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Ahh...No Prayer for the Dying. And here, my hatred for Janick Gers began. Maybe I just missed Adrian Smith and, out of misplaced loyalty, hated on poor Janick. Fuck it, who cares! I still hate that son of a bitch. I saw Maiden in 2008 or 2009 on the Somewhere Back in Time tour and got angry every time I looked to my right and saw Janick tossing his guitar around and putting his leg up on an amp, just being a jackass. Ugh.

I had front row for that tour...right in front of Janick Gers. I wanted to slap him for acting so silly.

On a positive note, I ended up catching one of his wristbands, selling it on eBay, and it paid for my ticket.

Next up Fear of the Dark.

In part this album suffered from bloat, take off The Apparition, Chains of Misery, and Weekend Warrior and it might be a tad better. On the plus side, the title track is a lot of fun live.

I have grown to appreaciate this one a bit more over the years (minus the three songs I listed above). There are some solid musical moments on this album, though it is still not in the same league as the first 7.

This is the first cover not done by Derrick Riggs, he has started a design with a little girl in bed and Eddie outside the window.



Tracklist
1. Be Quick Or Be Dead (Dickinson/Gers)
2. From Here To Eternity (Harris)
3. Afraid To Shoot Strangers (Harris)
4. Fear Is The Key (Dickinson/Gers)
5. Childhood's End (Harris)
6. Wasting Love (Dickinson/Gers)
7. The Fugitive (Harris)
8. Chains of Misery (Murray/Dickinson)
9. The Apparition (Harris/Gers)
10. Judas Be My Guide (Dickinson/Murray)
11. Weekend Warrior (Harris/Gers)
12. Fear Of The Dark (Harris)


Singles
Be Quick or be Dead b/w Nodding Donkey Blues,Ppace Station #5 (Montrose cover), Bayswater Ain't a Bad Place to Be (UK release)



From Here to Eternity b/w I Can't See My Feelings (Budgie cover),Roll Over Vic Vella" (Chuck Berry cover with different lyrics),No Prayer for the Dying(live), Public Enema Number One (live).




Wasting Love b/w Tailgunner (Live), Holy Smoke (Live), The Assasin (Live)



Videos
Afraid to Shoot Strangers
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From Here to Eternity
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Fear of the Dark
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If I could travel back in time and listen to this album, no prayer for dying before anything iron maiden did in the 80s I might like fear of the dark more than I do today. There are two tracks I do like be quick or be dead and the fear of the dark.

Fear Of The Dark is an OK song, but their playing it on the Back Somewhere In Time tour was silly.

This was the first CD I ever bought. After getting a CD boom box for Christmas, I raced to Tower Records and bought the longbox CD of this album because the cover looked awesome. Unfortunately, I was still a big fan of thrash metal & black/death metal, so when Bruce's high screams kicked in I felt letdown. Of course, now I love the band and can't get enough of them, but at the time I was disappointed the music wasn't more brutal.

I really wanted a Japanese import disc and this was available for $20. It does not have any bonus tracks but it has a slipcover, OBI strip, and an additional booklet featuring bios of the band (in Japanese) and Maiden's discography (up to 1992). Included with the disc is a song lyrics sheet, again in Japanese.

I saw the video for "Be Quick or Be Dead" and while it was an improvement over the likes of "Holy Smoke" there was the realization that Maiden of old was pretty much no more. On its own "Fear" is not a bad album but it is probably a couple of songs too long as previously mentioned. The title track is pretty good and even "Wasting Love" is not bad for a power ballad but it probably should have been relegated to a Dickinson/Gers side project. "Fear is the Key" has one of the oddest and abrupt changes starting at 3:27 -- "Direction is the Key" might have been a better suited title because it becomes a completely different song at that point.

Now I need to catch up on Maiden's releases since "Fear."

I try to listen to this one every few years, I think the first 3 tracks are phenomenal, I think the rest is filler garbage.

Move on to the X-Factor, I know this isn't a popular opinion, but I think that album is fantastic start to finish.

I think this is a step up from No Prayer, with "Be Quick Or Be Dead" starting things off with a bang. In general, it's still nowhere near as good as their first seven, and the only other standout tracks that I can recall are "Afraid To Shoot Strangers" and "Fear of the Dark." I'll listen to it again tonight at work and see if anything else stands out.

The band died for me when Bruce left, and I never listened to any of the albums between this and the reunion, but maybe I should.

Maiden really ran out of steam at this point. Probably a good thing Bruce left. His last performance, which is on DVD, was somewhat embarrassing. He just didn’t seem into it anymore. He forgot some of the words to “The Evil That Men Do” and just mumbled through some lines.

Great song:
The Apparition – I know a lot of people hate it, but I like it a lot

Good Songs:
Afraid to Shoot Strangers – I like the first part, the slow part, but don’t care too much for the second half. The guitar solo sounds very sloppy.
Fear is the Key, Childhoods End

Ok Songs, but below average for Maiden:
Be Quick, Wasting Love, The Fugitive,
Fear of the Dark - would be better if they didn’t play it to death

The worst songs Maiden ever recorded:
From Here to Eternity, Chains of Misery, Judas Be My Guide, Weekend Warrior

I was in the third or fourth row, right in front of Dave Murray for most of the show, thank goodness. Every time I turned my head to the right and saw Janick, I'd get disgusted. Luckily I could ignore him for most of the show but sometimes he'd wander over to Steve Harris or do something so distracting I couldn't help but notice him. Paying for your ticket is the probably the one positive thing Gers has done with his life. Hooray! (Sorry, that's harsh. He's probably a nice guy. Ahhhhhhhhhh.....fuck 'im! )

I gave up on "new" Maiden albums after No Prayer, for a few years at least. They suffered with the absence of Adrian Smith and the introduction of Janick Gers. I didn't pick up Fear of the Dark until 2000 or so. I didn't like it then because I was looking back to their glory days but another 10 years later and I'm able to find some tolerable songs and even enjoyable songs.

Enjoyable:
- Afraid to Shoot Strangers (though I think I might like the live version w/ Blaze on one of their compilations albums (Best of the Beast maybe?))
- Fear of the Dark

Tolerable:
Be Quick or Be Dead
From Here to Eternity (I know, I know, but it's grown on me. Like fungus)

Next up, the 1st of 3 live albums A Real Live One


Compared to LAD and Maiden England this was not in the same category, at this point Bruce announced he was leaving after this tour and the band was in a serious state of flux. Also, Gers < Smith.

The performances seemed flat in parts and part and did not have the non stop energy the earlier shows did. However, there are some good performances of Afreaid to Shoot Strangers, Be Quick or Be Dead, and Tailgunner. The songs off of the No Prayer and FOD albums sound better live.


This would later be combined with A Real Dead One as half of A Real Live Dead One.



Tracklist
1. Be Quick Or Be Dead (Dickinson/Gers)
2. From Here To Eternity (Harris)
3. Can I Play With Madness (Smith/Dickinson/Gers)
4. Wasting Love (Dickinson/Gers)
5. Tailgunner (Harris/Dickinson)
6. The Evil That Men Do (Smith/Dickinson/Harris)
7. Afraid To Shoot Strangers (Harris)
8. Bring Your Daughter... To The Slaughter (Dickinson)
9. Heaven Can Wait (Harris)
10. The Clairvoyant (Harris)
11. Fear Of The Dark (Harris)



Single (b/w depends on which version of the single)
Fear of the Dark b/w Bring Your Daughter (Live), Hooks in You (Live), Tailgunner (Live)




Videos
Fear of the Dark
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Clairvoyant
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Bring Your Daughter ...
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I did relisten to Fear of the Dark yesterday, and my initial summation held up. I did like Childhood's End a little more than I remembered, but that was about it. Also, From Here To Eternity is such crap. I also forgot how tired Bruce sounded. Made sense for him to leave after that one.

I think I have A Real Live Dead One hanging around somewhere but almost never listen to it.

Next up, A Real Dead One. Once Bruce announced he was leaving, they played some more classic songs and came up with some gems for this one. Like A Real Live One, the production is not all that great, but the band does sound a bit better on some of these songs.

They also came out with a Pay Per View event, released on video as Raising Hell which was a really odd show where Maiden played a small hall and in between songs magician Simon Drake would perform horror magic. It was really weird and not so good. At the end, Bruce was "killed" and Eddie made an interesting appearence (video below)




Tracklist
1. The Number Of The Beast (Harris)
2. The Trooper (Harris)
3. Prowler (Harris)
4. Transylvania(Harris)
5. Remember Tomorrow (Harris/Di'Anno)
6. Where Eagles Dare (Harris)
7. Sanctuary (Iron Maiden)
8. Running Free (Harris/Di'Anno)
9. Run To The Hills (Harris)
10. 2 Minutes To Midnight (Smith/Dickinson)
11. Iron Maiden (Harris)
12. Hallowed Be Thy Name (Harris)


Single (cool cover saying adios to Bruce)

Hallowed Be Thy Name (Live) b/w The Trooper (Live), Wasted Years (Live), Wrathchild (Live)


Iron Maiden (and the "death" of Bruce)
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Remember Tomorrow
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Prowler
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After all the comments about Piece of Mind, I went back and listened to it, and found the second half to be better than I remembered. I still feel like everything after The Trooper is fluff, but it's more enjoyable than I gave it credit for. To Tame A Land is the weakest closer of the big seven though. I might have to move this up in my rankings to just above Somewhere In Time, although I still think the latter is quite underrated among Maiden fans.

Next up Live at Donington, the last of the Bruce is leaving live album trilogy.

I prefer this one to the Real Live/Real Dead Ones. It is mastered better and benefits from being from all one show where the band performed rather well. This was a real bright spot in the No Prayer/FOTD era.


Original Cover


CD Cover


Tracklist
1. Be Quick Or Be Dead (Dickinson/Gers)
2. The Number Of The Beast (Harris)
3. Wrathchild (Harris)
4. From Here To Eternity (Harris)
5. Can I Play With Madness (Smith/Dickinson/Harris)
6. Wasting Love (Dickinson/Gers)
7. Tailgunner (Dickinson/Harris)
8. The Evil That Men Do (Smith/Dickinson/Harris)
9. Afraid To Shoot Strangers (Harris)
10. Fear Of The Dark (Harris)
11. Bring Your Daughter To The Slaughter (Dickinson)
12. The Clairvoyant (Harris)
13. Heaven Can Wait (Harris)
14. Run To The Hills (Harris)
15. 2 Minutes To Midnight (Smith/Dickinson)
16. Iron Maiden (Harris)
17. Hallowed Be Thy Name (Harris)
18. The Trooper (Harris)
19. Sanctuary (Iron Maiden)
20. Running Free (Harris/Di'Anno)

Videos

Afraid to Shoot Strangers
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Running Free (Adrian Smith played this song with the band)
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The Evil That Men Do
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Next up, The X-Factor

A horrible album cover and the first album with Blaze Bayley on vocals. After the last two albums with Bruce, Maiden did a really good job musucally on this album, there are some really good songs on this album (especially the first 3). Musically, this is the pre-cursor to the reunion albums.

I think Blaze's voice is fine for a few songs, then it starts to wear on me. He sings every song almost the exact same way and despite some great music behind it, the songs start to drag on. This album is best taken in 3 or 4 song chunks. This is probably Maiden's darkest album, another upbeat song or two would have helped it as well.





Tracklist
1. Sign Of The Cross (Harris)
2. Lord Of The Flies (Harris/Gers)
3. Man On The Edge (Bayley/Gers)
4. Fortunes Of War (Harris)
5. Look For The Truth (Bayley/Gers/Harris)
6. The Aftermath (Harris/Bayley/Gers)
7. Judgement Of Heaven (Harris)
8. Blood On The World's Hands (Harris)
9. The Edge Of Darkness (Harris/Bayley/Gers)
10. 2 A.M. (Bayley/Gers/Harris)
11. The Unbeliever (Harris/Gers


Singles:

Man on the Edge -- various versions ... addidional tracks are X-Factor leftovers plus interviews with Blaze upon joining the band. The additional tracks are pretty solid and all better than 2 AM.

The Edge of Darkness
Judgement Day
Justice of the Peace
I Live My Way
Blaze Bayley Interview, Part I
Blaze Bayley Interview, Part II





Lord of the Flies b/w Doctor Doctor (UFO cover), My Generation (Who cover)



Videos

Sign of the Cross
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Lord of the Flies
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Man on the Edge
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I used to know Blaze back in his Wolfsbane days. Great guy and an excellent front man, but I never thought his voice fitted Maiden at all. I seldom (if ever) listen to any Blaze-Maiden tracks. I'm much more likely to throw on some old Wolfsbane.

Manhunt
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Love that song ... thanks for sharing.

I could never convince myself to purchase the x factor (maybe because bruce has temporary left the band.) I looked at allmusic for a review of this album, and they have three notable tracks to my surprise. Man on the edge, the aftermath, the edge of darkness.

I like to pretend that there were no Iron Maiden albums between Live at Donington and Brave New World.

I live the album cover better than the music inside.

This is the only tour from 87 to the present that I did not see Iron Maiden. Although he was no Bruce, Blaze got a lot of unneceesary flack because he was the replacement singer. I thought this was maiden's worst album (not because of Blaze). "Man on The Edge" is pretty good "Sign of The Cross" is Decent. I do really like the Bside cover of "Doctor Doctor"