Iron Maiden Song By Song Thread

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Zoot Marimba, Nov 8, 2017.

  1. The Number Of The Beast.
    Just like Priest's Living After Midnight, AC/DC's Highway To Hell....(fill in band and song as per etc...) I've probably heard this track more times than I care to remember.
    I know at the time some fans thought it was a bit of a cop out releasing this....never really understood why myself.
    The main thing for me is Dave Murray's solo. Blisteringly wonderful...and really a good example of his style.
    A staple.
     
  2. Cheevyjames

    Cheevyjames Forum Resident

    Location:
    Graham, NC
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  3. StuJM84

    StuJM84 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Kent, UK
    Another Top track, and a fantastic one live too, with plenty for the crowd to get involved in on the participation terms.

    Certainly to my mind, one of the "Big 3" songs Maiden have done, its got everything that defines their sound. Great music, the bass libe and drums and memorable vocals. Great stuff.
     
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  4. Zoot Marimba

    Zoot Marimba And I’m The Critic Of The Group Thread Starter

    Location:
    Savannah, Georgia
  5. Smokin Chains

    Smokin Chains Forum Resident

    Location:
    Nashua, NH
    That's one awesome video right there
     
  6. Cheevyjames

    Cheevyjames Forum Resident

    Location:
    Graham, NC
    The Number of the Beast

    That scream! Bruce's epic scream at the beginning came after 4 hours of Martin Birch making Bruce sing the intro lines over and over and over and over. 4 hours, just to get the mood right! I love the flanger effect on Dave's (I assume) guitar in the intro, gives a great eerie quality. It's really interesting how the band mostly just rides that D chord for the verses; kind of unexpected for them to do something so simple. Bruce's vocal is just fantastic for the whole song. Yeah, he sounds like he's happy to narrate this Satanic ritual. Cool middle section gives us some good playing from Steve and a classic Dave solo. I love the change after Dave's solo - we have the run where Steve doubles the guitars and then he gets a lot busier under Adrian's solo, and finishing with the really high run and super fast playing. LOVE IT.

    When I first heard this song as a kid, I thought Bruce kept singing "sex, sex sex". I didn't get why it was supposed to be scary!

    As for the video...they just couldn't help themselves from making the corniest thing possible, could they? I mean, Wolfman in the intro? I love the use of the dude in the goat mask, that looks like some serious stuff. But then you get other horror creatures (godzilla!) and the friggin' DANCERS!?! And holding up the signs? Finally we get Eddie himself on stage. At least Maiden didn't take themselves too seriously. The video is awesomely hilarious.
     
  7. Cheevyjames

    Cheevyjames Forum Resident

    Location:
    Graham, NC
    I know! So frustrating. I already own the DVD so I'm not going to pay to watch it again. I just wanted to share it with the gang. I'm glad daily motion has it.
     
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  8. superstar19

    superstar19 Authentic By Nature

    Location:
    Canton, MI, USA
    The Number Of The Beast

    Definitely an all timer for me. Love this song whether it's the studio or any live version. Not sure if this is one of those songs that they ALWAYS play live, but when I finally saw them live on Book Of Souls last year, I was thrilled to hear this. For me it is like an anthem. Raise that arm and bang the head with the chorus. All is right in life when those kind of songs get played. Kinda like Badlands by Springsteen, Corduroy by Pearl Jam, the closing in One by Metallica to give examples of a few bands I've seen multiple times over the years and songs I never get tired of seeing live.
     
  9. Standoffish

    Standoffish Smarter than a turkey

    Location:
    North Carolina
    The Number of the Beast

    This is that music the preachers warned me about when I was a kid...:eek:...so, of course I loved it right away. :D

    For years I thought that was Vincent Price in the intro. Nice voice work by the actor, that sets the mood and tells us we're in for something epic. (Also, proof that a song doesn't have to be 9 minutes long to be epic).

    Ah, Bruce...he owns this song. The vocals build up the tension until we get the Air Raid Siren, and then the song starts running. The rest of the band are no slouches, of course. A song deserving of the title "classic".
     
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  10. *Zod*

    *Zod* Forum Resident

    Location:
    New England
    8 Bit Version

     
  11. Cheevyjames

    Cheevyjames Forum Resident

    Location:
    Graham, NC
    AMAZING!! Makes me want to play some old NES games.
     
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  12. RichC

    RichC Forum Resident

    Location:
    Charlotte, NC
    Perfect track. One of my five favorite Maiden songs ever (along with Rime of the Ancient Mariner, and.... 3 others I'll have to decide on).
    For a band who basically helped create progressive metal, Maiden rarely ventured into odd time signatures. Most often they preferred to string together several different parts in different tempos to create their epics, but all those parts would still be in 4/4 (or sometimes 6/8). So the switch between 4/4 and 6/4 in the NOTB verse is highly effective, and keeps the listener feeling "uneasy" throughout. It's probably also the reason they were able to get away with hanging on the D for the bulk of said verse.

    Random trivia: This is one of two Maiden tracks named after a Robert Heinlein novel. What's the other one? (Hint: It's a far more popular Heinlein book...)
     
  13. The Slug Man

    The Slug Man Forum Resident

    Location:
    North Carolina
    re: Heinlein: Stranger In A Strange Land :winkgrin:

    NUMBER OF THE BEAST

    So we didn't make it to page 666 in time for this tune. But naturally, if we get to that point, we will need to revisit this song on that day.

    Another Maiden classic. Probably in my Maiden top 15. I remember the old tab book was so incredibly wrong on how to play the intro. A few years later one of the guitar magazines transcribed it the right way and was like "duh!" Although to play it cleanly and accurately at the right tempo makes for a good picking exercise. And of course the epic "scream." If the band had gone down in a plane crash right after the album's release, we would still be seeing Dickinson's scream on this song being listed on all the tabulations of "best metal scream ever." We'd all be like, "Man, it would've been awesome to see what he could have done in the future."

    I seem to remember from the Early Years DVD that the song's theme was inspired by the Tam O'Shanter (sp?), which I'm not familiar with.

    In the misheard lyrics department, this is how I thought certain parts of the song went:

    I lived alone [or "I lived to know"], my mind was blank...

    Were the reflections of my woman staring back at me...

    Hell and fire was sworn to be released [or "going to be released"]

    This can't go on, I must inform The Lord...

    But I feel drawn towards the chanting horse [or "whores!"]
     
  14. MusicMatt

    MusicMatt Quality over Quantity

    Location:
    California, U.S.A.
    Haha I still sing those same lyrics!
     
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  15. I used to think it was:

    Were the reflections of my walkman staring back at me...
     
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  16. Zoot Marimba

    Zoot Marimba And I’m The Critic Of The Group Thread Starter

    Location:
    Savannah, Georgia
    Live after Death:

    Good version, really good version, but I'll stick with the studio version
     
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  17. Zoot Marimba

    Zoot Marimba And I’m The Critic Of The Group Thread Starter

    Location:
    Savannah, Georgia
    Live After Death version of Children of the Damned:

    Again, solid, but I'll still take the studio version, although Bruce is great on the version
     
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  18. Zoot Marimba

    Zoot Marimba And I’m The Critic Of The Group Thread Starter

    Location:
    Savannah, Georgia
    Flight 666:
     
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  19. MusicMatt

    MusicMatt Quality over Quantity

    Location:
    California, U.S.A.
    The thing about the LAD version that makes it a classic is from then on, everyone waits to hear if Bruce is going to alter the lyrics to have their city F'ing burn!
     
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  20. GodShifter

    GodShifter Forum Member

    Location:
    Dallas, TX, USA
    “Starship Trooper(s)”? :D

    Yeah, it is “Stranger in a Strange Land”.
     
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  21. Holy Diver

    Holy Diver Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    I love TNOTB. For me, it may be Maiden's overall best song. The whole band sounds so powerful on it. Great intro, and I love the first solo with Dave. Maybe my favorite from him. The video is cool, too. I wouldn't change a thing with any of it.
     
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  22. Maidenpriest

    Maidenpriest Setting the controls for the heart of the sun :)

    Location:
    Europe
    Distinct styles, I guess if you have been there from the beginning it is obvious. Dave is Hendrix like, Smith is Bluesy and Janick is all over the place !! :)
     
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  23. Cheevyjames

    Cheevyjames Forum Resident

    Location:
    Graham, NC
    Between Live After Death, Maiden England and the videos I was able to figure out Dave & Adrian's individual styles. Many, many hours of studying. Once Janick came along it was easy to pick him out (hint: he sounds sloppy, even if he isn't).

    One of my favorite things in getting each new album is combing through the guitar solos to figure out who played what.
     
  24. SammyJoe

    SammyJoe Up The Irons!

    Location:
    Finland
    "The Number Of The Beast", this is one of the most important songs for me personally and true classic. For me this is pure perfection still after all those years.
    I have always liked the backstory of the recording of the vocals as Bruce did those many takes without satisfying result, but Birch just pushed him further and result was the epic scream you here on the album-version.
    What an awesome performance from Bruce and epic scream, that's the trademark of "The Air Raid Siren" we know. I think the scream is still so chilling and haunting.
    Now even listening and thinking it and the song, I just never get tired or old about. There's something really magical here and Bruce is truly on top of the game, none really challenged him.
    I think the whole introduction (with the opening speech) is fitting and works the way it should, then comes the Dave's riff with the effect (is it flanger, phaser or what?) and Bruce starts the first lines.
    Harris' bass is creating such eerie atmosphere. The basslines that Harris does here work just perfectly for the song, they serve the purpose fully and it's a true showing of the skills, presence and intelligence there.
    Have to mention that great atmospheric solo from Dave and Clive delivers great drumming. All in all, the performances are what the song needs and they masterfully do it all.

    I always remember how I first heard these songs and lines back in the day, and of course I had to learn how to play it on guitar, eventually I got it but it took time then.
    The song is classic, it's clever song that has all the needed ingredients really: catchy riffs, clever lyrics, awesome performance from Bruce, the musicians masterful playing and that little amount of needed controversy.
    What's maybe a bit surprising is that in the end this song ain't too complex or epic compared to their catalogue, it's more of straightforward and there's even some light and happiness going in the riffs and passages.
    Also I have to mention some little memory concerning this album, it was in some late 80's summer, were were spending weekend at the cottage by lake, it was some cottage that my friends parents owned or had hired, anyways, as me and my friend were having fun and exlopring the neighbourhood, we found some abandoned car. It was rusty and a bit wrecked, we looked in and I had to open the glove compartment.
    Guess what I found from there? Music-cassette of "The Number Of The Beast"...

    I have to confess, that sometimes it's a bit hard to describe or even comment some of the stuff that Maiden has done, it's so close to me and I have just always been so touched by.
     
  25. Psychedelic Good Trip

    Psychedelic Good Trip Beautiful Psychedelic Colors Everywhere

    Location:
    New York
    I'm sure many have seen this, just wanted to share it anyway.



     
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