"Purgatory" is

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. While fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harri ...

's fifth single, released on 15 June 1981, and would be their last with singer

Paul Di'Anno Paul Andrews (born 17 May 1958), better known by his stage name Paul Di'Anno, is a British/Brazilian heavy metal singer who was the lead vocalist for Iron Maiden from 1978 to 1981. In his post-Maiden career, Di'Anno has issued numerous albu ...

. It served as the second single from '' Killers''. The single was reissued in 1990, on the same CD and 12" vinyl as the EP ''

Maiden Japan ''Maiden Japan'', released as ''Heavy Metal Army'' in Japan, is a live EP by the British heavy metal band Iron Maiden. The title is a pun of Deep Purple's live album '' Made in Japan''. Release There are at least two different versions of ...

'', in the '' First Ten Years'' box set.

History

According to drummer

Nicko McBrain Michael Henry "Nicko" McBrain (born 5 June 1952) is an English musician, best known as the drummer of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden since 1982. Having played in small pub bands since 1966 from the age of 14, McBrain paid his bills after grad ...

, the track is a remake of one of the band's earlier songs, entitled "Floating", of which "Purgatory" is a faster re-arrangement. It was the group's least successful single as it failed to break into the Top 50 in the UK charts, although the group's manager,

Rod Smallwood Roderick Charles Smallwood (born 17 February 1950) is an English music manager, best known as the co-manager of the British heavy metal band Iron Maiden. With his business partner, Andy Taylor, whom he met while studying at Trinity College, C ...

, states that this was because "it wasn't really a single, it was just lifted off the album which the fans already had." Most notably, the single's original cover artwork was withdrawn for use on the band's next studio album, '' The Number of the Beast''. Smallwood recalls that, on being presented with the original cover, "we said, 'No, that's much too good,' so we kept it for the album. We had the artwork months before we had the music." This meant that the band's artist,

Derek Riggs Derek Riggs (born 13 February 1958) is a contemporary British artist best known for creating the band Iron Maiden's mascot, " Eddie". Career Born in Portsmouth, England, Riggs is a self-taught artist, both in his traditional painting and in hi ...

, had to come up with a replacement, this time illustrating the Devil's face rotting away to reveal the band's mascot, Eddie's, face underneath.

Track listing

;7" single

Personnel

Production credits are adapted from the 7 inch vinyl cover. ;Iron Maiden *

– lead vocals * Dave Murray –

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

Adrian Smith Adrian Frederick "H" Smith (born 27 February 1957) is an English guitarist best known as a member of heavy metal band Iron Maiden, for whom he also writes songs and performs backing vocals both live and in the studio. Smith grew up in London ...

– guitar * Steve Harris –

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

* Clive Burr – drums ;Production *

Martin Birch Martin Birch (27 December 19489 August 2020) was a British music producer and sound engineer. He became renowned for engineering and producing albums recorded predominantly by British rock bands, including Deep Purple, Rainbow, Fleetwood Mac, W ...

– producer *

– cover illustration

Charts

Purgatory

Purgatory /
Maiden Japan ''Maiden Japan'', released as ''Heavy Metal Army'' in Japan, is a live EP by the British heavy metal band Iron Maiden. The title is a pun of Deep Purple's live album '' Made in Japan''. Release There are at least two different versions of ...

References

1981 singles Iron Maiden songs Songs written by Steve Harris (musician) 1980 songs {{Metal-song-stub