Iron Maiden - The Number Of The Beast

[irock]

"Woe to you, Oh Earth and Sea, for the Devil sends the beast with wrath, because he knows the time is short... Let him who hath understanding reckon the number of the beast for it is a human number, its number is Six hundred and sixty six."[/i]  (see Revelation 13)

Guess I've been on something of an IM kick lately, I don't know why.  But 6-6-06 is tomorrow, and surely we can't let that date pass without mentioning this relatively early track from what I believe is probably the best of the 80s heavy metal bands.  I mentioned the reasons I like them in the last IM thread, but one thing I forgot to give credit to was Bruce Dickenson's superb vocals.

This is not my favorite IM track but it's still excellent and, with tomorrow's date in mind, we could say that its time (at least for a thread and maybe a spin if you have a copy) has come.

EDIT: I don't know why I put 'IR' where I should have put 'IM'. It's changed now.

[irock]

I thought a bit more about this song and began remembering things I'd forgotten a long time ago.  The memories fit so well with a few other topics we've been discussing in various lounge threads that I wanted to come back here and put it all down.

When The Number Of The Beast was popular religious fundamentalists went nuts over it.  They thought the song's lyrics - which have to do with an occult dream and feature direct quotes from the book of Revelation - meant that Iron Maiden were devil worshipers.  It's hard to imagine the depth of ignorance behind such nonsense, but I swear to you it's true.

Those idiots actually went so far as to play the record backward looking for hidden messages, just as they had done years earlier with some of the Beatles music.  As a sort of perverted tribute to them, the (I think) next IM album featured real satanic messages when played in reverse.

I remember cranking this song up loud (no subwoofer, but I had a 200watt Pioneer system with Jensen triax speakers, a setup that kicked ass in those days) in my old 1972 gold VW SuperBeetle.  I'd have the windows down and the sunroof open and I'd be in heaven, which isn't bad when you consider I was worshipping the devil! (apparently)

[Nick]

I always thought the intro was scary! LOL.

I liked this.

[greenxmetallic2009]

hey, i heard this song on the 666 radio station on launch today! it was kewl.

[jimmy74747]

I heard this on the radio this morning. WRKI played it. I'm not a big Maiden fan, but I can tolerate this.

[unicorns]

OH. MY. GOD.

I FREAKIN' LOVE THIS SONG. My favorite from them! I love the guitars in this. <3