Frederick "H" Smith is an English musician and one of three guitarists in the heavy metal band, Iron Maiden. He is also one of the band's regular songwriters and, along with bassist Steve Harris, performs backing vocals on some songs.-Biography:While at school, Smith purchased his first...
– guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, backing vocalsBacking vocalistA backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists... - Steve HarrisSteve Harris (musician)Stephen Percy "Steve" Harris is an English musician and songwriter, known as the bassist, occasional keyboardist, backing vocalist and primary songwriter of the British heavy metal band Iron Maiden, which he founded in 1975...
– bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, backing vocals - Clive BurrClive BurrClive Burr is a British drummer, best known as a member of Iron Maiden from 1979 to 1982.-Career:Previously a member of Samson, Burr joined Iron Maiden in 1979...
– drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
Additional personnel
- Dennis StrattonDennis StrattonDennis Stratton is a guitar player who is best known as a former member of the British band Iron Maiden from October 1979 to October 1980.-Biography:...
- guitarLead guitarLead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
on "Women in UniformWomen in Uniform"Women in Uniform" is a 1978 song originally recorded by the Australian band Skyhooks; it was written by the band's bass player, Greg Macainsh. It appeared on their fourth album, Guilty Until Proven Insane, and was a top 10 single in Australia.[]...
", "Invasion", and "Phantom of the OperaPhantom of the Opera (song)"Phantom of the Opera" is a song from Iron Maiden's self-titled debut album. It was written by Steve Harris. It is the fourth track from the original US & UK album releases, and was the fifth track from the remastered 1998 release CD. It is based on the French novel The Phantom of the Opera by...
" - Martin "Headmaster" Birch – producer, engineer, "bullier"
- Nigel Hewitt – second engineer
- Rod SmallwoodRod SmallwoodRod Smallwood, co-manager of the British band Iron Maiden and co-founder in 1976 of then Smallwood-Taylor Enterprises, today Sanctuary Group which is the world's largest music management company. The company was named after the Maiden song by the same name...
– band manager - Derek RiggsDerek RiggsDerek Riggs is a contemporary British artist best known for creating the heavy metal music band Iron Maiden's mascot, "Eddie the Head".-Career:...
– cover illustration