The Number of the Beast

Iron Maiden's "Number of the Beast" album came out sometime in the 80s.  I'm guessing 1980, but I might be off by a year.

This was the album that got me liking Metal.  Up until that point, I had been a devotee of Rush and the Beastie Boys.  Rush was something weird that I liked for my own reasons.  The Beastie Boys I liked because my classmates were into them.  For the same reason, I also owned the Top Gun Soundtrack and other 80s hits.

But it wasn't until I heard Iron Maiden that I was really, truly hooked on something.  This was sometime in middle school, long after the album first came out.  I remember I was listening to KISW's "Metal Shop" program, and that was the first time I heard "Number of the Beast."

Needless to say, I was floored.  I didn't know that anything could sound so cool and so evil at the same time.  I also suspected that my parents wouldn't want me listening to this kind of music, a suspicion which only enhanced my devotion to this band.

I don't listen to Maiden as much as I used to, but I still think "Number of the Beast" is a great album.  Yes, Iron Maiden are, at times, one of the most pretentious bands in the history of metal, and yes, they've haven't really progressed musically since the 80s, but this takes nothing away from their classic albums.  Everything from "Number of the Beast" to "Seventh Son of a Seventh Son" was great, even if their later output was a bit uninspired.

And amazingly enough, this band is still together, still touring, and still putting out albums.  I have their most recent on MP3, and it's not bad.  Of course it's not half as good as "Number of the Beast," but how many albums are?