British heavy metal legends Iron Maiden have announced that they will be releasing a 40^th anniversary edition of their classic third full-length record The Number of the Beast on limited edition white cassette. The tape will be released on March 18^th via Parlophone Records in the UK, and on March 25^th in the USA, via BMG. UK fans can pre-order the upcoming re-issue via Iron Maiden’s own webstore.

The re-issue will include the 2015 remaster of The Number of the Beast, featuring remastered versions of all eight tracks from the original 1982 release. The design of the cassette itself is based off of the original 1982 release, with a couple of updates to the inlay. The re-issue, given that it is based off of the original release, will not include the song “Total Eclipse” a B-side taken from the 1982 “Run to the Hills” 7” single that was featured on the 1995 re-issue of The Number of the Beast. You can view the artwork and design down below.

The Number of the Beast is Iron Maiden’s third album, coming two years after the seminal metal act’s self-titled debut and their 1981 album Killers. The album famously marks the introduction of frontman Bruce Dickinson, who still fronts the band to this day, and it is widely considered to be the band’s “big break”, skyrocketing their popularity and spawning fan favourites such as “Hallowed Be Thy Name”.

The album was released on March 22^nd, 1982 to wide critical acclaim, and also stirred up a great deal of controversy in regard to the themes and content of the album. In the USA, the group were accused of being Satanists, and public destructions of copies of the album were organised by several religious groups, which included burning and smashing records to pieces with hammers. When the group embarked on the “Beast on the Road” tour, demonstrations took place outside their shows, with one instance of a twenty-five foot cross being carried out to protest the album and the band’s performance.

Over the years, the critical acclaim the album received has stayed consistent, with Allmusic stating that the album “certainly ranks among the top five most essential heavy metal albums ever recorded.” The record has also appeared on numerous “Top Albums of All Time” lists, including Rolling Stone’s “100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time” list, where it ranked 4^th. Moreover, it has been the subject of numerous documentaries, including BBC’s Classic Albums series.