Review Summary: Not the best work from Maiden's early days, but an essential album nonetheless.
It’s always somewhat strange going back to an older band’s discography and sorting through their first couple releases. Sometimes, the band’s definitive and ultimately significant style was formed within the span of those first few years, such as with Black Sabbath or Led Zeppelin. Other times, the albums are still memorable and fantastic in their own ways, but it’s evident that the band was still experimenting with their sound, and would later refine it into something that would lead them into more critical and commercial success, such as with Judas Priest and Deep Purple. But what about Iron Maiden, the band who had two vocalists, two drummers, and three guitarists between their first four full-length albums? How would their earlier works manage to stack up to their more well-known material? And most of all, could their 1981 album,
Killers, trump the infamous sophomore slump?
Fortunately for the fans, the answer to that final question was yes.
Going into the album, a few things become evident immediately. The punk vibe of
Iron Maiden is still there, but it has diminished slightly, exemplified by the two instrumentals “Genghis Khan” and “The Ides of March”. However, there aren’t any long epics like “Phantom of the Opera”, and songs like “Wrathchild” showcase the most upbeat, lighthearted side of Iron Maiden. This album also marks the first appearance of guitarist Adrian Smith, whose leads manage to stand out on tracks such as the aforementioned “Wrathchild”, “Purgatory”, and “Murders in the Rue Morgue”. On the rhythm side of things, guitarist Dave Murray and bassist Steve Harris still manage to come up with interesting and smooth-flowing riffs, with Steve’s bass being just loud enough in the mix so that it can act as somewhat of a counterweight to Dave and Adrian’s guitar parts. Clive Burr still manages to steadily support the rest of the band with his drum fills, even providing a brief intro in “Another Life”. However, the standout performance of the album really comes forth in the vocal department, with Paul Di’Anno’s improved style of singing. Despite not having a very large range, Di’Anno’s more aggressive vocal delivery helps to set him apart from more operatic singers such as Rob Halford, and suits the more punk-oriented feel of the music.
In some ways, the album is actually superior to the debut, as it does still very much contain the classic NWOBHM sound, only with a more crisp and clear job in the mixing and production department. And despite having two instrumentals, some of the track runtimes are actually shorter than those on
Iron Maiden. Still, the album very much gives off the feel of a young band simply jamming out and generally having a good time, as opposed to later epics such as
Powerslave. Sadly, the key flaw of the album is the fact that the songs simply aren’t quite as memorable as those found on
Iron Maiden. Of course, tracks like “Wrathchild” and “Murders in the Rue Morgue” are very impressive and rank among some of Maiden’s best songs, but they simply don’t compare when up against tracks such as “Phantom of the Opera” or “Running Free”.
Even if it isn’t a classic album, though, Killers is still an essential album for any Maiden fan, from the diehards to the casuals. And even if you’re not a fan of Iron Maiden’s more popular works such as
The Number of the Beast, I would still recommend listening to this album because of both stylistic differences and the fact that it’s quite simply a well-composed, well-put together example of punk-influenced British metal.
