兽名数目 (1982)

The Number of the Beast is the third studio album by the English heavy metal band Iron Maiden. It was released on 22 March 1982 in the US by Harvest and Capitol Records, and on 29 March 1982 in the UK by EMI 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 a nickname for Iron Maiden, appearing in the titles of compilations and live albums including Best of the Beast and Visions of the Beast.

Writing and recording

The Number of the Beast is Iron Maiden's only album to include songwriting credits for Clive Burr, and was the band's first album to feature writing by guitarist Adrian Smith. In addition, the release saw Steve Harris adopt a different approach to writing, which would cater more to new vocalist Bruce Dickinson. The album's producer Martin Birch remarked, "I simply didn't think [former vocalist Paul Di'Anno] was capable of handling lead vocals on some of the quite complicated directions I knew Steve wanted to explore ... When Bruce joined, it opened up the possibilities for the new album tremendously."

According to several interviews Dickinson was heavily involved in writing several of the album's songs, making a "moral contribution" to the tracks "Children of the Damned", "The Prisoner" and "Run to the Hills". Owing to his previous band Samson's ongoing contractual issues, Dickinson could not legally have any writing credit. The recording and mixing of the album had to be completed in only five weeks, after the band had spent too long constructing the new songs. This was allegedly because the group were for the first time creating a new album from scratch, with very little material written prior to the record's pre-production stage.

Music press reports told stories of unexplained phenomena occurring during the sessions at Battery Studios, such as lights turning on and off of their own accord, and the recording gear mysteriously breaking down. These odd occurrences climaxed with Birch being involved in a car accident with a mini-bus transporting a group of nuns, after which he was presented with a repair bill for £666.

Artwork

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.

The album attracted controversy, particularly in the United States, due to the lyrics of the title track and the cover art depicting Eddie controlling Satan like a puppet, while Satan is also controlling a smaller Eddie. Smallwood explains that the concept was to ask "who's the really evil one here? Who's manipulating who?" According to Riggs, this was inspired by a Doctor Strange comic book, "which had some big villain with Doctor Strange dangling on some strings like a puppet – it was something I read as a child back in the 1960s, I think," while the images of hell were "taken from my knowledge of medieval European Christian art which was full of such scenes". In addition, Satan was supposed to have wings made out of lightning and smoke (which can still be seen vaguely in the final piece) but due to time constraints, Riggs was unable to complete it as intended. He also made Satan look like Salvador Dalí as a joke.

According to US professor Bryan A. Bardine, "this album evokes power, passion and music that present darker themes and images."

The artwork has been parodied by crossover thrash band Stormtroopers of Death for the cover of their 1999 album Bigger than the Devil, and on a T-shirt by Streetwear brand Diamond Supply Co.

"It's probably thick," remarked Kiss bassist Gene Simmons of the sleeve. "It's probably got elves and dragons holding it up!"

In 2015, this cover art makes an appearance in the "Speed of Light" music video depicting Eddie fighting Satan (now known as "The Beast") in a form of Mortal Kombat video game.