*What's your favourite song from Killers?* Also, if you'd like to rock some Metal Pilgrim merch and support the show, please check metalpilgrim.net/ Thanks!
That would be either 'Murders in the Rue Morgue' or the song that wasn't on the album (but on the other side of the Wrathchild single) 'Twilight Zone'.
I like Bruce, but the first two albums will always be my favorite. Back then, a lot of punks liked Iron Maiden and it was one thing the punks and metalheads could agree on.
I believe Clive was the most underrated drummer that existed. He was straightforward with the upbeat tempo that neither Nicko, nor any Judas Priest drummer could duplicate. It's really a shame what happened to him. Would have liked to hear him in another band before his time had elapsed...
Totally agree. He really was the magic ingredient. When you listen to stuff before and after him it just sounds like they're not firing on all cylinders. Given his departure from the band, I always rue the fact that he didn't contact AC/DC. That was about the same time that they parted with Phil Rudd.
Judas Priest played that kind of beat way before maiden . But as they were brummie and Older , Priest were more gritty and Priest is a funky band . Even when they were fast , it was back beat groove . Maiden was more above the beat
@@NissardpertugiuI agree with you about Priest being older. Their drummers were pretty much with them to keep a steady beat while Glen & Ken went off & on playing their solos. They were great doing that. Maiden were pretty much a three guitar band, as Steve was as as upfront as their guitarists were. That's why they really needed a more upbeat drummer like Clive. Nicko was good, but he didn't have the energy that his predicessor did. Thanks for the comment..
Killers is much heavier and better than Iron Maiden's first album. But back to the subject of this video, Clive Burr's drumming is the main difference between the older versions of these songs and the Killers versions - he supercharged them. One of the greatest metal drummers ever.
Yeah. I managed to come across a concert of theirs with their previous singer Dennis Wilcock on the RU-vid. Of course it's not a good quality recording, but still, one sees how Paul Di'Anno was a massive improvement who brought the band before.
Killers is a great album. Once The Ides of March starts you know what you're in for. Love every song. All eras of Maiden are great but there is nothing like the raw energy of the Di'Anno era. And because he was only on 2 full-length albums it makes early Maiden even more classic. Killers just flows from beginning to end. All the songs rule but if I had to pick only one I would take the title track. Up the Irons!!
So weird yet cool to hear this. Sounds like a 70's prog rock band. It amazes me how Steve went through this musical journey before they even recorded their first album.
I was listening to it on Boxing Day and I feel it's the best record they made. The dynamic vocals of Paul DiAnno playing off the break neck drumming of Clive Burr gave it a hardcore punk aggression that laid the template for thrash.
The title track. The classic lyric, "You walk through the subway his eyes burn a hole in your back", often gets stuck in my head, probably because it is just so "killer".
Thanks for posting, amazing to hear these old versions. Wrathchild sounded like Sabbath Bloody Sabbath. Purgatory sounded like reggae. I bet Steve has some better quality tapes around, it would be great if these demos could see the light of day at some point.
As many agree Di'anno was unique and perfect for those albums. And Bruce...well perfect for the rest...how lucky can we be as fans to have that. But my favorite off Killers would have to be Wrathchild. It's just too iconic and has transcended generations. The rest of the album is well a masterpiece as many Maiden album are. By the way, holy crap, great job on finding those old versions!!!
Even though they are really REALLY good from beginning to the end, and it’s mostly impossible to pause them in between the first and the last song, I find the end of the early days their best period. Songs have a much better structure and riffs are so sharp… Somewhere in Time is my favorite, I think it’s the album that shows the best of Adrian Smith talent
They definitely went through different periods of types of songwriting. I can’t find a favorite for the first 4 albums. One of the first concerts I ever saw was them on the Piece of Mind tour. Just my opinion but between that and Powerslave (which was also an amazing concert tour) they hit their stride
I used to feel like Clive Burr played a marching band style of drumming on those first 3 Iron Maiden records. Just lightning fast flams on high-hats, snare and toms. Especially on Ghengis Khan. Sounds awesome and Nicko McBrain never could capture the groove and feel of Clive’s drum parts from the get go. Completely different style of drumming. It would have been great if Clive Burr would have joined Black Sabbath in the mid 1980s.
I'm a guitarist not a drummer so I may not understand everything, but Nicko's fills are much more pleasing to my ears, and I prefer the way Nicko hits the snare. Am I missing something due to the poorer production of the first albums?
@@simonfoenander1874 When you start at a really high level that's not easy to do. The more important thing is not getting worse, or with age, not getting worse at a quick rate.
Early Maiden is the perfect fusion of entire 70s British rock scene. They had all the traits of UFO, Deep Purple, Rainbow, Thin Lizzy, Sabbath, Priest, Motörhead. Plus they also had punky guitar sound and of course,vocal style thanks to Dianno. They had clear progressive influences as well like King Crimson and Pink Floyd.
Killers is definitely my favorite album of all time, Bonded By Blood and Killing Is My Business following it closely. It'd be hard to pick a favorite track since every one is just so good, but if I had to pick one I'd probably pick Murders in the Rue Morgue
@@mrmaxaxl As much as that would've been nice it just wasn't in the cards due to Paul being self destructive, but it would be pretty cool to see him in a new sort of incarnation of Number of the Beast (Especially since the album cover fit Paul more than Bruce)
Floating (Purgatory) in its first iteration sounds a lot like "Showdown" by Thin Lizzy. It's got that same funk-esque groove to it, with the wah-wah and everything. Makes total sense too, since that track (Showdown) was on the album "Nightlife" released in 1974, just 3 years before.
My favorite song on Killers is probably Purgatory, because of the way the guitar harmony drives the song. Interestingly about the punk influence, the first time I heard The Offspring back in the mid-90s because all of my military buddies were into them, my immediate response was, "Wow, they sound like the first two Maiden albums!" Funny how things go around...
Indeed Offspring are an unique band, the only punk band I really appreciate, having the heavy metal Energy when they need to...It is like hearing sex pistols when genres were not so standardized and had similarities which music Industry nowadays deleted
@@andrealecismusic4328 Offspring were from Orange County, California, near where I'm from, and I remember a lot of those SoCal punkers were total metalheads growing up.
@@chilly6470 I'm not saying I'm the Offspring's no.1 fan; I'm just saying how I remember them sounding back in the day. During this era I was listening to stuff like At the Gates and Dissection, just to show where I was at.
I briefly met Paul at a pub in Tottenham. He sang a couple of his Maiden songs with the then working band Dirty Deeds, where the bass player is now in KK's Priest. I also met Steve there, but in a separate occasion. He was just there for a drink. 😊
Drifter has to be my fave. The guitars ringing, bass marching and Clive with that swing. Paul Di’anno had the perfect sound for these tunes. His input can’t be understated but at the same time he was blessed to know these guys for those few years.I first heard them around ‘82 Killers on vinyl changed my musical path!
The early stuff sounds (can we be honest?) like punk music. Understandably, punk played its part in NWOBHM, but it’s clearly evident in the early Maiden stuff. DiAnno had that punk feel with his vocals, a ragged approach that Diamond Head and even early Def Leppard had, but more or less disappeared with Dickinson’s arrival.
Even Bruce was like that , he sang much abrasive before Maiden , even though he re adopted that in 1990. But take Me as your leader or Hammerhead by Samson , its punk too .
@@Nissardpertugiu you’re so right! The NWOBHM had a lot of the “punk” mindset behind it, insomuch that there was much crossover with punk and metal (more than some in either camp would admit to.
@@user-gu3ie I'd say TNotB, SiT and Powerslave are better than Killers or the self-titled. But that's just an opinion as well. As for me any album with Bruce, except maybe the 90s ones are better that the two with Paul. I can go even further and say The X Factor is more honest and authentic than those fast almost meaningless albums.
@@belshazzarsf3ast I think I've got a personal feeling towards seventh son,because it was an album that my dad gave me when I was very little..always loved the cover,and especially songs like the clairvoyant,seventh son and only the good die young I played until my eyes bled. But I have to agree with you ... x factor is by unpopular opinion an album that's sonically amazing! Even tho virtual x scored much lower.
Awesome video. I've never heard Dennis Wilcock singing before. Also very interesting to hear their sound back then and how different it became in just a few years.
I played drums at a gig with Dennis Willcock and Terry Wapram in 2015 on a sort of reunion thing. It was fun even if a bit rough round the edges. There's a video of it on RU-vid the band was called GV1.
Saw the KILLERS tour . They opened for Priest. Next time around with Bruce opening for Scorpions. It was like 2 separate but great bands. The first tour had a slightly punk feel to it. Then Bruce had the range that took it to a new level . You could tell they were gonna be a top metal act. Met them right after Gers joined and they were all super friendly and willing to answer lame questions from a star struck young fan.
Never heard these early Maiden clips before-wow it makes me really appreciate how quickly they evolved into the band we all know and love. Up the Irons!
@@69mosshead I think number would have been much more aggressive with DiAnno... Dickinson is a great, great vocalist, no doubt, but Paul had something more aggressive. In the end Killers is a wonderful work with DiAnno, Seventh is my fav woth Dickinson, amd Bruce is the best singer for more progressive stuff...
"KIllers" has always been one of my all time favorite Maiden albums and Heavy Metal albums since the first time I heard it eons ago. But a lot of bands from that era, for example Judas Priest and Motorhead, had older songs from the 70s on demos and albums that sounded very Hard Rock with a little undefined edge to them (Metal). But made them complete Heavy Metal songs just by tweaking them a bit and playing them faster. Case in point listening to both live albums "Unleashed In The East" for Priest and "No Sleep 'Til Hammersmith" by Motorhead. The situation with the songs from the "Killers" album is no different. My favorite song off the album is 'Innocent Exile'. Hard to choose though because there wasn't a bad song on the whole album.
Unleashed in the East must be the purest, most 'proper' heavy metal record ever released in the 70s. Those riffs... For moments they even sound thrash-like.
@@MGdelOeste - Yeah, I've always said that "Unleashed In The East" is one of the best Heavy Metal performances ever recorded. To this day it's a hard live album to meet and beat on any level. I sometimes wish they had waited until 1981 to record it then we would have had songs from "British Steel" on it too. haha
Innocent Exile is a great song!.... and I believe the oldest Maiden song if not one of 2 or 3 oldest..... Steve wrote it in his previous band and they played it!
I loved Maiden’s first 2 albums. I discovered them on the Piece of Mind album and then worked my way backwards and I absolutely loved Paul’s vocals. They were more punk back then with Paul. Both versions of the band are killer!
The thing about Maiden is the under lining vibe was that the band was always evolving, even in downtime. Definitely, Di,Anno brought that punk vibe that was lurking around England at the time that produced some great punk bands from that era. However, Di' Anno really shines as a bluesy almost sad story teller singer in ballad mode. Just listen to the wave that comes over him on "Strange World". I can listen to that song over and over again. Everything is right in it's place and the beautiful guitar tones are just heavenly. Clive reminds me of a productionist similar to Bill Ward's atmospheric playing on Plant Caravan, but more supportive that spacious. It's a most underrated song.
Hard to pick a favorite from that album, maybe the Ides of March/Wrathchild opener for me? I like all of the songs on it. Is there anywhere to listen to these early versions?
Wrathchild is the first Maiden song I heard back in 1981 - they played a snippet of it in a radio ad for a Judas Priest/Iron Maiden show in Albany, NY and I was sold after that. That ad was also the first time I heard Priest and they soon became my favorite band, especially after going to the concert I mentioned above 🤘
@@dmitryowens I bet that was an awesome show! I've somehow missed Priest every chance they've came near me. Ides of March is such an awesome intro, then going into that bassline of Wrathchild is just awesome.
You have got to bear in mind those very early recordings were raw with very little production in the studio.Would have sounded great live in a small club.To me IM became a superb studio band but that live rawness on stage was too polished out by 1980. One of the few bands I prefered on vinyl rather than on stage.On the other hand Mororhead were great on vinyl and best on stage.
Yes, exactly - those old clips don't have any production quality, so it's a tough comparison. Even Motorhead got better studio production over the years. :-) Bruce may be an air raid siren, but Lemmy is God. Rock on!
You know which channel I think is super underrated? Metal Piano Music. The guy spends weeks composing classic metal songs into classical/relaxing piano pieces and he hardly gets any views. I love his arrangement of The Sentinel by Judas Priest. That dude deserves millions of followers
Love the album! Definitely one of Maiden's best, and one of the best album covers in metal. Can't pick a favourite track though. They're all equal parts of the listening experience for me.
I didn't know those ancient versions even existed... now I must go find them and listen, mainly to hear how the other drummers sounded on specific sections where I've always thought Clive was particularly brilliant. It would be interesting to know if the drums were already "exactly like that" before Clive. Great video!
Killers was first album by Maiden I've ever heard. In the time when metal was still forged it sounded great. I don't remember any punk rocker associated himself with Maiden, moreiver...Gosh! I've heard of that punk crap, hair metal, "Pantera's Power Metal is glam metal", "W.A.S.P. was glam metal" "Black Metal was rooted in crust punk", ...only after youtube!!!! Killers is heavy metal af!!!
Killers is probably my favorite Maiden album. It's tough to pick a favorite song. I'd probably say Murders In The Rue Morgue. The rest of the album would tie for a close second place!
No offense to Bruce, but I wish Paul could've hung in there for another album or two. He had such a great distinctive voice, great range but with bluesy-grit. Sometimes Bruce's voice is too operatically pretty. Pretty impossible to choose a favorite, the whole album kicks ass. Bringing Adrian in really tightened up all the arrangements and took Maiden to the next level.
I agree. The only thing w/ Paul, besides his substance abuse issues, is that I don't think his epic early voice holds up very long. It had a short shelf life (see Anselmo, Phil) that makes you feel sorry for the guy once he's a shell of his former self. Opera lasts much longer.
I saw Maiden opening for Priest on the Point Of Entry/Killers tour in Albany, NY in 1981 and then on the Screaming For Vengeance/Number Of The Beast tour in Glens Falls, NY in 1982. Fucking awesome shows 🤘
As one of Maiden’s first American fans, I must say, those first two albums are near & dear. Even more near & dear is the original DRIFTER EP which came out prior to the first album. Featured Sanctuary & the live Drifter track. This is why I consider myself one of America’s first Maiden fans. I was on board immediately after hearing PHANTOM OF THE OPERA on WNHU’s “Metal Night” here in Connecticut. I taped that hour long show on cassette. Also was introduced to KROKUS & RIOT that night. The following day I presented the song to my fellow band mates saying “you guys gotta hear this”! Next day went to buy the debut with Phantom on it & the record store guy said the only thing he had was this Drifter EP. The following week the debut was in the store.
Was Sanctuary on the A side of the EP with Drifter and I've Got The Fire on the B side? It's just that here in England there was no Drifter EP but we did have the affore mentioned ( with the picture of Maggie Thatcher on the cover.)
Love this video ! I remember seeing old Priest and how different they sounded in the 70's compared to their 80's sound....looks like both Maiden and Priest were forming their own sound. In the beginning both sounded like their influences a lot. Would love to see a video about Priest's evolution ! Дякую щиро !
Great review and thanks for sharing the early days sounds again. I think so little is said though about how Doug Sampson changed Maiden and is responsible for so many of the great drumming patterns we heard all the way up to Killers. Doug is an absolute gent too.
My favorite has always been Murders in the Rue Morgue, but I love the whole album. I think its Maiden's most under-rated album (at least of the 80's stuff).
What I find telling is that the earlier versions of the songs still sound absolutely BRILLIANT! A good song will always stand on its own merit. Up the Irons!
lol...that's just pride. You can see he doesn't even believe it when he says it. Still though....I'm sure he realizes that Maiden wouldn't have been as big as they were with Bruce, with him.
He had terrible stage fright, he had to take more and more drugs (cocaine) in order to be able to sing live. The band were getting fed up with him, and it was wrecking his health, so that's why he has no regrets. If he'd keep his shares in the royalities then he'd have had guaranteed money coming in for doing nothing, which is a very dangerous situation for an addict to be in, as they'll just keep taking more and more drugs until they die. So, in context, you can see why he has no regrets if it allowed him to get clean and enjoy his life without drugs.
I wasn’t aware that Iron Maiden, and Killers had a different singer than most of the albums. Paul’s vocals are actually pretty good, and a part of me is curious to see how different the band would’ve been if he had stayed. I still think Bruce is fucking amazing too.
@@spacewizardpip1111 Ah, I see. When I was 10 and just getting into AC/DC, I heard a live concert on the radio and thought to myself "that singer sounds different". Shortly after that I learned that Brian Johnson was new to the band and their original singer was Bon.
It's all speculation but I don't think Maiden would have reached the heights they did with Paul as the singer. As much as I love the fusion of a little bit of the punk thing that Paul brought to the band I think that would have limited their audience at the time. People back then were pretty segregated and the "metal" crowd was a bigger share of the market. I suspect if he had stayed they would have been more along the lines of Motorhead level of fame. Nothing wrong with that, but not what they would be with Bruce.
Yeah Iron Maiden are my favorite metal band of all time, I loved the first two albums with Paul Diano, these songs really transformed before Paul. Iron maiden and killers are classics , my favorite albums are number of the beast, piece of mind, power slave, somewhere in time. Absolutely phenomenal band from the beginning.
Very well put together video! I was at the Rainbow gig in 1980 and Drifter was my fav song from this album! First album was heavier but the second album was better musically.
Where's that first version of Dianno singing Wrathchild from - never heard that before? Killers is my fave IM album :) Fave track? Very hard to pick maybe Murders in the Rue Morgue but so many great ones: Prodigal Son, Another Life, Purgatory all of them classics
I'm a big fan of Killers and I never heard those earlier sounds, so THANK YOU for sharing!! The harder sound was definitely the way to go. More punch, less UFO. Cheers....
Favorite song? Probably Another life.. by far my favorite maiden album. The rawness, attitude, and grit the DiAnno years are unbearable. Of course Number of the beast is a phenomenal game changer as well, but my heart is in those first two, and Maiden Japan.
The funny here is that all these songs were in the second album, not the first one. Normally people say that the first album is easy because they have all their lives to prepare and have songs ready, and then the second one is the hardest because these need to start from zero. Well, Maiden had already most of the album ready to record. They were a machine!!!
These demos are cool cause it shows you how they actually feel the melodies and rhythm. They have always had such a 70's proggy swing to their riffs and groove
I'm a HUGE Maiden fan and this blew my mind how different they used to sound. Reminds me of Pantera's early sound. Absolutely mind blowing hearing how a band can evolve.
Actually accordding to the band official biograhy, Killers sold not very well comparing to the debut album. What saved them from the record company drop them was Rod getting them a 3 album deal with EMI so they had a chance to do better and the rest is history.
Killers and Number Of The Beast for me - Seventh Son was the beginning of Maiden's boring prog metal era, which has lasted to this day. Too bad Steve Harris has never gotten back to writing kick-ass metal songs like Wrathchild, Gangland, The Prisoner, and 22 Acacia Avenue. Oh wait - the last three songs were co-written by Adrian Smith, who's written or co-written all of the bands heavier post-Killers songs. Steve Harris got way too obsessed with long boring prog metal epics after Piece Of Mind.
@@dmitryowens I half agree. There are certainly a bit too much of those 'epics' that at times can bore you to death. Strangely, Number Of The Beast is one of my least favorites. I liked Piece Of Mind better. Maybe because it was the first Maiden album I bought. I listened to Where Eagles Dare at the record store and it blew me the fuck away. I just had to have it.
@@sablesanctum Piece Of Mind is good, but Number Of The Beast is rawer and heavier - Clive Burr's drumming was more energetic, more aggressive and had more groove than Nicko's.
You forgot to mention Martin Birch he worked with Maiden on the Killers album and hes got a huuge part of the sound and the final versions of the early Maiden songs.
Their first two albums were before my time. I didnt gwt into Maiden until 1981 or so when they got popular over here in the states. Being a bass player I was instantly hooked on steve harris style of playing. I got Iron Maiden and Killers around 83 or so and it is still my favorite. They are like Kill Them All for metallica. I'm learning guitar now love Dave and Adrian.
