The Number of the Beast

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Editorial reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review
Times might have changed, now--with the advent of new-metal acts like Korn--but throughout the 1980s, a damning generalisation held true: English heavy metal rocked, while the American variant--with a few notable exceptions--sucked. The difference went beyond aesthetics--the Yanks' avowed penchant for big hair and eyeliner--though that was certainly part of it: British metal was essentially working man's food, loosely descended from biker-meets and Northern pubs; whereas, in the States, it was an outgrowth of stadium-rock, which traditionally subordinated substance to spectacle. Plug-ugly, cartoonishly morbid, Iron Maiden were typical of the local effort: emphasising a driving, no-nonsense approach to the music. And it worked: among metal aficionados, this album ranks as one of the defining moments of the entire genre. Of the eight songs here--including Maiden classics like "Run To The Hills" and the title track--only "Gangland" falls flat, though it's immediately overshadowed by "Hallowed Be Thy Name," acknowledged by many as this band's apotheosis. I--Andrew McGuire/i

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Customer reviews

review by: date: 2009-05-03 rating:
Iron Maiden and Punk
Well I am old enough to have seen Iron Maiden in Mansfield in around 1975 or 1976 before the release of the first album. I also saw them in Derby around the time of Killers. This was at the time of the new wave of british heavy metal, and they were way better than anyone else - as their future career shows. There was no punk influence in those early shows and those who suggest such an influence in the first few albums were maybe not around at the time - to me it is completely absent. Good honest, well played, guitar music - in fact some of the best since the early 70s.

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review by: the loner date: 2009-04-30 rating:
maid to rock
this is one maiden album everyone should have the energy and power explodes from your speakers not for the faint hearted this will blow you away a classic rock albulm up there with the best worth the money for run to the hills and 666 on there own voted best live act at the brits so they havent lost any passion for performing there music which is why they still have a massive fan base iron maiden keep your heavy metal flag flying high

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review by: date: 2008-06-28 rating:
One of the greatest rock albums of all time in an appalingly bad remaster
"The Number Of The Beast" is an absolute classic, a landmark album in music/rock/metal history. And this reissue is an absolute disaster, with the classic cover printed in wrong colors, and the audio victimized by the infamous "loudness war" (Google the expression if you don't know what it means), with the music having been turned into one big mass of distorted noise. I did a full audio analysis of the whole album and just can't understand how the band's label could have let this precious material fall into the hands of inept audio engineers capable of producing something this amateurish. br / br /Add to that the inclusion of track "Total Eclipse" - which was not part of the original vinyl or even the first CD releases - between tracks "Gangland" and "Hallowed Be Thy Name", something that completely breaks the perfect continuity of the album. That track only started to appear in the 1995 reissues in a separate bonus disc. br / br /I wonder if the band had any say in these "enhanced" releases. Avoid this thing and buy an older, non-enhanced and non-remastered CD edition of the album if you want to hear how this masterpiece is really supposed to sound. Shame on EMI for releasing this insult to the band and their fans. br /

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review by: TRUE METAL date: 2008-06-07 rating:
666 THE NUMBER OF THE BEAST HELL AND FIRE THE ONE FOR YOU AND ME
This is a classic metal album. Every metalhead should have this in your collection if you dont treat yourself and go out and buy a copy of this fantastic album. First album with Bruce Dickinson and what a debut for Dickinson. From the awesome Intro Of Invaders To the classic Hallowed Be Thy Name this has all killer written all over and no filler. Filled with great solos/riffs fantastic drumming and amazing vocals by Dickinson. Iron Maiden were the second metal band i got into there amazing i dont how anyone can hate them. They are so talented. This is reall music if you're into Nu-metal burn your nu-metal collection and start a new collection of proper metal and by doing first buy this wonderful masterpiece. UP THE IRONS!!!!!!!!!!


review by: date: 2008-04-16 rating:
Generally strong
This song features a number of strong songs - Children of the Damned, The Prisoner, Number of the Beast, Hallowed be thy Name, Run to the Hills and a few fillers such as Invaders, 22 Acacia Avenue, Gangland. In general I think the title track is pretty special, it has a raw energy to it very rarely replicated. Hallowed be thy name is special for the opposite reason, its a complex, long brooding song. br / br /This also introduced Iron Maiden to the true metal scene, before this they were part of the "New Wave of British Heavy Metal" a lot of which was also influenced by punk and also by what was happening in the US (Iggy Pop, MC5 etc). In fact Paul Dianno their first singer really had more in common with a non-metal scene. For those interested in checking out other early Bruce Dickinson, you might want to try to get a copy of some Sampson, although most of it is pretty crap (from memory there is a song called "Hard Times" and another song called "Vice Versa" which were ok).

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