There seemed to be a lot going on in the lead up to recording this album, and then immediately afterwards. The band had recorded their previous album in Steve Harris’s barn with the Rolling Stone Mobile Studio, and following this Steve had instead converted the barn into a studio – Barnyard Studio. Martin Birch returned, and this ended up being the final album he produced in his marvellous career.
Judging whether or not the style of this album is different simply because the band wanted to go in a newish direction, or whether it was influenced by the sound that was popularised in the early 1990’s, is not an easy question to answer. Jannick was a co-writer on five songs on the album, and in some circles was lumbered with the blame of the developing more intense feel of the songs. This always seemed a cop out, because nothing happens in Iron Maiden without Steve Harris’s tacit approval. Later on, with the departure of Bruce Dickinson confirmed, there were stories that it was his ambivalence with the album and writing that led to the way the album became seen. This also seems irrelevant, as those decisions came well after the album was written and recorded. Adrian had left the band because he felt the direction they were going, by stripping back the sound, was not in the band’s best interest, and perhaps he felt vindicated after both “No Prayer for the Dying” and this album’s release. It is all very difficult to nail down. What I do know as a fan of the band now and then is that both of the albums that came after the departure of Adrian from the band had an entirely different appeal than the ones he had participated on.
How then, does one go about judging the album “Fear of the Dark”. On my reaction at the time of its release? Or how I felt 6-12 months after its release? Or on how I feel about it now, 30 years later? Certainly a combination of all three would be a sensible option, but I must confess that my love of this album has stretched peaks and troughs over those 30 years.
When this album was first released, I was just excited to have a new Iron Maiden album out. All of those usual anticipations were there. I was interested to hear how Jannick Gers would contribute to the writing of the album. I was hoping for more of a “Seventh Son of a Seventh Son” vibe than a “No Prayer For The Dying” vibe. With changes going on in my life with both work and girlfriend becoming fiancé, I guess I wanted the security that another Maiden album could provide, that warm blanket that new Maiden music would bring.
Looking back now, even on first impressions, I was confused when I first got the album. Sure, the rollicking opening of “Be Quick or Be Dead” and “From Here to Eternity” grabbed me from the start, both terrific tracks made you feel that Maiden was back! Then there was the lull into the moody “Afraid To Shoot Strangers” which while different was also effective, and further enhanced the feeling that the album is on the right track.
However, it was always at this point that I began to wonder what direction we were heading in. “Fear Is The Key” has a very Deep Purple mood to it, and considering that Jannick used to play in Ian Gillan’s band I guess this is understandable. Whether it fits my idea of a Maiden album is another question. “Childhood’s End” has always had what I consider to be a strange musical format, unsure as to whether it wants to be an orchestral piece or a fast paced metal track. The solo section is terrific, by far the best part of the song, but the rest seems completely out of place. And then there is the power ballad – and dear god I never thought I’d have to use that terminology with an Iron Maiden song – “Wasting Love”. Now, I am incredibly biased on this issue, but here it is – this is AWFUL!! To me it denigrates the name of Iron Maiden. I’m sorry, this just can’t be true. It is trash, and is the low point of the album. And it is interesting to me that it is written by Bruce and Jannick, and apparently came from sessions of Bruce’s solo album “Tattooed Millionaire”, which as we know was not a metal album. However, as i said earlier, nothing happens in Iron Maiden without the Guv’nor being in favour of it, so the question of this becoming a recorded Iron Maiden song was the world’s biggest heavy metal mystery until Metallica recorded “Mama Said”.
The second half of the album just doesn’t seem to recover. These are, without putting too fine a point on it, half arsed, B-side material songs, not the quality that you associate with this band and these writers. I guess most of them aren’t really bad songs, but you expect so much more from a band like Iron Maiden. They are just average fare – “The Apparition”, “Chains of Misery”, “The Fugitive”, the rather ordinary “Weekend Warrior” – one has to wonder how they happened to become album-worthy. “Judas Be My Guide” rates slightly above this lot and avoids that list as a result, but it is listenable without being absorbing.
Even the title track, “Fear of the Dark” has been cruelled for me. As much as I loved it when this album first came out, the vast number of times it has now been in the band’s setlist, and therefore on every live release ever since, has dulled that love. I don’t hate it, but I can do without hearing it anymore.
How much did the fact that Bruce was on the verge of leaving the band affect this album? Who can tell. When it was released I still played it as much as any other new album at the time. I would go to my car at lunch from work and listen to it every day for weeks. I knew, and still know, all the words to every song. At that time, it was my most played album every week. How long did that go on for? I’d guess at least three months. It culminated in finally seeing the band live on that tour in October 1992, which had its own problems, including the sound being the worst of any concert I’ve ever been to, and Dave Murray playing while having his leg completely cast in plaster. It actually summed up for me the “Fear of the Dark” album and the resulting lingering doubts that I had about it. There is no doubt that at the time I was blinded by the fact that it WAS Iron Maiden, so it HAD to be great… didn’t it? Once those feelings all wore off, and the album went back on the shelf, I had time to reconsider the album as a whole, and those eventual thoughts came down to what I have already mentioned about the songs. There are some terrific tracks here (but to be honest, I think Blaze Bayley ended up singing “Afraid to Shoot Strangers” better than what Bruce did) and there are average tracks. In the years following this, fans seemed to abandon the band on the back of the two albums they released with Blaze as lead vocalist, and reclaimed the band as their own on the return of Bruce and Adrian in time for the “Brave New World” album. But it was obvious that in that five years, Bruce rediscovered passion and brilliance in music, and Adrian had also managed to find his way back. And for me, the two most troubled albums in the Iron Maiden discography are not those helmed by Blaze, but indeed were the final two albums helmed by Bruce before he moved on to his solo career. And for whatever reason that was, it has been proved since that the break of Maiden from their most decorated lead singer and writer turned out to be the best thing that could have happened for the band.
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