Album · 45 years old this year
Killers
Killers is the second studio album by Iron Maiden, arriving in February 1981, a year after their debut. It marked a few changes in the band's story: it was the first record with guitarist Adrian Smith, and the last with vocalist Paul Di'Anno, who was dismissed after his alcohol and cocaine use began to affect his live performances.
It was also the first Maiden album made with producer Martin Birch, who stayed on for the next eight records, through to Fear of the Dark in 1992. For anyone tracing how the band moved from their early new wave of British heavy metal days towards the albums that followed, Killers is the point where the line-up and the studio partnership that shaped that next stretch began to fall into place. It is the last chance to hear Di'Anno fronting the band on record.
Killers: tracklist, credits and charts
10 tracks · 38:18Tracklist
- 1The Ides of MarchSteve Harris1:48
- 2WrathchildSteve Harris2:54
- 3Murders in the Rue MorgueSteve Harris4:14
- 4Another LifeSteve Harris3:22
- 5Genghis KhanSteve Harris3:02
- 6Innocent ExileSteve Harris3:50
- 7KillersSteve Harris and Paul Di’Anno4:58
- 8Prodigal SonSteve Harris6:05
- 9PurgatorySteve Harris3:18
- 10DrifterSteve Harris4:47
- Produced by
- Martin Birch
- Recorded at
- Battery (London)
- Recorded
- November 1980 – January 1981
- Engineered by
- Martin Birch, Nigel Hewitt
- Label
- Harvest
- Length
- 38:18
Line-up
- Clive Burr · drums (drum set)
- Steve Harris · electric bass guitar, background vocals
- Dave Murray · electric guitar
- Adrian Smith · electric guitar, background vocals
- Paul Di’Anno · lead vocals
Singles
- “Twilight Zone" / "Wrathchild” · 2 March 1981
- “Purgatory” · 15 June 1981
Peak chart positions
| Chart | Peak |
|---|---|
| UK Albums Chart · 1981 | 12 |
| US Billboard 200 · 1981 | 78 |
| French Albums (SNEP) · 1981 | 1 |
| German Albums · 1981 | 10 |
| UK Rock & Metal Albums · 2018 | 10 |
| Swedish Albums · 1981 | 11 |
| Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts) · 1981 | 18 |
| Norwegian Albums · 1981 | 19 |
| Australian Albums (ARIA) · 1981 | 20 |
| Austrian Albums · 1981 | 20 |
All 17 charts
| Hungarian Albums · 2020–2021 | 22 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) · 1981 | 26 |
| Japanese Albums (Oricon) · 1981 | 28 |
| Portuguese Albums · 2020–2021 | 40 |
| New Zealand Albums · 1981 | 41 |
| Greek Albums · 2010 | 64 |
| Italian Albums · 2006 | 79 |
Certifications
| Region | Certification |
|---|---|
| Canada | Platinum |
| France · 1993 | 3× Gold |
| Germany | Gold |
| Japan · 1983 | Gold |
| Sweden · 1996 | Gold |
| United Kingdom · 1985 | Gold |
| United States | Gold |
From MusicBrainz, Wikipedia and Wikidata. Only what the sources record is shown.
78.0
Popularity (0–100, vs the whole vault)
4.3k
ListenBrainz listeners
196k
Wikipedia views, last 12 months
44k
Deezer fans (all editions)
Released the same week
Also released on 16 February
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1982
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1984
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1985
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1986
Somewhere in Time
1986
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1987
Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
1988
Maiden England
1989
The First Ten Years
1990
No Prayer for the Dying
1990
Fear of the Dark
1992
A Real Live One
1993
A Real Dead One
1993
Live at Donington: August 22nd 1992
1993
The X Factor
1995
Best of the Beast
1996
Iron Maiden An Introduction to… Virtual XI 1998
An Introduction to… Virtual XI
1998
Virtual XI
1998
A Real Live Dead One
1998
Ed Hunter
1999
Brave New World
2000
Rock in Rio
2002
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2002
Edward the Great
2002
BBC Archives
2002
Beast Over Hammersmith
2002
Dance of Death
2003
No More Lies: Dance of Death Souvenir EP
2004
The Essential Iron Maiden
2005
Death on the Road
2005
A Matter of Life and Death
2006
Somewhere Back in Time
2008
Somewhere Back in Time: The Best of 1980–1989
2008
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Flight 666
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Releases and pressings
How we know the release date wikipedia 1981-02-16; musicbrainz + wikidata 1981-02-02 (14 days apart, likely another territory)
| Source | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|
| MusicBrainz | 2 February 1981 | |
| Wikipedia infobox | 16 February 1981 | |
| Wikidata | 2 February 1981 | |
| US release | 1981 | earliest US date |
| UK / Europe release | 2 February 1981 | earliest UK or European date |
35 editions
| Date | Country | Label | Barcode | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | XW | Parlophone | 0825646129256 | other |
| — | US | Capitol Records | 077771214110 | other |
| — | GB | EMI | 077775201925 | other |
| 1981 | CA | Harvest | other | |
| 1981 | JP | EMI | other | |
| 1981 | US | Harvest | other | |
| 1981 | JP | EMI | other | |
| 1981 | PT | EMI | other | |
| 1981 | SE | EMI | other | |
| 1981 | DE | EMI | other | |
| 1981 | DE | EMI | other | |
| 2 February 1981 | GB | EMI | original | |
| 2 February 1981 | NL | EMI | original | |
| 1985 | GB | Fame | 077775201925 | other |
| 1985 | XE | Fame | 5099915759313 | other |
| 1985 | FR | Fame | 5099910745045 | other |
| 1 March 1986 | JP | EMI | other | |
| 1988 | US | Capitol Records | 077779141623 | other |
| 9 October 1995 | US | Castle Records | 600234010327 | other |
| 3 November 1995 | GB | EMI United Kingdom | 724383586929 | other |
| 29 November 1995 | JP | COOLPRICE | 4988006707443 | other |
| 1998 | GB | Raw Power | 602923012827 | other |
| 1998 | GB | Raw Power | 602923012827 | other |
| 1998 | CA | EMI Music Canada | 724349691704 | other |
| 1998 | FR | EMI | 724349691704 | other |
| 1998 | RU | Gala Records | 724349691728 | other |
| 1998 | US | Raw Power | 199265070000 | remaster |
| 14 September 1998 | GB | EMI | 724349691704 | other |
| 26 March 2002 | US | Sanctuary Records | 696998620926 | other |
| 6 September 2006 | JP | EMI | 4988006846760 | other |
| 13 October 2014 | XE | Parlophone | 825646252428 | other |
| 2015 | US | Sanctuary Records | 4050538459340 | other |
| 16 November 2018 | US | BMG | 4050538426946 | other |
| 16 November 2018 | XE | Parlophone | 0190295567750 | other |
| 16 November 2018 | XW | Parlophone | 190295524265 | remaster |
Cover art sources
itunes · native: native 1500x1500
| Source | Size | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| itunes ✓ | 1500×1500 | native: native 1500x1500 |
| coverartarchive | 1400×1400 | upscaled |
| deezer | 1200×1200 | upscaled |
| fanarttv | 1000×1000 | upscaled |