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Album dossier / 1982

The Number of the Beast

Iron Maiden · Heavy Metal/NWOBHM

Recorded in just over a month at London's Battery Studios with producer Martin Birch, this was Bruce Dickinson's first album after replacing Paul Di'Anno, and its opening track famously took four hours to write the spoken intro alone before Dickinson delivered his now-iconic scream. Released March 22, 1982, it shot straight to #1 in the UK and became Iron Maiden's US breakthrough (#33, their first Top 40), even as 'Run to the Hills' and the title track's satanic imagery drew protests from American moral-majority groups who, as bassist Steve Harris noted, 'obviously hadn't read the lyrics.' The album's front-cover Eddie-vs-Devil artwork was originally created for a Paul Di'Anno-era single before being repurposed once Harris wrote the title song, and 'Total Eclipse' was bumped to a B-side in favor of 'Gangland' - a decision the band later called a regret. Producer Birch called it a career-transforming record with 'all the magical ingredients: feel, ideas, energy, execution.'