In the year 1982, the band released one of their most popular, controversial and acclaimed albums, The Number Of The Beast. This led to Christian groups, particularly in the US, branding the band as Satanic and unholy; smashing and burning the band's albums in bonfires became common. In the 90s the band was banned from performing in Chile for the same reasons (due to the influence of religious figures over the government), but contrary to this belief, the band is not Satanic nor does it believe in the occult. According to the band the devil imagery which is linked with the band due to a few songs and their album covers is not connected with their religious beliefs and is not the focus of their music. In an interview included on Iron Maiden's DVD The Early Days, Steve Harris set the record straight by saying that he is not a Satanist. Possibly in spite of this controversies, the band's later albums moved away from those themes to notably less controversial ones, such as film and literature (the album Piece of Mind and songs like "The Prisoner", which was based on the British television serial of the same name, "The Wicker Man" and "To Tame a Land", based on the novel Dune) wars and world conflicts ("The Trooper", "Aces High" and "2 Minutes to Midnight") historical themes ("Alexander the Great" from Somewhere in Time and "Run to the Hills") and even human fears and emotions ("Hallowed Be Thy Name", "Fear of the Dark", and the album A Matter of Life and Death).
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