Ride the Review: The Number of the Beast - Iron Maiden
Ride the Review:
The Number of the Beast - Iron Maiden
Stats:
Band: Iron Maiden
Album: The Number of the Beast
Year: 1982
Performance: Number 1 in UK, In the Top 10 in Australia, Austria, Finland and Sweden
Units Sold: 14,000,000
Track Listing:
Invaders
Children of the Damned
The Prisoner
22 Acacia Avenue
The Number of the Beast
Run to the Hills
Gangland
Hallowed Be Thy Name
Summary
As Paul Di'Anno left the fray, in came Bruce Dickinson to join Iron Maiden as vocalist. Which is one of the best decisions they ever made to pick Dickinson. And the album they miraculously managed to write and record only one year after the last one with Paul, perfectly showcases why Bruce is by far the best vocalist to have been in Iron Maiden. This album blew the band up bigger than any other album and caused so many more people to take notice to this great group. The band took notes from Killers and Iron Maiden, the two prior albums, and put more and more focus on writing songs that had more memorable and energetic riffs and choruses that stayed in listener's minds. The first two albums were great, but they lacked the higher range of Bruck Dickinson, meaning that the singing didn't stick out as much, thus, less people remembering the songs. But with the two successful singles that released from this album, "Run to the Hills" and "Number of the Beast", both have choruses you can sing along to, and have some more lighter vibes to the riffs and song structures. This album is full to the brim with amazing songs and I love the first two albums, but this album is just much more monumental. So, let's start at the beginning.
1. Invaders
The frantic and hectic opener immediately shows the listener that they have more energy and are more tight than the previous album. This song has really memorable riffs especially the main riff just after the intro of the song. This is actually the very first Iron Maiden song I ever heard when I ordered this CD from the library for the first time, I was heavily surprised by the rush of the intro and hearing the ascending bass line in the intro instantly captured and held my attention for the whole song. Right when Bruce Dickinson enters the arena with the first verse, you can tell how superior Bruce is. Paul is awesome for the raw first two albums and he's a cool singer for what he is. But Bruce has a soaring range, some amazing melodies and just has a better sound for the band. The chorus has a really cool guitar and bass riff that blends really well with Bruce's singing. This song is probably one of the fastest on the album and does an amazing job at opening up this glorious record and perfectly shows the band is on the right track once again.
2. Children of the Damned
Immediately after this amazing opening track, the band surprisingly decides to slow it way down to a ballad type song. This song starts with some beautiful clean guitar and has some great singing from Bruce on the verses, which leads into an amazing chorus with Bruce wailing the words of the title of the song with a really great transitional guitar part. I wouldn't call this song a filler at all, but it mostly keeps the same pace. Except in the latter half where it takes on a classic Maiden lead harmony line followed by some amazing solos with a cool progression in the background. I especially like Steve Harris' lines in the background of the clean guitars in the soft parts. This song has a very epic last minute of great closing of the track which goes just perfectly into the speaking part of the third track...
3. The Prisoner
This song's intro talking part is somewhat entertaining but a little bit of a throwaway part because there is already a speaking intro in the song "The Number of the Beast". But it is still cool. But the song really hits its stride in the awesome drum intro. Probably one of my favorite drum intros in metal. I love the song's main verse riff. It is badass and has amazing feel, especially under Bruce's fantastic singing on the verses. He is aggressive and fits amazingly in the song. The chorus is super super catchy and you can sing along to it easily. The solo section takes a very different tone with this song and has quite a change of tempo but has a very distant epic feel. I love the subject matter and I really like it being in the perspective of the prisoner feeling trapped in his own life. Overall, this is probably my favorite song on this album SO FAR and it is a straight up amazing song.
4. 22 Acacia Avenue
The song's vibe in the intro reminds me a bit of "2 Minutes To Midnight" from Powerslave but feels even more awing. The riff is super exciting and has an amazing buildup straight into the second half of the first verse. Bruce's singing is great and has powerful feeling. Steve has some great bass licks in the second halves of the verses as well. After the first verse, I think they should have kept the fast tempo right through what is the slow part of the second verse. I think it could have kept the consistent energy to it. And after the second verse, we are treated to this amazing and quite proggy riff that throws you off but keeps it pretty epic to hear. I feel this proggy riff kind of leads to what would be the much more progressive album Piece of Mind, from the following year. The actual chorus is pretty catchy but I feel like it comes in a bit too late into the song. But it is pretty good for what it's worth. This song has an epic bridge with some great intensity. Then it instantly mellows down and goes into an eerie instrumental section with some bluesy soloing and a pretty cool riff going along under it. Overall, this song is a pretty great follow up to "The Prisoner" and now we are onto Side B!
5. The Number of the Beast
Here we are at the second single from this album. This instantly starts up with a fantastic opening riff with some amazing singing from Bruce. And when it comes to the phenomenal scream by Bruce Dickinson, you know that it's all about to go down. The first verse is upbeat, awing and catchy. The aggressive vocals, the speedy guitars and drums, and the great bass tone turns it into a huge, overwhelming and badass song. The chorus, you can sing along to. I really love the slight little melodies Bruce throws into his singing. It makes it a lot more intricate and appealing. The guitar solos, are really cool, while I think they could have chosen a better riff to go under, and maybe have better solos to go on top of the riff, it does its job. Though they're not my favorite guitar solos off this album. But still, this song is a masterpiece and is in my top 3 off this album for sure.
6. Run to the Hills
This song is easily one of the most overrated songs this band has written. It's not bad of course, but still, it is a bit too repetitive and doesn't mix in some nice intricacies like they do in "Number of the Beast" and "22 Acacia Avenue". So it feels a bit bland by the last chorus. Though, this song's chorus is catchy, it is stale after a while of listening to it. I actually prefer the verses, they have the same aggressive type of feel like the verses on the title track. Just a bit less inspired. Bruce sounds great on this song though, and does a great job. Especially on the lyrics. They're very descriptive and intriguing. I do love the guitar solo on it. It feels very melodic and has great tone. The chorus is probably the most annoying part of this song, but it does its job and I can see why it is the most popular song off this album commercially. Still a great song, but it kind of feels like "Paranoid" by Black Sabbath form their album Paranoid. They wrote it because they needed one last song for the album and it blew up and was their biggest hit. This song is very similar. But it has good qualities and in no way skippable, at least.
7. Gangland
And here is the least popular of the track listing. Everybody constantly HATES on this song and I actually quite like it. The drum intro is pretty awesome and brings a fast paced vibe onto it which feels a bit abrupt. And the riffs are a bit more stale than all the others. But that chorus, is just so catchy and I like the subject matter of it all. I think the song is kind of filler, but still very enjoyable filler at least. This song is just solid overall, just a bit forgettable and not too innovative.
8. Hallowed Be Thy Name
Here we are at the masterpiece of this album. This song is amazing the entire way through. It starts with bells in an eerie manner with a nice clean guitar riff. Bruce's singing is really nice and spooky. This song is a pretty cool song for Halloween listening. After the cool soft first minute, it goes into a nice transitional part with some amazing riffs. But after the amazing riff showcase, my favorite part is when the epic singing starts with the guitars and drums coming in every couple seconds. It's loud, epic and has a great buildup. It continues on with a really cool groove with Clive Burr's great drumming. I absolutely love the harmonies going on in the middle of the song with the sick riff. The overall vibe of this song is like climbing a huge mountain, overtime getting higher and more energetic. This song exemplifies that and then some, because the constant flow of this song is smooth and full of complicated moments. It then goes into a fast and catchy section with some awesome guitar solos. This is definitely high up there in the solo department. The song doesn't let up, it keeps going with the fast pace with some licks. Then it has amazing harmonies once again. The last minute is Bruce singing no words, but really nice notes on top of the beautiful guitar riffs they play. This song is the perfect possible song as a closer for this album. It has a big buildup, starting with a calm and eerie beginning into this epic and bombastic ending. This is probably one of the best Iron Maiden songs and definitely in the top 3 best songs on this album. What an amazing way to finish off an record.
Production
Now, this album's production. While it isn't necessarily heavy, I still think it gets the job done. The vocals sound right at home and it is obviously in center stage. You can hear it perfectly well above everything else. Now guitar wise, the rhythm guitars could've used a bit more grit and possibly a bit more distortion. I think they should have made it sound a bit less like the first two records, and add more depth to them. But they sound pretty good, just a bit more mellow. The bass though, really shines through. It is super loud in the mix and the songs would sound god awful without the bass. Like any Iron Maiden song, of course. The bass really fills the void within the held back guitar sound. And now, to the drums. Which sound incredible. Clive Burr sounds really good on here. The drums are very intelligible in the mix. This production is just so good and everything is really present. Martin Birch, who sadly passed away this year, is an iconic producer who has worked on countless amazing albums, including this. Martin Birch did a superb job at making everybody audible. And the production of this album holds up very well. It sounds really fresh, even now!
Iron Maiden in the studio with producer Martin Birch
Performances
These performances on these songs are incredible. Let's start of course, with Bruce Dickinson's vocals.
Bruce's first album with this band is nothing short of immaculate. Even just on the first song, Bruce showcases his great ability to add melody and depth to the vocals to make them stand out on top of the guitars. I know I am comparing The Number of the Beast to the first two albums a lot, but I find it astounding how much they changed in the preparation of this album. Bruce sounds amazing and is such a great singer. Next, onto the drums!
Unfortunately, this is the last album to feature the excellent drummer, Clive Burr. His performances are spectacular especially on songs like "Invaders", "The Prisoner" and "Run to the Hills". I really love his drum fills perfectly accenting the guitar licks that lay in between the steady grooves. His drum sound on this album is very crisp and very steady. I wish he did a lot more stuff after this album but still, he is very influential. He inspired many metal musicians like Slayer's Dave Lombardo, Anthrax's Charlie Benante and former Death drummers Chris Reifert, and Richard Christy. So I really love his style and overall he was a great fit for Iron Maiden for the time he had with them. Next up, the spectacular guitar work.
The performances from the glorious Dave Murray and Adrian Smith, are legendary. First, the awesome rhythm work. They are crisp, they are full and they're just really tight with all the intricate rhythms and tempos. But mainly, the soloing is great. They have absolutely amazing lead guitar tones and they are very fluid. The solos have great harmonies, blistering speeds, and really bluesy and powerful notations. This album has a lot of amazing harmonies that are really one of the trademarks of the Iron Maiden class. These are some of the best guitarists to be in rock and metal, and they play flawlessly on here. Next up, the bass.
The bass playing is like on every Iron Maiden album, godly. The bass tone is smooth, loud and really technical. I love the licks and riffs he adds under the guitar to make all the songs more technical. He has an amazing finger style. His performances on songs like "Invaders", "The Number of the Beast" and "Hallowed Be Thy Name" are intricate, tight and really amazingly written. Steve Harris is a bass god and in the top 5 best metal bassists of all time, hands down. I love his work on this album a lot.
Iron Maiden live in 1982
Verdict
This album is certainly one of the most monumental metal albums. While I'm not sure if it is my favorite Iron Maiden album, it is definitely high up there. This album's track listing is filled to the brim with amazing songs and hits, and it was a humongous success for a band and I'm happy they got an enormous amount of sales from it. Every single song on this glorious record is a memorable heavy metal masterpiece. My top 3 favorite songs overall are "Hallowed Be Thy Name", "The Number of the Beast" and "The Prisoner" but I genuinely love every single song on it. "Invaders" is a fast shred fest with great riffs. "Children of the Damned" is a nice somber song with great vocals. "The Prisoner" has awesome drumming with a cool chorus. "22 Acacia Avenue" is a super catchy epic. "The Number of the Beast" has amazing vocals and a great bass line. "Run to the Hills" is a catchy and aggressive, fast paced song. "Gangland" is a catchy and more light hearted track. And of course, "Hallowed Be Thy Name" is a fantastic song, with amazing performances with every single member. This album has nostalgic feelings, powerful writing, and fantastic performances from everybody. Frankly, this is definitely the best album from 1982 and has tons and tons of memorable riffs, choruses and solos all around. This is just phenomenal.
So, Iron Maiden's The Number of the Beast, I will rate you...
10/10
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