Iron Maidens second full legnth studio album and my personal favroutie contained the well known classic Wrathchild and many other lesser known gems such as Murders in the Rue Morgue and Purgatory. The line up was as follows:
Clive Burr : Drums
Dave Murray : Guitar
Paul Di'anno : Vocals
Steve Harris : Bass
Adrian Smith : Guitar
I am doing this review off of an original LP not one of the remasters so some details may be different.
The Ides Of March : The albums opening track is an amazing instrumental, one of the best maiden ever pulled of, with blistering riffs and solid drums. Starts of simple and progresses into an all out musical bombardment. Great stuff. 4/5
Wrathchild : I could go on forever about how good this track is but ill keep the legnth down. This song starts of with a ear bashing bass riff, one of Harris' best, and leads on into a great little riff from Smith. Paul kicks in and everything starts of with a great verse with alot of riffing that doesnt happen in the later albums, which leads nicely into the chanting chorus, 'Wrathchild! Wrathchild! Wrathchild! Im coming to get you, oooooh yeh!' This is hard to get out of your head belive me. This jumps straight into the first guitar solo and abit of an instrumental bridge. Another great verse and chorus and then it ends. This song is one of Maidens best, highly recomended to anyone! 5/5
Murders in the Rue Morgue : Starts with a little melodic guitar part and abit of drums and then BAM!, straight into the verse at double time. Very good verse which leads into the chorus, with one of the most memorably riffs of the album, Paul's voice complimenting it amazingly. The bridge is a definite high point, telling the story of how he is running from the law, accused of butchering two girls in the Rue Morgue. My faverouite song on the album. 5/5
Another Life : Nice little drum intro leads into a great riff/solo thing. Verse is very cool with a nice rythm part behind it. The chorus doesnt have any lyrcis to it, but the guitar part is great. The only lyrcis in the whole song are as follows:
'As I lay here lying on my bed, sweet voices come into my head.
Oh what it is, I wanna know, please won't you tell me it's got to go.
There's a feeling that's inside me, telling me to get away.
But I'm so tired of living, I might as well end today.'
They are just repeated again in every verse. With so little lyrics i dont know how they make this song so **** busy, but they pull it of just grand. Best bit is the outro with the very cool riff and riduculous drum fill! 4.5/5
Genghis Khan : This is another instrumental and i think its here to show of the amazing skills of Smith, Murray and Burr. When they go into double time, everything kicks of with an amazing riff and aboslutly blisteringly fast drums. I have heard people say that Papa Roach stole this for their last resort song but i personally dont see the resembelance. From this riff you can definatly tell where Hallowed Be Thy Name came from. :thumb: One of the most musically talented songs ive ever heard. 4.5/5
Innocent Exile : Nice bass intro, with a cool guitar part over it. Verse is great, Paul really projects his voice well on this one, even though once again the lyrics are relativly reptetive againt, and i cant make out a chorus of any kind :lol: but the solo is another great, with amazing hammers and pull ofs throughout, supported by the great backing rythm. 4/5
Killers : The title track, and you can certianly see why when you listen to it. Another bass intro, my favourtie intro on the album, with a catchy lead part over it. Carries on for abit getting busier and busier until..... it cracks out into another double time verse which is just amazing all the way through. Also my faveoruite track for vocals, i couldnt get 'Scream for mercy, he laughs as he's watching you bleed, killer behind you, his blood lust defies all his needs!' out of my head. Nice solo added in with another amazing bridge full of chunky rythms. The solo after that is my faveroutie Maiden solo ever, its absolutly amazing. All the way amazing vox and guitar. 5/5
Prodigal Son : A slower track here, has some nice acoustic guitar in the verse, complimented very nicely by Harris's bass. The riff at the end of each verse phrase is beautiful, yes thats right Maiden can be beautiful! A really great slower track, does the album alot of good by adding abit of variety to the proceedings. A nice slow solo, very pleasing on the ears and shows that these guys are very adapting guitarists who can deal with nearly everything thrown at them. More vocals would have made this track perfect for me. 4.5/5
Purgatory : Great introduction riff on the guitars leads into a very fast chant like vocal part. A great pre-chorus leads into another sing along chorus bit with the unforgetable lyrics 'Please take me away, take me away, so far away.' The vocal melody matches the guitars hear and it sounds great. The song kind of repeats itself at this point with the same lyrics and structure until it leads into the great outro. 5/5
Drifter : Lead guitar intro leads into a pretty solid verse. The thing that suprised me the most about this is the amazing vocals. He projects his voice so well on the track its great. The bridge is very melodic with a usual maiden little riff. It very much reminds me of the acoustic part in revelations of piece of mind. After this a great bass line comes in and the drums go into temporary overdrive, leading into a repeat of the introduction. Great song to end such a great album! 4/5
Standout Tracks:
Wratchild
Murders in the Rue Morgue
Genghis Lhan
Purgatory
In my opinion Maidens best and most energetic album, this comprises great riffs and blistering drums into one record. A must have for any maiden fan, or metal fan in general. I was very suprised no one had reviewed this, so i did it justice i hope. Sorry that its pretty **** long but it definatly deserves it!
5/5 :thumb:
