Listening or reading a Bruce Dickinson interview is always entertaining because he always has something fun to share. This time around, The Iron Maiden vocalist sat down with the IrishTimes and was asked about the first two Maiden records, where he then expressed how the debut album sounded like shit:
“[Bruce’s first studio appearance with the band, 1982’s] ‘The Number of the Beast’ was the album that really launched the band properly on the world stage. The first two albums were very good, very successful.
“‘Killers,’ in particular, is a favorite of mine. The sound on that album really was the sound that should have been on the first Iron Maiden album.
“In fact, Martin Birch, who produced the ‘Killers’ album, Steve Harris wanted to use him for the first album, but they didn’t approach him because they thought he wouldn’t be interested.
“Steve has always regretted the production on the very first album. It is not up to the quality of ‘Killers.’
“Ironically people thought Iron Maiden was a bit of a punk band because it (the debut album) sounds shit. [Laughs]
“When ‘Killers’ came out, people thought Iron Maiden had come across all smooth and refined.
“We were never supposed to be a punk band. Steve hated punk. I didn’t hate punk, but, at the same time, it never did a great deal for me. I always thought it was strictly limited by their alleged lack of music ambition.”
Personally, I don’t think the album sounds that bad. It’s pretty typical for a band to have their debut album not sound perfect, especially back then. Luckily, the production/sound really improved on Killers.
You can check out the rest of the interview here.
[via Ultimate-Guitar]
