THE NUMBER OF THE BEAST

It's funny: every year that passes makes old Iron Maiden albums sound softer and more mainstream. At the time this was released I remember huddling round an old cassette player in my school playground in mid-summer '82 and being genuinely scared by this album'. Now that I've just turned 40 it sounds really cheesy and tacky - just like the front cover looks.

I still quite like the intro "Invaders' though, and 'Ganglands' is pretty cool. Other than that it's a lot of old pants. The rest of the tunes all sort of morph into one in your mind after you've finished listening to the whole thing - as they're basically all the same.

I'm not calling into question the band's musicianship which was undoubtedly top notch - but doesn't Bruce Dickinson have the most one dimensional 'operatic' voice you've ever heard? He's the Sean Connery of singing - he's had year after year to improve, alter or modify and basically just sounds the same now as he always did, still using the same old gimmicks. Still - at least he's had a haircut. 'Killers' was a far better album with better vocals and more diversity and was the best Iron Maiden album in my opinion.