The Number Of The Beast 22nd March 1982 1. Invaders (Harris) 2. Children Of The Damned (Harris) 3. The Prisoner (Smith, Harris) 4. 22, Acacia Avenue (Harris, Smith) 5. The Number Of The Beast (Harris) 6. Run To The Hills (Harris) 7. Gangland (Smith, Burr) 8. Total Eclipse (Harris, Murray, Burr) 9. Hallowed Be Thy Name (Harris)

With Bruce Dickinson replacing Paul Di'Anno as vocalist, The Number Of The Beast was a huge step upward for Iron Maiden, launching the band into fame and controversy. It began the second phase of Maiden, what could be called the "golden years", spanning five studio albums through the rest of the 1980s. Dark, introspective, and violent themes dominate the album, which incited controversy and unfounded charges of devil worship. There were rumours of strange occurrences during the recording of the album, such as lights turning on and off by themselves, strange noises, and such. Here's what Bruce Dickinson had to say about it during the heavily bootlegged 1982 concert at the Palladium in New York:

It is possible that these rumours might have been merely a publicity ploy... "satanic" was popular in the 80s, just as "gangsta" was popular in the 90s. Many such rumours are embellished and even fabricated by religious bigots, for the purposes of their own propaganda campaigns. However, regardless of whether or not they actually happened, the one thing that isn't a possibility is the actual existence of Satan, who is merely a symbol of evil. Nevertheless, The Number of the Beast is among the very best of Maiden's albums, along with Piece Of Mind and Powerslave, and today remains a heavy metal classic – one of the best and most influential metal albums of all time.

The comments by Steve Harris were taken from an interview with John Stix in July 1983.

Invaders (Harris)

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This fast and energetic track is an excellent opener for the album. It graphically depicts the violence and horror of a defence against a Viking invasion, starting with the sighting of the longboats and culminating in a last bloody stand against the invaders. An evolution from the early song 'Invasion' which appeared on The Soundhouse Tapes EP, 'Invaders''s driving power compensates for a somewhat weak chorus, and begins a tradition in battle songs that will later be followed and improved upon by 'The Trooper' and 'The Duellists'.

On a more historical note, the Vikings were Scandinavian warriors who raided the coasts of Europe and the British Isles from the 9th century to the 11th century. At the beginning of the Viking Age, they were the best shipbuilders and sailors in the world; they later ventured as far as Greenland and North America (recent findings indicate that Eric the Red, a famous Viking chief, discovered America a few centuries before Columbus did). At the height of the Viking Age, the typical Viking warship, the "long ship", had a high prow, adorned with the figure of an animal, and a high stern. It seated up to 30 oarsmen and had an average crew of 90. Its square sails were perpendicularly striped in many colours, and the entire ship was vividly painted and elaborately carved. On both sides of the ship hung a row of painted round shields. This is the most familiar Viking ship; the many other types varied according to purpose and period.

'Invaders' felt like a great rock'n'roll opener. Funny enough we've never played it live. This song was an extension of another song called 'Invasion', which was the B-side of the single Women In Uniform. It's like an invasion of Britain.  Steve Harris

Among the causes that drove the Vikings from their lands were overpopulation, internal dissension, quest for trade, and thirst for adventure. Many local kingdoms came into existence in Scandinavia, and from them stemmed the kingdoms of Norway, Denmark, and Sweden. The Vikings' religion was paganism of the Germanic type; their mythological and heroic legends form the content of Old Norse literature. The Viking Age ended with the introduction of Christianity into Scandinavia, with the emergence of the three great Scandinavian kingdoms, and with the rise of European states capable of defending themselves against further invasions. Many Vikings settled where they had raided. The Scandinavian raiders in Russia were known as Varangians; their leader Rurik founded the first Russian state. Elsewhere, the Vikings came to be known as Danes, Northmen, Norsemen, or Normans.

Children Of The Damned (Harris)

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This dark and compelling track is inspired by the 1963 film of the same name, which is about six children with psychic abilities who are forced to battle for their survival against an inferior human race. The song describes the death of the last of the children, as he steps out to face the humans which are intent on destroying him by burning him at the stake. It is a deep and thought-provoking film, worthy of the song which it inspired.

It's based on the film of the same name. The mood is sort of like 'Remember Tomorrow'.  Steve Harris

The story of the film is that of six children who are born at different locations around the world with amazingly high intelligence and special powers. United Nations scientists have the children moved to London for closer investigation. But while the researchers argue among themselves about the children's fate, the military tries to figure out a way to harness the youngsters' special powers for their own purpose. However, the six children decide to take matters into their own hands, which ultimately leads them to their destruction.

Musically, 'Children Of The Damned' is superb. The slow beat and mix of acoustic and metal guitar creates a mood of sadness and loss, which is perfectly matched by the hauntingly beautiful guitar solo. The description of the child's last moments while burning ("melting his face, screaming in pain, peeling the skin from his eyes") is particularly vivid and will send a shiver down the spine of anyone who has enough imagination to picture what's going on. Bruce once said that he had been heavily influenced by Black Sabbath's 'Children Of The Grave' when singing this song. This is in any case one of Maiden's most memorable songs.

The Prisoner (Smith, Harris)

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Inspired by the 17-episode British TV cult-series of the same name starring Patrick McGoohan, 'The Prisoner' begins with the famous spoken dialogue that also constitutes the introduction of every episode of the series. The full transcript is:

A great drum rhythm and heavy guitar lead into this relatively fast-paced song of individuality, defiance, and freedom. While the song itself is fairly average (by Maiden standards), guitar solos in this song are absolutely inspired.

Mick Wall explains in the authorised biography of the band how they managed to get permission to use the intro dialogue from Patrick McGoohan himself:

Ironically, the Prisoner manages to escape from the Village at the end of the song ("Not a prisoner I'm a free man, and my blood is my own now, don't care where the past was, I know where I'm going"), only to find himself back to square one in the 1984 song 'Back in the Village' on the Powerslave album. This particular twist of the tale is reminiscent of the seventh episode of the series, where Number Six escapes only to find himself tricked into returning to the Village.

22, Acacia Avenue (Harris, Smith)

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This is an extension of 'Charlotte The Harlot'. This is where she's living in London's East End.  Steve Harris

This is the second instalment of the 'Charlotte the Harlot' series of songs, which began on the very first Iron Maiden album. It is a complex and non-standard song, with several parts which differ radically from each other both in lyrical perspective and musical style. Yet these individual parts combine well into a cohesive whole, making this one of the most creative and unique songs in the metal genre as well as one of Maiden's classic tracks.

'22, Acacia Avenue' is originally an Adrian Smith song, from the time he was playing in his own band, called Urchin. Adrian recalls years later, in an interview with Mick Wall, how it all started and what triggered the birth of the song as we know it:

The Number Of The Beast (Harris)

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This song was loosely inspired by the 1978 movie Omen II, and a Steve Harris nightmare. It begins ominously with quoted text from the Bible:

The reference of this quote is however not entirely correct, as only the last sentence corresponds to Revelations 13:18, the first one being found in Revelations 12:12. There are several English translations of the Bible, but Steve Harris seems to have used the quotes from the Revised Standard Version:

Basically this song is about a dream. It's not about devil worship.  Steve Harris

The first sentence corresponds to the description of Satan's eviction from Heaven after a battle with the archangel Gabriel and his legions (the legend states that Satan used to be also an archangel), whereas the last sentence actually refers to the second beast of Saint John's Apocalypse and not to the Devil himself, which is probably why the verse was modified into "the Devil sends the beast with wrath" in order to give some cohesion to the whole quote. It still doesn't make it right, though, and the correct quotation of the Bible's passages should have been included to avoid some confusion.

Still on the topic of the song intro, Bruce mentioned during a Radio Scotland special 2-hour Download Festival programme that the band had asked the famous horror films actor Vincent Price to read the text. However, still according to Bruce, Price refused to do it for anything less than £25,000. They had heard of someone who reads ghost stories at the Capitol radio station and got him to do it. The man was a thespian (a theatre actor) who had no interest in Maiden, but they asked him to put on a Vincent Price kind of voice and he was amazing.

In the Number Of The Beast video, Steve mentions that the song was somehow also inspired by Robert Burns's poem Tam O' Shanter.

In any case, this is one of Maiden's most powerful and memorable songs. The mid-song instrumental riffs are particularly good. Bruce's vocal range is also showcased by a huge scream after the song intro. The band received much flak from various religious zealots, very few of which even bothered to actually listen to the song and understand its meaning. And as is often the case, the controversy only served to bring more publicity to Maiden.

Here is Mick Wall's account of the controversy that occurred at the time:

Run To The Hills (Harris)

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Perhaps Maiden's most publicly recognisable song and their first big hit single, 'Run To The Hills' describes the Indian wars of the American west, first from the Indian's perspective and then from the white man's perspective. It is a fast-tempo song with a drum beat that is reminiscent of gallopping horses. Although it is a Maiden classic, it is a bit too short. Nevertheless, the song was critical in opening the way for Maiden's invasion of America.

In the lyrics, the sentence "the only good Indians are tame" probably refers to the infamous American saying "The only good Indian is a dead Indian". This mindless and absurd proverb is said to stem from the following anecdote that took place in January 1869, at old Fort Cobb, Indian Territory, now Oklahoma, shortly after Custer's fight with Black Kettle's band of Cheyennes: Old Toch-a-way (Turtle Dove), a chief of the Comanches, on being introduced to General Philip Sheridan (1831–1888), desired to impress the white man and managed to say in English "Me, Toch-a-way; me good Injun." The General, a known bigot and Indian hater, just smiled and answered: "The only good Indians I ever saw were dead.". Although Sheridan later denied having made such a statement, the sentence became quickly a saying that is still used nowadays, although the Indians that have not been physically killed now live in reservations where alcoholism – caused mainly by unemployment – and squalor contribute to kill an already dying culture. Who said that America was "the land of the free and home of the brave"?

Hallowed Be Thy Name (Harris)

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This is what many fans consider the best Iron Maiden song ever, and perhaps the best song of all time. 'Hallowed Be Thy Name' describes the thoughts and emotions of a condemned man on his way to the gallows. There is a striking similarity with the lyrics of 'Rainbow's Gold', a song by a band called Beckett that was later covered by Maiden on the B-side of the 2 Minutes To Midnight single.

The unfolding story of the song is seen through the eyes of a man who, facing imminent death, experiences first anguish, then terror, and finally hope that he will return – hence the final line taken from the Lord's Prayer. The sentence referring to life being "just a strange illusion" should probably not be taken literally, and it seems to be indicating that the way most people consider their own lives is an illusion and not life itself. They have this illusion that the life they're living is the one that was meant for them, and this prevents them from looking any further. They often never fulfill their original dreams because they have been deceived by all those fake dreams that have been instilled into them by society.

There is actually no way to describe this song other than absolutely inspired and brilliant. The long instrumental section that dominates the last half of the song is rivalled only by 'Phantom Of The Opera', and the lyrical depth and emotion stand alone, unapproached by anything else that can be heard. This is probably the best song ever written!