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Nel 1982 il metal non è ancora come lo vediamo oggi. È una cosa nuova. Pochi mesi possono dividere un disco seminale e una copia. Pochi riff possono rendere un disco innovativo. Tutto - o quasi - deve ancora succedere; Cliff Burton non è ancora finito sotto un bus, Peter Steele non ha ancora detto di odiare tutti, Quorthon non ha ancora inserito acrostici in "Blood Fire Death" e Rob Halford non ha ancora traslato i peli della testa dal cranio al mento.
TNOTB è uno spartiacque. Prima c'era la NWOBHM, poi il metal vero e proprio. In mezzo c'è "The Number of the Beast". I Saxon facevano metal, gli Angel Witch pure, figuriamoci i Judas Priest. I Venom hanno persino già dato alle stampe i primissimi vagini di proto (parecchio proto) black metal. Eppure qualcosa cambia qua, ma facciamo un passo indietro.
La discografia ottantiana degli Iron Maiden va abbastanza regolarmente per dischi transitori e dischi che rappresentano passaggi pieni. Il debutto è un'affermazione, "Killers" approfondisce la ricercatezza, poi "Number..", l'evoluzione avanza tramite "Piece of Mind" fino al definitivo "Powerslave", passando per lo "sperimentale" disco del tempo finoa SSOASS, dove la vena prog accennatta nel disco egizio prende ancora più piede. "The Number of the Beast" è a metà tra la discografia dei primi Maiden e quella dei Maiden maturi. Ma ecco, queso disco non è solo uno spartiacque per la band, lo è per tutto il rock. I motivi sono tanti: l'entrata del nuovo vocalist (per chi scrive IL vocalist), l'atmosfera ribollente della scena heavy, la maggior esperienza dei membri, la loro genialità...
La NWOBHM è un movimento fantastico, coeso ma frammentato, in buona parte è ancora in cerca di sé stesso. È casereccia, grezza, sporca, spesso nel senso migliore del termine, ma non sempre. Gli Iron Maiden inseriscono l'eleganza. Non quella fine a sé stessa, non quella che impedisce al sound di essere viscerale, anzi direi quella che riesce a sposarsi spesso con un sound grezzo. In altre parole: rende tutto più maturo. Prima c'erano gli Angel Witch che qualcosa di meno cialtrone in effetti lo avevano fatto, ma siamo proprio su qualcosa di concettualmente diverso. I Maiden hanno un approccio, una visione, che è un passo avanti. Poi si fanno i discorsi da 2025, le classifiche, i loghi colorati, il tour celebrativo etc, ma il metallaro questa riflessione la fa: nei primi anni '80 i Maiden erano un passo avanti. Rispetto a tutti. Forse a volte se la giocavano con i Judas Priest, e al massimo poi con i Metallica e veramente pochissimi altri. A tecnica, songwrtiting, fantasia, possiamo parlare per ore: ma gli Iron Maiden ebbero un merito, di dire "Prediamo questa cosa grezza chiamata New Wave of British Heavy Metal e facciamone qualcosa di serio". Serio e pulito, nobile. Eppure potentissimo, mai mellifluo. Suonare i brani degli Iron Maiden rimane una scarica di potenza, velocità, tecnica, melodia, pesantezza e gusto quasi ineguagliabile.
La scarica iniziale di "Invaders" è un calcio nei denti. Il ritornello è difficile da inquadrare, ma è indimenticabile. "Children of the Damned" è quasi doom, ma sa dove pestare e ha un gusto melodico impressionante. "The Prisoner" è un po' più hard rock, godibilissima. "22 Acacia Avenue" è incalzante e cruda. La doppietta title-track/"Run to the Hills" è la punta di diamante. Meno impattante "Gangland" (comunque tutt'altro che brutta) fino alla leggendaria "Hallowed be thy Name". Oscuro, lucido, impazzito, calcolato, pesante, melodico, veloce, minaccioso, sporco, nobile. Londra degli anni '80 diventava un antro infernale grazie alla band regina dell'heavy metal.
Magari a volte Harris risulta ripetitivo in alcune soluzioni melodiche, magari alcuni brani non sempre hanno il songwriting o la produzione giusti al 100%, ma non ha peso. È un disco epocale. Up the Irons! Voto: 98/100.
Elenco tracce testi samples e video
01 Invaders (03:23)
Longboats have been sighted,
the evidence of war has begun,
Many Nordic fighting men,
their swords and shields all gleam in the sun.
Call to arms defend yourselves,
get ready to stand and fight for your lives,
Judgement day has come around,
so be prepared don't run stand your ground.
They're coming in from the sea,
They've come the enemy.
Beneath the blazing sun,
The battle has to be won.
Invaders......Pillaging.
Invaders......Looting.
Set ablaze the camp fires,
alert the other men from inland.
Warning must be given,
there's not enough men for a stand.
The Vikings are too many,
too powerful to take on our own.
We must have reinforcements,
we cannot fight this battle alone.
They're coming over the hill,
They've come to attack.
They're coming in for the kill,
There's no turning back.
Invaders......Fighting.
Invaders......Marauding.
Axes grind and maces clash,
as wounded fighters fall to the ground.
Severed limbs and fatal woundings,
bloody corpses lay all around.
The smell of death and burning flesh,
the battle weary fight to the end.
The Saxons have been overpowered,
victims of the mighty Norsemen.
You'd better scatter and run.
The battle's lost and not won.
You'd better get away,
To fight another day.
Invaders......Raping.
Invaders......Plundering.
02 Children of the Damned (04:34)
He's walking like a small child,
But watch his eyes burn you away.
Black holes in his golden stare
God knows he wants to go home
Children of The Damned
Children of The Damned
Children of The Damned
Children of The Damned
He's walking like a dead man.
If he had lived he would have crucified us all.
Now he's standing on the last step.
He thought oblivion, well he beckons us all.
Children of The Damned
Children of The Damned
Children of The Damned
Children of The Damned
Now it's burning his hands, he's turning to laugh,
Smiles as the flames sear his flesh.
Melting his face, screaming in pain.
Peeling the skin from his eyes,
Watch him die according to plan,
He's dust on the ground, what did we learn.
You're Children of The Damned,
Your back's against the wall.
You turn into the light.
You're Children of The Damned,
Like candles watch them burn.
Burning in the light,
You'll burn again tonight.
You're Children of The Damned.
03 The Prisoner (06:02)
"We want information... information... information...
Who are you? The new number two who is number one...
You are number six
I AM NOT A NUMBER!!! I AM A FREE MAN!!!
HAHAHAHAHA"
I'm on the run, I'll kill to eat,
Starving now, feeling dead on my feet.
Going all the way, I'm nature's beast.
Do what i want, I do as i please.
Run, you've gotta fight, to breathe, it's tough.
Now you see me, now you don't.
Break the walls, I'm coming out.
I'm not a prisoner, I'm a free man,
And my blood is my own now.
Don't care where the past was,
I know where I'm going...out.
If you kill me, it's self defence.
If I kill you, then I call it vengeance.
Spit in your eye, I will defy.
You'll be afraid when I call out your name.
Run, you've gotta fight, to breathe, it's tough.
Now you see me, now you don't.
Break the walls, I'm coming out.
I'm not a prisoner, I'm a free man,
And my blood is my own now.
Don't care where the past was,
I know where I'm going.
I'm not a number, I'm a free man,
I'll live my life how i want to.
You'd better scratch me
from your black book,
'Cause I'll run rings around you.
04 22 Acacia Avenue (06:36)
If you're feeling down depressed and lonely,
I know a place where we can go.
22 Acacia Avenue, meet a lady we all know.
So if you're looking for a good time,
And you're prepared to pay the price.
Fifteen quid is all she asks for,
Everybody's got their vice.
If you're waiting for a long time,
for the rest to do their piece.
You can tell her that you know me,
and you might even get it free.
So any time you're down the East End,
don't you hesitate to go,
You can take my honest word for it,
she'll teach you more than you can know.
Charlotte cant you get out from all this madness
Cant you see it only brings you sadness
When you entertain your men
dont know the risk of getting disease
Some day when youre reaching the age of forty
I bet youll regret the days when you were laying
Nobody then will want to know
You wont have any beautiful wares to show any more
22, the avenue thats the place where we all go
You will find its warm inside the red lights burning bright tonight
Charlotte isn't it time you stopped all this mad life.
Don't you ever think about the bad times.
Why do you have to live this way.
Do you enjoy the lay or is it the pay.
Sometimes when you're strolling down the avenue,
The way you walk, it makes men think
of having you.
When you're walking down the street,
Everybody stops and turns to stare, at you.
22, the avenue, that's the place where we all go.
You will find it's warm inside,
the red light's burning bright tonight.
Beat her, mistreat her, do anything that you please.
Bite her, excite her, make her get down
on her knees.
Abuse her, misuse her, she can take all
that you've got.
Caress her, molest her, she always does what you want.
You're running away, don't you know
what you're doing.
Can't you see it'll lead you to ruin.
Charlotte you've taken your life
and you've thrown it away.
You believe that because what you're earning,
Your life's good, don't you know that you're hurting,
All the people that love you, don't cast them aside.
All the men that are constantly drooling,
It's no life for you, stop all that screwing.
You're packing your bags and you're
[I]coming[I] with me.
05 The Number of the Beast (04:50)
I left alone, my mind was blank.
I needed time to think to get the memories from my mind.
What did I see, can I believe,
That what I saw that night was real
and not just fantasy.
Just what I saw, in my old dreams,
Were they reflections of my warped mind
staring back at me.
'Cause in my dreams, it's always there,
The evil face that twists my mind and brings
me to despair.
Yeah!!!
The night was black, was no use holding back,
'Cause I just had to see, was someone
watching me.
In the mist, dark figures move and twist,
Was all this for real, or just some kind of hell.
666 the Number of the Beast.
Hell and fire was spawned to be released.
Torches blazed and sacred chants were phrased,
As they start to cry, hands held to the sky.
In the night, the fires burning bright,
The ritual has begun, Satan's work is done.
666 the number of the beast.
Sacrifice is going on tonight.
This can't go on, I must inform the lord.
Can this still be real or just some crazy dream.
But I feel drawn towards the chanting hordes,
They seem to mesmerize...can't avoid their eyes,
666 the Number of the Beast.
666 the one for you and me.
I'm coming back, I will return,
And I'll possess your body and I'll make you burn.
I have the fire, I have the force.
I have the power to make my evil take it's course.
06 Run to the Hills (03:53)
White man came across the sea,
He brought us pain and misery.
He killed our tribes, he killed our creed,
He took our game for his own need.
We fought him hard, we fought him well,
Out on the plains we gave him hell.
But many came, too much for Cree,
Oh will we ever be set free?
Riding through dustclouds and barren wastes,
Galloping hard on the plains.
Chasing the redskins back to their holes,
Fighting them at their own game.
Murder for freedom, a stab in the back.
Women and children and cowards attack.
Run to the hills, run for your lives.
Run to the hills, run for your lives.
Soldier blue in the barren wastes,
Hunting and killing for game.
Raping the women and wasting the men,
The only good Indians are tame.
Selling them whisky and taking their gold,
Enslaving the young and destroying the old.
Run to the hills, run for your lives.
(repeat to end)
07 Gangland (03:48)
Shadows may hide you but also may be your grave.
You're running today, maybe tomorrow you'll be saved.
You pray for daylight to save you for a while.
You wonder if your children will face the killer's smile.
Dead men - tell no tales,
In Gangland - murder's up for sale.
Dead men - tell no tales,
In Gangland - where the jailbirds die.
Face at the window leers into your own.
But it's only your reflection, still you tremble in your bones.
How long can you hide? How long 'til they come?
A rat in a trap but you've got to survive.
Once you were glad to be free for a while.
The air tasted good and the world was your friend.
Then came the day when the hard times began.
Now you're alone but alive for how long?
A knife at your throat, another body on the pile.
A contract to keep and it's service with a smile.
Murder for vengeance or murder for gain.
Death on the streets or a blacked out jail.
Dead men - tell no tales,
In Gangland - murder's up for sale.
Dead men - tell no tales,
In Gangland - where the jailbirds die.
In Gangland you tell no tales.
08 Hallowed Be Thy Name (07:11)
I'm waiting in my cold cell, when the bell begins to chime
Reflecting on my past life and it doesn't have much time
'Cause at 5 o'clock, they take me to the gallows pole
The sands of time for me are running low.
When the priest comes to read me the last rites,
I take a look through the bars at the last sights,
Of a world that has gone very wrong for me.
Can it be that there's some sort of error
Hard to stop the surmounting terror
Is it really the end, not some crazy dream?
Somebody please tell me that I'm dreaming,
It's not easy to stop from screaming
But words escape me when I try to speak.
Tears fall but why am I crying,
After all I'm not afraid of dying.
Do not believe that there never is an end.
As the guards march me out to the courtyard,
Somebody cries from a cell God be with you.
If there's a God then why has he let me go?
As I walk my life drifts before me,
Though the end is near I'm not sorry.
Catch my soul, it's willing to fly away.
Mark my words believe my soul lives on
Don't worry now that I have gone
I've gone beyond to see the truth
When you know that your time is close at hand.
Maybe then you'll begin to understand,
Life down here is just a strange illusion
Hallowed Be Thy Name
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Altre recensioni
Di AR (Anonima Recensori)
UN CAPOLAVORO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Un album magnifico, che ha certamente segnato il metal!!!!!!!
Di BathoryAria
...E un giorno nacque l'Heavy Metal!
Questo album è NECESSARIO per tutti coloro che intendono avere a che fare con l'Heavy Metal.
Di fabbro
"The Number Of The Beast è probabilmente il miglior album del quintetto metal britannico."
"Hallowed by thy name è il capolavoro dell'album, uno dei brani metal più coinvolgenti di sempre."
Di korn
gli iron maiden sono dei grandi lo sanno tutti ormai sono leggende
restano dei miti e questo e il loro capolavoro
Di TheCraziness
"'Invaders' sarebbe stato impossibile ipotizzare un inizio peggiore!"
"'Hallowed be thy Name': geniale! È inutile che sprechi altre parole."
