Purgatory (song)

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"Purgatory"
"Purgatory" cover
Single by Iron Maiden
from the album Killers
Released June 15, 1981
Format vinyl record (7")
Recorded 1980
Genre Heavy metal
Length 3:20
Writer(s) Steve Harris
Iron Maiden singles chronology
"Twilight Zone"
(1981)
"Purgatory"
(1981)
"Run to the Hills"
(1982)

"Purgatory" is Iron Maiden's fifth single and second single from the Killers album. This song is a remake of a very early Iron Maiden song originally called "Floating" which they used to play live during 1976 to 1977. According to current drummer Nicko McBrain, "Purgatory" is a faster re-arrangement of the original.

"Purgatory" was one of the band's least successful singles and failed to break into the Top 50 in the UK charts. An interesting fact about this single is that the original cover art was withdrawn. The band had felt that it was too high of caliber for just a single and requested a less complex cover be prepared in its place. The withdrawn cover later resurfaced as The Number of the Beast album. Ironically, "Purgatory" is among the most recognizable and merchandized Iron Maiden art images.

Purgatory is the first of three Maiden single-covers to feature Riggs' depiction of the devil. On the cover of the Run to the Hills single he does battle with Eddie and on the single cover of The Number of the Beast his decapitated head is displayed by Eddie.

[edit] Track listing

  1. "Purgatory" (Steve Harris)
  2. "Genghis Khan" (Harris)

[edit] Credits

Iron Maiden
Bruce Dickinson | Dave Murray | Janick Gers | Adrian Smith | Steve Harris | Nicko McBrain
List of past and present Iron Maiden members
Discography
Studio albums: Iron Maiden | Killers | The Number of the Beast | Piece of Mind | Powerslave | Somewhere in Time | Seventh Son of a Seventh Son | No Prayer for the Dying | Fear of the Dark | The X Factor | Virtual XI | Brave New World | Dance of Death | A Matter of Life and Death
Live albums: Live After Death | A Real Live One | A Real Dead One | Live at Donington | A Real Live Dead One | Rock in Rio | The BBC Archives | Beast Over Hammersmith | Death on the Road
Compilations and box-sets: The First Ten Years | Best of the Beast | Ed Hunter | Edward the Great | Eddie's Archive | Best of the B'Sides | The Essential Iron Maiden
Videos and DVDs: Live at the Rainbow | Video Pieces | Behind the Iron Curtain | Live After Death | 12 Wasted Years | Maiden England | The First Ten Years: The Videos | From There to Eternity | Donington Live 1992 | Raising Hell | Classic Albums: The Number of the Beast | Rock in Rio | Visions of the Beast | The Early Days | Death on the Road
EPs: The Soundhouse Tapes | Live!! +one | Maiden Japan | No More Lies
Singles
"Running Free" | "Sanctuary" | "Women in Uniform" | "Twilight Zone" | "Purgatory" | "Run to the Hills" | "The Number of the Beast" | "Flight of Icarus" | "The Trooper" | "2 Minutes to Midnight" | "Aces High" | "Running Free (live)" | "Run to the Hills (live '85)" | "Wasted Years" | "Stranger in a Strange Land" | "Can I Play with Madness" | "The Evil That Men Do" | "The Clairvoyant (live)" | "Infinite Dreams" | "Holy Smoke" | "Bring Your Daughter...To the Slaughter" | "Be Quick or Be Dead" | "From Here to Eternity" | "Wasting Love" | "Fear of the Dark (live)" | "Hallowed Be Thy Name (live)" | "Man on the Edge" | "Lord of the Flies" | "Virus" | "The Angel and the Gambler" | "Futureal" | "The Wicker Man" | "Out of the Silent Planet" | "Run to the Hills (live '01)" | "Wildest Dreams" | "Rainmaker" | "The Number of the Beast (2005)" | "The Trooper (live)" | "The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg" | "Different World"
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