In a new interview with Classic Rock History, Jeff Scott Soto named ten albums that changed his life.
In TheShockNews, he named Iron Maiden’s classic 1982 album ‘Number of the Beast,’ and how it made an impact on him. He explained:
“This album made its impact on me because I was not quite yet into metal until this one kicked me in the head! I do remember my brother listening to ‘Killers’ all the time, but the voice just didn’t do it for me, so I disregarded them as something that was ‘not for me.’”
Soto also admitted that he copied the frontman Bruce Dickinson’s vocals for Yngwie Malmsteen’s songs:
“From the air siren wailing at the top of the title track, Bruce Dickinson showed me how it was done! I tell the story all the time about how I was not a very confident metal singer, yet when I got the gig with Yngwie for the two songs on his first album [Rising Force], I went in trying to impersonate Bruce and Ronnie James Dio. In my head, I sounded a lot like them; hearing it now, I sounded nothing like them.”
Why Soto Likes ‘Number Of The Beast’ So Much
This wasn’t the only time the rocker named an Iron Maiden album as one of his favorites. In 2021, the rocker picked the same album as one of his favorites and explained why it has been his favorite for all these years:
“My first real metal album…. By the time I got this album, I was already into Judas Priest, Dio, Saxon and all the rest that injected metal into my DNA by then. My brother listened to Maiden’s ‘Killers’ on repeat but I could not stand Paul Di’Anno’s voice then. But Bruce Dickinson for me was a game changer. That album, like the others above, was all killer/no filler.”
Hear the album down below.