Music Banter - View Single Post - The Anthill 2.0: Albums, Artists & The Chance To Win A Million Dollars!

Anteater · 05-10-2014, 09:38 PM

So lets start off by stating the obvious: yes, 1990's No Prayer For The Dying wasn't within spitting distance of Seventh Son.. quality-wise, and the relatively lukewarm reception this album received from the hardcore Maiden fans upon release wasn't completely undeserved either. Whilst the musical landscape was beginning to change as the rumblings of "alternative" and "grunge" music echoed in the distance, the synth-laden approach Maiden had adopted on their two previous outings was still in vogue for most of the fans. Nobody went up to Dickinson, Harris or Smith and asked them to "strip down" their sound, but strip it down they did after their massive world tour wrapped up in '89. It didn't help that Adrian Smith decided to vacate about halfway into pre-production either, forcing Dickinson to recruit his buddy Janick Gers on axework to pick up the slack. No wonder people were pissed: the album hadn't even been recorded and many people had already convinced themselves it wasn't going to be any good! And as the saying goes...most prophecies are self-fulfilling ones for those that have already made up their minds beforehand.

In retrospect though, the truth is that No Prayer For The Dying is far from a bad album. It is definitely weaker than anything they band had done from '81 onwards up until that point...but this is Iron Maiden we are talking about. Even a 'by the numbers' release from them is going to be better than what others of their ilk might have cooked up as long as their classic lineup was mostly intact...and intact it was in 1990.

So instead of writing up a long review of why you should give this underrated record another shot if you had dismissed it previously based on a collective rep, I'll sum it up in five quick points-

1. It's an interesting album sonically. Bruce Dickinson not only snarls and curses a fair amount throughout (which is unusual for a Maiden album), but it seems like he and the band actually developed a sense of humor as well. ('Public Enema Number One', 'Bring Your Daughter...To The Slaughter', etc. etc.)

2. 'The Assassin', 'Run Silent Run Deep', 'Fates Warning' and 'Hooks In You' are all here, and those songs are prime goodies that would have fit well on any of the past classics.

3. It's one of the shortest albums in the IM's discography, with no cuts running longer than 5 minutes, which actually makes the experience fairly breezy regardless of how much you enjoy (or despise) the music contained therein.

4. Great album cover, and the last one where we'd see "classic" Eddie for awhile.

5. It's better than 'Fear Of The Dark' or anything recorded with Blaze Bayley...a LOT better! *shudder*

So that's my take folks. Anyone got a second opinion?