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IRON MAIDEN – THE NUMBER OF THE BEAST (DVD)
'CLASSIC ALBUMS' SERIES
2001 Eagle Eye Media
1982 saw the release of Iron Maiden's classic album THE NUMBER OF THE BEAST. It was the band's first album with Bruce Dickinson singing for them. Of course, he is a much better singer than Paul DiAnno and took the band to superstar status after he joined. This DVD chronicles the making of that classic album. They take each song and break down how they composed it and wrote it. Well, they don't get too much into the detail but they give you some interesting tidbits, like how they got permission to use Patrick McGowan's voice on the intro to "The Prisoner." And they talk a little about the odd occurrence of the number 666 surrounding the recordings.

There is no narrator on the DVD, just members of the band talking about the songs. Producer Martin Birch and manager Rod Smallwood both contribute a great number of details and talk about the album and songs. The songs they cover are "The Number of the Beast," "22 Acacia Avenue," "The Prisoner," "Run To The Hills," "Children of the Damned" and "Hallowed Be Thy Name." They left out "Gangland" and "Invaders." Neither song is mentioned at all. That's my only complaint, really. The album only has eight songs, why not talk about them all, if it's a "classic album?" One cool aspect of the DVD is that Adrian Smith sits down and performs the intro to the six covered songs on guitar for the viewer after they talk about it. Kind of cool to see how it is played exactly.

This DVD runs about 48 minutes plus an additional 30 minutes or so of 'bonus material.' Pretty short if you ask me. But there is a hidden gem on the DVD that is almost worth the price alone, Iron Maiden performing "Hallowed Be Thy Name" in Rio during their 2001 tour. This is a preview of the forthcoming DVD for that tour. The sound quality is great on this song, better than most live stuff I've heard. I can't tell if it's been touched up in the studio very much, but I like it.

There are a few comments added by Megadeth's Dave Mustaine and photographer Ross Halfin, among others. This is the first DVD I've purchased in the "Classic Albums" series. There's also one for Judas Priest's BRITISH STEEL that I've yet to find. Overall, I would recommend this DVD for diehard Iron Maiden fans only.

Click here for Link to the Iron Maiden Homepage