March 22, 1982 - The Number Of The Beast

Just four days since my last release and a year after "Killers", Iron Maiden released their third album "The Number Of The Beast" on March 22, 1982. After their tour for "Killers" main songwriter Steve Harris feared that singer Paul Di'Anno would not be able to handle some of the songs he wanted to make and he was let go from the band. He was replaced by former Samson vocalist Bruce Dickinson and I am a huge fan of this move. I too thought that Di'Anno's vocals were limited and I'm happy to see the band move on to a new lead singer.  Let's check out some brand new Iron Maiden!

The album begins with "Invaders" and Harris plays some pretty sweet bass in the opening before the band settles into a nice fast-paced riff led by some solid guitar (once again, I'm not sure which guitarist is playing what, but both Dave Murray and Adrian Smith contribute lots of great stuff). Dickinson comes in for the first time and his voice sounds much cleaner and crisper than previous singer Di'Anno. He likes to hold his notes and goes pretty high at times and has a pretty epic voice that I think does a great job at leading the verse. They move nicely into the chorus where we hear a new guitar part that sounds pretty cool as Dickinson sings the name of the song in quite a high vocal range. After another headbanging verse and chorus it's guitar solo time and whoever is soloing does a fantastic job shredding his guitar, using the whole fretboard at his disposal. The rhythm guitar riff is nice and heavy as well as this whole part sounds like the good old face melting we've come to expect from these guys. They connect things back for a final verse and chorus before ending it the same way it began with Harris playing some more great bass to finish it out. A nice fast-paced introduction to the album, but things are slowing down with the next song "Children Of The Damned". There's some solid contributions from everyone in this slow main riff as Harris and Clive Burr play a great rhythm section while both guitarists combine for a cool, slow and smooth riff. Dickinson sings some slower vocals that sound pretty epic and I imagine this is one of the songs that Di'Anno would not have been able to sing so smooth and clearly. He sings the name of the song several times for the only chorus lyrics, but he holds each "damned" showing off his wide vocal range while we hear a heavier, slow guitar riff back him. For just singing the name four times in a row, it wasn't a bad chorus! Dickinson adds some more bite to the next verse as he shows some emotion and seems to really get into this slow metal song. After another chorus Burr's drums speed up a great deal and the guitar starts to shift as Dickinson sings a brief bridge that brings us to the guitar solo. The rhythm guitar is faster than the lead guitar at first but once the lead guitar goes off, my god is that some fast guitar playing! This has to be one of their craziest solos yet as there is no let-up between the blinding fast notes and it sounds freaking awesome! This leads into the short bridge riff again before Dickinson sings the name one last time. His final "damned!" is also quite crazy as he holds this high note for a several seconds while the band plays a flourish ending to close out this one. Track 3 is called "The Prisoner" and it's based off a T.V. show from that time with the same name, and it opens with some of the dialogue from the show. We hear an authoritative voice asking questions of a prisoner only referring to him by his number and the prisoner replies "I am not a number, I am a free man!" The other voice laughs deeply and Burr comes in with a nice drum fill that brings us to the actual song. The guitar and bass sync up for a nice stop-and-start riff while Burr continues with some nice drums until the guitars eventually separate. We hear a nice catchy new riff that drives the verse as Dickinson comes in with some nice edgy vocals. When they get to the chorus he switches to a higher, more radio-friendly voice as the solid guitars continue to sound great. They play another verse and chorus before continuing the chorus riff while Dickinson sings some new lyrics this time. After this second chorus one of the guitarists starts a nice fast new riff while the rest of the band forms a pretty sweet backing riff for it. This turns into the guitar solo and it's another really great one that continues the trend of extremely fast solos. The guitarists trade places and we hear another solo from the other one that is equally as awesome, proving no matter which guitarist is on lead, things are in very great hands. The second solo leads right into the chorus again and they continue to jam out the chorus for the final minute of the song in a bit of an uninspiring ending to an otherwise pretty good song. Side one ends with "22 Acacia Avenue" and Dickinson is singing right from the start in a nice low voice overtop an epic stop-and-start opening. This segues into a more standard Maiden main riff with Dickinson singing in his higher epic voice and some fast guitars leading a fast-paced, toe-tapping riff. They don't play a chorus yet as they repeat the same formula with a slower part followed by a standard verse  and a nice drum fill by Burr seamlessly takes things to a new riff. This new verse sounds pretty sweet and has some great guitar and they finally reach a chorus where they slow things down briefly, but then it's right back into this great new riff for another verse. After another chorus they move to a brief bridge with some questionable lyrics ("molest her"?) before they break it down nicely into a slow guitar solo. It's another great transition as Iron Maiden show some progressive abilities, seamlessly switching into a slow and smooth guitar solo. It's pretty slow by Maiden's solo standards but it sounds pretty epic and they do another nice transition of bringing things back to the speedy verse. Instead of a chorus Harris provides a nice bass riff backdrop and both guitarists go off for some more standard, very fast soloing. Murray and Smith both play some great stuff in this closing part and they bring the first side to an end with a bang; a way better way to end a song I find than just jamming the chorus out. Kudos!

The second side begins with the two singles from this album, starting with the title track "The Number Of The Beast". It begins with an epic passage spoken by a very epic voice about the devil unleashing his beast and reminding us that the number is 666. After this monologue an epic guitar riff starts and Dickinson sings in a lower voice that sounds pretty great overtop the sweet guitar. This first verse is just vocals and guitar but we hear the rest of the band join in to form a great main riff and Dickinson switches to his typical higher vocals for the next verse after belting out a really nice, long yell. The full verse sounds pretty catchy and it's hard not to sing along to the chorus as Dickinson sings "6-6-6, the number of the beast". Harris plays some sweet bass in the chorus as well and it leads right back into the main riff for the next verse. After another solid verse and chorus they move to a nice little bridge riff with some more cool guitar and this sets the stage for the guitar solo. One guitarist goes off for a pretty sweet solo but the best part is how the end of his solo becomes the rhythm guitar for the next solo! The other guitarist takes off for his own solo and both of Murray and Smith do an excellent job with their time in the spotlight. Harris plays some more sweet bass that ties things back to the main riff as we hear a final verse and chorus before they end it as they began it with the catchy opening riff. Dickinson sings one last verse and they end things on a nice note to bring this iconic song to a close. The next song "Run To The Hills" was also a single, but it has some very graphic lyrics as Harris wrote this song about the white man's arrival to North America and it's name is a warning to the Natives. The music on the other hand is pretty damn catchy as Burr kicks off the song with a really catchy drumbeat and the guitar and bass sync up for a nice main riff. Dickinson sings the opening verse in his epic voice and after this slow opening they segue nicely into a faster paced new riff as Dickinson explicitly tells us of the awful things that were done to the Natives. This leads into the simple chorus where Dickinson sings only "Run to the hills, run for your life" while Burr continues to play some great drums. It's right on to the next verse and I continue to be shocked that this was played on the radio with lyrics like "raping the women and wasting the men" and "enslaving the young and destroying the old". These are spot on descriptions and although it's brutal subject matter it does make for a great metal song. After another sing-along chorus it's guitar solo time and they do not disappoint, reeling off a really fast solo that sounds pretty awesome. The solo leads nicely into a new building riff with some sweet bass by Harris and Dickinson sings a couple "oh, oh"'s before they bring it back to the chorus. They play the chorus a couple times and Dickinson holds his final "life" for a good 10-plus seconds and goes really high as they end it with a nice rock and roll flourish. Track 7 is called "Gangland" and Burr leads the way at the start once again with another fantastic fast drumbeat. We hear some slow guitar and bass overtop the quick drums on this opening part, but they switch to a more standard Maiden riff for the verse, led by some cool fast guitar. Dickinson sings quickly along to the beat in this fast-paced jam and it leads right into a similarly fast-paced chorus where we hear some more cool guitar. The guitar slows down slightly in the chorus, but the drums continue to be very fast as they blend right back into the verse. They move into a new bridge riff where Dickinson holds some long notes before finally reverting back to the chorus. They segue nicely into a really great backing riff that actually has some pretty sweet guitar, but there's also a guitar solo to come overtop! The lead guitar sounds pretty good, but I actually think the rhythm part is even more impressive; it's a great mix of different, awesome guitars! They return to the speedy main riff for a final verse and chorus and Dickinson ends the song with a very high-pitched final "tell no tales!" The final song on the album "Hallowed Be Thy Name" is also the longest at over seven minutes and it opens with some epic slow guitar and the ringing of bells. Dickinson sings in his nice lower voice and nicely tells a tale of a man waiting to be hung at the gallows. Bruce really delivers the lines well as he brings Harris's lyrics to life in this epic opening. They show their progressiveness on this long song early with a nice slow segue into a new riff as we hear some awesome guitar leading the way. It stops suddenly and Dickinson returns to sing a new stop-and-start verse where there is no music during his vocals, but some epic notes inbetween them. It's a pretty great main riff and the awesome guitar resumes after the verse as they once again segue really nicely into a new riff. This part also seamlessly leads back into this great new verse as they are in total control, connecting all these parts together wonderfully. Burr slows things down a bit with some epic drum fills and they transition nicely again, this time into a speedy new backing riff that sets the stage for the solo. Words don't properly do justice; I've said throughout this post that we hear an awesome guitar solo, but this one is really something else. I think it's the best solo on the whole album as we hear some excellent face-melting stuff in this extended solo. After the solo they move to a new riff that is also pretty damn fast and impressive, but they seem to play it like it's nothing to them as all these fast notes just flow perfectly. Burr once again plays some slow epic drum fills and Dickinson sings the name of the song a few times in epic fashion before they tie up this album with a neat little bow and end the song on a great epic note. A fantastic way to end another great Maiden album!

That is the end of "The Number Of The Beast" and I thought it was a fantastic album. Bruce Dickinson is a big improvement on lead vocals and the rest of the band continue to play some the best music of the decade so far with lots of great guitars, drums and bass throughout the album. The second side was especially awesome with the final track being my favourite amongst several good options. I think this easily surpasses both of their first two albums and I can't wait to see where Iron Maiden go from here!