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Iron Maiden- The Number of the Beast

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MetalMaiden

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The Number of the Beast, on a personal note, is my favorite Iron Maiden album. From Invaders to Hallowed Be Thy Name, this album manages to provide us with 44 minutes and 47 seconds of pure heavy metal. This album was not only a success for the band, but the debut of the legendary vocalist Bruce Dickinson, who still sings for the band to this day. The album was also included in the list of '101 Albums that you Must Hear Before you Die', because it is indeed, an album that everyone must hear before they die. The Number of the Beast is a metal masterpiece that every headbanger must own. Track List: 1.) Invaders 2.) Children of the Damned 3.) The Prisoner 4.) 22 Acacia Avenue 5.) The Number of the Beast 6.) Run to the Hills 7.) Gangland 8.) Total Eclipse 9.) Hallowed Be Thy Name Why It's Great: Where to start, where to start... there are many different reasons why this album stands out in Iron Maiden's discography. Each song on the album has a unique yet familiar composition that really gets stuck in your head. The music, in all aspects, is beautiful and well-written. The rhythm guitar is able to keep a strong rhythm during all of the songs, particularly in Run to the Hills, The Prisoner, and 22 Acacia Avenue. The same applies to the lead guitar, which offers the magnificent solos that we all expect in an Iron Maiden song. The Number of the Beast and Hallowed Be Thy Name, which are two of the most famous Iron Maiden songs, owe a large amount of their popularity to the wicked guitar solos that make the songs powerful. Another important aspect of every Iron Maiden song- and any kind of metal song in general- are the drums. The Number of the Beast has an excellent drum beat that is loud and proud in each song. While the guitars are usually the most important element in most metal songs, Iron Maiden manages to take advantage of the percussion and bass in a way that will have you following their rhythms instead of the guitar. The drums are able to help set the solemn mood of Children of the Damned, as well as the quick-paced and violent mood of Gangland. The bass is able to do the same, except it offers unique rhythms and patterns that make it stand out just as well as the guitars. Aside from the musical aspects of the album, The Number of the Beast also has an excellent vocal style and lyrical build. The voice of Bruce Dickinson has an impressive range in high notes that allow each song he sings to sound powerful and epic. The lyrics in this album are themed around several different topics. Invaders and Run to the Hills both have an exciting theme based on battles, while Children of the Damned, Hollowed Be Thy Name, and 22 Acacia Avenue have more solemn and serious themes. If you haven't heard this entire album, then I seriously recommend that you do. There is at least one song in this album that every metalhead can enjoy, even if they are not fans of Iron Maiden. Each track has a truly great and traditional heavy metal sound that you can really bang your head to. While some people may say that Iron Maiden worships Satan because of this album, I say that Satan worships Iron Maiden. This album is spectacular in every way, and it should be owned by every true metalhead and Iron Maiden fan. Overall Rating: A perfect 10/10. Music: 5/5 Lyrics: 5/5

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RelentlessOblivion Grand Master

RelentlessOblivion

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Re: The Number of the Beast - Iron Maiden (1982) no doubt it's a great album but there are three songs in particular I can't bear to hear anymore: the title track Number Of The Beast, Run To The Hills and Hallowed Be Thy Name, those three songs are so overplayed it's just about ruined the entire album for me, this was one of the first metal albums I ever bought (some eight years ago when I first became interested in metal) and back then I loved every song, now however I don't, I can still listen to Hallowed Be Thy Name aparingly, and the title track on very rare occasions, but I NEVER, EVER, want to hear Run To The Hills again so long as I live, however Invaders, Children Of The Damned, The Prisoner, 22 Acacia Avenue, Total Eclipse and Gangland are still enjoyable for me, in a way it's almost a shame that Maiden are so successful, if they weren't those three songs wouldn't be so overplayed and as a result I could continue listening to and enjoying their full body of work, as it stands now the frequency with which their better songs are played has taken all the enjoyment I used to get out of them

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The Strategos Newbie

The Strategos

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Re: The Number of the Beast - Iron Maiden (1982) Meh, strangely it's really not my favourite album. I thought that the previous two had much more direction to them and that, apart from Number of the Beast and Run for the Hills they are a bit sort of "erm, we need to write a metal song, oh that'll do" especially the rather limp chorus of Invaders. But hey, that's just IMHO, and I can see that there is a lot of love for this album! :D

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Tony Luckman Newbie

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Although I always prefered Iron Maiden with DiAnno on vocals (largely I think, because that's where I came in and also saw them on the Killers tour), the Number Of The Beast, was, is and will remain one of the all time great rock albums. A lot of people dissed Dickinson just for 'not being DiAnno', which is daft. The guy has an awesome powerhouse of a voice with at least a 5 octave range. I bought the LP when it came out and it got played most days. It was also the album that sent the band stratospheric and deservedly so. The scream on the title track is still jaw-dropping and the album is still fresh 30 years later.

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Baalseth Newbie

Baalseth

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Great review!. This is my fav Iron Maiden album. I don't have the same edition reviewed, but that special one that they released by 95 in double picture CDs. The first cd featured the 8 standard songs (although I would had let out 'Gangland') and the second one had two more tracks: "Total Eclipse" and "Remember Tomorrow" (live! & sung by Bruce Dickinson). I love to play "Children of the Damned", "Prisoner" and "Hallowed Be Thy Name" with the guitar.

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salmonellapancake Newbie

salmonellapancake

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     It's hard to believe that Iron Maiden could put out an even better effort than "Iron Maiden" and "Killers", but they did that and much more with "The Number of the Beast", creating a classic album which would be praised for years to come. 

     With their first two albums, Iron Maiden developed a sound that took over the world of heavy metal, but, to make matters worse for competitors, they further developed and mastered their sound with this album. They kept mostly the same group from their previous album, but they did replace Paul D'ianno with Bruce Dickinson, a much more operatic singer with (in my opinion) a better vocal range than his predecessor. Little did they know, but Bruce would become the distinct voice of Iron Maiden for the rest of their career, and this album would be a major help in that process. 

     Iron Maiden's heavy, harmonious guitars were ever-present throughout this album, playing as technically advanced as ever before. Steve Harris's galloping, forceful bass was also a major component of this record, showing his ability as a profound musician. Clive Burr's drumming was improved and as complex as ever. And, finally, the addition of Bruce Dickinson's singing made the biggest band in heavy metal at the time that much more powerful, giving an impressive amount of dynamics to each song. 

     To add on to the impressive list of attributes of this album, it also possessed some of the first songs that would expose Iron Maiden as quite the history buffs, including "Invaders", which spoke of Vikings, and "Run to the Hills", which likely spoke of the genocidal acts of violence against Native Americans. Even more, tracks like "Prisoner", "The Number of the Beast", "Gangland", and "Hallowed be thy Name" showed that Iron Maiden were not afraid to write about death, morbid visions, and even Satan, himself, pushing the boundaries in terms of subject matter for metal and causing much controversy.

     Perhaps what is most important about this album is the vast improvement in their song structure and complexity, as opposed to their first two albums. One can easily see this in songs like "22 Acacia Avenue", a heavy and lengthy piece which continues the saga of 'Charlotte the Harlot', and "Hallowed be thy Name", a thrilling tale of a man who is to be executed. 

     To sum up, I would call this a mandatory album for anyone with an interest in metal of any kind. It will change the way you think of music, as a whole.

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Requiem Newbie

Requiem

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In many ways I wish I was a teenager in the early 80s to really experience the rise of Iron Maiden and metal in general into a more commercial context. Imagine being there at the birth of 'The Number of the Beast' and all the thrash bands. It would have been amazing. 

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Requiem

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On 25/12/2016 at 7:13 AM, Weyland said:

One of the best Maiden's album with Bruce, but i don't like Gangland.

Is it just me or do all their early albums have at least two songs of filler? 'Back in the Village' is the one that stands out on 'Powerslave'. It's one of the greatest albums of all time but 'Back in the Village' has the worst, force-fed chorus, you'll ever hear. 

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Ecthelion Newbie

Ecthelion

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If I'm being entirely honest, I've always thought that Number of the Beast is kind of overrated in comparison to the albums that both precede and succeed it during the '80s. It just feels like it doesn't pick up until 22 Acacia Avenue and then Run to the Hills, dips into one of the worst Maiden tracks ever (Gangland) and then finishes with Hallowed Be Thy Name (one of the best Maiden tracks ever). I mean, 3 excellent tracks, a ton of filler (Children of the Damned, The Prisoner, Invaders, and the title track which just plods along) and the worst Maiden track ever doesn't scream "classic". If anything, that belongs to Di'Anno's albums and every album Bruce recorded with Maiden up until Somewhere in Time. 

Piece of Mind, on the other hand, was tight, better-written, and an overall better album experience. 

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