IRON MAIDEN: The Number of the Beast

Produced by Martin Birch

Released: 1982

When Iron Maiden began work on The Number of the Beast they were on the verge of greatness. Two albums into their recording career and they were about as big as they could possibly get in their home market. A worldwide audience awaited and all Maiden needed was the album to give them. Killers was a fine album in its own right yet it lacked a true commercial appeal. Iron Maiden could have made more albums like it and still been a big band, but they had both the ambition and the talent to not only be big: they wanted to be huge. The Number of the Beast smashed onto the charts not only on both sides of the Atlantic, but everywhere, catapulting them from an emerging talent to global heavy metal superstars, and deservedly so. Maiden went on to make arguably better albums, but this one is still regarded as their certifiable classic.

The teaming of Iron Maiden with Bruce Dickinson was a stroke of genius on a number of levels and on The Number of the Beast it finally gave the band the heroic sound they had been aiming for. His soaring vocal style was a perfect fit with the band's killer twin guitar pairing and Steve Harris' penchant for epic songwriting. It's unlikely that "Hallowed be Thy Name" would have become the immortal and almost insurmountable classic that it is with anyone else singing it. One of the greatest metal songs of all time, "Hallowed be Thy Name" towers over the balance of the album like a colossus and while it remains to this day the best song Iron Maiden has ever written, The Number of the Beast is by no means bereft of great songs. "Run to the Hills" is almost gloriously over-the-top, three and a half minutes of screaming, galloping metal mayhem. "22 Acacia Avenue" contains perhaps Adrian Smith's all-time greatest lead break. "Children of the Damned" is uncharacteristically menacing and "Invaders" is pure speed metal with both owing something of a debt to early Judas Priest. "The Prisoner" and the oft-maligned "Gangland" stand out as most obviously the weakest cuts on the album. Much discussion has ensued between Maiden fans over the decades as to whether the latter should have been left off in favour of "Total Eclipse", a song recorded during the album sessions that was used as the B-side to the "Run to the Hills" single (the remastered CD version of this album now includes this track). In retrospect "Gangland" isn't really as bad as it's painted and if they weren't overshadowed by so many other great songs, both these tracks would be highlights too.

The Number of the Beast started a dynasty for Iron Maiden that would last for the rest of the decade and established a legacy that continues to this day. Without this album, heavy metal may never have attained the worldwide popularity it still enjoys 26 years later.

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. Hallowed be Thy Name

Rating: 96%