THE NUMBER OF THE BEAST

"WOE TO YOU, OH EARTH AND SEA, FOR THE DEVIL SENDS THE BEAST WITH WRATH, BECAUSE HE KNOWS THE TIME IS SHORT... LET HIM WHO HATH UNDERSTANDING RECKON THE NUMBER OF THE BEAST FOR IT IS A HUMAN NUMBER, ITS NUMBER IS SIX HUNDRED AND SIXTY SIX "

Revelations Ch. XIII v.18 This excellent album burst onto the rock scene to rapturous applause in 1982 - Maiden were already a hugely successful NWOBHM band before Bruce Dickinson joined as vocalist but this masterpiece was the opening salvo to the band's world domination campaign - Bruce "Air Raid Siren" Dickinson, Dave Murray, Adrian Smith, Steve Harris and Clive Burr on drums. "The Number of the Beast" laid down the blueprint for many albums that followed.

Every track is a classic, especially the title track which is introduced by Vincent Price, and "22 Acacia Avenue". "Invaders" the first track on side one, tells of the Viking Invaders coming to attack us - "Axes grind and and maces clash...severed limbs....bloody corpses.." all classic Prog themes done as blistering heavy rock. "Children of the Damned" has a slow intro which builds up and bursts into a fantastic chorus, great riffing and the Air Raid siren wails....a real horror! "The Prisoner" is a homage to the enigmatic TV classic starring Patrick McGoohan - "I am not a number...I am a free man!", followed by "22 Acacia Avenue (the continuing story of Charlotte the Harlot) " a mini epic about somebody you should meet and mistreat if you're down the East End - and she only charges fifteen quid!!!

Side two kicks off with the title track "The Number of the Beast" , one of my all time favourite tracks, the energy on this is phenomenal to listen to, real Gothic Horror at its best, the archetypal Maiden song, after the famous spoken intro Bruce whispers his way into the song then explodes, "Torches raised and sacred chants were praised..." - amazing! "Run to the Hills" was a smash hit for the band, and contains the trademark "galloping" drums and bass, intertwined with sizzling lead guitar, and told about the plight of the American Indians suffering the onslaught of white man's domination of their land - "Raping the women and wasting the men, the only good Indians are tame..." - the rest is history. "Gangland " tells of the dangers of the criminal underworld, "Dead men tell no tales", murder, contracts - a murky world. The last track on my vinyl LP "Hallowed Be Thy Name" is the longest track on the album, another mini epic about a condemned man - waiting for the minutes to tick by until 5 o'clock...."If there's a God then why has he let me die..?"

Truly a very important album in the history of rock, its influence paving the way for Heavy rock and Prog -metal , a deserving five stars in anybody's book and an essential addition to any rock music collection!

MUSIC RATING 5/5 PROG RATING 4/5 HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE - PRICELESS