"Holy Smoke" is a song by English heavy metal band Iron Maiden. It is the first single release to feature guitarist Janick Gers, who joined the band in mid-1990. It was released just weeks before the album, No Prayer for the Dying, and climbed to number three on the UK Singles Chart.
| "Holy Smoke" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Iron Maiden | ||||
| from the album No Prayer for the Dying | ||||
| B-side |
| |||
| Released | 10 September 1990[1] | |||
| Recorded | 1990 | |||
| Genre | Heavy metal | |||
| Length | 3:47[2] | |||
| Label | EMI | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Steve Harris, Bruce Dickinson | |||
| Producer(s) | Martin Birch | |||
| Iron Maiden singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Synopsis
editThe song deals with the many televangelist scandals that took place in the United States in the late 1980s, including mentions of "Jimmy the Reptile" (a reference to Jimmy Swaggart), "The TV Queen" (a possible reference to Tammy Faye Bakker), Noah, and "plenty of bad preachers for the Devil to stoke." Contrary to what some believe, however, this song is not aimed at the Christian religion itself, but rather the people that abuse it to make gains for themselves. This is one of the very few Iron Maiden songs with profanity in the lyrics (for example, "Flies around shit/bees around honey" and "I've lived in filth/I've lived in sin/and I still smell cleaner than the shit you're in"), which is replaced by gunshot sounds in censored versions.
The song is atypical for the band standards, being short and straight. It features a common pop-rock song structure with intro, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, solo, verse and ending with another chorus. The guitar solos are very fiery, making use of artificial harmonics, sweep picking, tapping and wild bends. The first solo is played by Janick Gers, and the second one is played by Dave Murray.
The band took a humorous approach for the video of the song, as the band members are filmed on Steve Harris's farm at Sheering, playing football and driving a tractor, while everything happens in bright daylight. There are similarities with Deep Purple's "Perfect Strangers" video, from 1984, such as writing on an amp behind Janick Gers that reads, "Mind Your Head", possibly a nod to a sign on the bridge shown early in the "Perfect Strangers" video. Michael Kenney, long-time Steve Harris bass technician is repairing Harris bass, Bruce Dickinson is bouncing in a turnip field, dancing randomly and wearing a pink T-shirt, Dave Murray appears playing guitar with his feet in a creek, and Gers plays with a toy guitar in a swimming pool wearing only a pair of white swimming trunks, alternating with him in a goalkeeper kit playing his own guitar. The band's producer, Martin Birch, can also be seen on the video, wearing a kind of sadomasochist costume in some scenes. All this footage is interspersed with scenes of the band rehearsing in the Barnyard recording studio, Steve Harris' daughter Lauren Harris can be seen at the end of the video playing bass with her father. The video was directed by Harris himself.
The B-side has covers of Stray's "All in Your Mind" and Golden Earring's "Kill Me Ce Soir".[3]
Track listing
edit7-inch single
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Holy Smoke" | Bruce Dickinson, Steve Harris | 3:47 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2. | "All in Your Mind" (Stray Cover) | Del Bromham | 4:31 |
12-inch single
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Holy Smoke" | Dickinson, Harris | 3:47 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2. | "All in Your Mind" (Stray Cover) | Bromham | 4:31 |
| 3. | "Kill Me Ce Soir" (Golden Earring cover) | George Kooymans, Barry Hay, John Fenton | 7:03 |
Personnel
editProduction credits are adapted from the 12 inch vinyl cover.[2]
Iron Maiden
- Bruce Dickinson – lead vocals
- Janick Gers – guitar
- Dave Murray – guitar
- Steve Harris – bass guitar
- Nicko McBrain – drums
Production
Versions
edit| Songs | Country & Year | Catalog Number | Format |
|---|---|---|---|
| Holy Smoke / All in Your Mind | Australia 1990 | EMI 2477-7 | Single 7" |
| Holy Smoke / All in Your Mind | France 1990 | EMI 2040287 | Single 7" |
| Holy Smoke / All in Your Mind | Germany 1990 | EMI 006 0 204028 7 | Single 7" |
| Holy Smoke / All in Your Mind | Italy 1990 | EMI 06 20 4028 7 | Single 7" |
| Holy Smoke / All in Your Mind | UK 1990 | EMI EM 153 | Black Labels Single 7" |
| Holy Smoke / All in Your Mind | UK 1990 | EMI EM 153 | Silver Labels Single 7" |
| Holy Smoke / All in Your Mind / Kill me Ce Soir | EEC 1990 (German Label) | EMI 060-20 4028 6 | Maxi Single |
| Holy Smoke / All in Your Mind / Kill me Ce Soir | Italy 1990 | EMI 14 20 4028 6 | Maxi Single |
| Holy Smoke / All in Your Mind / Kill me Ce Soir | UK 1990 | EMI 12 EMP 153 | Maxi Single 12" + Poster 12" |
| Holy Smoke / All in Your Mind / Kill me Ce Soir | UK 1990 | EMI EMP 153 | Picture Disc Single 12" |
| Holy Smoke / All in Your Mind / Kill me Ce Soir | Japan Promo 1990 | EMI TOCP-6449 | CD Single |
| Holy Smoke / All in Your Mind / Kill me Ce Soir | Japan 1990 | EMI TOCP-6449 | CD Single |
| Holy Smoke / All in Your Mind / Kill me Ce Soir | UK 1990 | EMI CDEM 153 | CD Single |
| Holy Smoke | USA Promo 1990 | Epic ESK 2194 | CD Single |
| Holy Smoke / All in Your Mind | Australia 1990 | EMI TC-2477-4 | Cassette Single |
| Holy Smoke / All in your Mind | UK 1990 | EMI TCM 153 | Cassette Single |
Charts
edit| Chart (1990) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA)[4] | 93 |
| Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[5] | 6 |
| Ireland (IRMA)[6] | 4 |
| Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[7] | 29 |
| Netherlands (Single Top 100)[8] | 25 |
| New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[9] | 25 |
| Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[10] | 20 |
| UK Singles (OCC)[11] | 3 |
References
edit- ^ "New Singles". Music Week. 8 September 1990. p. 33.
- ^ a b "Holy Smoke" 12 Inch Single (Media notes). Iron Maiden. EMI. 10 September 1990.
{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - ^ "Holy Smoke". Discogs. Retrieved 7 April 2012.
- ^ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010. Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing.
- ^ "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 7, no. 39. 29 September 1990. p. IV. Retrieved 20 June 2021.
- ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Holy Smoke". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
- ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 42, 1990" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
- ^ "Iron Maiden – Holy Smoke" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
- ^ "Iron Maiden – Holy Smoke". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
- ^ "Iron Maiden – Holy Smoke". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
- ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 29 July 2022.