Number Of the Beast
Genre: Heavy Metal
Released: 1983
Position In Discography: Third album
I already miss the other singer. I am not impressed by anything until the chorus for “Children Of the Damned” which has a cool riff. Nothing else grabs me about that song, or the prior track. Ah, MUCH better. A heavy riff and beat plays for an extended amount of time at the beginning of “The Prisoner.” I was almost concerned that I was not going to like this album.
I spoke too soon.
I am not a fan of Bruce's voice. He is the classic operatic metal singer, and I have mostly bad things to say about those kinds of singers. This album better not be a Time Does Not Heal, otherwise, I may be done listening to Maiden. Again, heavy riffing plays at the beginning of “22 Acacia Avenue,” but the riffing disappears and we are left with Bruce running the show again. What happened to the extended instrumental portions on songs from the prior albums? This is like all singing, which I do not have a problem with, except I do not like Bruce’s voice much.
This album is rapidly approaching the realm of torturous. The title track is playing, and there does not seem to be much hope in sight. I pretty much hate songs that have spoken word samples at any point in the song, that is probably my #1 pet peeve in music, and this album has already done it twice!
That’s it! I can’t take it anymore. I am done with Iron Maiden for now. Bruce’s voice is grating and I find the song writing on this album to be severely lacking compared to the prior album. I am not going to rate this album because I only rate albums I have fully listened to, but this is easily the worst of Maiden’s first three for me.