"Twilight Zone" is the fourth single by Iron Maiden, released on 2 March 1981 and is the lead single to the 1981 LP '' Killers''. The song did not appear in the original album in February, but was included in the U.S. release in June and the international 1998 remaster. At the time of its release, it was the band's second-most successful single, peaking at No. 31 in the UK Singles Chart. It is the band's first single to feature guitarist Adrian Smith. In the 1990 box set, ''

The First Ten Years The First Ten Years may refer to: *'' The Singles: The First Ten Years'', a 1982 album by ABBA * ''The First Ten Years'' (Joan Baez album) *'' The Best of Elvis Costello: The First 10 Years'' * ''The First Ten Years'' (Iron Maiden album) **'' The F ...

'', it is on the same CD and 12" vinyl as the previous single, " Women in Uniform".

History

"Twilight Zone" was a non-album single in the UK, but it did appear on the US and Canadian versions of the ''Killers'' album and as a bonus track on the Japanese version, although mistakenly entitled "Details of Twilight Zone". This came about because the band also sent a telex explaining the song to their Japanese colleagues, headlined "Details of Twilight Zone", which they mistook to be the name of the song itself. It was released a month after the album, in the middle of the band's

UK tour The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. The song was originally intended to be the B-side of Wrathchild, but the band felt it was so strong that it deserved to be the A-side instead. The single's other song, "Wrathchild", was also given 'A-side' status because, according to

Steve Harris Steve Harris may refer to: * Steve Harris (musician) (born 1956), founder member and bassist of the band Iron Maiden * Steve Harris (actor) (born 1965), American film and TV actor * Steve Harris (basketball) (1963–2016), American basketball playe ...

, "we had a live version of us doing 'Wrathchild' at the Rainbow, before Christmas, on video that we could use. We couldn't afford to pay for another video for 'Twilight Zone', so we did a double A-side, because we knew we were gonna be off touring a lot and, if by any chance they wanted us on '' Top of the Pops'' again, at least we'd got a video for 'Wrathchild' we could give them." Like their two previous single covers, the artwork for "Twilight Zone" was subject to criticism in the press, where it was interpreted as "gratuitous sexism." The media were offended by what appeared to be the band's mascot, Eddie, spying on a young girl in her bedroom. Garry Bushell points out that the critics were mistaken, as the song lyrics and picture on the girl's dressing table insinuate that Eddie is dead and contacting his lover ("Charlotte") from beyond the grave, thus making it the band's first love song. Derek Riggs painted the cover over the course of a weekend, on a CS-10 drawing board, on which he had difficulty painting; the girl was modeled after a friend of his. In an interview with eonmusic in 2020, Adrian Smith said that the song had been recorded "very quickly", stating that the tempo made the track "almost on the edge of being unplayable". Although uncredited as a writer, Smith also revealed that he had written the song's distinctive harmony section.

Track listing

;7" single

Personnel

Production credits are adapted from the 7 inch vinyl cover.

Iron Maiden

* Paul Di'Anno –

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

* Dave Murray – guitar * Adrian Smith – guitar *

– bass guitar *

Clive Burr Clive Ronald Burr (8 March 1957 – 13 March 2013) was an English drummer. He was a member of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden from 1979 to 1982. Career Previously a member of Samson, Burr joined Iron Maiden in 1979. Auditioning and joining ...

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

Production

* Iron Maiden –

producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

* Nigel Hewitt – engineer * Derek Riggs – cover illustration

Charts

Twilight Zone

Women in Uniform/Twilight Zone

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Twilight Zone (Iron Maiden Song) 1981 singles 1981 songs Iron Maiden songs Songs written by Dave Murray (musician) Songs written by Steve Harris (musician)