Number of the Beast Another classic. Loved this from the moment I first heard it. The spoken intro sets the tone perfectly - I have these words tattooed on my arm. The time signature is a little different to standard Maiden and that makes it all the more interesting. All five members are firing on all cylinders here: Bruce's amazing scream at the start, Murray and Smith both do blazing solos, Harris is excellent under Smith's solo then gets a little Bass solo of his own! Clive is tight as ever all the way through. My only complaints (and they are small) - the intro Bass riff makes me think of 'Oh when the saints come marching in' EVERY TIME! Second, when it comes to playing this one live Murray always seems to sustain one note for about 25% of his solo, which seems a bit lazy to me. Should have been the album opener, but then maybe it might have felt like a downhill ride from there? BTW the video was filmed at Newcastle City Hall where I first saw Maiden.
22 Acacia Avenue : The first time I heard this, I was taken aback by some of the lyrics then I realized that the Bruce is taking on two different characters. In the first part, he is singing from the perspective of one of the customers hence the rather disturbing lyrics at the 3:23 nark. In the second part, Bruce takes on the role of a concerned friend or family member is pleading with Charlotte to get her life together. The Number Of The Beast : I could be wrong about this but I interpret the first couple of verses to be about a guy who witnesses a Satanic ritual from a distance and is scared by what he is seeing ("This can't go on. I must inform the law.") The final lyric seems to be from the viewpoint from one of the participants.
Run To the Hills: We now come to the first single and arguably the most iconic track on this album, Run To the Hills, written about the Europeans' arrival in the New World and the subsequent conflict between them and the Native Americans. The first verse is told from the Cree's POV, while the rest of the song is from the settlers'. The cover of the single depicts a Native American with an axe fighting the Devil in Hell, which when combined with the lyrics caused controversy as some felt the band was trying to imply the settlers were devils. The song was re released as a single twice: first in 1985 as a live version, and second in 2002 to raise money for Clive's MS treatment. And speaking of Clive, he kicks off the song with this cool little drum beat, and the other three players come in at :08, and Bruce at :16, and the way the band plays, it feels like this sort of tribal war ritual, a nice touch giving the POV they are speaking from, and Bruce has this great sense of exhaustion and will power in his vocal delivery during this verse, whereas once the band goes into the settlers' POV at :50, the band really lets loose, where the war turns into a Curb Stomp battle and the settlers wreck havoc upon the land, showing no mercy whatsoever. Murray launches into a solo at 2:12, and he is just ripping it up, and the gallop is ever present, but Clive keeps it fresh and never stagnant, and the scream Bruce delivers before the final chorus is excellent as is the one that closes out the song. This is an excellent song that is worthy of it's status as a classic!
Live After Death: This is a great version, this song really comes alive on stage, although I prefer the first verse on record
I prefer the studio version because of Clive's drumming, but Nicko holds his own when he performs it. Running Free, on the other hand, Clive destroys Nicko, IMO. I love the artwork on the Run To The Hills single, as well!
If there is one song that most people will know from Iron Maiden, its Run to the Hills. Arguably their most iconic song and I suppose for good reason. To me though, this song feels the same Sweet Child of Mine by Guns N Roses, not because they are similar in anyway (their not) but they are songs I've heard so many times that I dont looking to play them anymore. But! If they come on during a play of the album, or the Radio or on the ipod during a shuffle, I NEVER skip them. There is just something about the song, its catchy for a Heavy metal track and almost inviting to people to come and listen. The lyrics are really on point and grown up dealing with issue and giving an account from 2 PoVs. We also have that classic 'Maiden galloping bass from Steve Harris, which really kicks off in the second verse and goes hand in hand with the lyrics. I'd never say its a favourite song (although it falls in the top 10), but I know Run to the Hills is a classic, its THE song that sums up everything great about Iron Maiden in a song and its rightfully well thought of.
Being a Native American, this song has always offended me I kid. It’s a good song, but I’ve heard it too much. Still, a well crafted, fast paced tune. I kind of look at it as “The Trooper” younger brother. It’s certainly got that patented gallop down.
Yes. I’m Comanche. My mother is full blooded and my dad is a white guy. I guess I’d be called a “half breed"
I think there's atleast couple songs that have little similarity to the drums at the start of "Run To The Hills". Here's one of them, "Autonomy" by Buzzcocks: Can't remember what else I heard but this one caught my ear many years ago..
Im gonna mention it later if I happen to remember if there was some else song that had also similarity. Anyways, Im going to do my little review of "Run To The Hills" soon.
Run to the Hills What a fun one! Its so catchy even my dad likes it and he hates metal. This is one of the songs that pulled me into Maiden while listening to my friends mix cassette all those years ago. Being a western movie/book fan made the lyrics stand out to me. It also contains my favorite Bruce scream/drum roll as the song enters the final chorus' .One of Derek Riggs' best artwork efforts.
Great single, heard it a million times tho so overplays have lessened the appeal for me. I still realise its a great single tho, cant be disputed.
Run to the Hills Another song with a signature Clive Burr drum beat. Oh, let's say drum BEATS because he's playing excellent stuff throughout this song. I love Bruce's anger and sadness in the first part. I wish there was more to this side of the story than just 45 seconds or so. Still, its brevity sells it. I'm glad this song isn't longer than 4 minutes. It's a perfect little slice of metal with a really, really catchy chorus. You can't help but sing along. Running Free and Wrathchild had good choruses, NOB has a really good one, but this is the first chorus in the Maiden catalog that get everyone off their seats and screaming the lyrics. Run to the Hills is quintessential Maiden. I've heard it what feels like a million times and I'll always sing along when they play it. It's their first true classic song. As far as the individual parts go, I've already mentioned Clive and he rules. Adrian holds down the fort. Dave does a great high-flying solo and the fast bit immediately following is great, both for Steve's finger-fest and Bruce's epic scream. Oh yeah, and he's got another epic scream at the end of the song. Classic song, I love it. What a perfect single and absolutely tailor-made for America.
"Run To The Hills", the song starts with very unique and even a bit strange feeling drum beat provided by Clive. His playing is just great and inspiring in the whole song here. It's actually so catchy that you just can't not get moved by it. It's very interesting to see and hear how this song is played on the drums. Anyways, as the band joins to the run, you can't miss that steady galloping sound that easily describes the soldiers fighting and taking down the Native Americans, as the song is based on the Europeans invading and colonising New World and America. I think this is one of the best examples of the songs where Maiden has succeeded in doing very big and catchy chorus. You can't escape the song, it just makes sing along to it. I have always enjoyed this on the album but also in the many concerts I've seen through the years, it works. Bruce sings this just perfect on the album and the ending scream is truly amazing, just when you thought he had reached the highpoint, he just goes even higher. Even if he had some problems with those high notes on some late 80's shows sometimes, he has taken good care of his voice through the years. As for what I've heard him sing live, he has healed, taken care and even made his voice to be in better shape. Ok and very ripping solo from Dave here and also I really like that fast bass-fingering that Steve does after the solo. Classic song and I love this one. This was made for the arenas and stadiums full of fans.
During the Piece of Mind tour Bruce would often refer to it as "a little disco number" as soon as the drums kicked in. haha
