In 1981, after just four years and two studio albums, the limitations of Iron Maiden‘s fiery frontman Paul Di’Anno had already become terminal issues. Cracking under the pressures of touring, his performances erratic and his passion dwindling, the struggling singer had begun down a road of drug and alcohol dependency and was simply unable to give the band what they needed to take that next big step.
Incapable of doing justice to the new material written by founder member and bassist Steve Harris, Di’Anno was replaced by Samson frontman, Bruce Bruce – aka Bruce Dickinson. Different to his predecessor in virtually every way, Dickinson’s distinctive air raid siren vocals opened the door to commercial success as 1982’s The Number of the Beast (EMI) topped the UK album charts upon its release. With expectations high after predecessor Killers, fans were initially cautious about this bouncy new chap, some jumping ship straight away, preferring Di’Anno’s angrier, punkier approach. However, the vast majority chose to stay, ready to have their lives changed forever.
Having no previous material left to fall back on, every song on …Beast was completely fresh, the band forging new paths by playing to the strengths of their new frontman. That’s not to say every song is vintage, of course, but even occasionally derided Viking-themed opener ‘Invaders’ holds the distinction of being the first of Maiden’s many historical songs to make it onto an album (‘Genghis Khan’ and ‘The Ides of March’ – the latter starting out as Samson’s ‘Thunderburst’ – were instrumentals while others were biblical, fictional or B-Side material).
‘Gangland’ was another cut to not fare well, many fans suggesting ‘Run to the Hills’ B-side ‘Total Eclipse’ should have been included instead. An opinion also held by the band themselves and eventually remedied in 1998 when it was included on a remastered version of the album.
Elsewhere though, the sheer quality that runs through Number… is inarguable. Based on 1960 sci-fi horror film Village of the Damned and the 1964 sequel from which it took its name, ‘Children of the Damned’ is a dramatic slow-burn which eventually explodes into searing flesh and melting faces. Inspired by the cult British TV show of the same name, ‘The Prisoner’ began life with Dickinson messing about on the drum kit while the band’s actual drummer, Clive Burr, was off having a cup of tea, and the second entry in the four song saga of ‘Charlotte the Harlot’, ’22 Acacia Avenue’, ends Side One with an uptempo, sleazy East End (gang)bang.
Based on one of Steve Harris’s nightmares, the authoritative title track is a simply irresistible, riff-driven tour-de-force of dreams, blazing torches and ritual sacrifice. And while many believed its sinister introduction to be spoken by horror icon Vincent Price, it was in fact the work of English actor Barry Clayton who went on to appear in children’s animated TV show, Count Duckula. ‘Run to the Hills’ became the band’s best selling single to date, reaching a very respectable #7 in the UK and found Dickinson turning to New Jersey crooner Frank Sinatra for inspiration as he based the chorus around the “rising sixth” interval used in songs like ‘My Way’. Focusing on the thoughts of a condemned man awaiting execution by hanging, the simply colossal ‘Hallowed Be thy Name’ closes the record and remains one of the best examples of Dave Murray and Adrian Smith‘s twin guitar attack to this day.
Controversy and the supernatural went hand in hand with TNOTB and long before the religious types who had convinced themselves Maiden were in league with Satan had worked themselves into a conservative frenzy during the subsequent Beast on the Road tour, recording sessions were plagued by a series of inexplicable events. Technical glitches, electrical failures, equipment breaking down and lights switching on and off by themselves were spooky enough under the circumstances but the most notable incident came in the form of a rather worrying garage bill for £666 which producer Martin Birch received after crashing into a van full of nuns. Maybe the religious nutters were onto something after all…
For my ten year old self who had never even heard of Iron Maiden it was the iconic cover artwork by Derek Riggs which first attracted my attention. Passing the time in a record store one rainy Saturday morning, promotional posters for the album were stuck all over the place and when one of two long haired chaps stood next to me turned around to show off an airbrushed ‘Purgatory’ artwork on his leather jacket, some part of me already knew things were about to change. Especially after my parents saw it and hastily ushered me out of the shop. As it happens, it took a further two years, a TV commercial for an energy drink set to ‘Phantom of the Opera’, and an introduction to Tommy Vance‘s Friday Rock Show on Radio 1 to finally peel the skin from my eyes.
The Number of the Beast might not be every fan’s personal favourite Iron Maiden album but its significance and influence cannot be underestimated as it still stands as one of the single most essential metal albums of all time.
Buy the album and Iron Maiden merch: https://amzn.to/36BJVMQ
GARY ALCOCK
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