Classic Albums - The Number Of The Beast - Iron Maiden

Iron Maiden's 1982 breakthrough, The Number of the Beast--its first with leather-lunged vocalist Bruce Dickinson--remains a heavy-metal watershed, and this Classic Albums program reunites the major players (including producer Martin Birch) for the undoubted pleasure of longtime Maiden fans. The interviews with band members and rock journalists in the 50-minute program touch on Maiden's early career, then delve into the creation of songs that have become hard-rock classics: the title song came about from a nightmare that bassist-songwriter Steve Harris couldn't shake, 'The Prisoner' was inspired by the Patrick McGoohan television series, and the hit 'Run to the Hills' made the sort of political statement (about white men's savage treatment of native peoples) that then-Capitol Records exec Don Zimmermann notes most American fans couldn't have cared less about while head-banging.