Review of Number of the Beast by Iron Maiden ***** An absolute classic anyway you look at it.

Some people don’t like metal, and I understand that.  However, if you are a true musician, then you will appreciate good music in any format.  So, shame on you if you are too snobby of a musician to not like Iron Maiden.  And, even if you are a historian, you should get this album because it is an important part of history.  It is a part of the making of a new genre of music, just like how classical music had fads.  However, what I’m saying is that though metal is a fad.  It is a fad that is here to stay, in the same way that classical music had fads, and yet we still enjoy songs of these fads that are even over 100yrs old.  These songs are well crafted, and catchy.  Some might criticize the style for being too repetitious.  However, in the case of Number of the Beast, the repetition is actually helpful.  The repetition helps make the music accessible to everyone.  Number of the Beast is an album for both the common Joe, and the superfinasicated classical snob.  If you look at the other music I review, you won’t find that I like many bands that have any repetition in a song.  Like punk, metal is essentially a form of the blues.  The marriage of new technology (at the time) and approach is awesome!  I’ll also add that Dream Theater’s version of this album (an official bootleg) where they played Number of the Beast in its entirety is also a really fun listen.  These songs are standards and will put food on the table of many cover bands.

Keywords:  classic metal albums, heavy metal, Iron Maiden, Number of the Beast