• Voto:
E' il 1982 e gli Iron Maiden, uno dei più importanti gruppi metal di sempre, dopo l'estromissione dal gruppo per motivi ignoti di Paul Di'Anno, loro ex cantante, pubblicano il loro terzo album, il più noto; disco sicuramente molto particolare, introverso, apprezzato e cosiderato all'unisono da pubblico e critica il miglior lavoro del quintetto londinese: l'album in questione è "The Number of the Beast". Con la sua pubblicazione gli Iron Maiden conquistano definitivamente il grande pubblico accumulando consensi, successo e tanti premi. . . non meritati! "The Number of the Beast" infatti non fa altro che considerare ed esaltare le parti peggiori dei due dischi precedenti "Killers" e "Iron Maiden" che comunque mantenevano sempre un buon livello dal punto di vista compositivo, senza mai cadute di stile. Invece "The number of the beast" alterna buoni brani (pochi) a tracce orribili che fungono da cosiddetti "brani riempitivo".
Il disco comincia con "Invaders": sarebbe stato impossibile ipotizzare un inizio peggiore!La canzone si offre (non riuscendoci) di invocare delle ipotetiche invasioni di esseri mostruosi. una canzone orrenda, assolutamente inascoltabile e priva di senso, e non è assolutamente l'unica cosa orribile che si trova nell' album! Ma andiamo con ordine. Segue "Children of the damned", e la situazione, per nostra fortuna, migliora radicalmente; pezzo valido sia dal punto di vista melodico sia da un punto di vista tecnico; bello, veramente bello. L'unico problema di questo pezzo è quello di non svolgere in "The Number of the beast" quello che una "Remember tomorrow" o ancora meglio una "Phantom of the opera" (anche se melodicamente e armonicamente sono due pezzi completamente differenti) svolgevano in "Iron Maiden". Infatti in "Children of the damned" c'è poca sperimentazione, poco spazio a riff ed assolo; qualche minuto in più di musica, come la sanno fare gli Iron Maiden, non avrebbe annoiato, anzi avrebbe "completato" una perla rara come questa che poteva diventare un vero e proprio capolavoro.
Segue "The prisoner", seconda fregatura dell'album (anche se non patetica come "Invaders"), canzone sgradevole, inutile e con un testo ridicolo sulla quale non mi voglio soffermare più di tanto. Alla quarta traccia troviamo "22 Acacia Avenue" altro "quasi capolavoro" del disco. Attacco iniziale di chitarra particolarmente coinvolgente, bel testo, tanta energia e potenza e il gioco è fatto! Un grande pezzo al quale però manca qualcosa per essere considerato un capolavoro. La quinta traccia, la title-track, è un discreto pezzo senza infamia e senza lode, cronaca di un sogno demoniaco fatto da Steve Harris (bassista degli Iron Maiden). Anche in questo caso gli Iron Maiden non esagerano in originalità, infatti il satanismo è sempre stato nell'iconogafia rock/metal; c'era davvero bisognio di ribadire tutto per l'ennesima volta dedicando addirittura un album al gia molto citato numero 666? E poi, lasciatemelo dire, il satanismo non ha davvero senso!dopo questa piccola parentesi, tornando all'album, seguono tre pezzi osceni e inutili, al livello di "Invaders": "Run to the Hills", "Gangland" e "Total Eclipse" e a questo punto l'album ha veramente toccato il fondo; e neanche un capolavoro come "Hallowed be thy Name" potrà ormai alzare il suo livello. è cosi che si conclude il tutto, con il capolavoro dei capolavori, una delle migliori traccie mai composte dagli Iron Maiden in tutta la loro carriera, che dire? Geniale! Nient'altro, è inutile che sprechi altre parole per dire quello che si puo riassumere in una. Geniale! A giusto, il disco, quasi dimenticavo, di fronte a certi capolavori il resto è inutile e tende a svanire. . . che dire? un disco in cui più della meta dei brani non raggiungiono il voto 2 (e non stelle due su dieci!) non puo essere sufficiente anche se, come in questo caso, contiene tre trai piu bei episodi mai incontrati nella storia del metal
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 carlino
Perché è osceno, e lo dico da seguace degli Iron, da sempre.
Hallowed Be Thy Name: questo è il capolavoro dell'EP, e forse una delle dieci canzoni METAL di sempre.
