According to the songs writer, bassist and band-founder Steve Harris, it was inspired by a nightmare he had after watching the film Damien: Omen II,[1] in addition to the poem Tam o Shanter by Robert Burns.[2] The song opens with a spoken word passage, read by English actor Barry Clayton,[3] which quotes Revelation 12:12 and Rev 13:18.[dubious – discuss] According to lead vocalist, Bruce Dickinson, the band originally asked Vincent Price to read the intro, but decided to hire Clayton after Price refused to do it for anything less than £25,000.[4] The track is known for its very long, high-pitched and guttural wail at the end of the intro, which AllMusic describes as the most blood-curdling Dickinson scream on record.[5] In the Classic Albums documentary based on The Number of the Beast album, Dickinson states that it came about through frustration with producer Martin Birch, who forced him to sing the introduction repeatedly for hours on end.[2] Single details[edit] The singles cover is the last of three singles to feature Riggs depiction of Satan, which debuted on the cover of the Purgatory single. The cover of The Number of the Beast is the aftermath to the cover of the Run to the Hills single where Eddie and Satan are depicted in battle. The single was also released in red vinyl. The live version of Remember Tomorrow was recorded during the Killer World Tour in Padua, Italy on 29 October 1981 with Bruce Dickinson on vocals. In 2005, to tie in with the 2004 DVD The History of Iron Maiden – Part 1: The Early Days, the The Number of the Beast was re-released, along with live versions of the song and Hallowed Be Thy Name, recorded in 2002.[6] Legacy[edit] The Number of the Beast is one of the bands most popular songs, appearing at No. 7 on VH1s 40 Greatest Metal Songs[7] and No. 6 in Martin Popoffs book The Top 500 Heavy Metal Songs of All Time, in the list was compiled from 15,000 votes submitted by musicians, music journalists and the general public.[8] Since its release, the song has been covered by Avulsed,[9] Iced Earth,[10] Sinergy,[11] Powderfinger,[12] Djali Zwan (whose version was used for the soundtrack of the cult film Spun),[13] The Iron Maidens[14] and many other bands. In addition, it was covered on a String Quartet Tribute to the band.[15] This song has featured in video games, such as Tony Hawks Pro Skater 4,[16] Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock,[17] and can be downloaded to Rock Band.[18] On top of this, it can be heard in the film Murder by Numbers.[19] Controversy[edit] In addition to the albums artwork and title, the song was a prominent target of religious groups in the United States who accused Iron Maiden of being a Satanic group.[5][20] The controversy led to organised burnings of the groups albums as well as several protests during their 1982 tour,[2][20] although this would only serve to give the band more publicity.[5][21] Steve Harris has since commented that the accusations made against them were mad. They completely got the wrong end of the stick. They obviously hadnt read the lyrics. They just wanted to believe all that rubbish about us being Satanists.[22] On their following album, Piece of Mind, the band placed a backmasked message at the beginning of the song Still Life, in which the bands drummer, Nicko McBrain, gives a drunken impression of Idi Amin.[23] According to McBrain, the message, in which he says Dont meddle wid tings yo dont understand, was directed at those who had labelled Iron Maiden as devil worshippers, commenting, We thought, if people were going to be stupid about this sort of thing, we might as well give them something to be really stupid about, you know?[23] On top of the accusations of Satanism, when The Number of the Beasts music video was first shown on MTV, Eddies appearance at the end was edited out after complaints from frightened viewers.[24]https://youtube/watch?v=jsmcDLDw9iw
Posted on: Mon, 13 Oct 2014 01:17:50 +0000
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