"Purgatory" is

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris (musician), Steve Harris. Although fluid in the early years of the band, the line-up for most ...

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

Paul Di'Anno Paul Andrews (17 May 1958 – 21 October 2024), better known by his stage name Paul Di'Anno, was an English Heavy metal music, heavy metal singer who was the lead vocalist for Iron Maiden from 1978 to 1981. In his post-Maiden career, Di'Anno ...

. 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, 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, 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 Most notably, the single's original cover artwork was withdrawn for use on the band's next studio album, '' The Number of the Beast''.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 (mascot), Eddie". Career Born in Portsmouth, England, Riggs is a self-taught artist, both in his traditional pai ...

, 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 *

–

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

* Dave Murray –

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

Adrian Smith Adrian Smith may refer to: * Adrian Smith (basketball) (born 1936), American basketball player *Adrian Smith (architect) (born 1944), American architect *Sir Adrian Smith (statistician) (born 1946), English statistician and academic *Adrian Smith (m ...

– guitar * Steve Harris –

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

Clive Burr Clive Ronald Burr (8 March 1956 – 12 March 2013) was an English musician. He was the drummer of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden from 1979 to 1982. Together with fellow Iron Maiden member Dennis Stratton, he joined Praying Mantis for the r ...

–

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

;Production *

Martin Birch Martin Phillip 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 and metal bands, including Deep Purple, Rainbow ...

– 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