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Track Listing: The Ides Of March Wrathchild Murders In The Rue Morgue Another Life Innocent Exile Genghis Khan Killers Prodigal Son Purgatory Drifter

As Bruce Dickinson aptly put it while addressing the Rio de Janeiro crowd on the night of January 19th 2001, a truly unforgettable night for the 250,000 in attendance, Killers is something from the "jurassic period" that refers to Maiden's pre-Dickinson days.

It is a landmark album in Maiden's history in more ways than one, most importantly because of it being guitarist Adrian Smith's debut. Even though bassist and founder Steve Harris wrote almost all of the material, the trio of Harris, Murray and Smith gelled together for the very first time, and laid the foundation for the band's nucleus. Subsequently of course, during the 80s they went on to release five albums that are still considered among the greatest heavy metal albums ever written. This nucleus was broken for the entirety of the next decade, but thankfully it was restored later on.

Another reason for it being a pivotal album is, it marked the transition from the punk-edged debut album to the traditional heavy metal sound that began with the arrival of Bruce Dickinson and the release of Number Of The Beast. The self-titled album was very much raw in its sound. Killers was a natural progression and definitely a more polished effort, while it still did complete justice to Paul Di'Anno's distinct singing style.

This album also opened doors for the band to travel across the Atlantic, as Maiden did their first ever North American tour in support of Killers. On top of all this, I consider this album special because I still regard the artwork very highly, and had it not been for the Powerslave cover, this would be my choice for the number 1 cover of all time. In those days, sans Facebook, iTunes, YouTube and the likes, the album cover was just about the only insight into the album you could get before actually buying and listening to it, and Maiden were masters at this aspect. I still wish I grew up in those times, where I could just go to a record store and drool over album covers.

Di'Anno and Dickinson are so disparate in every imaginable aspect that it doesn't even warrant a fair comparison. Bruce has been the essential voice of Maiden without the shadow of a doubt, but I reiterate that the Di'Anno fronted albums have their own place in the Maiden history, and for 30 years, have been giving Maiden fans plenty of reason to rejoice. Even though the first album has sold more copies according to RIAA statistics, I feel that Killers was musically the pinnacle of the early days, and I can say with certainty that even today, people would die to hear songs like "Murders In The Rue Morgue", "Killers", and "Prodigal Son" in Maiden shows. I wonder how many would agree with me, but I would completely lose my mind if I got to hear "Purgatory" live.

Iron Maiden's "Killers" remains strong after 30 long years, and it's only getting better with age. A joyous throwback to the primitive Iron Maiden.