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Customer Reviews of Fear of the Dark

Maiden's least consistent release
Fear Of The Dark is not a bad album, or the disaster many think it is. I think this album came off as bad because the band was wiped out from the 80's, a decade where they released 9 albums and toured constantly without a break, save for a few months. Bruce Dickinson shows the strain of this far more than any of the band members; his powerful howl has been reduced to a raspy gruff not worthy of his name. However, many of the songs here are great. Be quick or be dead, afraid to shoot strangers, the title cut, judas be my guide, childhoods end, and from here to eternity are great. Fear is the key, wasting love, the fugitive, and chains of misery are so-so tracks. they are good enough to be Maiden, but fear is the key and chains of misery should have been b-sides. Then FOTD would have been great. The album is mostly ruined by its worst tracks, the apparition and weekend warrior, which are truly horrid. They are not even worthy of being b-sides, they should have been scrapped at the start. Of course the record company wanted more tracks, and these were forced on, ruining the album. Ok-thats enough. The point is Maiden fans need this but newcomers to the band should get their other albums first.

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Severely mixed bag
When I first bought this CD in '93 (I believe), I desperately wanted to like it. I love Maiden's early stuff (Killers through Seventh Son), but was disappointed in NPFTD. After listening to Fear of the Dark repeatedly, I believe some songs are superb and some are almost embarrassing for Maiden.

The album starts strong with three good tracks "Be Quick or Be Dead" (fast and furious), "From Here to Eternity" (catchy and melodic), and "Afraid to Shoot Strangers" (moody and intelligent). Next, we have two awful songs in "Fear is the Key" and "Childhood's End". "Fear is the Key" may have the worst guitar solo ever recorded. It sounds like he's intentionally trying to play sour notes.

The next two tracks ("Wasting Love" and "The Fugative") are decent. "Chains of Misery" has a catchy chorus, but is too repetitive. The next three songs ("The Apparition", "Judas Be My Guide", and "Weekend Warrior") are just appalling.

At least Maiden saved the best for last. The title track is a true metal classic, probably one of my five favorite IM songs along with "Hallowed Be Thy Name", "The Trooper", "Two Minutes to Midnight" and "Wasted Years".

Fear of the Dark is probably worth buying just for the title track alone. There's also an awesome live version of "Fear of the Dark" on "A Real Live One".

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Not the best , but it certainly doesn't suck!
Many are complaining that this doesn't sound like a Maiden album and a lot of the songs are out of character for them. That's true but that doesn't mean the material is weak - just different. If you like Bruce's solo stuff then you'll love this album because that's mostly what you get. To me, the last four songs are the best, maybe just because the two songs before those are pretty bad... but it really kicks into high gear with The Apparition, Judas Be My Guide, Weekend Warrior, and Fear of the Dark. A fantastic finish to an album that seriously drags in the middle portion. Out of the twelve songs, four should have been left out, which would give you the Maiden you're used to - an album with eight classic tracks.