Editing The Number of the Beast (album) (section)

==Writing and recording==
''The Number of the Beast'' is Iron Maiden's only album to include songwriting credits for [[Clive Burr]], and was the band's first album to feature writing by guitarist [[Adrian Smith (musician)|Adrian Smith]].{{sfn|Wall|2004|p=224}} In addition, the release saw [[Steve Harris (musician)|Steve Harris]] adopt a different approach to writing, which would cater more to 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&nbsp;... When Bruce joined, it opened up the possibilities for the new album tremendously."{{sfn|Wall|2004|p=223}}

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]]".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://livinglegendsmusic.com/library.php?personID=583 |title=Living Legends Music Bio on Bruce Dickinson |publisher=Livinglegendsmusic.com |access-date=9 November 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120308224124/http://livinglegendsmusic.com/library.php?personID=583 |archive-date=8 March 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Owing to his previous band [[Samson (band)|Samson]]'s ongoing contractual issues, Dickinson could not legally have any writing credit.<ref>{{cite book |last=Shooman |first=Joe |title=Bruce Dickinson: Flashing Metal with Iron Maiden and Flying Solo |publisher=Independent Music Press |year=2007 |page=82 |isbn=978-0-9552822-4-9}}</ref> The recording and mixing of the album had to be completed in only five weeks,{{sfn|Wall|2004|p=226}} after the band had spent too long constructing the new songs.{{sfn|Wall|2004|p=225}} This was allegedly 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.{{sfn|Wall|2004|p=224}} However, live recordings show that five of the album's songs had been premiered live already at a few shows towards the end of the Killer World Tour in November and December 1981. Given that "Invaders" is a re-write of an earlier song, "Invasion", this suggests only two tracks – the title track and "Gangland" – originated after the 1981 tour ended.

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.<ref name="Bushell 100">{{cite book |last1=Bushell |first1=Garry |author1-link=Garry Bushell |last2=Halfin |first2=Ross |author2-link=Ross Halfin |title=Running Free: The Official Story of Iron Maiden |edition=2nd |publisher=Zomba Books |year=1985 |page=[https://archive.org/details/ironmaidenrunnin00bush/page/100 100] |isbn=0-946391-84-X |url=https://archive.org/details/ironmaidenrunnin00bush/page/100}}</ref> These odd occurrences climaxed with Birch being 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.<ref name="Hammer30">{{cite journal |title=Devil Incarnate |journal=Metal Hammer Presents: Iron Maiden 30 Years of Metal Mayhem |year=2005 |first=John |last=Doran |pages=140–141 |publisher=Future Publishing}}</ref><ref name="NOTBDVD" />