Original subtitles

foreign it was his first recording experience with his well-established semi-successful band but already Bruce Dickinson was at his Wit's End Bruce was brought in because of his powerful soaring operatic voice but was being forced to redo this one simple part over and over again and it wasn't even supposed to be anything challenging producer Martin Birch would hear the opening lines to this track and would tell Bruce no not good enough do it again one hour turned to two two turned to three I got so pissed off I was throwing chairs across the room and yet they were still stuck on this line in the end I was like what do you want ah you know Bruce didn't understand and was getting increasingly angry I wanted a certain atmosphere to be set up on those four lines finally by about the fourth hour Birch gave in and told Bruce they had got it what came next was the result of pure frustration and anger that had been boiling up in that vocal session and would end up being one of the most blood curdling and seminal screams ever recorded in music history foreign [Music] this accident wound up a part of the intro to one of the most iconic metal songs of all time Number of the Beast how many bands with a glimmer of success get even bigger when they replace the singer in art you don't want to mess with the secret sauce and if that secret sauce has you selling records you maintain course right well by 1981 the members of Iron Maiden had had enough of lead singer Paul diano's drug use a record contract two albums and worldwide tours weren't enough to keep the self-destructive front man around and he was soon fired from the band Iron Maiden didn't look too far for auditioning new singers they approached the front man of a band they had previously shared recording studios with called Samson the singer had this unique power and Technical ability to his voice and loads of Charisma his name was Bruce Dickinson and after a short audition the guys in Maiden knew they had found a perfect fit we know how good a [ __ ] Misty was it was just a question of whether he'd suit our material really Bruce coming in might just be able to go right we can just go where we want to go after a few shows and one long Infamous night at the pub chemistry was growing and it was time to hit the studio to record a new album bassist Steve Harris wrote the bulk of iron maiden's material at the time and for this upcoming record he really dove into ambitious epic themes drawn from horror and history as opposed to his punkish street style writing of the past Run to the Hills which would become the band's first top 10 Single in the UK and introduced the world to Dickinson's incredible voice dramatizes the conquest of the Native Americans from European settlers during the days of colonization what man came across the sea the song is written from both perspectives the Native American side during the first half and the Europeans in the second it's not only a great example of the band growing as songwriters but also flexing their chops on each of their instruments as the track blazes through in a speedy Tempo it gives you that kind of rolling feel that Galloping feel and you put the guitars in on that Steve Harris's right hand like this the whole time I showed an illusion I think Run to the Hills was this catchy Anthem sucking people in as the album's first single while also hitting on important historical themes of Injustice if its theme leaned more on History it was horror that encapsulated the title track of the album in the song Number of the Beast Steve Harris was inspired by a nightmare he had after watching the horror movie Damien Omen II the narrator in the track describes being confused in this nightmare seeing dark figures watching him and moving in the misty fiery depths of hell I've had a lot of Chinese little nightmares over the years and that was one of them and it was just at the Twister That was supposed to be that you know you're not supposed to be sure what's real what's not real by the end the main character is unsure of this nightmare is just in his head or if he's actually become possessed upon the album's release the lyrical content and cover depicting the band's mascot Eddie controlling Satan like a puppet attracted a lot of controversy especially in the U.S Christian groups would protest concerts on the tour accusing the band of devil worship and would host public burnings of the lp yet the extra publicity only seemed to increase sales and capture the attention of young metal heads worldwide perhaps the most celebrated Epic from their catalog also featured some of Steve Harris's most philosophical lyrics and the fan favorite Hallowed be thy name it's the reflection of a prisoner on the day as death sentence is to be carried out the man is contemplating what will happen to him in the afterlife [Music] try and put yourself in a situation of how you would feel if you was in that situation oh if you were at any sort of faith in any kind in anything whatsoever whether it be religion or whatever you believed in would your faith desert you at this point of time that you needed it most some call it the definitive Maiden song every section building upon itself over an epic seven minutes it provides a great sense of finality as it closes the album as the last track it's also a great Showcase of one of iron maiden's trademarks the twin guitars playing off each other Davey Adrian I'm tracked to stick you with like a fuller with [Music] Number of the Beast was released in March of 1982 and would become the band's first to top the UK albums chart it has since sold more than 20 million records across the world and is regarded as one of the most important metal albums of all time throughout the album there are definitely morbid subject matters some are gory just for the sake of being gory but there's no denying that with Number of the Beast as an album Iron Maiden solidified themselves as being great storytellers too speed and soaring guitars were already elements of the band from before but Number of the Beast was the first instance in which they adopted a pure metal sound something they would go on to make famous it sounded completely new people have never really heard anything like it before joining together something that was really melodic with something that was really like ah at the time number of the beasts represented a high water mark for the heavy metal genre it struck a balance between accessible melodicism and challenging intensity even 40 plus years later the operatic nature of the songs the tight performances never mind Bruce's incredible voice has held up remarkably it was a big gamble replacing their proven front man with this 20 year old kid it was a Gamble and pivoting their sound away from that punky Edge but it was all these gambles that helped turn Iron Maiden from a cog in the new wave of British heavy metal genre into one of the most important metal bands of all time [Music]