This is a story about evil. In no way shape or form does Iron Maiden promote evil worship. Metal gets a bad wrap because metal bands are willing to sing about evil things. Most metal bands are comprised of genuine, loving people.
You don’t say!!!! We love metal, and we don’t have to prove shit! And we don’t care about your propagandas and dogmas or others’ propagandas and dogmas! Lol
The last few years Bruce was too busy promoting conservatism and Brexit to bother with Satanism. Since then he's been crying because they now have a ton of paperwork to get all the band and road crew work permits to tour Europe. He basically said "But we just wanted to stop non-Brits having the automatic right to work in Britain - it shouldn't effect us!" He's a posh, entitled, privately educated, privileged twat with an amazing voice, and I wish he'd kept his Daily Mail politics to himself.
After all, Bruce has the greatest vocal range of nearly any vocalist in rock history. On his plane??? Ronnie James Dio Geoff Tate Rob Halford That is all..........
Exactly! Iron Maiden is exponentially more world renowned than the Metal bands junior referenced, frankly I've never heard of them which doesn't mean much but I'm also sure the lead singers of his Metal bands aren't pilots like Bruce is! Bruce Dickinson is so hardcore he doesn't even drink or party he gets his Pilot gear on and flies their jet to the next gig I'm pretty sure those metal bands aren't doing that and if they are God bless them
This song was influenced by the 1978 movie Damien: Omen II, which is about a 13-year-old Antichrist. It was written by Iron Maiden bass player Steve Harris, who explained: "Basically, this song is about a dream. It's not about devil worship
@@strangeexchange1 Yes, but the actual inspiration to the song came from the second movie. More specificallly from a nightmare Steve Harris had after watching it.
The song was written by the Bassist Steve Harris after watching a horror movie he had a nightmare about seeing a satanic ritual and seeing these horrible things. The song is written mostly from the viewpoint of of someone watching it happen and being frightened. The last verse is what he heard the devil saying during the ritual. This song is NOT Satanic. It describes how terrible it is. "This can't go on, I must inform the Law"
Beast was released in 1982. They didn't pioneer metal music, but they definitely carried the torch from bands like Black Sabbath and Judas Priest. The devil and demonic imagery is just the way metal music is portrayed. The metal sound just lends itself to such imagery. Nothing more. They let the listener think for themselves. Not a single member of this band is into Satanism in any way. Bruce the lead singer is a very accomplished operatic singer and a highly trained 747 pilot who flies the band to destinations worldwide for tour dates. As well as being an expert fencer. Wiki Bruce Dickenson and see for yoself.
Absolutely true about Bruce! He leads a drug free and very healthy lifestyle; in part due to his pilots license. I first saw them live in 1983 (I was 12) then in 1985 and again sometime in the last decade (sorry I’m old and can’t remember exact year). He still sounds like he did back in the early years.
My take on it is Black Sabbath were the beginning, Judas Priest dropped the blues element and focused on the metal, Iron Maiden perfected the style...at the least the band opened it up for others to find a route in metal
@JillVALENTINE320 I guess that depends on how old you were in the 70s. Because the earliest days of metal music go back to Iron Butterfly, Cream, Black Sabbath and Mountain etc. Iron Maiden didn't come on the scene until 1981.
Young blood laughing at The Air Raid Sirens voice...🤣 I understand this is old folks music now, but damn, I NEVER would have thought someone would find Bruce's voice more amusing than amazing.
That's hilarious, I didn't even notice that they missed that. I was too focused on Andiroo making a joke about Thriller, but not realising that it's Vincent Price doing both speeches.
Many of Iron Maiden's lyrics are based on literature or history. The quote at the beginning of the song is from the Bible (Revelations). Horror themes are also common in some of their songs. They are definitely not Satanist or anything of that ilk. They have songs based on Edgar Allen Poe works. Many songs like the Trooper and Run to the Hills are based on historic events. They also do songs about mythology like Flight of Icarus. The band is very well read.
You DEF took it wrong. As numerous comments have stated, Steve Harris wrote this about a nightmare he had after watching Damien: Omen II . The hysteria around this song, the Eddie imagery, and countless other metal bands of the time helped fuel the "Satanic Painc" of the 80's. IMO that hysteria and the conservative time of the 80's helped pushed Iron Maiden off of all main stream radio stations - to this day; and in spite of that they acheived enormous success, a rabid worldwide fan base and are Living , Touring Legends of Metal. #UpTheIrons
Iron Maiden is legendary & is still going strong after all these years! Respect to the music & vocals…. Younger generations use mostly technology & almost everyone says they’re into the music industry because it’s easier these days…. Actual Talent is rare these days….. Up the Irons! This song is NOT satanic at all…. Funny that you keep mentioning/assuming that it is…..
Same - something about this appealed to me at the time and I got a copy of album on tape - actually preferred “Run to the hills”. I didn’t really get much else until “Somewhere in Time” and “Stranger in a Strange Land” became my new fav… And I thought yep, this is my jam… And then I saw Spinal Tap when I got to uni and…suddenly I couldn’t take Iron Maiden seriously. I still have a soft spot for certain tracks, but Spinal Tap ended my being able to take this kind of music seriously.
Their music actually does Not promote or glorify evil, or satanic worship, their songs actually highlight the perils that evil brings, such as their song Run to the hills, which talks about the genocide of Native Americans. Context and intent is very important, and they put good messages wrapped in heavy music, that at the time teens and adults listened to.
It's so strange to me, as a european, there are still people in America so religious they're not willing to even read song-lyrics that may contain satanic references. Is your belief really so weak, some lyrics would diminish it? I think that would say more about your belief than anything else, no? How can you understand (or try to understand) anything if you already condemn it upfront? Not hating or anything. Been following you for a while now and loving your dive down the rock/metal rabbit hole. That's why I think it's important to keep an open mind in this journey. While there definitely are satanic bands or bands with a satanic message out there, Iron Maiden is not one of them. Anyway, in the end everyone is entitled to their opinion of course 🙂
I understand you probably like rap music more than anything but this music from iron maiden took real talent and still is real talent today.....that stuff this generation listens to now doesn't take much talent...most artists today's generation listens to they just rip off or sample as you call it from real talented artists from the past
Yes Maidens got skill but honestly, a sample is usually because they like the music it's a homage. rap takes not only talent but brains. Rap artists (real rap/hip hop) have a full grasp on language rivaling your 7th grade lit teacher who should have retired 23 years before she taught you. If you don't like rap that's cool but really, you are mistaken if you think there is no talent there. \m/ peace
The lyricism in (good) rap is 1000x more impressive than that found in even the best rock music. The skilled musicianship in rock music doesn't come close to touching the talents of good rappers - especially their skills with a pen. EVH (maybe the most impressive musician out there imo) doesn't begin to even touch Eminem's creative output. I say this as a guitar player.
@@justinatest9456 this has to be the funniest and dumbest comment ever . rap doesn't come close not even a speck of dirt on the bottom of a shoe compared to being a actual band playing actual instruments oh and actually singing lol whats rap rhyming talking words on computer generated music that sounds identical in every song made and like complete shit lol i dont believe i read what you wrote or that you could even think such ,
There is some misconception here - Iron Maiden are brits with a lot of humor, they never intended for their stuff to be taken too seriously. They were just having fun shocking some mums and grandmas. Now, those superduper hard, guttural downtuned grunters, those are the real tryhards that I can't really take seriously. Edit: I'm also confused, where he gets the worshipping part from? The protagonist of the song definitely is not a fan of creature that frightens him. So if I sing of the fear of being eaten by an alligator, does that make me an alligator worshipper, too?
Oh you’re such a young lad Andy!😂 While bands today may have been influenced by bands like Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and Metallica, for example, those bands were not the founding fathers of metal. You have to look at the Triumvirate of heavy metal, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Black Sabbath. Deep Purple actually had a great album “In Rock” (check out the songs Flight of the Rat and Highway Star) that the album cover was their face on Mt. Rushmore. #ledzeppelin #deeppurple #blacksabbath #blackpegasusraps
I can't argue with a word you said. Ironically, members of Zeppelin and Purple would just as soon punch you as look at you if you called them "metal" to their face. Although all three are highly influential forerunners of the movememt, only Sabbath embraced the metal label.
Bruce Dickinson is an interesting guy. He's an Olympic class fencer, owns an aviation overhaul company and when he's not rocking is an airline pilot, flies the tour plane and works for Ryan Air a shorthaul airline in Europe! Fun fact, a friend of mine was flying into Dublin to watch Iron Maiden only to find the pilot was Bruce who was on his way to the gig flying a scheduled airline flight as captain.
This is why I like when people that react to music get just a little information before doing it. That way you can avoid these situations and contributing to prejudice with metal bands, cause yeah, the music has nothing to do with being Satanic and praising it, as many people have already commented and it is a masterpiece that doesn’t deserve to be “overlooked” due to a wrongfull meaning atribution. Not mad, at all, no one knows everything, especially when you are new to this genre, just suggesting another approach 😌
this song is from their 1982 album of the same name and yes, 80's heavy metal and punk rock started the mosh pits! Our generation (Generation X) started all that you know now.
The fact that people literally think like this is insane. "Don't want to open a portal to hell". This isn't a figure of speech, a joke, or hyperbole. He really means this. It's insane.
Ikr... talking about Devil worship and brain washing?... have they heard themselves when they talk about following the doctrines of a book that was allegedly written over 2000 years ago? ... 🤨 Friggin God squadders 🤣🤣 🙃🐨🇦🇺
Number of the Beast came out in 1982 and Iron Maiden was caught up in all the anti-Satanic music crap that was going on then, led by Tipper Gore and her group. The song is not Satanic, it's about a dream that Steve Harris had after watching The Omen movie in 1978.
I'm pretty sure that the spoken word intro was quoted right from the Bible. So it's funny that you landed with devil worship immediately😂... but that's where most people go with it who don't know better.😮 That's the equivalent of everybody that says the word gun in a rap song must be a killer or a thug.
This came out in 1982. Just one year later you had the advent of thrash and the first albums from Slayer and Metallica in 1983. Pits existed then and before. Punk had slamming and pogo and skanking in the pits since the 70s.
Iron Maiden is the best! Their music is often misunderstood to be their "beliefs", but most all of their music is based off of history, art, especially, tales, books and movies. I had a teacher in high school asking about Alexander the Great, and I answered all of his questions about him, and he was like "Wow, you really know your history!" and I replied "No man, I know my Iron Maiden." They have a song called Alexander the Great that details his life. Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner is one of my favorites. Put a story in the Bible, on film, or in a book, and it is called art, put the same story to metal music and all the sudden it is bad...lol.
LOL. BPs supersticious approach to christianity is funny to me. I grew up christian too, but found metal in my early teens.^ YOUR MOM WAS NOT RIGHT: This track is NOT worshipping the devil. It simply describes a dream/nightmare that the writer had. There is nothing about it that parises the horned man...
I mean its what you consider funny. Personally it really bothers me when christians say their god is a merciful, forgiving and understanding all mighty.....that would cast you to hell for fact checking IF a song is truelly about worshipping the devil. Like yeah super merciful, very understanding. Also punishes you for no apparent reason...
Bands like Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath and Kiss all built their acts around the stage. Sabbath based their songs/style on horror/suspense movies even naming themselves after a Boris Karloff horror movie. Iron Maiden was all about storytelling from a literature/history point of view. Kiss was all about living the characters they created on stage, Gene the Demon, Paul the Love, Ace the Spaceman and Peter the Cat. This song was a dream/nightmare Steve Harris had after watching one too many horror movies. The Trooper was based off the Charge of the Light Brigade. Paschendale, Rime of the Ancient Mariner, 22 Acacia Avenue, Dance of Death were all Maiden songs with that slant. I was alive in that era when both Dungeons and Dragons and Metal music were being targeted by crazy religious groups claiming they worship the devil just because they had mentions of the devil and in most cases fights against the devil. It's the same as telling someone they shouldn't read the Bible due to the devil being in it. It's a naive way of thinking that people who don't understand things like to use. Back then it was the easiest thing to do just taking the church's comments on something they never even tried to research. It was a sad time. I remember when they went after the bands Witchkiller and Witchfynder General calling them satanic bands. If you can't tell by the names they were about witch hunters not witches and satan but the church never stopped to look into it. CBN was going after anything they could without checking into anything at all.
You might find it reassuring to know that Iron Maiden drummer Nicko McBrain is in fact a devout Christian. Admittedly, he only joined the band on the album after this one, but he has played this song at literally every concert with the band since 1983.
Sometimes it's to be interpreted by the listener. Often they are equating the devil to wicked institutions or calling out hypocrisy. This one was supposedly based on a nightmare. That's art. Sabbath is a great example. You think it's total evil then listen and hear it's about rich fat cats sending kids to war. It has little to do with the devil. Iron Maiden always had a comic booky quality to them w/ the mascot/character "Eddie." They were making the musical comics they'd want to hear. The musicianship was also over the top and the triple guitar solos, come on' who else can do that. Dickinson can sing lyrics from a cookbook and when the guitars kick in it doesn't matter. Just remember, it's all theatrics. Just like the religious institutions metal was born to parody. Maiden are kind of their own thing. Like musical Manga, lol. peace
Iron Maiden is fuckin amazing. It still boggles my mind how they have not heard of bands like this, especially the kid, Maiden is one of the Gods of metal. They do NOT endorse Satanism dude, that's not what this song is about or any others that are similar topics. Also, New metal is fucking trash.
As many others have pointed out already, this isn't about devil worship. But at the time of its release, the record did stir up some controversies. Especially in the US, where christian or evangelical groups started actually burning the records. And that publicity only helped the record's popularity among kids. And maiden just went with it. They found it hilarious, of course.
So true! And the churches are the places where they have been inculcated with the doctrine of being unworthy sinners. A verse from the Nightwish song 'Weak Fantasy' describes this mindset perfectly: "Behold the crown of a heavenly spy Forged in blood of those who defy Kiss the ring, praise and sing He loves you dwelling in fear and sin Fear is a choice you embrace"
Until, recently, Bruce, singer was the licensed pilot, who was able to fly airliners. During World Tours that Iron Maiden does, they fly all over the world. Their customed Boeing 747 or 757 nicknamed, "Ed Force One" goes each stop according to their schedule. Band, crew, and equipment goes on the plane. I think that Bruce has reach minimum age requirement for flying airliners.
The whole song is describing a dream the character of the song is having. In the end verse he says, "this can't go on, I must inform the law", its really all just tongue and cheek though.
The first rule of heavy metal: Don't take yourself too seriously! There is no devil worship here, only musical theatre. This is something maturity teaches you over time
Churches were burning albums like these back in the day. The majority of what they thought they were hearing was not true. Often quite times it was against what it seemed like they were singing for. Ozzie’s Suicide Solution is a great example, it was stating suicide was not the solution.
Lmfao dad rock consists of bands like Van Halen, Led Zeppelin, Bruce Springsteen, John Mellencamp, Ratt, Def Leppard, Guns and Roses, AC/DC, Kiss, The Who, Judas Priest and bands like that etc. etc. etc. Iron Maiden is usually just referred to as metal.
The thing here is this is classic heavy metal, then you can't compare with doom metal or trash metal, this metal actually is near to have 50 years on the road and this songs are classics and loved songs to the iron maiden fans (like me), you can hear if you want the rime of the ancient mariner from iron maiden too, or if you want to hear how is iron maiden this years, you can hear the gost of the navigator for example or there are a lot of songs that you can pick. One last thing is that Iron maiden does not have press, never payed to radio stations or tv, everything was from fan to fan...
Fun fact! That initial scream he does after the first few lines was completely real. The producer had the band namely the vocalist Bruce go over and over vocal lines. Until Bruce finally got pissed off and just screamed into the mic... The producer got his scream. The band gained worldwide success so I'd say it was a pretty good trade off. But yes always remember one of the best parts of metal songwriting history was completely accidental.
The "Thriller" reference is SPOT ON guys...they wanted to get Vincent Price to do the intro but he was too expensive, so they got this random dude for a lot cheaper... This is basically a Bible study...a warning against evil, but I remember back in the day the church ladies went BALLISTIC! If you recall he tells his stories from both points of view...like Run To The Hills...he speaks from both the viewpoints of the Native Americans and also the Settlers
Mosh Pits have been around since the late 60's, can't wait to see them again in September. Still rocking after buying this album in 1980 as a spotty 13-year-old!
Lol, yes mosh pits were a thing back then. Funny how the devil can be talked about in church, but if it's in a song, people freak the heck out and call it devil worshipping.
You have to try an put this into perspective: They recoded this album in only 2 months... On tape. No Pro Tools or the like (Recorded January-February 1982). Mixed and mastered and released in March 1982. This was album was MIND BLOWING... When I listen to this now, I have to remember "1982... Damn!!!!!!!!!!". It really was far ahead. And your mother was NOT right.
I saw Iron Maiden from the very start. Even with the original singer Paul D'ianno who couldn't take the fame. Even then they were huge & very popular. My concert era was from 1979 until roughly 1986. The bands from that era were amazing & there were a lot. Saxon, Motorhead, Diamond Head, Ozzy, Rainbow, Girlschool. To name a few. Tickets were so cheap , £3.50 for a place at the very front. Now, if you consider this an evil song, there was a band that invented Black Metal. Venom. Although maybe not as talented as the others, listen to "At War With Satan". It spawned the growling that you get today. And even Venom weren't Satan worshippers, they just wanted to be darker than the other bands of the day. This era was a turning point, punk was all the rage just before & during this time period. And punks liked many of these bands as some of the music was very similar. But none of these Devil songs were meant to be taken seriously unless a person was already unhinged. in which case they'd probably be on some form of medication. This was just fun, nothing more.
The songs about a nightmare and man trying to face that nightmare. This kid shouldn’t have this much authority over any amount of your musical direction 😂💀
Its literally about a nightmare, being caught by a cult before he could escape and inform the law. There is no message in the song about anything you should consider negative or against your beliefs. If you want to analyze it further it is about one of the band members having a religious upbringing and that creating irrational fears in them that lead to them having nightmares.
That scream at the beginning is second to none! Noone could do it like Bruce❤ Lol just finished this. Nooooo. Not satanic. The video is misleading. It is about a dream that the Bassist Steve Harris had after watching The Omen a movie about the antichrist as a 13yr old and was made in 1978
When this came out, a friend called and asked whether i wanted to listen to the new IM album. We were completely captured by the sound. It was a huge change from what they had done on the previous two albums that was more in the punk rock direction. By the way, this came out in 1982 and it's the opener for the sam album that has "The Trooper" and "Hallowed be thy Name" on it. The whole religious blab is typically american. The rest of the world takes it light and has fun.
Christianity is all about believing in the power of a human sacrifice, a half God, half human, the ultimate sacrifice to end all sacrifices. A sacrifice for thier sins. That's the freaky stuff.
When you commented about wanting to know "what era they were from?" I laughed. They started in the mid 1970's. They are, in fact, still releasing albums and are on tour, I believe, for the latest one. So, I would say pick any or all eras. Huge catalog. Huge following (around the globe). And definitely not satanic in any way shape or form. One of my all time favorite bands.
It amazes me that you wouldn't read the lyrics. You would read the lyrics if they were singing about pharaos, serial killers, ghostly albatrosses, the gallows pole or Ren's Murderer or Seven Sins and you wouldnt say they were worshiping any of these things, but as soon as they mention the devil, you assume the worst. Was the devil not in all those other themes? Does he need to be named to be present and acting? I wouldn't know because I dont believe in any of it, and it seems to me that everyone picks their own version of whatever religion they follow. I respect your choice to follow your beliefs, but I dont understand the fear of some lyrics about a man's dream.
To answer his question - mosh pits were not a thing when this song came out. However, when I went to Maiden shows in the 90s there were people stage diving and stuff so they adapted to the times.
I think you should watch the documentary Flight 666…it’ll show you a couple of things…firstly, that the band are not a group of devil-worshiping degens…they are just regular guys who happen to be in one of the greatest heavy metal bands ever, and secondly, you’ll learn that above all else, Iron Maiden does a lot of storytelling lyrically. I promise, you’re not going to hell for reading the lyrics to an Iron Maiden song😊
I can't tell you how big this song/single was. This and the album it was from blew open the doors to metal in the 1980s and the explosion of metal genres that followed. To be fair, fast/thrash metal already existed in the form of Motörhead (though they never called themselves that), and Venom started with growling and is considered early death metal. Maiden combined power with melody, great stories, superb musicians including incredible vocals.
Relax man it's just a story in the form of a song. The intro is a Bible verse, Revelation 13:18 ... which I don't think was written for Devil worship 🤣
With all the comments on the old school style of singing and how upbeat and non-agressive it sounded, please invite your 24 years old friend again and have him listen to and react to: Black Sabbath - Disturbing The Priest: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-J2riPeQpbQg.html Should teach him a small lesson about how you don´t have to growl like Amon Amarth and Lorna Shore to be intimidating. And also about what it sounds like when the Devil and his friends are throwing a party,- and you´re invited!
The bible talks about the coming of the end, does that make it evil? This is a dramatization of a place in time and space, not an attempt to bring it about. It's not atheist, either. Strange there's no attempt at all to hear it, but full attempt to judge. Pretty sus reaction all around.
In general christians say their god is merciful, forgiving and understanding....but would also punish you for no apparent reason. I mean BP is affraid of being send to hell....for looking up lyrics to a song...essentially for FACT CHECKING if a song IS EVEN about devil worship AT ALL. So is the christian god a merciful and understanding all mighty being....or a egotistical prick that would punish you for due diligence? Make a choice christians, cuz yall kinda make your god sound like a horrible dictator and not a loving father figure😂
I saw Iron Maiden for the first time in Dallas when the final frontier tour kicked off. It was the first show and Bruce had said they were going to play the number of the beast for the first time in 15 years……..legendary band for sure. Listen to time of the ancient mariner off the album powerslave and be prepared to be astounded!
One more thing, when i was 13, now i am 47, iron maiden came to argentina and the tv shows and the church said that this was a band that sings for the devil, against god, and in that moment i refuse to listen them, after they leave my country, i start to listen some songs and i loved that, is not a band about the devil, is a band that sings for a lot of different things, as for example alexander the great, a deja vu, russia, etc etc etc, this band has a lot of studio cds and i thing that few songs sings about the devil but the idea is not to force you to hail the devil, is just a song about the devil, (the first part was taken from the holy bible) there are other songs that are more about historical events, like the trooper, other from normal things like the "fear of the dark", obviously is your reaction but if, for one song, you thing that this band is about the devil, you're wrong. The last thing, please take a look to the lyrics and check the long of them, there are usually songs whith more of 10 minutes and a lot of lyrics... is not common on the new bands... ups the irons!
Please when you say you are approaching this music and these songs with an open mind be true to your word and show it, say you haven’t done your research about the song and you wouldn’t judge it before you know it’s meaning. This song is basically about a dream. Plus 666 the number of the beast is mentioned in the Bible book of Revelation chapter 13 it is the last thing mentioned in that chapter, so sir if you have ever read the Bible you would’ve came across it , the devil, and satan and you would’ve came across chapter 13 of the book of revelation which is far far faaaaaar more scary than what is mentioned in this song.
@@eliaramirez2868the song is influenced by the movie Damien Omen 2 but the band could’ve probably had this dream after reading the book of revelation easily 😂
there s no satanic issue with the song. Just read the lyrics as they had expressed it millions times before. btw the young kid had no idea of how maiden sounds
