Iron Maiden "Killers (1986 Reissue, Japan, EMI, CP32-5107)"

Killers is the second studio album by English heavy metal band Iron Maiden. It was first released on 16 February 1981 in the United Kingdom by EMI Records and on 11 May in the United States by Harvest and Capitol Records. The album was their first with guitarist Adrian Smith, and their last with vocalist Paul Di'Anno, who was fired after problems with his stage performances arose due to his alcohol and cocaine use. Killers was also the first Iron Maiden album recorded with producer Martin Birch, who went on to produce their next eight albums until Fear of the Dark (1992).

Killers is the only Iron Maiden album to feature two instrumentals. It was written almost exclusively by Steve Harris; only "Twilight Zone" and the title track are cowritten.

When considering producers for their debut album, Martin Birch had topped the band’s shortlist; however, he was busy working on Heaven And Hell with Black Sabbath. Birch later recalled that when Iron Maiden contacted him regarding Killers, they told him: “We didn’t think we were worthy of you. Because of what you’ve done [in the past] and your reputation, we didn’t think you would take us on.” Birch replied: "That was your first mistake, because I was very disappointed that you didn’t ask me."

Except for "Murders in the Rue Morgue" (based on the story of the same name by Edgar Allan Poe) and "Prodigal Son", the songs were written in the years prior to the recording of their debut album. Five of the album's songs featured in the band's live setlists in 1977, when Dennis Wilcock fronted Iron Maiden. "Wrathchild" and "Strange World" appear to be written as far back as 1976 and original singer Paul Mario Day later claimed he had co-written "Strange World". No songs were recorded professionally until the Killers sessions, with the exception of "Wrathchild" (a version recorded in 1979 was featured on the Metal for Muthas compilation). Both "Innocent Exile" and "Wrathchild," are among the first songs Steve Harris had ever written, all the back in 1973.

Steve Harris later noted in the official Iron Maiden book, Run To The Hills: "Production-wise, Killers was like chalk and cheese compared to the first album." Harris also acknowledged the lack of brand new material on the record; however, he claimed it was nonsensical to deny such good songs a proper release: "The first album was like a ‘best-of’ from our live set, songs which went back years. [For Killers], we still had a lot of really good, strong songs, like 'Wrathchild', and we didn’t want to lose them."

"The Ides of March" is nearly identical to "Thunderburst", by fellow British NWOBHM band Samson, who featured a pre-Maiden Bruce Dickinson on vocals; however, "The Ides of March" was written during the brief time in 1977 in which future Samson drummer Thunderstick was a member of Iron Maiden. While Harris took sole credit for "The Ides of March", "Thunderburst" is credited to Harris and all four members of Samson's Head On line-up, Bruce Bruce, aka Bruce Dickinson, Chris Aylmer, Paul Samson, and Thunderstick, aka Barry Purkis.

The album cover, featuring Eddie holding a bloody axe while his victim grabs his shirt, has in the background the street artist Derek Riggs lived in at the time, Etchingham Court in North Finchley.

Killers spent eight weeks on the UK chart. The North American edition, which came out a few months later, was initially released on Harvest Records/Capitol Records and subsequently on Sanctuary Records/Columbia Records. The song "Twilight Zone" was added to the album. In Australia, the Skyhooks cover "Women in Uniform" was added instead as a bonus track.

The Killer World Tour featured the band's first US shows, beginning at The Aladdin, Las Vegas, in support of Judas Priest. Subsequently, "Wrathchild" is the only regularly played track from the album, appearing in almost all their tours.

Upon release the album was met with mixed reception Robbi Miller from British music weekly Sounds gave Killers a one-star rating, stating "it’s more of a failure than a triumph." However Steve Harris later noted that Miller had dated, and been dumped by, Paul Di’Anno not long before, although he added that early review copies were sent out with an inferior mix.

However as years have passed the album has retrospectively been viewed as a classic album with Metal Hammer stating "Today, Killers occupies a unique place in the Maiden canon. The textbook ‘difficult second album’, it’s beloved by connoisseurs but not widely revered like the albums either side of it. Yet if it could ever be termed a disappointment, it’s only in comparison to what came after it. For Iron Maiden themselves, it represents the most dramatic transition of their illustrious career, and a key stepping stone to what came next."

Steve Huey of AllMusic gave the album 4/5 starts writing "the teaming of new guitarist Adrian Smith with Dave Murray forms the most formidable twin-guitar attack in heavy metal, outside of Glenn Tipton and K.K. Downing. Plus, bassist Steve Harris' busy, driving lines are now consistently audible in the mix. The resulting instrumental fireworks are what truly make the album tick." A reviewer from Ultimate Guitar gave the album a 9.7/10, claiming: "I feel that this is one of Maiden's best albums. Not their #1 best, but easily, let's see, yeah, #3. Right behind Piece of Mind and Seventh Son of a Seventh Son. In my eyes, it shows a stunning jump from the debut, and was really the first album in which the band established a signature sound."

In 2018, Metal Hammer included the album on its list of the 20 Best Albums of 1981. In 2025, Consequence ranked it at number 64 on their list of the 75 Best Metal Albums of All Time.

Tracklist:

1. The Ides of March 01:46   
2. Wrathchild 02:55   
3. Murders in the Rue Morgue 04:19   
4. Another Life 03:23   
5. Genghis Khan 03:09
6. Innocent Exile 03:54   
7. Killers 05:02   
8. Prodigal Son 06:13
9. Purgatory 03:21
10. Drifter 04:48   

Time:  38:50  

Recording information:

Recorded at Battery Studios, London.

Martin "Headmaster" Birch – producer, engineer

Nigel Hewitt – second engineer

Derek Riggs – cover illustration

Dave Lights – cover concept

Robert Ellis – photography

Iron Maiden "Iron Maiden (1988 Reissue, USA, Capitol Records, CDP 7 91415 2)"

Iron Maiden is the eponymous debut studio album by the English heavy metal band Iron Maiden. It was issued by EMI on 14 April 1980 in the UK, and a few months later in North America, originally on Harvest/Capitol Records and subsequently Sanctuary Records/Columbia Records in the US. The North American version also included the song "Sanctuary", previously released in the UK as a non-album single. In 1998, along with the rest of the band's pre-1995 releases, Iron Maiden was remastered with "Sanctuary" added in all territories. It is the band's only album to feature guitarist Dennis Stratton.

Although Iron Maiden have since criticised the quality of the album's production, the release was met with critical and commercial success, debuting at No. 4 in the UK Albums Chart as well as achieving prominence for the band in mainland Europe.

This was the band's only album produced by Will Malone, who Iron Maiden have since claimed lacked interest in the project and effectively left them to produce most of the album themselves, which, according to bassist Steve Harris, was completed in just 13 days. Recording took place at Kingsway Studios, west London in January 1980, with the band taking time out from the 1980 Metal for Muthas Tour to complete the final mixes at Morgan Studios, northwest London in February. Prior to the sessions with Malone, the band made two attempts in December 1979 with two different producers while still a four-piece. Guy Edwards, the first, was dismissed as the band were unhappy with the "muddy" quality in his production, while Andy Scott was sacked after insisting that Harris use a pick rather than his fingers. After these efforts, the band decided not to sack Malone as Steve Harris describes that they could "bypass him and [go] to the engineer." The group criticised the quality of the production, although many fans still prefer the raw quality of the sound recording. Although AllMusic states that this style was "clearly drawing from elements of punk rock," Harris later stated that the band despised everything about punk.

This was also the only studio album with guitarist Dennis Stratton, who, having been brought in as a last-minute placement, was sacked due to "musical differences" after the band's European tour in support of Kiss. Suspicions were first raised during Iron Maiden's recording, when Stratton added Wishbone Ash-esque harmony guitars and backing vocals reminiscent of Queen to "Phantom of the Opera", of which the rest of the band immediately disapproved and had removed. Although Stratton states that he was not "trying to push the band in a new direction," Harris comments that it "really pointed up the difference between Den and us," after which he began to notice that "Dennis was so much more into playing stuff like "Strange World" than he was "Iron Maiden" or "Prowler", because it was more slow, melodic... when he was soloing on one of the heavier songs, it wasn't with quite the same passion."

The 1998 remastered album differs from the original with the addition of the song "Sanctuary", which had then only been released as a single in the UK in May 1980, although it did also appear in the later US version of Iron Maiden, which was issued in August 1980. The track originally appeared on the Metal for Muthas compilation, but was re-recorded during the Iron Maiden sessions. The re-release also features a different cover; a digital recreation by original artist Derek Riggs, with a portion of the original artwork instead being used on the disc itself.

The band undertook the Iron Maiden Tour in support of the album, during which they played their first ever concerts in mainland Europe, where they were surprised to discover how successful Iron Maiden had been outside the UK, with Steve Harris commenting, "The prestige of doing so well in the UK had turned into a sort of word-of-mouth thing, and we'd turn up in places like Leiden, in Holland, places we'd never even heard of, and they'd have these massive banners waiting for us with "Iron Maiden Go Over The Top" written on them and all this. It was unreal."

"Running Free" was released as a single on 8 February 1980, reaching No. 34 in the UK Singles Chart. The band also performed the song on the UK TV show Top of the Pops, refusing the usual tradition for artists to mime and thus becoming the first group to perform live on the show since The Who in 1972. Vocalist Paul Di'Anno, who wrote the song's lyrics, describes it as "a very autobiographical song, though of course I've never spent the night in an LA jail. It's about being 16 and, like it says, just running wild and running free. It comes from my days as a skinhead." According to Classic Rock and Metal Hammer contributor Dave Ling, writing in the Metal for Muthas CD re-issue liner notes, "Sanctuary" was originally penned by guitarist Rob Angelo, a member of Iron Maiden in 1977, who was paid £300 for the song's rights. The "Sanctuary" single was released on 7 June 1980 and charted at No. 29, with the censored cover of Eddie, the band's mascot, standing over Margaret Thatcher's body earning the band publicity in the British press. Managers Rod Smallwood and Andy Taylor's management company would be named after the song.

Although "Strange World" is credited solely to Harris, Paul Day, the band's original vocalist from 1975 to 1976, asserted that he also contributed to the song. "Charlotte the Harlot", their only song to have been written by Dave Murray alone, is the first of four Iron Maiden tracks about the fictional prostitute "Charlotte", although Murray states it was "based on a true story". The 7-minute "Phantom of the Opera" is one of Harris's favourites and is still performed live relatively frequently. With lots of mood and time-changes, Harris marks it as "the first song I'd written that was a bit more proggy". "Transylvania" is an instrumental piece composed by Harris, which was later covered by Iced Earth on the album Horror Show.

Of all the album's songs, "Phantom of the Opera", "Running Free", "Sanctuary" and "Iron Maiden" are the most frequently played in the band's concert tours, with the last being played at every show since the band's inception and signalling the arrival of Eddie onstage. All of the album's songs, excluding "Strange World", have been recorded with Bruce Dickinson on vocals, either on live albums, studio B-Sides or both. "Strange World" and "Transylvania" were the only songs not played on the "Eddie Rips Up the World Tour", 2005.

Four songs ("Prowler", "Remember Tomorrow", "Running Free" and "Iron Maiden") were covered for the 2008 tribute album Maiden Heaven: A Tribute to Iron Maiden released by Kerrang! magazine, and an acoustic reinterpretation of "Prowler" was included in 2012's Across The Seventh Sea by the acoustic Iron Maiden tribute project Maiden uniteD.

Track listing

1. Prowler 03:56  
2. Remember Tomorrow 05:28  
3. Running Free 03:18
4. Phantom of the Opera 07:20
5. Transylvania 04:19
6. Strange World 05:32  
7. Sanctuary 03:16   
8. Charlotte the Harlot 04:13
9. Iron Maiden 03:36   

Time:  40:58  

Recording information:

Recorded at Kingsway Studios, London.

Mixed at Morgan Studios, London.

Wil Malone – producer

Martin Levan – engineer

Derek Riggs – sleeve illustration

Terry Walker – photography

Yuka Fujii – photography

Iron Maiden "Iron Maiden (1995 Reissue, 2CDS, UK, EMI United Kingdom, 7243 8 35868 2 0)"

Iron Maiden is the debut studio album by English heavy metal band Iron Maiden, released on 11 April 1980 by EMI Records in the UK and Harvest and Capitol Records in the US. The North American version included the song "Sanctuary", released in the UK as a non-album single. In 1998, along with the rest of the band's pre-1995 releases, Iron Maiden was remastered with "Sanctuary" added in all territories. However, 2014 vinyl reissues, 2015 digital releases and 2018 CD reissues use the original track listing across the globe. It is the band's only album to feature guitarist Dennis Stratton.

Although Iron Maiden have since criticised the quality of the album's production, the release was met with critical and commercial success, peaking at number four on the UK Albums Chart and helping the band achieve prominence in mainland Europe.

This is the band's only album produced by Wil Malone (credited as Will Malone), whom Iron Maiden have since claimed lacked interest in the project and effectively left them to produce most of the album themselves, which, according to bassist Steve Harris, was completed in just 13 days. Recording took place at Kingsway Studios, west London in January 1980, with the band taking time out from the 1980 Metal for Muthas Tour to complete the final mixes at Morgan Studios, northwest London in February. Before the sessions with Malone, the band made two attempts in December 1979 with two different producers while still a four-piece. Guy Edwards, the first, was dismissed as the band were unhappy with the "muddy" quality in his production, while Andy Scott was also dismissed after insisting Harris play his bass with a pick rather than his fingers. After these efforts, the band decided not to dismiss Malone as Harris described that they could "bypass him and [go] to the engineer". The group criticised the quality of the production, although many fans still preferred the raw quality of the sound recording. Although AllMusic stated that this style was "clearly drawing from elements of punk rock", Harris stated that the band despised everything about punk.

This was also the only studio album with guitarist Dennis Stratton, who, having been brought in as a last-minute placement, was dismissed due to "musical differences" after the band's European tour in support of Kiss. Suspicions were first raised during Iron Maiden's recording, when Stratton added Wishbone Ash-esque harmony guitars and backing vocals reminiscent of Queen to "Phantom of the Opera", of which Harris and manager Rod Smallwood immediately disapproved and had removed. Although Stratton stated that he was not "trying to push the band in a new direction", Harris commented that it "really pointed up the difference between Den and us", after which he began to notice that "Dennis was so much more into playing stuff like "Strange World" than he was "Iron Maiden" or "Prowler", because it was more slow, melodic ... when he was soloing on one of the heavier songs, it wasn't with quite the same passion". The album cover, marking the debut of Eddie after his face was obscured in the "Running Free" single, has in the background Endymion Road at Finsbury Park, near where artist Derek Riggs lived.

The 1998 remastered album differs from the original with the addition of the song "Sanctuary", which had then been released only as a single in the UK in May 1980, although it did also appear in the later US version of Iron Maiden, which was issued in August 1980. The track originally appeared on the Metal for Muthas compilation, but was re-recorded during the Iron Maiden sessions. The re-release also features a different cover; a digital recreation by Riggs, with a portion of the original artwork instead being used on the disc itself.

The band undertook the Iron Maiden Tour in support of the album, during which they played their first concerts in mainland Europe, where they were surprised to discover how successful Iron Maiden had been outside the UK. Steve Harris commented, "The prestige of doing so well in the UK had turned into a sort of word-of-mouth thing, and we'd turn up in places like Leiden, in Holland, places we'd never even heard of, and they'd have these massive banners waiting for us with 'Iron Maiden Go Over The Top' written on them and all this. It was unreal."

"Running Free" was released as a single on 8 February 1980, reaching No. 34 in the UK Singles Chart. The band also performed the song on the UK TV show Top of the Pops, refusing the usual tradition for artists to mime and thus becoming the first group to perform live on the show since The Who in 1972. Vocalist Paul Di'Anno, who wrote the song's lyrics, describes it as "a very autobiographical song, though of course I've never spent the night in an LA jail. It's about being 16 and, like it says, just running wild and running free. It comes from my days as a skinhead." According to Classic Rock and Metal Hammer contributor Dave Ling, writing in the Metal for Muthas CD re-issue liner notes, "Sanctuary" was originally penned by guitarist Rob Angelo (Bob Sawyer), a member of Iron Maiden in 1977, who was paid £300 for the song's rights. The "Sanctuary" single was released on 7 June 1980 and charted at No. 29, with the censored cover of Eddie, the band's mascot, standing over Margaret Thatcher's body earning the band publicity in the British press. Managers Rod Smallwood and Andy Taylor's management company would be named after the song.

Although "Strange World" is credited solely to Harris, Paul Mario Day, the band's original vocalist from 1975 to 1976, asserted that he also contributed to the song.

"Charlotte the Harlot", their only song to have been credited to Dave Murray alone, is the first of four Iron Maiden tracks about the fictional prostitute "Charlotte", although Murray states it was "based on a true story". The 7-minute "Phantom of the Opera" is one of Harris's favourites and is still performed live relatively frequently. With many mood and time-changes, Harris marks it as "the first song I'd written that was a bit more proggy". "Transylvania" is an instrumental piece composed by Harris, which was later covered by Iced Earth on the album Horror Show.

Of all the album's songs, "Phantom of the Opera", "Running Free", "Sanctuary" and "Iron Maiden" are the most frequently played in the band's concert tours, with the last being played at every show since the band's inception and signalling the arrival of Eddie onstage. All of the album's songs, excluding "Strange World", have been re-recorded with Bruce Dickinson on vocals, either on live albums, studio B-Sides or both. "Strange World" and "Transylvania" were the only songs not played on the "Eddie Rips Up the World Tour", 2005.

Four songs from the album ("Phantom of the Opera", "Remember Tomorrow", "Strange World" and "Transylvania") were covered for the 1998 tribute album A Call to Irons (A Tribute To Iron Maiden), recorded by New Eden, Opeth, Evoken and Absu respectively. Four songs ("Prowler", "Remember Tomorrow", "Running Free" and "Iron Maiden") were covered for the 2008 tribute album Maiden Heaven: A Tribute to Iron Maiden released by Kerrang! magazine, and an acoustic reinterpretation of "Prowler" was included in 2012's Across The Seventh Sea by the acoustic Iron Maiden tribute project Maiden uniteD. Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich affirmed that "Remember Tomorrow" was "basically the blueprint for songs like Fade To Black and Welcome Home (Sanitarium), and some of the more epic ballady type of songs that Metallica had done later".

On its release, the album received immediate critical acclaim. Geoff Barton, in Sounds, hailed it as "Heavy metal for the '80s, its blinding speed and rampant ferocity making most plastic heavy rock tracks from the '60s and '70s sound sloth-like and funeral-dirgey by comparison". Iron Maiden spent an initial fifteen weeks on the UK chart, and a further two when it was reissued on EMI's budget subsidiary Fame in 1985.

The album has continued to receive praise from reviewers. AllMusic proclaims that it "would still rank as a landmark even if the Dickinson years had never happened" and says there was "no better place to hear how both punk and prog rock informed the new wave of British heavy metal". Sputnikmusic describes it as "one of the top debut albums in the world of heavy metal", containing "the raw, aggressive power [that] defines the early years of the band".

Iron Maiden is one of the band's two albums listed in Robert Dimery's 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die (The Number of the Beast is the other). In 2017, it was ranked 13th on Rolling Stone's list of "100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time".

Track listing

All tracks are written by Steve Harris, except where noted.

1. "Prowler" 3:56
2. "Remember Tomorrow"   (Harris/Paul Di'Anno)  5:30
3. "Running Free" (Harris/Di'Anno)  3:22
4. "Phantom of the Opera" 7:02
5. "Transylvania" (instrumental) 4:09
6. "Strange World" 5:43
7. "Charlotte the Harlot" (Dave Murray) 4:14
8. "Iron Maiden" 3:43

Total length: 37:39

1995 reissue bonus disc

1. "Sanctuary" (Iron Maiden) 3:14
2. "Burning Ambition" 2:42
3. "Drifter" (live) 6:04
4. "I've Got the Fire" (Montrose cover; live) (Ronnie Montrose) 3:14

Total length: 15:14

Picture CDs - limited edition

For the album the cover art of the "Running Free" Single was used,

the bonus-CD displays the cover art of the "Sanctuary" Single.

Disc 2:

Tracks 1, 3 and 4 taken from "Sanctuary" (single)

Track 2 taken from "Running free" (single)

Recording information:

Recorded in December 1979 at Kingsway Studios, London.

Mixed at Morgan Studios, London.

Wil Malone – producer

Martin Levan – engineer

Derek Riggs – sleeve illustration

Terry Walker – photography

Yuka Fujii – photography

Iron Maiden "Iron Maiden (1987 Reissue, Japan, EMI, CP32-5106)"

Iron Maiden is the debut studio album by English heavy metal band Iron Maiden, released on 11 April 1980 by EMI Records in the UK and Harvest and Capitol Records in the US. The North American version included the song "Sanctuary", released in the UK as a non-album single. In 1998, along with the rest of the band's pre-1995 releases, Iron Maiden was remastered with "Sanctuary" added in all territories. However, 2014 vinyl reissues, 2015 digital releases and 2018 CD reissues use the original track listing across the globe. It is the band's only album to feature guitarist Dennis Stratton.

Although Iron Maiden have since criticised the quality of the album's production, the release was met with critical and commercial success, peaking at number four on the UK Albums Chart and helping the band achieve prominence in mainland Europe.

This is the band's only album produced by Wil Malone (credited as Will Malone), whom Iron Maiden have since claimed lacked interest in the project and effectively left them to produce most of the album themselves, which, according to bassist Steve Harris, was completed in just 13 days. Recording took place at Kingsway Studios, west London in January 1980, with the band taking time out from the 1980 Metal for Muthas Tour to complete the final mixes at Morgan Studios, northwest London in February. Before the sessions with Malone, the band made two attempts in December 1979 with two different producers while still a four-piece. Guy Edwards, the first, was dismissed as the band were unhappy with the "muddy" quality in his production, while Andy Scott was also dismissed after insisting Harris play his bass with a pick rather than his fingers. After these efforts, the band decided not to dismiss Malone as Harris described that they could "bypass him and [go] to the engineer". The group criticised the quality of the production, although many fans still preferred the raw quality of the sound recording. Although AllMusic stated that this style was "clearly drawing from elements of punk rock", Harris stated that the band despised everything about punk.

This was also the only studio album with guitarist Dennis Stratton, who, having been brought in as a last-minute placement, was dismissed due to "musical differences" after the band's European tour in support of Kiss. Suspicions were first raised during Iron Maiden's recording, when Stratton added Wishbone Ash-esque harmony guitars and backing vocals reminiscent of Queen to "Phantom of the Opera", of which Harris and manager Rod Smallwood immediately disapproved and had removed. Although Stratton stated that he was not "trying to push the band in a new direction", Harris commented that it "really pointed up the difference between Den and us", after which he began to notice that "Dennis was so much more into playing stuff like "Strange World" than he was "Iron Maiden" or "Prowler", because it was more slow, melodic ... when he was soloing on one of the heavier songs, it wasn't with quite the same passion". The album cover, marking the debut of Eddie after his face was obscured in the "Running Free" single, has in the background Endymion Road at Finsbury Park, near where artist Derek Riggs lived.

The 1998 remastered album differs from the original with the addition of the song "Sanctuary", which had then been released only as a single in the UK in May 1980, although it did also appear in the later US version of Iron Maiden, which was issued in August 1980. The track originally appeared on the Metal for Muthas compilation, but was re-recorded during the Iron Maiden sessions. The re-release also features a different cover; a digital recreation by Riggs, with a portion of the original artwork instead being used on the disc itself.

The band undertook the Iron Maiden Tour in support of the album, during which they played their first concerts in mainland Europe, where they were surprised to discover how successful Iron Maiden had been outside the UK. Steve Harris commented, "The prestige of doing so well in the UK had turned into a sort of word-of-mouth thing, and we'd turn up in places like Leiden, in Holland, places we'd never even heard of, and they'd have these massive banners waiting for us with 'Iron Maiden Go Over The Top' written on them and all this. It was unreal."

"Running Free" was released as a single on 8 February 1980, reaching No. 34 in the UK Singles Chart. The band also performed the song on the UK TV show Top of the Pops, refusing the usual tradition for artists to mime and thus becoming the first group to perform live on the show since The Who in 1972. Vocalist Paul Di'Anno, who wrote the song's lyrics, describes it as "a very autobiographical song, though of course I've never spent the night in an LA jail. It's about being 16 and, like it says, just running wild and running free. It comes from my days as a skinhead." According to Classic Rock and Metal Hammer contributor Dave Ling, writing in the Metal for Muthas CD re-issue liner notes, "Sanctuary" was originally penned by guitarist Rob Angelo (Bob Sawyer), a member of Iron Maiden in 1977, who was paid £300 for the song's rights. The "Sanctuary" single was released on 7 June 1980 and charted at No. 29, with the censored cover of Eddie, the band's mascot, standing over Margaret Thatcher's body earning the band publicity in the British press. Managers Rod Smallwood and Andy Taylor's management company would be named after the song.

Although "Strange World" is credited solely to Harris, Paul Mario Day, the band's original vocalist from 1975 to 1976, asserted that he also contributed to the song.

"Charlotte the Harlot", their only song to have been credited to Dave Murray alone, is the first of four Iron Maiden tracks about the fictional prostitute "Charlotte", although Murray states it was "based on a true story". The 7-minute "Phantom of the Opera" is one of Harris's favourites and is still performed live relatively frequently. With many mood and time-changes, Harris marks it as "the first song I'd written that was a bit more proggy". "Transylvania" is an instrumental piece composed by Harris, which was later covered by Iced Earth on the album Horror Show.

Of all the album's songs, "Phantom of the Opera", "Running Free", "Sanctuary" and "Iron Maiden" are the most frequently played in the band's concert tours, with the last being played at every show since the band's inception and signalling the arrival of Eddie onstage. All of the album's songs, excluding "Strange World", have been re-recorded with Bruce Dickinson on vocals, either on live albums, studio B-Sides or both. "Strange World" and "Transylvania" were the only songs not played on the "Eddie Rips Up the World Tour", 2005.

Four songs from the album ("Phantom of the Opera", "Remember Tomorrow", "Strange World" and "Transylvania") were covered for the 1998 tribute album A Call to Irons (A Tribute To Iron Maiden), recorded by New Eden, Opeth, Evoken and Absu respectively. Four songs ("Prowler", "Remember Tomorrow", "Running Free" and "Iron Maiden") were covered for the 2008 tribute album Maiden Heaven: A Tribute to Iron Maiden released by Kerrang! magazine, and an acoustic reinterpretation of "Prowler" was included in 2012's Across The Seventh Sea by the acoustic Iron Maiden tribute project Maiden uniteD. Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich affirmed that "Remember Tomorrow" was "basically the blueprint for songs like Fade To Black and Welcome Home (Sanitarium), and some of the more epic ballady type of songs that Metallica had done later".

On its release, the album received immediate critical acclaim. Geoff Barton, in Sounds, hailed it as "Heavy metal for the '80s, its blinding speed and rampant ferocity making most plastic heavy rock tracks from the '60s and '70s sound sloth-like and funeral-dirgey by comparison". Iron Maiden spent an initial fifteen weeks on the UK chart, and a further two when it was reissued on EMI's budget subsidiary Fame in 1985.

The album has continued to receive praise from reviewers. AllMusic proclaims that it "would still rank as a landmark even if the Dickinson years had never happened" and says there was "no better place to hear how both punk and prog rock informed the new wave of British heavy metal". Sputnikmusic describes it as "one of the top debut albums in the world of heavy metal", containing "the raw, aggressive power [that] defines the early years of the band".

Iron Maiden is one of the band's two albums listed in Robert Dimery's 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die (The Number of the Beast is the other). In 2017, it was ranked 13th on Rolling Stone's list of "100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time".

Track listing

All tracks are written by Steve Harris, except where noted.

1. "Prowler" 3:56
2. "Remember Tomorrow"   (Harris/Paul Di'Anno)  5:30
3. "Running Free" (Harris/Di'Anno)  3:22
4. "Phantom of the Opera" 7:02
5. "Transylvania" (instrumental) 4:09
6. "Strange World" 5:43
7. "Charlotte the Harlot" (Dave Murray) 4:14
8. "Iron Maiden" 3:43

Total length: 37:39

Recording information:

Recorded in December 1979 at Kingsway Studios, London.

Mixed at Morgan Studios, London.

Wil Malone – producer

Martin Levan – engineer

Derek Riggs – sleeve illustration

Terry Walker – photography

Yuka Fujii – photography

Incubus "Beyond The Unknown (Germany, Nuclear Blast, NB 039 CD)"

Opprobrium (formerly Incubus) is an American Death/Thrash Metal band from Metairie, Louisiana, United States. The band was founded in 1986 by brothers Francis and Moyses Howard as Incubus. The Howards are natives of Rio de Janeiro who emigrated to New Orleans to found the band. The original incarnation featured bassist/lead vocalist Scot Latour, and the trio's 1987 demo, Supernatural Death, secured them a deal with Brutal Records. Their official debut, Serpent Temptation, was released in 1988. Latour departed soon afterwards, leaving Francis to take over vocals. Incubus signed with Nuclear Blast in 1990 and released their follow-up Beyond the Unknown. Recording with Francis on bass, Incubus recruited Mark Lavenia as the full-time bassist. Shortly thereafter, in 1991, Incubus disbanded, then reformed after a ten-year break, and changed their name to avoid confusion with rock band Incubus from California. 

Tracklist:

1. Certain Accuracy 05:36   
2. The Deceived Ones 03:26  
3. Curse of the Damned Cities 05:39
4. Beyond the Unknown 04:31
5. Freezing Torment 05:05
6. Massacre of the Unborn 04:59  
7. On the Burial Ground 06:11
8. Mortify 03:41   

Time:  39:08  

Recording information:

Recorded and mixed at Morrisound Recordings (Tampa, Florida), June 1990.