Band:	Iron Maiden
Album:	Fear Of The Dark
Style:	Heavy metal
Release date:	May 1992

Disc I
01. Be Quick Or Be Dead
02. From Here To Eternity
03. Afraid To Shoot Strangers
04. Fear Is The Key
05. Childhood's End
06. Wasting Love
07. The Fugitive
08. Chains Of Misery
09. The Apparition
10. Judas Be My Guide
11. Weekend Warrior
12. Fear Of The Dark

Disc II [1995 reissue bonus]
01. Nodding Donkey Blues
02. Space Station No. 5 [Montrose cover]
03. I Can't See My Feelings [Budgie cover]
04. Roll Over Vic Vella
05. No Prayer For The Dying [live]
06. Public Enema Number One [live]
07. Hooks In You [live]

An album with a maligned reputation that has tarred some of the best songs the band ever produced with the same brush, Fear Of The Dark is more than just the title track; those who have written the album off as such are missing out in a big way. The album does have its flaws, but they are more than made up for in what it does right. If you are still sceptical then pause here and go listen to "Judas Be My Guide" right now?? Do you see what I mean having given just one song a go?

Aside from the widely accepted classic in the title track and your new favourite discovery (now do I get a finder's fee?) in "Judas Be My Guide", there are songs like "Be Quick Or Be Dead", "Fear Is The Key" and "Afraid To Shoot Strangers", all of which deserve more credit than they get. These five songs tip the scales way into the positive side of things even against the chaff contained, being worth their weight in gold.

The band are as good as ever; Dickinson utilizes his underpraised screeching here to great effect and Gers comfortably fills the Adrian Smith-sized hole the band had not long experienced. The production is top notch and is still Maiden through and through, each song given the classic treatment and benefiting from it greatly.

Where the album may alienate fans, who cling to the traditional Iron Maiden sound, is where it strays into hard rock territory on songs like "The Fugitive" or "Chains Of Misery". On top of this change is the shift in lyrical focus from the grandiose topics of literary classics and mythology et al to far more contemporary topics at time of release than other albums had (not hard when Powerslave was based on pharaohs thousands of years old by the time 1984 rolled around), which may have been a change too far for some. Does this make them bad songs? Hell no, both songs are worthy of your adoration; just be prepared to hear Maiden in a different context.

The record is not without its flaws, containing some of the worst moments they have committed to posterity. "Wasting Love" and "Weekend Warrior" should have been left on the cutting room floor; the ire given to this album should be reserved for these two songs, for they are bad as suggested. From the killing fields of Passchendaele and Crimea to?football hooliganism and unrequited love? It is a jump too far for the band. "The Apparition" comes close to joining those two songs, if not for containing one of the best instrumental interludes the band has ever done, and I say that with no undue hyperbole.

Blow the cobwebs off your copy of the album and welcome it to its new home in your record player, as this is an album that should be played more than it is rested; another notch on an already studded belt, Fear Of The Dark is a classic.