Brian Slagel has finished counting. The Metal Blade Records founder's podcast, 100 Songs That Define Heavy Metal, closed with Iron Maiden's Hallowed Be Thy Name at number one, and the show says plainly that it is also his own favourite song.
It comes from The Number Of The Beast, out on 22 March 1982 in the United States and a week later in Britain. For the last episode Slagel brought back Chris Jericho, the wrestler and singer, introduced as the only person who might be as large a Maiden fan as the host, with Jay Ruston on the production and the author Martin Popoff on the facts.
A man who built a label on American thrash putting a British song at the top of a hundred is worth a sentence. Metal Blade signed Slayer, Cannibal Corpse, Armored Saint and Amon Amarth, and none of them is the answer he gave.
The show does not simply stop. In January 2027 the same feed becomes the Metal Blade 45th Anniversary podcast, one album from the label's history per week, with guests.