Classic Albums – Iron Maiden: Number Of The Beast
Netflix Streaming
DVD
Directed by Tim Kirby
Starring EDDIE, Bruce Dickinson, Dave Murray, Adrian Smith, Steve Harris, Clive Burr, Martin Birch, Rod Smallwood, Nicko McBrain, Ross Halfin
Isis Productions/Eagle Vision
Originally Released: December 4, 2001

When Netflix added nearly all of the Classic Albums series to their streaming collection last week, it was inevitable that I would draw attention to the series in this review. The big question for me was: which Classic Albums episode do I review? Being a music geek, and especially (first and foremost) a Metal Head, the choice was incredibly tough. With bands such as Metallica, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Motörhead, Rush, and many more among the features now online, it took me a while before I settled on a title.

Favorably rated as one of the most memorable and cornerstone albums in Metal history, Iron Maiden: The Number Of The Beast now seems, in retrospect, the appropriate selection for this review. The band is frequently cited as one of the fundamental acts that bolstered the genre of metal, having blasted onto the scene among the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal – and they continue onwards to this day, renewing their legacy with new releases that strengthen their music identity.

The official website for Gibson guitars has released what they perceive to be the top 50 metal songs of all time. Gibson.com’s writers and editors worked on compiling the list over several weeks, releasing 10 entries at a time, and recently released the top 10, which declared the number one metal song to be “Master of Puppets” by Metallica.

In some ways, the number one spot for Metallica is fitting, considering 2011 is the 25th anniversary of the release of their Master of Puppets album. Having said that though, metalheads are notorious for having fierce and strong opinions about what they consider to be their “top songs,” on top of their fierce and strong opinions about what bands are or are not even metal.