Fear Of the Dark (1992)
With their first world tour as a new band under their belts, Iron Maiden were energized going into the next album. The new lineup was stable and Janick could be involved in the creative process. Improvements were also made to Steve’s Barnyard studio to improve the sound (with assistance from Martin Birch). The band decided to continue the raw sound, but also reintroduce elements of their classic sound. The synthesizers were eased back in and the more experimental side of Maiden wouldn’t be rejected in the same way as on No Prayer For the Dying. In some ways, Maiden were going to attempt to combine the best elements of both sides. This album also showed Steve Harris taking a more active role in the production and marks the first time he receives a producer credit on a Maiden studio album.
Of course this album is best remembered as being the last to feature Bruce Dickinson (before his return in 1999), but Bruce’s decision to leave didn’t occur until later. In fact, Bruce insists that he was 100% still into the band at this point. In fact, the morale was very high going into Fear Of the Dark. While the musical landscape had changed, especially in America, Maiden were still enjoying their usual amount of success in the UK. Janick had breathed new life into the band, they had their first UK #1 single with Bring Your Daughter To the Slaughter, and the tour was a success with many highpoints. Steve Harris even felt like Fear Of the Dark would be a new beginning for the band. If No Prayer was Maiden adjusting to a change, Fear Of the Dark would show a more comfortable and confident Maiden.
It does seem like the band had experienced a sort of creative renaissance, as Fear of the Dark was their longest album to date and their first double LP length album (although CDs were the primary format at this point so it wasn’t considered a double album). At 12 tracks, it remains to this day as the Maiden album with the most songs. It could also be argued as the band’s most eclectic album, running the gamut from straightforward Hard Rock to Prog and everything in between. It even contains a power ballad. Say what you will about the album, but they were definitely at least attempting to take Maiden to new places.
Arguably the most important addition to Fear Of the Dark is Janick Gers’ as a creative force. On No Prayer he is very much a hired gun; his playing is more reserved and he didn’t write anything on the album. Janick truly comes into his own as a writer and performer on this album. His solos are more distinctive and he contributes to 5 of the 12 songs on Fear. Having worked with Bruce as a writing partner on his solo album, it was natural for the two to collaborate yet again on Fear. In fact, Wasting Love is actually a leftover from Tattooed Millionaire. This isn’t hard to believe when you listen to the track, which is the closest Maiden has come to a power ballad. It definitely would fit more on Tattooed Millionaire than a Maiden album, but then again it also fits the eccentricity of Fear Of the Dark.
The duo contributed two more songs to the album: Fear Is the Key and Be Quick Or Be Dead. Both songs (as well as Wasting Love) show a continuation of the more “socially conscious” Maiden that really came out on No Prayer. Fear Is the Key deals with the AIDs epidemic and makes reference to Freddie Mercury who died a year earlier (“nobody cares til somebody famous dies”). Be Quick Or Be Dead deals with corrupt politicians, specifically Robert Maxwell who was entangled in a banking scandal at the time (he can be seen strangled by Eddie on the single artwork). The song is a raucous opener that almost borders on Thrash Metal. It also marks the second time the album opener wasn’t written by Steve (this wouldn’t happen again until The Book Of Souls).
Janick Gers also collaborated with Steve Harris on two songs: Weekend Warrior and The Apparition. These songs also happen to be among the album’s most controversial. Weekend Warrior shows a more American styled Hard Rock sound while The Apparition is a very unusual tune that contains a 70s tinged synth break and no chorus. Both songs frequently fight for the place of weakest Maiden song (the recent Maidenfans ranking shows the two at the very bottom). Weekend Warrior also has a peculiar lyric, dealing with football hooligans. It’s a topic Steve is obviously passionate about, although it seems like an odd subject for a Metal song. On the other hand, despite all of its other quirks, The Apparition is your standard Harris lyrical affair.
After collaborating for the first time on No Prayer, Bruce and Dave gave it another shot with two more songs. Dave seemed to be having an increase of creativity during this period, contributing more than one song for two albums in a row. The first song, Chains of Misery, is another point of controversy in the Maiden catalog. Very similar to Weekend Warrior in its Hard Rock vibe, especially with the gang vocals in the chorus. Most would agree that the other attempt by the and was far more successful. Judas Be My Guide stands as one of the album’s hidden gems. It’s a heavy track that is stylistically not that far removed from Public Enema Number One. It’s actually probably one of the more “traditional” sounding songs on the album.
Of course the rest of the album is dominated by the usual slew of Harris tracks. Five songs were written exclusively by Steve and stylistically they’re really all over the place. From Here To Eternity is an oddity and feels more like an AC/DC song than a Maiden song. It almost seems like Steve wanted to write his version of Bring Your Daughter, or maybe he wanted to appeal more to the American audience since the previous two albums underperformed there. It does contain a “back to the roots” element in that it revisits an old topic for the band: Charlotte the Harlot. The song tells the story of Charlotte hitching a motorcycle ride with the Devil. The Fugitive and Childhood’s End are fairly straightforward, with Childhood’s End being another track that addresses a real world topic.
While Steve’s other contributions are inconsistent at best, he delivers the goods with what are considered by many to be the highlights of the album: Afraid To Shoot Strangers and the title track. Both songs harken back to the earlier progressive Maiden but, unlike Mother Russia and No Prayer For the Dying, Steve fully commits to his epic side. Afraid To Shoot Strangers deals with the Gulf War and is probably the earliest example of the “Modern Maiden” format of a slow soft intro followed by an explosive middle section and instrumental. This song contains a massive buildup. The title track has of course become a staple at concerts and is probably still their most famous post-80s track. Revisiting the studio version is always disorienting as I’m sure most fans have grown used to the crowd singing along with every note.
Fear Of the Dark was yet another divisive album for fans, but its most controversial aspect may actually be something that has nothing to do with the music itself: the cover. Starting in the 90s, Maiden began accepting artwork from other artists. The idea was to “update” Eddie for a new decade and take the character in different directions. When it came time to select the artwork for Fear Of the Dark, they had more options than what Riggs presented. Consequently, Riggs’ design was rejected in favor of artwork submitted by Melvyn Grant. Grant would create several more covers for the band and is the next most frequent contributor to Maiden artwork after Riggs. The decision to work with other artists was yet another step in a change of Maiden’s image compared to the 80s. Eddie did go on to evolve a great deal in the 90s and Fear Of the Dark was the first major step in the evolution. The “Tree Eddie” is controversial, but ultimately it was the right decision. Riggs was clearly less interested in doing work for Maiden, so it only made sense to let other artists try their hand at the character. Iron Maiden’s covers are often described as having a “comic book” quality to them and very few comic books feature the same artist for the entire run. Riggs’ submission for Fear Of the Dark did surface recently and, in my opinion, it only reaffirms the fact that Maiden were right to go a different direction.
Riggs did provide the artwork for the Be Quick Or Be Dead single, though. So he wasn’t completely cut off from Maiden. Strangely, Be Quick Or Be Dead is the only single from the album to feature Eddie on the cover. A rare move for the band to have an official release without Eddie on the cover, yet two of the three singles from this album are without Eddie.
Fear Of the Dark marks the end of yet another era for the band. The next album would feature a new singer, a new producer, and an even more peculiar cover. But it didn’t feel that way for them at the time. Fear Of the Dark was yet another success for the band and became their third #1 album in the UK. Where many other Metal bands were floundering around this time, Maiden were still keeping strong at home. They continued to decline in the US, making it their first album not to be certified gold. It did have a respectable chart performance at #12 though.
Fear Of the Dark and No Prayer For the Dying are often grouped together for their stylistic similarities and being the only two albums to feature this particular lineup. For many they represent low points in the band’s discography, and the band seems to feel the same way given their lack of attention to the era. Fear Of the Dark is a much more daring album than No Prayer, but in some ways that works to the album’s detriment. However it can also be seen as a necessary stepping stone for greater things. The band’s massive following in South America actually started around this time and some of the stylistic elements found especially in Afraid To Shoot Strangers and Fear Of the Dark remain in the band’s sound to this day. In some ways, Steve was right that this was a new beginning for the band, but maybe not in the way he intended.
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