The Number of the Beast (song)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| "The Number of the Beast" | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
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| Single by Iron Maiden | ||
| from the album The Number of the Beast | ||
| Released | April 26 1982 | |
| Format | vinyl record (7") (12") | |
| Recorded | 1982 | |
| Genre | Heavy metal | |
| Length | 4:49 | |
| Label | EMI | |
| Writer(s) | Steve Harris | |
| Chart positions | ||
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| Iron Maiden singles chronology | ||
| "Run to the Hills" (1982) |
"The Number of the Beast" (1982) |
"Flight of Icarus" (1983) |
"The Number of the Beast" was the second single from Iron Maiden's 1982 album of the same name. The song is inspired by a nightmare bandleader and bassist Steve Harris had after watching the movie "Damien: Omen II". "The Number of The Beast" is one of Iron Maiden's greatest hits, and is almost always performed during concert. It reached 18 in the UK charts. The track is known for a fairly high-pitched scream by Bruce Dickinson at the end of the intro. In the documentary on the album of the same name, as part of the Classic Albums series by the BBC, Dickinson said this was due to producer Martin Birch forcing Bruce to sing the first four lines for several hours, over and over again. The frustration of this culminated in this scream, the pitch of which Dickinson has not managed to re-create live since the early days.
The band had asked the famous horror films actor Vincent Price to read the intro text. However, according to Bruce, Price refused to do it for anything less than £25,000. They had heard of someone who reads ghost stories at the Capitol radio station and got him to do it. The man was a theatre actor who had no interest in Maiden, but they asked him to put on a Vincent Price kind of voice.
The original b-side - "Remember Tomorrow (live)" - was not a 'true' live recording of the song as is advertised, i.e. with Bruce Dickinson. The b-side featured "Remember Tomorrow" as recorded live by the band with Paul Di'Anno for the live EP, Maiden Japan, with Bruce Dickinson's vocals overdubbed onto the track.
The song made it in at #7 on VH1's 40 Greatest Metal Songs.
In January 2005, a new and updated version was released. It features live video renditions of "Number of the Beast" and "Hallowed Be Thy Name" that have never been officially released before.
It has since been covered by Iced Earth, Saints in Hell and Zwan, whose version was used for the soundtrack of the cult film Spun.
This song was featured on the Playstation 2 game Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4
[edit] Track listing
- "The Number of the Beast"
- "Remember Tomorrow (live)"
[edit] 2005 track listing
- "The Number of the Beast"
- "The Number of the Beast (live)"
- "Hallowed Be Thy Name (live)"
[edit] Credits
- Bruce Dickinson = vocals
- Dave Murray = guitar
- Adrian Smith = guitar, backing vocals
- Steve Harris = bass guitar, backing vocals
- Clive Burr = drums
