Satanic Panic: Iron Maiden & AC/DC

Parents played records backward, preachers burned vinyl, and the devil supposedly lived in your Walkman. For Halloween, Don and Dude pick two albums that moral guardians blamed for corrupting a generation: an East London metal breakthrough and an Australian hard rock classic. The Albums Iron Maiden – The Number of the Beast (1982) Bassist Steve Harris formed Iron Maiden in Leyton, East London, in 1975. Bruce Dickinson of Samson replaced Paul Di'Anno in 1981, and this was his first album with the band and drummer Clive Burr's last. Martin Birch produced it in about five weeks at Battery Studios in London. Religious groups in America burned and smashed the records, even though most of the songs are stories taken from movies, TV and history. AC/DC – Highway to Hell (1979) Brothers Angus and Malcolm Young formed AC/DC in Sydney in 1973 and found their sound with singer Bon Scott. Mutt Lange recorded the album at Roundhouse Studios in London over days as long as 15 hours, tightening the songs for American radio. It became the band's commercial breakthrough and Scott's last studio album before he died in 1980. The title and the cover, with Angus wearing devil horns, made the band an easy target for religious critics. Diggin' Albums Mouth Ulcers – Silent Pictures (2026) The London goth and post-punk quartet's seven-track debut EP mixes brooding atmosphere with catchy melodies in just 23 minutes. The Phantom A.D. – Revenge Of... (2026) This California horror-rock outfit's 13-track second album packs surf riffs, garage-rock energy and vintage monster-movie stories into 31 minutes. The Darling Buds – Same Sun / Same Sky (2026) The Welsh indie pop band recorded these twelve songs in Newport with producer Richard Jackson, returning to their catchy melodies, big harmonies and jangly guitars. Imperial Teen – All Over You (2026) The San Francisco pop band's seventh album, released on Merge Records, mixes bubblegum pop, New Wave keyboards, electro beats and power pop with boy/girl harmonies. Follow & Support Follow the show on Instagram, Facebook, Threads and Bluesky @albumnerds, email your own favorites to podcast@albumnerds.com, and support the podcast by subscribing, rating, reviewing and sharing it with another music obsessive who still loves hearing whole albums front to back. "You're the anti-Christ. You know that, Stern? You are the motherf***ing anti-Christ!" - Kenny "Pig-Vomit" Rushton (Paul Giamatti), Private Parts (1997)