Number of the Beast Iron Maiden's most overhyped album.

S.D. wrote:

Cool.  Thanks.  Back in the 80s I always thought it was a stupid expression, makes more sense knowing the context.  

I didn't know where it came from back in the 80's..... pretty cool though. Hell, Harris had the west ham logo painted on his bass.

I can't help but feel Powerslave is Maiden's most "overrated" album. The first half is good but for some reason I always get bored during the second half. I've never understood the huge love people have for Rime of the Ancient Mariner either.


My personal favorites are Seventh Son of a Seventh Son and Virtual IX.
Somewhere in Time comes close as my third favorite.

Rami Airola wrote:

I can't help but feel Powerslave is Maiden's most "overrated" album. The first half is good but for some reason I always get bored during the second half. I've never understood the huge love people have for Rime of the Ancient Mariner either.

I strongly disagree.

Flash of the Blade, the Duellists and Back in the Village are all great songs, and among my personal favourites. Mariner and Powerslave are classics. In fact the only bad song on the album is Losfer Words, and that's on the first half of the record anyway...

Rami Airola wrote:

I can't help but feel Powerslave is Maiden's most "overrated" album. The first half is good but for some reason I always get bored during the second half. I've never understood the huge love people have for Rime of the Ancient Mariner either.


My personal favorites are Seventh Son of a Seventh Son and Virtual IX.
Somewhere in Time comes close as my third favorite.

The second side was the first side I heard. I got Powerslave on used cassette and it was rewound to the second side. When I heard the intro to "Back In The Village", I was instantly hooked. I can see where "Flash Of The Blade" and "The Duellists" might be considered weaker tracks, though. The intro to "Flash" is so cool, when the vocals kick in, it's a bit of a let-down. "Powerslave" and "Rime...", though, are classics, the former being maybe my favorite Maiden track (top 5, at least).

Agree with Seventh Son and Somewhere In Time. Two of my favorites. I've never heard Virtual IX.

I don't know but when you look up "progressive" in the dictionary, the definition pretty much applies to Maiden. Comparing where they are musically today to back then and the term fits.

I guess I'm not "cool" enough for my opinion to supersede grammar and diction, but what the hell

Maiden was my favorite band in 1980, but I was "bored" and moved on after "Somewhere In Time" They never reeled me back in to that place again, or even close.

After 1990 (IMHDO), fellow British metal band Saxon has been blowing them out of the water. That of course only applies to music on albums. Maiden pretty much blows most bands out of the water when it comes to stage production. I also give them tons of credit for mixing it up tour to tour.

As to the question at hand, "Number Of The Beast" has never been "overhyped" from a music standpoint. I can say its more of a debate when you factor in the artwork on the album cover. I've seen a lot of hipster mall rats sporting one sided Hot Topic "Number Of The Beast" shirts and I'd wager the songs were oblivious to most.

Leo gave me some love and sent a handful of recent Maiden shows, they rocked. They were different than the Maiden shows I remember and perhaps that is the road block for me ? As far as Maiden goes presently, I'd dig on an acoustic release of some sort. If the music is really there, it will transpose nicely in that format. (IMHDO) Plus be cool.

80s Metal Lady wrote:

When I heard the intro to "Back In The Village", I was instantly hooked. I can see where "Flash Of The Blade" and "The Duellists" might be considered weaker tracks, though. The intro to "Flash" is so cool, when the vocals kick in, it's a bit of a let-down. "Powerslave" and "Rime...", though, are classics, the former being maybe my favorite Maiden track (top 5, at least).

I agree, side 1 kinda goes a little downhill (just a little) with Flash & Duelists. Side 2, wouldn't change a thing. I almost always hafta hear Powerslave and Rime back to back. Legendary.

As for #/Beast: I love it but it might be a bit overhyped. I like the album before it (Killers) and the one after it (PoM) more.