The Number of the Beast is the third studio album by Iron Maiden. It was released on March 22, 1982 in the United Kingdom by EMI Records and in the United States by Harvest and Capitol Records. The album was their first to feature vocalist Bruce Dickinson and their last with drummer Clive Burr.
The Number of the Beast was met with critical and commercial success, and became the band’s first album to top the UK Albums Chart and reach the top 40 of the US Billboard 200. The album produced the singles “Run to the Hills” and “The Number of the Beast”, the former of which became the band’s first top-ten UK single. The album was also controversial, particularly in the United States, due to the religious references in its artwork and the title track’s lyrics. Since the release of The Number of the Beast, “The Beast” has become an alternate name for Iron Maiden and was later used in the titles of some of their compilations and live releases, including Best of the Beast and Visions of the Beast. As with all of Iron Maiden’s albums during the 1980s and early 1990s, the sleeve artwork was painted by Derek Riggs. The cover was originally created for the song “Purgatory”, but manager Rod Smallwood deemed it of too high a calibre for the release of a mere single, and decided to save it for The Number of the Beast. The original 1982 artwork includes a blue sky in the background; a mistake by the printers of the cover, this was corrected to black when the album was remastered for compact disc in 1998.
Tracklist:
Side One
- Invaders
- Children of the Damned
- The Prisoner
- 22 Acacia Avenue
Side Two
- The Number of the Beast
- Run to the Hills
- Gangland
- Hallowed Be Thy Name
Iron Maiden
Bruce Dickinson: vocals
Dave Murray: guitars
Adrian Smith: guitars
Steve Harris: bass
Clive Burr: drums
Additional Personnel
Barry Clayton: spoken word on “The Number of the Beast”
Production
Martin “Farmer” Birch: production, engineering
Nigel Hewitt-Green: engineering
Derek Riggs: illustration
Simon Fowler: photography
Ross Halfin: photography
Toshi Yajima: photography
Andre Csillag: photography
Bob Ellis: photography
P.G. Brunelli: photography
Rod Smallwood: management, photography
Simon Heyworth: remastering (1998 edition)
Denis O’Regan: photography (1998 edition)
George Chin: photography (1998 edition)
