Gangland is the worst Maiden song I know only rivaled by The Apparition which is more like spoken word. The remaining tracks are good to very good. Dont get the people hating Invaders..

Written by [user id=142057] on 29.04.2013 at 09:10

Not a 100 percent masterpiece, but damn closer.

for me is 100 percent masterpiece.

One of the best Heavy Metal records of all time. Spot on.

By far not the masterpiece it is made out to be. There are a lot of flaws. BBut still a very good album.

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 29.04.2014 at 01:51

By far not the masterpiece it is made out to be. There are a lot of flaws. BBut still a very good album.

Killers and Powerslave are much better, although I do agree this one is still great. I'm not sure if I'd put this at 3rd in terms of favorite Iron Maiden releases, but it's still a fuckton better than anything they released in the second half of their discography ('92 and on)

Written by deadone on 30.04.2014 at 01:52

Only relative downer is Invaders.

Corrected.

I like Gangland, but Invaders is the better song. The latter is a contender for most underrated song in Maiden's entire catalogue. It's a fantastic opening track!

Written by deadone on 30.04.2014 at 07:26
I agree with this bit.

I love how the vocal lines are split between music lines. Sounds like a hard one to sing!

It is a hard one to sing, believe me! I just love the sheer intensity of the song, and the solo section is amazing. It functions so well as an opening track, and is one of my faves. Definitely a hugely underrated number. I'd love to see it played live, but I can't see Maiden ever playing that one, seeing as Steve Harris has stated in the past that he doesn't like it.

Totally overrated. generally this is a good album with some awesome songs but also some fillers. the awesome ones for me are: Hallowed be thy name, Children of the damned, Number of the beast. Invaders, gangland and total eclipse are really average though imo..

Written by Sang Dalang Abu on 28.04.2014 at 11:53

for me is 100 percent masterpiece.

The opening track isn't so great, also Gangland.
I preffer the debut than this.

Written by deadone on 15.08.2014 at 06:30

Written by Deadmeat on 14.07.2014 at 20:03

Totally overrated. generally this is a good album with some awesome songs but also some fillers. the awesome ones for me are: Hallowed be thy name, Children of the damned, Number of the beast. Invaders, gangland and total eclipse are really average though imo..

Total Eclipse was never on original album, apparently due to space constraints. Indeed my version (early 1990s) doesn't have it. It was originally released as B-side to Run To The Hills single.

good for them back then. bad for them right now lol!

Has a few great songs, but a bunch of weaker songs drag it down, namely Gangland.

Quote:

Like I said, Total Eclipse is the only bad song here, but it stills count, so I can't give it a 10/10.

Not saying that you should, but you can. "Total Eclipse" was originally the B-side to "Run to the Hills" and wasn't on the album. It's included on the '98 remaster, so it comes down to whether or not you want to count bonus tracks when rating albums.

Written by Ellrohir on 22.02.2013 at 01:18

So good "powerful killer" albums with best NWOBHM lyrics ever are now rated "5" by you?

I didn't rate it or I did it before I don't know, as you see I don't rate albums now, hardly do , I did it in beggining and defenetly not when I wrote that comment even I don't remember, but seems marcel reference makes me think your comment was addressed to me

My friends were listening to this record(as TNOTB released in March of '82) so they must be listening to get the vibes. Meh.

Still to this date I never find this record to be masterpiece or epic. Good album with few great songs in it. Nothing more or less.

Superior to this album? Debut, Killers, Powerslave and 7th Son of a 7th Son.

Overrated.

Written by Maco on 10.04.2015 at 04:02

Overrated.

only one song here, what band hardly somehow try to say one number not 3 in live gigs

Positively surprised by an album like this after the first two being so different (may I call them as pre-Maiden sounding). One would have to be a fool not to admit the appeal in songs like "Children Of The Damned", "The Prisoner", "22, Acacia Avenue", "Hallowed Be Thy Name" and even the "hit songs" of this album "The Number Of The Beast" and "Run To The Hills" are decent yet somehow annoying songs (and overplayed and overemphasized by many individuals = so, overrated songs in my books). Mr. Dickinson on vocals beats Paul IMO, even if this is not his best performance on an IM album.

I wouldn't say it is the best album in '82 like it's voted, it's a good effort though from a band that used to release an album every year Maybe a classic IM album in sound, but not quite in quality. Better is yet to come...

My favourite album of all time (and of Iron Maiden), this was the album that got me into Iron Maiden and remains a true classic as it's actually the first album I listened through completely. Here there is no fillers all of the songs fits perfectly. A true masterpiece!

I still don't understand why Total Eclipse wasn't on the original release.

You know it's not only madmen who listen to fools!

Overrated but only because people make this out to be a top 5 album of all time. I'd agree that this has 3 or 4 of some of the best metal songs ever; but as a total piece of work, this doesn't stack up to the likes of Powerslave or Piece of Mind in my opinion.

Very good and catchy but not quite as catchy as AC/DC or W.A.S.P

For the life of me, I can't understand why this is held up among the greatest metal albums just because half the songs are great. While I don't think Maiden ever released a 10/10 album if they did it isn't this one: Killers, Powerslave and Brave New World are all more consistent in quality than Number of the Beast. Hallowed Be Thy Name's greatness doesn't make Gangland any good.

The most overrated classic metal album of all time, even though at times near masterpiece. But then there's songs like "Gangland" which drag it down a lot.

Written by Metal Diogenes on 16.03.2020 at 11:16

The most overrated classic metal album of all time, even though at times near masterpiece. But then there's songs like "Gangland" which drag it down a lot.

From 80s Maiden Its their overated albums, but whit so many killer songs, i simply love this band

You really can't call this one of the best metal albums ever if the album itself has subpar songs like Total Eclipse or Gangland.

^ Total Eclipse was a bonus track. Gangland is the weakest song on the album indeed, still listenable though.

Written by JoHn Doe on 22.03.2020 at 10:10

^ Total Eclipse was a bonus track. Gangland is the weakest song on the album indeed, still listenable though.

I agree but best to me are hallwed awnue children

Written by Bad English on 22.03.2020 at 10:46

Written by JoHn Doe on 22.03.2020 at 10:10

^ Total Eclipse was a bonus track. Gangland is the weakest song on the album indeed, still listenable though.

I agree but best to me are hallwed awnue children

What?
I wasn't talking about best songs on the album.
Also you give NOTB a 5, yet Virtual XI you gave a 6. Talk about cringe... Are you sure you don't wanna re-evaluate things a bit, or something?!

This is a very uneven album and my least favourite compared to anything that came before it or after it in the 80s. Invaders, The Prisoner, and especially Gangland are poor songs. However, the other five tracks are either excellent (22 Acacia Av., ) or fucking legendary (Hallowed Be Thy Name). I cannot wrap my head around some of the comments.