Fear of the Dark

Fear of the Dark is a tough one to assess. From a personal perspective, it was Iron Maiden’s “new” album back when a fledgling lonerider began to discover the wide world of heavy metal, so a certain emotional bias may exist. From an objective viewpoint, it is a much more heterogeneous effort than the very straightforward No Prayer for the Dying was. It also offers a glimpse of things to come, as a track like “Afraid to Shoot Strangers” lays out a blueprint much of Maiden’s post-2000 output would adhere to.

Containing twelve tracks with a running time of close to an hour, there’s a lot to digest here. Fear of the Dark is very much a hodgepodge of different ideas and creative influences. There is some prototypical metal fare, some hard-rock infused tracks, a power ballad, some trademark epic Maiden material and even some weird experimentation.

As far as weird experimentation goes, “Fear Is the Key” is not exactly a ringing endorsement for Maiden trying new things and walking untrodden paths. It does have a consistently gloomy atmosphere going for it, but despite some worthwhile moments, this Maiden-meets-Zeppelin attempt at progressive metal/rock drags on too long and feels genuinely unsettling at times, and not for the right reasons.

The more concise, hard-rock oriented tunes on Fear of the Dark might as well be outtakes from the No Prayer… songwriting sessions, trying to achieve a similar effect but sometimes lacking the no-nonsense attitude and pissed-off sense of urgency that record had. The compelling “Chains of Misery”, however, succeeds at cooking up some badass vibes and is easily the best of the bunch, whereas “From Here to Eternity” is almost a complete dud, a tepid by-the-numbers attempt at emulating legendary Australian hardrockers AC/DC. Perhaps Steve and the boys were inspired by AC/DC’s hugely successful “comeback” album The Razors Edge, which was released less than two years prior and boasted some bonafide rock-radio hits, making Angus and Co. immensely popular once again. Whatever the reason Maiden felt compelled to do that song (and even regularly play it live), it’s simply not very good, doomed by its lack of energy, predictable structure and goofy sleazeball lyrics.

Another track to draw the ire of many a fan is “Weekend Warrior”, but strangely out of place though it may seem in an Iron Maiden context, it still works surprisingly well. The thoughtful lyrics broach a rather unexpected subject, namely football (the European kind) hooliganism, but it bears noting that Steve Harris is an ardent lifelong supporter of West Ham United, a football club situated in the East End of London, so the subject isn’t quite as outlandish as it may appear. The commanding verses and melodic chorus, which sees the band use clean guitars alongside distorted ones—they also did this to great effect on “The Final Frontier”, a song of more recent vintage—, collaborate to make this a pretty enjoyable and confidently catchy experience.

“The Fugitive” is an ultimately generic yet still solid heavy-metal track. It isn’t particularly noteworthy yet not without its charm, which sets it apart from the eerily similar “The Apparition”, which the band decided to include for no apparent reason. “The Apparition”, which lacks a proper chorus and any truly memorable moments, is basically a tired and boring rehash of its forerunner and, truth be told, feels totally redundant.

It should be apparent by now that Fear of the Dark can be a bit of a dumpster fire at times, at least compared to Maiden’s usually lofty standards. At the other end of the spectrum, it also offers up some timeless classics and even some hidden gems that rarely get mentioned when it comes to compiling best-of-Maiden lists but can hold their own against many of their most widely known and revered tracks. The splendid and emotionally stirring “Childhood’s End” with its downright sublime dual-guitar harmonies is one of those, as is the criminally overlooked “Judas Be My Guide”, a raging NWoBHM barnstormer that’s largely forgotten but very much worth remembering and celebrating. Then of course there’s the swashbuckling, delightfully aggressive “Be Quick or Be Dead”, a swift kick in the nuts that’s among the fastest, most thrash-like tracks Maiden have ever recorded. The scathing lyrics about corrupt and power-mad politicians—“parading your bellies in ivory towers, investing our lives in your schemes and your powers”—are now more relevant than ever and Bruce’s vocal delivery is appropriately gruff and angry, making this one of the album’s definitive highlights.

Maiden are not a band renowned for power ballads, but when they decide to perform one every once in a blue moon, they do them pretty damn well. “Wasting Love” sounds like a precursor to “Tears of the Dragon”, one of the iconic tracks of Bruce Dickinson’s prolific solo career, and passes as another low-key highlight.

Speaking of highlights, not much needs to be said about the monumental title track. It’s one of the band’s most widely known songs for a reason and even though at this point it has been played somewhat ad nauseam, there’s no denying its sheer majestic splendor.

A more interesting topic of discussion is another one of the record’s better known cuts, namely the solemn “Afraid to Shoot Strangers”. Following an arduously long atmospheric build-up carried by acoustic-guitar strums and brooding keyboard sounds, it is once more defined by Maiden’s patented, intricately woven, Celtic-flavored harmony guitars before erupting for a speedy section and lots of nifty soloing. When you think about it, it is really the one song that foreshadows the band’s future artistic direction like no other.

Bruce’s harsher, coarse singing style, introduced on No Prayer for the Dying, makes a return on Fear of the Dark, and while it works exceptionally well on some of the songs, his soaring, operatic vocals of old would have benefited others. The production job also feels a little rushed and half-baked this time, saddling the guitars in particular with a stale, musty sound that could have used some more crunch. It appears like they intended it to sound similar to No Prayer… but didn’t quite manage to pull it off.

In conclusion, Fear of the Dark is a strangely uneven affair and devoid of a clear-cut identity. In the eyes of the unflappable fanboys (and this humble reviewer may be rightly accused of being one of them), Iron Maiden are almost incapable of writing any really bad songs. But objectively speaking, the band deserves to be scolded for serving up some uncharacteristic clunkers. But as low as the album’s lowlights are, there are also lots of dizzying highs making up for them, as well as a fair amount of hidden gems that many another band would kill for, rendering this one of the more difficult efforts to assess properly and grade fairly. Let’s be generous and say it’s an 80 for the fanboys, but more in the 75 percent range for the impartial listener.

Choicest cuts: Be Quick or Be Dead, Afraid to Shoot Strangers, Childhood's End, Chains of Misery, Judas Be My Guide, Fear of the Dark

Rating: 8.0 out of 10