May 11, 1992 - Fear Of The Dark

A month after my last release and a year and a half after "No Prayer For The Dying", Iron Maiden released their ninth album "Fear Of The Dark" on May 11, 1992. It has the same line-up as their last album with Janick Gers joining Dave Murray on guitar and it's the first album with bassist Steve Harris as a producer. Let's check out the newest from Iron Maiden!

The album begins with it's two hit singles, starting with "Be Quick Or Be Dead". They kick right into a fast-paced typical Maiden-style riff with some cool guitar leading the way and Harris and Nicko McBrain playing a nice fast rhythm section to match. Bruce Dickinson let's out a really high-pitched yell before singing the verse and things nicely rock their way into a catchy chorus with some simpler, slower guitars and Bruce singing the name of the song with some attitude. They roll through a couple verses and another chorus before we hear our first solo and it's a classic old-school Maiden back-to-back solo with both Murray and Gers getting a turn to show off. Both short solos are pretty cool and the second one leads perfectly into a final chorus to finish off this opener. The other big single was "From Here To Eternity" and Harris and one guitarist sync up for a nice rhythm riff while the other guitarist plays some epic and cool lead stuff overtop. Dickinson comes in to sing the first verse and this song seems much more made-for-radio than the last one with a slower simpler and I guess more accessible main riff. The chorus is a sing-along one as we hear everyone shouting out "hell ain't a bad place, hell is from here to eternity" with Dickinson's voice loudest amongst them. It's a little unlike Maiden to be so blatant with their commercialism, but even though it's not a fast headbanger they still do a solid job with this hit single. They play another verse and chorus before Harris sets the stage with some decent bass and then it's solo time. It's another back-to-back solo and while the first one is cool, the second solo carries over into the chorus as they blend it in perfectly and it really spices up the final chorus before they end the song with a nice metal flourish. Track 3 is "Afraid To Shoot Strangers" and Harris starts us off with a quiet but epic bass riff and we hear some slow epic guitars that fit nicely and also the first appearance of Michael Kenney who plays the few keyboard parts on this album, including the synths here that (attempt to) add to the epic feel of things. McBrain finally joins with a light drum beat and Dickinson nicely sings a soft verse to match the mood. They play a couple long verses that takes us over two minutes into the song before they shift to a new part with some faster cool guitar that is largely instrumental but has Bruce softly singing the name of the song a couple of times. After all this slow epicness, around 4 minutes in they suddenly shift to a faster, more typical Maiden riff and solo time is soon to follow. It seems to have come out of nowhere and I don't think they segued well into this part, but it's a pretty sweet solo as usual from Maiden with some great fast guitar from both Murray and Gers. After the solo we hear a new guitar part that isn't quite a solo, but it's still pretty cool and this eventually turns into a full chorus with Dickinson singing the name of the song several times. After the chorus it's time for another short solo and this one sounds cool and in a much better segue it connects nicely back into the slower riff and they slowly finish out this near seven minute epic. The next song is "Fear Is The Key" and McBrain, Harris, Gers and Murray combine for a nice instrumental opening part that seems to set the stage and leads nicely into an epic main riff led by some catchy guitar. Dickinson sings an epic verse to match the mood and it flows right into a similar chorus. They smoothly continue through another verse and chorus before Dickinson nicely yells a short new verse that ends with a long note being held as they segue into a trippy new part! There's some cool distorted guitars surrounding a catchy bass riff by Harris and out of this madness one guitarist emerges with a short solo that's pretty cool. Then there's another very sudden and poorly executed shift to a new riff that has one electric guitar and one acoustic guitar. It's not a bad new part but again the sudden shift takes away from things a bit. This takes us to another short guitar solo that is just like this last part: it's not bad at all, it just feels a little out of place with the rest of the song. The solo does lead nicely back into Dickinson's yelling verse that I thought he sounded great in and that's how they choose to end this song that just felt a little oddly put together. Track 5 is "Childhood's End" and it opens with a slow but nice sounding guitar riff and McBrain comes in with some epic drums to spice things up. They move into a heavier and faster verse with Dickinson singing nicely overtop and the softer opening with the cool drums turns out to be the chorus riff as Dickinson holds some long notes overtop. They play another verse and chorus before reaching a lengthy instrumental section. One guitarist plays a typical Maiden rhythm riff and sets the stage beautifully for the other guitarist to solo overtop. The solo is pretty good as you'd expect and after the solo the rhythm guitarist continues on with another cool part before they finally bring it back to the main riff and close out the song with a final verse and chorus. The next song is the third and final single, "Wasting Love" and after a brief slow opening they really slow things down with a quiet but epic acoustic guitar riff and Harris adds some nice bass in the background as well. Dickinson sings a pretty epic verse that fits the mood perfectly and everything sounds like it has this epic air to it. The heavy guitars finally kick in for the chorus as the slow jam continues to roll on and still sound epic, just in a more metal way! They quiet it down for another epic acoustic verse and after another loud chorus they briefly return to the opening riff to set the stage for solo time. It's a decent solo but it's all very slow and I think it could've been a lot better. It leads right back into the loud chorus and they slowly jam out a couple choruses to end this single. Track 7 is called "The Fugitive" and they kick right into a nice opening riff with a great rhythm section from Harris and McBrain before quieting things down for the verse. There's some synths in the background of this quiet beginning to the verse, but it evolves nicely into a more typical Maiden verse and leads into a catchy chorus all with some good guitars leading the way. They play another verse and chorus and from there they go directly into the solo. This one is much faster and more to my liking with some nice shredding bits. And after a short bridge the other guitarist goes off for a solo as well and I like this one even more! After the nice double solo they play a final verse and chorus and end things as it began by returning to the opening riff. Up next is "Chains Of Misery" and Harris plays a nice bass riff to keep the pace as the guitars sync up for a slow but loud swinging riff. Dickinson comes in to sing a solid verse to match the mood and it flows right into a similar chorus with more swinging guitars and Dickinson sounding solid. After another verse and chorus they blend nicely into a slow new part with some one guitarist playing a nice rhythm riff and the other one taking the lead with an epic and pretty awesome solo. It leads nicely back into the chorus and after a couple choruses Dickinson holds the final note for a good long time while the rest of the band plays a nice metal flourish ending as they finish this one up on a great note. Track 9 is "The Apparition" and they kick right into the first verse with Dickinson beginning a verse that fits nicely overtop the stop-and-start guitar riff. There is no chorus to this song as they just slowly jam through a few of these verses and then it's solo time. This part is pretty awesome as it begins with a solo from one guitarist, then a cool part with Harris syncing up with the guitar, and then another solo by the other guitarist, all of which sound pretty great. It leads nicely back into the slow main riff and they jam out another long verse to finish things off. The next song is "Judas Be My Guide" and we're treated to an early guitar solo before they shift into a typical fast-paced Maiden verse with Dickinson singing nicely overtop. Bruce yells some nice high parts, especially in the chorus where he holds a couple long "guuuuiiiiide"s. After another verse and chorus there's a brief cool guitar part that isn't quite a solo, then Bruce sings a short new verse that sets the stage for the real solo with some cool shredding. This leads right into the chorus and the solo continues in the background as they play a final chorus to finish up this short song. Track 11 is called "Weekend Warrior" and it has a simpler, much more commercial-sounding main guitar riff that is a little toned down for Iron Maiden, but it's pretty catchy. Dickinson sings a nice verse to match the mood and they play a couple long verses before finally reaching the chorus. The chorus is pretty boring and average as Bruce sings the name of the song lots of times. They play another catchy verse and average chorus and then it's back-to-back solo time. I like whoever goes first slightly better, but both solos by Murray and Gers are pretty sweet. Then it's predictably back to the main riff for a final verse and chorus to close out this (failed) attempt at a single. The last song is the longest on the album and it's the title track "Fear Of The Dark" that closes out the album. They open the song with a slow but epic insteumental riff and then things get very quiet and Harris plays a nice backing bass riff and we hear some epic light guitar as well. Dickinson sings a soft verse overtop and he can sound very epic in his half talking/half singing voice. After a long epic verse things snap into a much faster and more typical Maiden riff and they take off with a solid verse. They quickly move into the chorus and Dickinson's vocals sound epic in his usual voice as well as he continues to nicely lead the way. Another fast verse and chorus later and they move into a cool instrumental bridge that sets he stage perfectly for solo time. It's a pretty cool solo as you'd expect and they setup to it was solid, but what follows is not. After the solo they play a boring part with a simple guitar riff and Dickinson just lightly singing the name of the song over and over. I find that it not only is a pretty boring part, but it really took out the energy of the cool part before it. From there they just return to the main riff for a final verse and chorus before ending the song as it began with some light guitar.

That is the end of "Fear Of The Dark" and I thought it was a solid but not amazing album from Iron Maiden. As all Maiden albums do, it had some great guitars and some pretty cool songs, but it also had some lesser parts to it. I think it's better than their last album "No Prayer For The Dying" but it doesn't beat their debut "Iron Maiden" or any of their really awesome 80s stuff. 8th out of 9 doesn't sound great but they are on the way up again! Where will Iron Maiden go from here?