THE NUMBER OF THE BEAST

In some reviews about Iron Maiden I clearly stated that this band was originally not my cup of tea, especially looking at the time of release of this album. During that time I was bombarded with many spins of progressive rock albums from Genesisi, Yes, Gentle Giant etc. At that time Genesis was very popular in my country especially two big cities I frequently visited: Bandung (because I took an engineering study here) and Jakarta (where my mom stayed). The local band called "Cockpit" was very famous covering Genesis songs and they toured many venues in Indonesia. But that was the time also when progressive music was swept by the strong winds of punk and new wave music, so I was really not happy. I heard Iron Maiden name frequently from my hard rock friends but I never paid attention with the band because I did not like the cover which did not seem a cover of progressive band. I only knew Iron Maiden music after year 2000 when Indonesian classic rock FM radio station aired "Flight of Icarus" - a song that blew me away at first listen. I called the radio station and asked who played that beautiful and rockin' track. Once I got enough detail on artist and the album, I then purchased the "Piece of Mind" CD. An excellent album, really.

Since then I kept purchasing any release of Iron Maiden, including "The Number of The Beast" which I rarely spun until time when the rock community where I belongs to, i-Rock!, conducted a Tribute to Iron Maiden couple of months ago in Jakarta. So I spun this CD and enjoyed the music because most of them are hard rock music. The opening track "Invaders" (3:25) is a straight rocker which fits as an opening track. My excitement starts from track 2 "Children Of The Damned" (4:35) which starts beautifully in mellow style with guitar fills. It flows nicely with great melody.

"The Prisoner" (6:04), "22 Acacia Avenue" (6:37) are all excellent hard rock tracks that stimulate me without even I need to re-spin them because all of them are quite catchy at first listen. The title track "The Number Of The Beast" (4:52) has become a mascot in whatever tribute to Iron Maiden must be played by the band, because it contains high register notes vocal line by Bruce Dickinson. Because I have been trained by 70s music, Bruce's voice is somewhat similar with Ronnie James Dio. One thing I do like about Iron Maiden music is the dynamic bass lines played by the mastermind of the band: Steve Harris. I think, he is one of the best bass players in hard rock music, including Gary Thain of Uriah Heep.

Today, I spin this CD again because I listened to "The Number of The Beast" by Dream Theater. I just want to see how it compares between the two versions. My views on Dream Theater part would be featured on other thread in Dream Theater.

Overall, this album remarks one of the best hard rock music record. Most of the songs are heavy in nature and very enjoyable if hard rock or metal is already in your blood. But if you are not a hard rockers, you might find it difficult to enjoy the music of "The Number of The Beast". The other factor I enjoy much this album is the double guitar style by Dave Murray and Adrian Smith. It's an excellent addition to any hard rock / metal music collection. I have sensed that this album was influenced by the heavy metal master Black Sabbath - as some riffs remind me to the music of Black Sabbath. Keep on proggin' ..!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

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