What's so great about Killers?

But back to Killers.

Wrathchild is also a great gateway drug to Maiden for people who are uneasy at testing the metal waters, or at least it's been in my experience. That intro just builds on the previous 10 years of rock and makes it Maiden.
 
I'm mixed on the first two albums.  I think the songs are a bit stronger on the first album, but Killers still has amazing songs, with a MUCH better production.  Artistically, the self titles is a bit better, imo.  But when driving down the road, nothing says "fuck off" quite like blasting Killers, as the production makes it a much more powerful album.  If the self titles album had that much crunch with a Birch production, Killers may seem to play second fiddle to that one a bit more.
 
To me, 'Killers' is still the Maiden album with the best production. As for the songs, well, it's far from being a great album. It's good but that's it. My favourites are 'The Ides Of March', 'Wrathchild', 'Murders In The Rue Morgue', 'Killers', 'Ghengis Khan' and 'Twilight Zone'.

If only Bruce had sung on the album.
 
I think I like both albums with Paul, just Killers a bit more. I actually like IM's a bit raw sound and Transylvania and Strange World are my favorites from this album, but Prodigal Son, Purgatory... even Drifter is great. I like the build-up at the album's end (1998 reissue) starting with Killers and ending with Drifter which is great as the album's closing track. Well, in the end, music is just a matter of tastes anyway :-)
 
(the following I have said more or less in the past, so some of you may have read it already)

My take:

Killers has one of the most "in-your-face-productions" of all Maiden albums.

Most tracks are not so melodic as most other Maiden albums. Still I like side B very much (apart from "Drifter", which is very low on my ranking). My favourite Killers-moments are "Purgatory" (great combo of speed and melody), the instrumental mid-piece in "Prodigal Son" (the only song never played live) with its spineshivering solos, "Wrathchild", the cool harmonies of "Murders In The Rue Morgue", the aggressive mid-part in "Another Life".

Surprisingly, my favourite track is "Genghis Khan". The way this song changes into the groovy end, with the great melody played by Dave on the left side and the melodic harmonies makes it one of the coolest Maiden parts ever! Though this commentary seems very positive, I still like it less than the debut which made a better overall impression. Conclusive thoughts:
-Aggression
-In Your Face
-Best production for Clive's drums
 
I think to me, as I've said before on this forum, Killers was the first of the two albums I heard, and Ides of March being the first Iron Maiden sound to ever rape my ear holes.

So Killers has a very special place in my heart.  Still one of the first albums I grab when I'm in an Iron Maiden mood.... just glad my wife loves Iron Maiden and metal as much as I do.

Up The Irons!!!
:rocker:
 
Killers is my favorite Iron Maiden album. I like it because it flows better as an album. I don't get why people don't like Purgatory. It is the first Di'anno song I heard and has always been my favorite. I don't think there is a bad song on Killers. I also like the second half better. I think Drifter makes a great album closer. And even though there are no long songs, some tunes like another life and innocent exile could pass off as epics. (much like MOther Russia on NPFTD)
 
"Killers" is bad-ass , it's as simple as that. The first album has better songs, but Killers is more agressive and with a more "in your face" attitude. The , vastly improved, production certainly helps. Oh and songs like "Purgutory" and "Innocent Exile" are anything but weak, in fact they are dynamites. "Killers" and "Powerslave", though very different sounding, are the most bad-ass IM albums (not necessarily best ).
 
Killers is the First Maiden album I heard in its entirety and after owning all the albums, this is one I go back to often and always get blown away. From the self-titled effort I only still fully enjoy Phantom of the Opera, but from Killers... Oh man from the opening combo of Ides of March/Wrathchild... the title track! Brilliant. Not to mention the unique distinction of having TWO instrumentals over one epic.
 
LordMaiden said:
Killers shits all over IM. It has way more depth and the better atmosphere.
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Way more depth? In what way? Musical complexity? The lyrics?
The Killers lyrics are highly unimaginative.

The atmosphere of "Remember Tomorrow" is pretty hard to beat.

johnglen said:
The first album has better songs,
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Yep.

johnglen said:
but Killers is more agressive and with a more "in your face" attitude. The , vastly improved, production certainly helps.
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It helps with realizing that it sounds better. But people who look for more than aggression only still prefer the first album. That's how I see it, at least.

johnglen said:
Oh and songs like "Purgutory" and "Innocent Exile" are anything but weak, in fact they are dynamites.
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"Innocent Exile" I don't find as nice as "Purgatory". The music in the parts with vocals are highly repetitive, and the vocals and lyrics are really simple. I like the bridge ansd the solos but as a whole the song is not among the best.

And thus Killers flows better as a whole? Mwah, "Transylvania" and "Strange World" literally flow into eachother, but also as an album, I think that the songs on the debut (the debut with the biggest impact by any metal band) really were meant to be put in this order.
 
What lacks on the debut is there on Killers, and vice versa; musically, the debut might be strongest, but Killers aggressiveness and stellar production and peformances takes the prize.
 
So should they be seen as a great 1-2 punch combo rather than the "first and second albums?" It is possible considering how close together they were released.
 
I think someone mentioned both albums in this manner, once... Well, I hardly find Maiden albums similar, except for SIT and SSOASS which are not completely the same, they are an extension of some of the ideas, specially sound wise; Virtual XI and BNW which has four leftover songs from VXI on BNW, the sound and vibe is very similar, too, but BNW is a lot more vibrant; and now with The Final Frontier, it seems a mature stage from what was roughly presented on AMOLAD.
 
Jeffmetal said:
What lacks on the debut is there on Killers, and vice versa; musically, the debut might be strongest, but Killers aggressiveness and stellar production and peformances takes the prize.
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I find lots of aggression in e.g. "Prowler", "Phantom..", "Transylvania" and the mid parts in "Remember Tomorrow" & "Charlotte..",  The thing that makes the debut better imo, is that these songs have more aspects besides that aggression, where I miss that on a bigger amount of the Killers songs. It's personal, of course.

Funny thing is that Steve said a few times that he prefers Killers but when you look at the amount of different songs, it looks like the debut got more attention in the last 30 years.
 
I read more than twice Steve saying he prefers the songs from the debut, but hates the production, as we all know.
 
Killers is a really unique sounding album, (not that IM isn't) but to me there is something going on on Killers that just grabs me.  I love the mood of the album, it's got such a dark vibe to it.  It still sounds like Maiden but at the same time a lot of it is very different sounding from anything else they ever did.


Jeffmetal said:
I read more than twice Steve saying he prefers the songs from the debut, but hates the production.
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Yeah, he also mentions it on the Early Days DVD as well.
 
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