Iron Maiden – Fear of the Dark (1992)

Iron Maiden was one of the heavy metal bands I was really into as a pre-teen. Fear of the Dark might've been one of the first CDs I owned. I even had a Fear of the Dark T-shirt that I wore in my fifth grade school photo with a sulky expression on my face. There was something incredibly cool about the monsters in the album covers and themes that played with fears and dark mythologies. Back then, Fear of the Dark contained some of my favourite songs. More recently I've come to realise that the earlier Iron Maiden albums were much better than this one, but to me personally this was a significant album, because it was my first one. In this blog, I have badmouthed Bruce Dickinson's solo career quite harshly, but I have to say that with Iron Maiden I can still clearly understand why I liked them. The fast guitar solos and almost symphonic melodies still sound exciting.



Bruce Dickinson was always the main Iron Maiden singer for me. He was one of the first one of my musical idols whom I saw live in Helsinki. Back then I didn't really care for the first couple of albums with Paul Di'Anno and I definitely didn't like it when Blaze Bayley took over in vocals after Fear of the Dark. This is why I think Fear of the Dark was the last noteworthy Iron Maiden album. Anything that came after it, doesn't really deserve that much recognition in my opinion.

Finland has always been really into heavy metal. That's probably why bands like Metallica and Iron Maiden have always been super popular there. Iron Maiden recorded many of the songs on their live albums in Helsinki. There's something quite haunting in hearing whole ice hockey rink singing the guitar solos. I only saw Iron Maiden once and it was a time when Bayley was in the vocals. I still enjoyed that show a lot. Especially the monster, Eddie, walking on stage many metres tall.

The album starts with a fast trash metal song Be Quick or Be Dead. It's a bit different from many other songs on the album, but I really do like the melody of it and the quick guitar solos are quite impressive. From Here to Eternity is more of a hard rock song. It reminds me of bands like AC/DC or Kiss. The chorus is a clear audience singalong. Afraid to Shoot Strangers is probably as close as you can get to a ballad with a band like Iron Maiden. It was one of my favourite songs back in the day because of its melodic approach. I still think it's one of the most listenable songs on the album. I really like the electric guitars that kick in when the song's pace quickens. Fear Is the Key takes things heavier again and there are quite clear similarities to Dickinson's solo career in style, which I'm not a big fan of. Childhood's End is a glorious melodic masterpiece. It was and is my favourite song on the album. The galloping beats remind me of Ennio Morricone. Wasting Love continues with the slower and more melodic style. I do like the melodic bass lines and the dark mood of the song, but there's something missing that leaves the song a bit boring. The Fugitive is probably closest song to old-school Iron Maiden with its machine gun like beats and flapping bass lines of Steve Harris. Chains of Misery has a bluesy hard rock tempo and chorus that has been meant to be sung together on gigs. The Apparition is one of the most boring songs on the album. The melody doesn't really give anything and the song seems to be stuck on some kind of boring loop. Judas Be My Guide is one of the best songs on the album. The guitar solos are quite amazing and the melody has enough hooks to keep you interested. Weekend Warrior sounds very 90s. There are similarities to bands like Ugly Kid Joe and AC/DC and in that way it's a very untypical Iron Maiden song. The album ends in the title track and on of the biggest hits of the band's career, Fear of the Dark. This is a song I used to play on my guitar over and over again and this is the song that I've played probably more than any other by Iron Maiden on my stereo.

I remember many Iron Maiden music videos from the early 90s when we had MTV at home. Iron Maiden is mainly a great live band, which makes it only appropriate that many of their videos feature live performances. The video for Be Quick or Be Dead has been filmed with a swinging hand held camera. The band is playing in an industrial marina area that, if I'm not mistaken, is from East London, probably from the Isle of Dogs. One of the most interesting features in watching the band play is the size of the drum kit. There are so many drums in that kit.

I don't listen to Iron Maiden anymore, but now that I did for this blog, I found it much more enjoyable than I probably imagined. They have excellent melodies in their songs and it's a pleasure listening to such skilled musicians. This may not be their best album, but as I said, it bears a certain significance to me personally.

Listen to the album on Spotify.