Melissa is the debut studio album by Danish heavy metal band Mercyful Fate, released in October 1983 through Roadrunner Records.

This was also the first Mercyful Fate effort to get an official release in the United States through Megaforce Records, as the self-titled EP was a highly sought after import, and the BBC sessions were only available on bootleg tapes.

The album also contains "Satan's Fall" which, as Michael Denner recalls, took ages to learn and elicited an eerie feeling the few times he heard it.

On 21 January, they performed in Amsterdam, at The Paradiso Theatre,[10] where the skull of Melissa was stolen from the altar on stage by a fan due to very incompetent local security.

[10] That first and only show took place at St. Albans City Hall in Hertfordshire, where the main act crew did not leave Mercyful Fate time for a sound check or to properly set up their equipment.

Manowar refused to comply with Mercyful Fate and Roadrunner's request for better treatment, which forced the band to leave the tour with great financial loss to themselves, not to mention disappointment of their British fans.

[10] Beside Mercyful Fate, the bill also featured Motörhead, Twisted Sister, Metallica, Barón Rojo, Lita Ford, H-Bomb and Faithful Breath.

[12] All lyrics are written by King Diamond; all music is composed by Hank ShermannLive at Dynamo, Eindhoven, Holland 1983 Mercyful Fate Additional performers Production 2005 reissue