Review Summary: A classic metal album that unfortunately hosts a couple of sub par tracks.
This is an excellent 1982 record. Now, be careful in case you have listened to the previous records IRON MAIDEN and KILLERS, as you may be surprised by the vocals here. Bruce Dickinson, has better range than the original singer and he is a more archetypical metal frontman. The previous singer Dianno got sacked because he was going too hard with the booze. His loss if you ask me, because Maiden went number 1 with this and saw the quids flow. No quidies for Paul anymore.
The best songs present are “Children of the Damned”, the t/t, “Run to the Hills” and “Hallowed be thy name”. These are all classic metal anthems featuring regularly in the live setlist with the exception of Children of the Damned, which I dunno why they don’t play it as much. The other songs are great but not classic. “Invaders” deals with the Vikings invading Britain and can get pretty annoying during the chorus, but otherwise is ok. This is why I said you should be careful, as this is the opener and the vocals may surprise you, because Dickinson probably wanted to show his range and he was only 23 at the time, so he was immature and as such he overreacts, but worry not as the best are to come.
“The Prisoner” (inspired from the TV series) is almost classic and certainly better than “Gangland”. In Gangland the drum intro stands out, but the drummer Clive Burr left after this album because as they say he had health issues. Nevermind that, “22 acacia avenue” is a very simplistic power chord riff, but fits perfectly the story about a whore the band was visiting regularly, and is loosely connected to Charlotte the Harlot from the debut. The classic title track hits the speakers and starts trouble in the puritan United States as religious groups labelled Maiden Satanists. Steve Harris denied the allegations and said the song is about a dream. “Run to the Hills” was released and as a single with a video clip (simple but classic). Powerful track and easy to play live, it showcases Steve Harris’ song writing abilities. It deals with Indians and how the white men exploited them. Ironic is that Hallowed be thy Name (probably the best maiden song EVER) is the last one, an epic, so make sure that you listen to it.
All in all, this is a classic metal album that unfortunately hosts a couple of sub par tracks. If Maiden waited a year and put the best songs of this album and the next Piece of Mind in one release this would be a perfect score for me. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case because EMI was pulling the strings and the next album came out even more flawed, but this will be my next review so I ll explain myself then.
