I'm a musician in a small town. When this song was released, it was the controversy that caused me to find it and buy it. I was blown away and still believe that album is still best all around record of all time. Changed my playing and listening. Hell Yeah.
american preachers use stuff like this to raise money from the suckers. a postal worker i know saw letters from mississippi the jews in hollywood are killing christ again when the scorcese film came out the last temptation of christ. such types use scare tactics. they also burned maiden records.. kaiden responded with holy smoke.
A couple of things you might like to know: Bruce did start writing with the band when he joined, but because of contractual problems with his previous band, he couldn't get any writing credits (officially) for this album. The quick story of Eddie is that he started as a white kabuki mask which hung above the drummer during early gigs around the UK. It would pour out "blood" at the end when the "Iron Maiden" song was played. When the time for the first album came, their manager (Rod Smallwood) didn't think putting the band on the cover was the best idea because they guys were quiet, almost shy, and looked like they worked at a local warehouse (or something) - not like rock stars in a heavy metal band. So he came up with the idea of fleshing out Eddie (the head - pronounced 'ed in a cockney accent), making him the biggest, baddest rock star so the guys didn't have to be. To this day, none of the members of Iron Maiden (changing lineups and all) look or act like rock stars - except on stage, I suppose. Oh, and Derek Riggs created the first images of Eddie (and many more).
Bruce's first album with Maiden, after replacing Paul Di'anno. This song was written by founder and bassist (Steve Harris) after experiencing a nightmare after watching the movie "Damien Omen II". This band is far from devil worshippers.. simple as that. Nice reaction, guys. 👍 Add: I didn't realize you guys were answering the quiz question at the end of the video. I commented about halfway through the video then heard your answer at the end. 😆
1984 I saw them live in the middle of a race track at a county park in Plymouth, WI. The Bill was Iron Maiden, Ratt and Accept. I was 16 years old and it was AMAZING!
The parents back then were going nuts over this. We teens thought it was funny. I listened to heavy metal all the time and I'm a normal 58 year old woman!!! Iron Maiden rocks !!!
First learned of Iron Maiden in 1980 when was in Germany that summer. I was hooked. I first saw Maiden with Scorpions, Foreigner, and Loverboy in 1982, Bill Graham's Day on the Green. That show of 4 bands costed me $13.50. Epic times.
@JRcomments you were very lucky I was only 11 at the time when I discovered them with thier debut album, by the artwork by Riggs I had to buy it and man good by sabbath and acdc it was Maiden and Priest
First time I heard this was days before Halloween when I had just come home, just before midnight, and turned on the stereo before turning on any lights. Radio station was unusually silent before hearing, "Woe to you, oh earth and sea, for the Devil sends the beast with wrath because he knows the time is short . . ." Sent chills down my spine and I was frozen for the next 4 minutes. Went out the next day and bought the album.
Up the Irons! All hail the mighty Iron Maiden! Having been a teen in the early 80's I'm a veteran of the Satanic Panic Wars of 1983 thru 1987. All gave some, some gave all!
Fun Fact : That epic scream Bruce does was a complete accident. In the studio, as they were recording this song, it was one thing after another - someone messed up their part, a string broke, technical glitches, etc - it was one retake after another, and Bruce was getting exhausted... and then just when they thought hey had it, the producer (Martin Birch) says something went wrong and they had to record it again - well Bruce, in complete frustration let out that scream - and the tape was still recording... after finally finalizing the take, they listened back and heard that scream, and decided they had to use it. Fun Fact : This song was inspired by a nightmare that bassist Steve Harris had after seeing one of the Omen movies (I think it was Omen II : Damien). Fun Fact : During the recording of this album, in addition to all the studio mishaps and equipment breakdowns and other misfortunes, producer Martin Birch had a little car accident. After all the damage was assessed and he got the bill for his car, it came to... no lie : £666.66....! Just one of those creepy coinkydinks.
The mascot's full name : Eddie T Head The name was taken from an old joke : Eddie was born without a body - he was just a head. Nonetheless, his parents loved him dearly and always spoiled him with lots of presents on his birthday. One year, as his birthday was nearing, his parents had received news from Eddie's doctors, who were happy to report that medical science had now advanced to where they could build Eddie a body. Eddie's parents were so excited and decided to tell him the news on his birthday. When the big day arrived, Eddie's parents had come to him, barely able to contain their excitement, and his father said "Hello, Eddie - your mother and I have a BIG surprise for you this year!" and his mother added, "Oh Eddie, you're going to love this! You will be so pleased!" And Eddie just rolled his eyes and said "Ohhhh no! Not another f*ckin HAT!!"
There is no devil worship here, only musical theatre. The whole "devil worship" conversation is ridiculous. In 1986 a guy called Stephen King wrote a little story called "It" about an evil entity that terrorises 7 children. Nobody suggested Stephen King was into torturing children. Likewise, this song is about a nightmare Steve Harris had after watching The Omen II (story by Harvey Bernhard). It's just a story but unfortunately, conservative America couldn't understand bands like Iron Maiden and Ozzy Osbourne back in the '80s so the whole idea of heavy metal being "the devil's music" was born to spread paranoia amongst God fearers. Before that blues was regarded as "the devil's music". It seems that people are always desperate to be afraid of something.
Steve Harris (aka) God, the genius that he is, wrote this song after a nightmare he had after watching the horror movie Omen 2. It is just about a nightmare🤘 They also made the song Fear of the Dark due to Steve Harris, too😉 Iron Maiden formed on the 25th of December 1975, and the rest is history😜 Up the mighty Irons!!!🤘🤘
It caused some controversy with the usual suspects...... The bass player watched a horror film, went to sleep, had a nightmare, then wrote a song about it. Simple as that. No virgin sacrifice, or devil worship backstage contrary to the imbeciles of the day.
I agree with the comments below; the religious right in US were burning their albums during the early 80s as they freaked out about the title, but obviously Iron Maiden are not Satanists by any means!!
As someone that became a legal adult as the 80's came to an end, I agree with this 100%! AD&D and Iron Maiden will forever have at least one thing in common... Both were accused of devil worship, but neither one had anything at all to do with that. Both were just awesome fun!!
@@chasestreet8082 Aye, i was born in 69, so i became a legal adult in 1987, my parents (may they both RIP miss ya mom and dad) they were very open minded about all this stuff, i never had a problem with them about listening to Maiden or playing AD&D, only complain about this music was my mom saying "whats that noise" but, a couple of friends of mine. who also played dungeons with me, their parents were a bit more conservative about this "devil" stuff so they had to keep it secret from them hat we played or listened to music like this.
I think this song is the reason 1980s Maiden didn't get as big in the US as it was in Europe, South America and so on. People thought just mentioning the devil was dangerous. It's based on Steve Harris' dreams and a love for old cheesy horror movies 😀 They really don't worship any devil other than Eddie. Iron Maiden is one of the best live acts in the world and has been for 40+ years. They are true entertainers and their fans are like a family.
Thank you for reacting! I like this band now for over 30 years. My favourite album is "Second son of a second son"! Very many great songs on it. Keep on!!!
I saw them in Long Beach California where I lived at the time I’m in Santa Monica now but they played 4 nights from Thursday to Sunday and I was there all four nights in 1985. They filmed 🎥 the shows for what became the Live After Death cd/dvd! My favorite Bruce Dickinson moment: SCREAM FOR ME LONG BEACH…SCREAM FOR ME LONG BEACH…SCREAM FOR ME LONG BEACH ARENA!!! UP THE IRONS!!!😎😎😎🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
You need to see them live, they're going to be on tour again at some point this year, but you need to catch them soon as it won't be long before they hang up their gear. ##UpTheIrons 🤘🏻🤘🏻
The band really wanted to get Vincent Price to do the spoken word intro but he wanted too much money. So instead they hired a British actor that sounded similiar to Price that was much more affordable.
Good interpretation of the song, you guys! I don't know the official story, but it is certainly not a glorification of the devil. I think it actually describes a dream or vision the singer has experienced.
This song did create quit a stir when it came out especially in the States with religious groups trying to ban it. I first saw this as an adult on MTV and was thinking what did I just see. But as I did more research I discovered I took it completely wrong. Iron Maiden is probably the best story telling band ever. You get a world history lesson in every song.
The reason this was so big for Bruce Dickinson, it was the first Iron Maiden album he appeared on, following his departure from Samson, and replacing Paul Di'Anno as Maiden's vocalist. It also signaled a significant change in musical direction for the band, and catapulted them into mainstream Metal, while the previous two albums, "Iron Maiden" and "Killers" were, at the time, more of a niche with hardcore metal fans, but received little recognition outside of that. This is the album where the band really blew up.
Love Maiden When This Album Came Out, Maiden Were Being Labeled Devil Worshipers, This Was Bruce Dickinson's Debut Album After He Replaced Paul Dianno On Vocals.
I started listening to Maiden in 1983, a year after this album came out. After this album came out, they were lumped into what was known as the satanic panic. The opening narration is taken from two different passages in the Bible. This is the first album featuring singer Bruce Dickinson and last with drummer Clive Burr.
It was Bruce's First video and Clive Burr's last.. Rip Clive Burr.. 🙏🏻 A little fact, they wanted Vincent Price for the narrative at the beginning of the song but he wanted too much money so they decided on Barry Clayton after Price demanded £25,000..!!!..
Absolutely a great song. Great rhythm and song structure. Always a good listen. You mentioned you want to see them live. They will be touring this year. I'm going to see them in October near Seattle. You definitely should check them out live.
The song is inspired by the horror movie "The Omen" (amovie about the antichrist). Actually many Iron Maiden songs are inspired by movies and books. So they are as much "worshiping the devil" as the cast & crew of that horror movie are, if making a piece of art with the devil as its theme means you are worshiping him. ^^ BTW: the last line of the last song of this album is "Hallowed Be Thy Name" (you mentioned it) and it's about a prisoner on deathrow finding god in his last hour. Very diabolical... ;)
The first album with Bruce Dickinson, an absolute epic album. During the recording of the album unexplained phenomena occurred and producer Martin Burch was involved in accident with a mini van transporting a group of nuns, the repair bill he received was £666 pounds😂😂.
You heard "dream" a few times, right? You saw crazy, disjointed imagery throughout the video that might point back to that dream reference, right? Come on.
No, not worshipping but church groups went nuts amd bought albums and burned them, it was ridiculous. It's funny because you gotta give the band money to burn am 🤦 Check out Aces High as well
This is a song where a lyric video would be more helpful to understanding the lyrics. A line like "This can't go on, I must inform the law" clearly indicates the narrator is not exactly a devil worshiper. All the people freaking out about the song back in '82 of course would never do any research.
monster scenes were added to this video. king kong was an american monster and godzilla was japanese which represented the atomic bomb. some judas priest from this time period late 70s to the 80s please. many historians think 666 represented roman emperor Nero. fun fact heaven and hell and the evil devilish persona is not from the Abrahamic religions (muslim, jewish, christian) but has origins in the persian empire, it was assimilated over the eons.
During the Satanic panic bands found out that there is no such thing as bad publicity. Satan sold music. A friend of mine watched a preacher talk about backwards masking. He said when the preacher endorsed it as satanic he immediately went and bought it 😅.
Been a Maiden fan since early eighties. The scratches on my albums from playing them so much caused skips and they are still burned in my brain. I keep expecting skips in certain areas of their songs. 😂
They are not worshiping the devil by the way. I remember a lot of people saying in another video that it was one of the band members had a nightmare, and this song is about that.
Bruce Dickinson as the band grew in fame and money. Bruce took flying lessons to the point that near the end he was the actual Lead Piolet on the bands Jumbo Jet.
I LOVE THIS SONG I LISTENED TO THIS FROM THE DAY I FOUND OUT MY GF WAS GOING OUT WITH MY BEST FRIEND I WAITED PLAYING THIS TIL HE CAME OVER ... HE NEVER SHOWED
If you listen the answer is in the first verses before the chorus... the song is about nightmares created by horror movies. This is where most of the images come from... no satan worshiping there
Near 60 and I still have the original Tshirt and ticket stubs from the Number of the Beast tour, Piece of Mind tour and the Powerslave concert. Some of the best concerts I have ever seen.
My first concert was Maiden in 1983 when I was 12. Then saw them again in 1985. My daughter is 17 now and saw them when she was 10-11. So I’ve seen them 3x now. Maiden are not devil worshipers; far from it. In fact Bruce has always been a clean guy; meaning no drugs or alcohol. He received his pilots license and did a bit of commercial aviation work but then used his abilities to pilot Iron Maiden’s Jet (Call sign 666) around the world to concerts. He’s also a very high caliber fencer.
Bruce is a pilot and licensed for commercial planes. also he hunts and recove war planes from ww2 to restore and fly thats his passion. thats why iron maiden still is for money to finance his toys
'The number of the beast' was written by bassist Steve Harris about a nightmare ... the references to 'the beast' were simply the implication of involvement of biblical forces of evil that may be responsible. The music video was filmed in 1982 and drummer Nicko McBrain (who was not a member of Iron Maiden at the time) was one of the 'devils' on stage in a mask and suit... In 1983, Iron Maiden parted ways w/ drummer Clive Burr and Nicko McBrain was asked to join on drums.
you NEED to do powerslave. a strange song with a mid part full of guitar intro and 2 solos so tasty. it has an egyptian vibes because it talks about that and i think they use second flat in one main riff. cool song trust me
The Number of the Beast is based on a nightmare Steve Harris had after watching the movie called the Omen. Try Iron Maiden Paschendaele live. It is actually a good history lesson told from the view of a World War One soldier. By the way, Iron Maiden will be back on tour in September. Many shows are sold out already.
Notice: The devil in red who jumps by the end of the video, was the Drums roadie for Clive Burr; that roadie take the place of Clive when he has to leave the band due to health issues, his name is Nicko MaCbrain, who plays drums till today in Iron Maiden.
Maiden's Best Workout Songs have to be Aces High, The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner and Caught Somewhere In Time..., Blistering Guitar Work by Adrian Smith and Dave Murray..., Get Them!!!!
