After a successful follow-up to the launch of their debut album, Killers proved to be the pinnacle of Iron Maiden‘s career with vocalist Paul Di’Anno. Yet, this would also be the end of the beginning for the original line-up of the band.
Di’Anno left Maiden after their first world tour and unfortunately during the start of their public breakthrough. However, the remaining four members had already found another singer before his departure.
Bruce Dickinson was hired after an inessential audition and soon after played a few shows in Italy and England, where he performed Children Of The Damned and 22 Acacia Avenue, tracks from their soon-to-be next release.
The Number Of The Beast launched on March 22, 1982 and propelled Maiden to new heights, making full use of the new and different singing style of Dickinson. Although the songwriting was completely unlike the material from the band’s previous records, Dickinson actually had little to no contribution on his first effort with his new band mates due to contract regulations from his last band, Samson.
Despite the vocalist’s lack of input, bassist Steve Harris was eager to test the capacity of Dickinson’s voice and write music built around this disparate standard. In doing so, Maiden‘s new-found song structures became more melodic yet heavier and more efficiently produced in comparison to the Di’Anno era with higher notes and more hard-hitting rhythm tracks.
The title track goes down as one of the greatest heavy metal tunes of all time. Opening with a quote from Vincent Price, revealing the human symbol of Satan, it quickly escalates from a soft-spoken intro into a galloping anthem.
Hallowed Be Thy Name is another standout number from the instrumental pauses between the chorus to the three-way exchanged guitar solos.
Maiden also became a a leading figure in the NWOBHM. Their unique and orderly fashion turned heads for the first time in both the UK as well as the US heavy metal scene. Beforehand, the foreign competition making it in America was Judas Priest, who had a string of successful LPs following the 80’s.
After the departure of Di’Anno, it appeared Maiden had fallen apart right when they seemed to have gotten their first glimpse of fame, but no one could’ve expected a front man like Dickinson. He gave the band a new dynamic that complimented the rhythm section far beyond their natural state. Harris’s lyrics also left a tremendous impact on the overall material, from telling nightmarish visions of hell to an elaborate breakdown of a man being sentenced to death.
Maiden grew into a vast phenomenon in ’82, marking their first number one album on the UK chart and establishing the beginning of a new age for the band, which would go on to sell multi-platinum records and fill countless arenas with one of the most loyal fan bases in music history.
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