IRON MAIDEN Number Of The Beast PINK Vinyl MINT

	£		42
	$		56

A BREAKDOWN OF THE ARTIST/S :-

Formed in London, England, in 1976, Iron Maiden was from the start the brainchild of Steve Harris (Born 12 March 1957, Leytonstone, London, England; bass), formerly a member of pub rockers Smiler. Named after a medieval torture device, the music was suitably heavy and hard on the senses. The heavy metal scene of the late 70s was widely regarded as stagnant, with only a handful of bands proving their ability to survive and produce music of quality. It was at this time that a new breed of young British bands began to emerge. This movement, which began to break cover in 1979 and 1980, was known as the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal, or NWOBHM. Iron Maiden was one of the foremost bands in the genre, and many would say its definitive example. Younger and meaner, the NWOBHM bands dealt in faster, more energetic heavy metal than any of their forefathers (punk being an obvious influence).

There were several line-up changes in the Iron Maiden ranks in the very early days, and come the release of their debut EP, the band featured Harris, Dave Murray (Born 23 December 1958, London, England; guitar), Paul Di'Anno (Born 17 May 1959, Chingford, London, England; vocals) and Doug Sampson (drums). The band made its live debut at the Cart & Horses Pub in Stratford, east London, in 1977, before honing its sound on the local pub circuit (the Bridge House and the Ruskin Arms) over the ensuing two years. Unable to solicit a response from record companies, the band sent a three-track tape, featuring "Iron Maiden", "Prowler" and "Strange World", to Neal Kay, DJ at north London's hard rock disco, the Kingsbury Bandwagon Soundhouse. Kay's patronage of Iron Maiden won them an instant welcome, which prompted the release of The Soundhouse Tapes on the band's own label.

In November 1979, the band added second guitarist Tony Parsons to the line-up for two tracks on the Metal For Muthas compilation, but by the time the band embarked on sessions for their debut album, he had been replaced by Dennis Stratton (Born 9 November 1954, London, England), and Sampson by Clive Burr (Born 8 March 1957; drums, ex-Samson). A promotional single, "Running Free", reached number 34 on the UK charts and brought an appearance on BBC Television's Top Of The Pops. Refusing to mime, they became the first band since the Who in 1973 to play live on the show. Iron Maiden was a roughly produced album, but reached number 4 in the UK album listings on the back of touring stints with Judas Priest and enduringly popular material such as "Phantom Of The Opera". Killers boasted production superior to that of the first album, and saw Dennis Stratton replaced by guitarist Adrian Smith (Born 27 February 1957). In its wake, Iron Maiden became immensely popular among heavy metal fans, inspiring fanatical devotion, aided by blustering manager Rod Smallwood and apocalyptic mascot Eddie (the latter had been depicted on the cover of "Sanctuary" standing over Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's decapitated body).

The release of Number Of The Beast was crucial to the development of the band. Without it, Iron Maiden might never have gone on to be such a force in the heavy metal arena. The album was a spectacular success, the sound of a band on the crest of a wave. It was also the debut of former infantryman and new vocalist Bruce Dickinson (Born Paul Bruce Dickinson, 7 August 1958, Worksop, Nottinghamshire, England), replacing Paul Di'Anno (who went on to front Dianno, Paul Di'Anno's Battlezone and Killers). Formerly of Samson, history graduate Dickinson made his live debut with Iron Maiden on 15 November 1981. Singles such as "Run To The Hills" and "The Number Of The Beast" were big UK chart hits, Iron Maiden leaving behind their NWOBHM counterparts in terms of success, just as the movement itself was beginning to peter out. Piece Of Mind continued their success and was a major hit in the UK (number 3) and USA (number 14). Clive Burr was replaced by Nicko McBrain (Born 5 June 1954) on the sessions, formerly drummer with French metal band Trust, who had supported Iron Maiden on their 1981 UK tour (he had also played in Streetwalkers). Piece Of Mind was not dissimilar to the previous album, showcasing the strong twin-guitar bite of Murray and Smith, coupled with memorable vocal lines and a sound that perfectly suited their air-punching dynamic. Single offerings, "Flight Of Icarus" and "The Trooper", were instant hits, as the band undertook two massive tours, the four-month World Piece jaunt in 1983, and a World Slavery retinue, which included four sell-out dates at London's Hammersmith Odeon a year later. With the arrival of Powerslave in November, some critics accused Iron Maiden of conforming to a self-imposed writing formula, and playing safe with tried and tested ideas. Certainly, there was no significant departure from the two previous albums, but it was nonetheless happily consumed by the band's core supporters, who also purchased in sufficient quantities to ensure UK chart hits for "Aces High" and "Two Minutes To Midnight". Live After Death was a double-album package of all their best-loved material, recorded live on their gargantuan 11-month world tour. By this time, Iron Maiden had secured themselves an unassailable position within the metal hierarchy, their vast popularity spanning all continents.

Somewhere In Time was a slight departure: it featured more melody than previously, and heralded the use of guitar synthesizers. Their songwriting still shone through and the now obligatory hit singles were easily attained in the shape of "Wasted Years" and "Stranger In A Strange Land". Reaching number 11 in the USA, this was another million-plus seller. Since the mid-80s Iron Maiden had been staging increasingly spectacular live shows, with elaborate lighting effects and stage sets. The Somewhere In Time tour (seven months) was no exception, ensuring their continued fame as a live band, which had been the basis for much of their success. A period of comparative inactivity preceded the release of Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son, which was very much in the same vein as its predecessor. A concept album, it retained its commercial edge (giving the band their second UK number 1 album) and yielded hit singles in "Can I Play With Madness", the surprisingly sensitive "The Evil That Men Do" and "The Clairvoyant". After another exhausting mammoth world trek, the band announced their intention to take a well-earned break of at least a year. Speculation abounded that this signalled the dissolution of the band, exacerbated by Dickinson's solo project, Tattooed Millionaire, his book, The Adventures Of Lord Iffy Boatrace, and EMI Records' policy of re-releasing Iron Maiden's single catalogue in its entirety (on 12-inch).

After a considerable hiatus, news of the band surfaced again. Steve Harris felt that the direction pursued on the last two albums had been taken as far as possible, and a return to the style of old was planned. Unhappy with this game plan, Adrian Smith left to be replaced by Janick Gers (Born Hartlepool, Teeside, England), previously guitarist with White Spirit and Ian Gillan (he had also contributed to Dickinson's solo release). The live show was also scaled down in a return to smaller venues. No Prayer For The Dying was indeed much more like mid-period Iron Maiden, and was predictably well-received, bringing enormous UK hit singles with "Holy Smoke" and "Bring Your Daughter To The Slaughter". The latter, previously released in 1989 on the soundtrack to A Nightmare On Elm Street 5, had already been awarded the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Song that year. Nevertheless, it gave Iron Maiden their first ever UK number 1. The obligatory world tour followed. Despite being denounced as "Satanists" in Chile, 1992 also saw the band debut at number 1 in the UK charts with Fear Of The Dark, which housed another major single success in "Be Quick Or Be Dead" (number 2). However, it was Dickinson's swansong with the band, who invited demo tapes from new vocalists following the lead singer's announcement that he would depart following current touring engagements. His eventual replacement was Blaze Bayley (Born 1963, Birmingham, West Midlands, England) from Wolfsbane. His debut album was The X-Factor, and on this and at live gigs (which they only resumed in November 1995), he easily proved his worth. This was a daunting task, having had to learn Iron Maiden's whole catalogue and win over patriotic Dickinson followers.

In February 1999 it was announced that Dickinson and Smith (who had formed Psycho Motel in the interim) had rejoined the band, restoring the classic 80s line-up. To the great delight of their loyal fans, an excellent new studio album, Brave New World, was not long in following.

Discography:
Iron Maiden (EMI 1980)***, Killers (EMI 1981)**, Number Of The Beast (EMI 1982)****, Piece Of Mind (EMI 1983)***, Powerslave (EMI 1984)**, Live After Death (EMI 1985)***, Somewhere In Time (EMI 1986)***, Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son (EMI 1988)****, No Prayer For The Dying (EMI 1990)***, Fear Of The Dark (EMI 1992)***, A Real Live One (Volume One) (EMI 1993)***, A Real Dead One (EMI 1993)**, Live At Donington '92 (EMI 1993)**, The X Factor (EMI 1995)***, Virtual XI (EMI 1998)***, Brave New World (EMI 2000)****, Rock In Rio (EMI 2002)***, Dance Of Death (EMI 2003)***.

THE HISTORY OF THE RECORD :- The Number of the Beast is the third studio album by the British heavy metal band Iron Maiden, released in March 1982. The album saw the debut of vocalist Bruce Dickinson, and the final appearance of drummer Clive Burr in the band.The Number of the Beast met with considerable critical and commercial success and was a landmark release for the band, becoming their first album to reach No. 1 in the UK albums chart, and be certified platinum in the US. The album also produced the singles "Run to the Hills" and "The Number of the Beast", the former of which was the band's first top-10 UK single. The album was also controversial – particularly in the US – due to the religious nature of its lyrics and its artwork.Since the release of The Number of the Beast and its subsequent tour, The Beast on the Road, "The Beast" has become an alternate name for Iron Maiden, and was later used in the titles of some of their compilations and live releases, including Best of the Beast and Visions of the Beast.

The Number of the Beast is Iron Maiden's only album to include songwriting credits from 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 for 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, and in particular the tracks "Children of the Damned", "The Prisoner" and "Run to the Hills". Due to his previous band Samson's ongoing contractual issues, Dickinson could not legally take part in any songwriting for the record, and had to make what he called a "moral contribution", which meant he was able to influence particular tracks, but not provide enough creative input so as to earn a 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 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. This all climaxed when the producer Martin Birch was 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.

THE HISTORY OF THE ARTWORK :- Like all of Iron Maiden's album artwork during the 1980s and early 90s, it was painted by Derek Riggs. The cover was originally created for the song "Purgatory", but Rod Smallwood deemed it of too high a calibre for a single release and decided to save it for The Number of the Beast album instead. The original 1982 artwork includes a light blue sky in the background; this was a mistake by the printers of the album cover, and was later rectified and became black when the album was remastered for compact disc in 1998. The album was also the centre of controversy, particularly in America, 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." The album's cover art has been parodied several times — by crossover thrash band Stormtroopers of Death for the cover art of their 1999 album Bigger than the Devil, and on a T-shirt by Streetwear brand Diamond Supply Co.

THE COVER :- Single textured sleeve

THE LABEL :- EMI labels

THE VINYL VISUALLY :- On initial inspection of this piece of vinyl I cannot see any areas of concern. The vinyl sits perfectly flat on the turntable so there are no nasty warps to worry about. The vinyl still retains its just pressed quality, full of deep shine and lustre. I have not noted anything that will affect play. A lovely piece of vinyl. Near Mint visually 

THE VINYL PLAY GRADED :- The playgrading of the vinyl reveals no lessening in the sound quality. It lives up to its visual grading. There is next to no surface noise. What there is is only static in the deadwax and extra quiet areas of the album. The sound quality is high with a full dynamic range and very detailed sound. I feel certain this album has been barely played and if so carefully and stored well over the years. I would grade the audio playback as Near Mint condition.

THE SLEEVE FRONT CONDITION :- This is the very earliest 1st press textured sleeve. The front of the sleeve is free from writing, free from stickers or evidence of previously removed stickers. The sleeve reveals no ringwear and no creases. No corner and seam wear. The colours are bright and crisp. I would grade the front of the cover as Near Mint condition.

THE SLEEVE REAR CONDITION :- The rear of the sleeve is free from writing, free from stickers or evidence of previously removed stickers. There are no creases on the rear of the sleeve and no ringwear. No corner and seam wear. Again the rear still retains its original crisp colours and just pressed feel. I would grade the rear as Near Mint condition.

THE LABEL SIDE ONE CONDITION :- Original EMI label in excellent order free from stickers or writing and no damage at all. No signs of play around the spindle hole. Near Mint condition.

THE LABEL SIDE TWO CONDITION :- Original EMI label in excellent order free from stickers or writing and no damage at all. No signs of play around the spindle hole. Near Mint condition.

THE SPINE CONDITION :- The writing on the spine is crystal clear, no spine splits at all. Barely any signs of shelfwear in the two corners. Near Mint condition

THE INNER SLEEVE CONDITION :- Generic white inner in Near Mint condition

THE EXTRAS :- No extras were given with this album

THE CATALOGUE NUMBER :- EMC 3400

THE YEAR OF RELEASE :-  1982

THE COUNTRY OF ORIGIN :-  UK

PLAYING FORMAT :- STEREO

THE MATRIX NUMBERS :-  EMC 3400 A//1  &  EMC 3400 B//1

TRACK LISTING :-

SIDE ONE :-

1. INVADERS
2. CHILDREN OF THE DAMNED
3. THE PRISONER
4. 22 ARCACIA AVENUE

SIDE TWO :-

1. THE NUMBER OF THE BEAST
2. RUN TO THE HILLS
3. GANGLAND
4. HALLOWED BE THY NAME

WHAT WE PLAY THE RECORD ON :- 

We use a Project 6 Perspex Turntable to play grade our records which delivers a rich authoritative sound and achieves a rich and weighty vibrancy unrivalled by the majority of decks within its price range

HOW WE CLEAN YOUR RECORD :- 

We use a V.P.I. HW-16.5 record cleaning machine to clean your vinyl. "A highly recommended machine" as quoted by Stereophile magazine. This removes any excess dirt before playing

HOW WE PACKAGE YOUR RECORD :- 

Your record will be package very securely to minimise any risk of damage during transit. We remove the record from the outer sleeve unless asked not to do so. This helps to minimise the risk of seam spliting. We use a high quality record mailer which is designed to give superior protection for your vinyl record. We place stiffeners either side of the record for added protection. The album will also be placed in a 450 gram Poly outer sleeve for even extra added protection

POSTAGE AND PACKAGING CHARGES FOR UK CUSTOMERS :-

We advise that items reaching over £46 in price to be insured and sent by Special Delivery. This protects both of us and ensures better handling of the parcel during transit.We are in no way out to make money from postage. The postage price includes the record mailer, stiffeners and plastic sleeve. We just want your item to reach you in the best possible condition. A breakdown of insured postal services are listed below. Please choose to use the relevant postal service for your own protection as once these rare records are lost they can quite often seldom be replaced

FIRST CLASS RECORDED FOR RECORDS INSURED UP TO £46  :-   £4.50

SECOND CLASS RECORDED FOR RECORDS INSURED UP TO £46 :- £4.00

SPECIAL DELIVERY NEXT DAY UPTO 500g :- £7.15

SPECIAL DELIVERY NEXT DAY FROM 500g - 1000g :- £8.35

(SPECIAL DELIVERY INSURES YOUR ITEM UPTO £500)

POSTAGE AND PACKAGING FOR THE EUROPEAN UNION :-    

All records reaching under £15 are sent to the European Union by Airmail small packets. We will not ship abroad without insured post for items reaching over £15

AIRMAIL SMALL PACKETS  :-  £6.22 (For items under £15)

INTERNATIONAL SIGNED FOR :-  £11.37 (For items £15 - £50)

INTERNATIONAL SIGNED FOR :-  £13.97 (For items £50 - £500)

(These prices are based on a package weight of no more than 500g and can vary for heavier packages)

POSTAGE AND PACKAGING FOR THE USA AND CANADA :- 

All records reaching under £15 are sent to the USA & Canada by Airmail small packets. We will not ship abroad without insured post for items reaching over £15

AIRMAIL SMALL PACKETS  :-  £8.78 (For items under £15)

INTERNATIONAL SIGNED FOR :- £13.93 (For items £15 - £50)

INTERNATIONAL SIGNED FOR :- £16.53 (For items £50 - £500)

(These prices are based on a package weight of no more than 500g and can vary for heavier packages)

POSTAGE AND PACKAGING FOR THE AUSTRALIA AND JAPAN AND ROW :- 

All records reaching under £15 are sent to the Australia & Japan by Airmail small packets. We will not ship abroad without insured post for items reaching over £15

AIRMAIL SMALL PACKETS :- £9.06 (For items under £15)

INTERNATIONAL SIGNED FOR :- £14.21 (For items £15 - £50)

INTERNATIONAL SIGNED FOR :- £16.81 (For items £50 - £500)

(These prices are based on a package weight of no more than 500g and can vary for heavier packages)

PLEASE NOTE THAT WE DO NOT PROFIT FROM POSTAGE, THE PRICES WE QUOTE ARE QUITE ACCURATE AND INCLUDE THE PACKAGING MATERIALS AT COST PRICE

NOTE FOR INTERNATIONAL BUYERS:

PLEASE AWAIT AN INVOICE BEFORE PAYING SO WE CAN WORK OUT THE CORRECT POSTAGE/SHIPPING CHARGES

BUYERS OF MULTIPLE ITEMS :- 

Postage prices and courier methods for multiple purchases will be calculated after the auction end. It is impossible for us at the pre auction stage to determine these prices as the final weight is unknown.If you are the winner of multiple items the please await contact from us or alternately contact us yourself for a breakdown of the shipping costs.You will only pay the stamp price + relevant packaging charges so there are big savings to be made with multiple purchases

HOW TO PAY FOR YOUR RECORD :-

We can accept the following payment methods

UK BUYERS :- 

• PayPal
• Personal cheque (Please allow to clear)
• Bankers Draft
• Postal Order

OVERSEAS BUYERS :-

• Paypal only

TERMS AND CONDITIONS :-

We always try to appraise the record for sale as openly and honestly as possible and provide plenty of pictures for you to look at but please be aware that errors however rare do occur and not everyone has the same audio  equipment. There is no problem that cannot be worked out in a civilised manner. We urge you to contact us so that we can discuss any small problems that may occur. We offer a refund of the purchase price for returned items within 7 days of purchase and are happy to help you with any questions or concerns you may have during the auction

SAVE US TO YOUR FAVOURITES LIST AS WE INTEND TO LIST MANY MORE RARE VINYL TREATS OVER THE COMING MONTHS AND YEARS