Iron Maiden Album: “No Prayer For the Dying [Limited]”

THE BAND: Bruce Dickinson (vocals), Dave Murray (guitar), Janick Gers (guitar), Steve Harris (bass), Nicko McBrain (drums & percussion).

THE DISC: (1990) 10 tracks clocking in at just over 44 minutes. Included with the disc is a 14-page booklet that contains band pictures, song credits/titles, song lyrics, and thank you's. Recorded at Steve Harris' Barn somewhere in England on the Rolling Stone Mobile. Cover art by Derek Riggs. Label - Epic. *The digitally remastered version (on Sanctuary Maiden label) released in 2002 offers more in the way of liner notes and videos for your PC.

COMMENTS: It's hard for me to write this review, since I've been a fan of Iron Maiden from the beginning. I have their entire collection on disc - Iron Maiden has so many great releases. Some of those ("Number Of The Beast", "Powerslave", and "Piece Of Mind" to name a few) are all-time British metal classics... as well as all-time heavy metal classics. However, there are so many things wrong with "No Prayer For The Dying". What the heck happened after 1988's "7th Son Of A 7th Son" (less than 2 years prior)? The sound (production) is flat. Much different from previous albums - Steve Harris' Barn and the Rolling Stone Mobile I'm sure has something to do with it. This was a first for the band recording here (most of their classic 80's material was recorded in the Bahamas or France). Guitar wizard Adrian Smith is gone... working on solo projects and beckoning Dickinson to join him (a few years later he got his wish). For the most part, the melodies are forgettable. And most importantly, the lyrics are silly, or don't fit with the song. Several reviews here trash Dickinson's vocals. I disagree - I think he sounds fine, but the lyrics just don't go with the guitar licks and melodies... leaving an awkward feel to most of this album. "No Prayer For The Dying" is also missing a trademark epic song. It doesn't have to be a 13-minute "Rime Of The Ancient Mariner", but something lengthier than "Mother Russia" (the longest song on the album at 5:31) would have been nice. Steve Harris is an amazing bassist, but the questionable bass playing on "Run Silent Run Deep" simply baffles me. The original album cover artwork features Eddie reaching out and choking a man... on the remastered edition, the man is gone and (background) colors are slightly changed. The band's most recent "live" albums ("Death On The Road" and "Rock In Rio") feature NO songs from "No Prayer For The Dying"... what's that tell you! On the plus side, the songs "Holy Smoke" and "Bring Your Daughter... To The Slaughter" made it to their "Essential" (2005) and "Edward The Great" (2002) best-of compilations. The latter of the two also made it to "Best Of The Beast" (1996). While these two songs are easily the best songs on the disc, that's not saying much... they're both weak compared to anything the band did in the 80's. The 3rd best song is "Tailgunner" - good tune with unconforming lyrics. I've kept the original disc and opted not to trade in for the remastered version - even with better sound quality, it's still an album I won't listen to much. In my opinion, Iron Maiden really struggled in the 90's... two sub par albums with Bruce ("Fear Of The Dark" was the other one), and two with sad replacement singer Blaze Bailey ("X Factor" and "Virtual Xi"). I've tried repeatedly to get "into" this album over the years... and I simply can't do it (2.5 stars).

When talking about "No Prayer For the Dying," there tend to be two camps of Iron Maiden fans. There are those who hate the album, claiming that the songs are the weakest of Maiden's career and that it was the turning point in the band's career, when they went from embodying the greatness of the NWOBHM to being a shadow of what they were, prompting Bruce to leave the band. Then, there are those who love the album, praising it as a return to Maiden's "classic" sound after the synth-driven "Somewhere In Time" and "Seventh Son of a Seventh Son."

In truth, "No Prayer For the Dying" is neither. It is the most mediocre album that Iron Maiden have ever produced. It's far better than any of the travesties that followed it ("Fear of the Dark," "The X-Factor," and "Virtual XI") but nowhere near as good as anything that preceded it (or "Brave New World," which was Maiden's true return to form). New guitarist Janick Gers proved himself an ample replacement for Adrian Smith, though he would later show that his skills as a songwriter were significantly weaker than H's. "No Prayer" has its share of decent tracks, but the songs as a collection were nowhere near what Maiden is capable of.

Make no mistake, "No Prayer" suffers from many, many weak songs. "Holy Smoke," a rant against televangelists, is a rather stupid premise for a Maiden song; "Bring Your Daughter . . . to the Slaughter" is a poor song (the original version of the song, found on Bruce's solo "Best Of..." album, is far better) which suffers from a ridiculous title; "Hooks In You" is a poor addition to the "Charlotte the Harlot" series (especially following the masterpiece "22 Acacia Avenue" from "The Number of the Beast"); "The Assassin" has a lame, repetitive chorus (that said, musically, it's a decent song); and the title track is just a generally weak tune.

However, the good songs on this album are REALLY good. "Tailgunner" follows in the tradition of "Where Eagles Dare" and "Aces High" as a classic Maiden fighter pilot song. "Fates' Warning" and "Public Enema Number One" are both strong tracks (despite "Public Enema"'s unfortunate title), as is the epic-sounding "Mother Russia." The true highlight of the album, however - a song that should rightfully have become one of Maiden's all-time classics - is the maritime battle-themed "Run Silent, Run Deep." Building on a strong melody and one of Maiden's all-time top guitar solos, "Run Silent..." should have fit seemlessly into the canon of classic Maiden, yet somehow never received a place of honor on any of Maiden's live albums or their greatest hits collection.

Die-hard Maiden fans need to own "No Prayer For the Dying," if only to fill out their collections. More casual fans may want to find a way to listen to the songs I mentioned as being good before they make a decision on the album. "No Prayer For the Dying" may indeed have been the beginning of the end for Iron Maiden. But if songs like "Tailgunner" and "Run Silent, Run Deep" are what a band is capable of doing at its weakest, that's a pretty good indication of what Maiden can do at their best.

No Prayer for the Dying is Iron Maiden's 1990 follow-up album to the Seventh Son album, a hugely successful album. Steve Harris wanted to take a step back to the basics and produce more of a "Garage" type sound, instead of expanding on the huge and progressive nature of their last two albums, "Somewhere in Time" and "Seventh Son". Adrian Smith disagreed with this approach and left the band. Janick Gers was brought in, and indeed brought a much more raw and hard edge to the rhythm and overall sound. The contrast between Gers and Dave Murray on guitar is extremely big. The two styles are extremely different, almost two much so. Harris' vision is understood, but the result is a rather poor and lackluster effort from a band that we came to expect so much from. Not that it's a bad album in anyway, just not up to the calibur of their previous seven albums. The first three songs are actually pretty good. "Tailgunner" is this albums fast paced energetic opener, followed by "Holy Smoke" one of the two singles from this album, a very good song with a great back to back solo where you can clearly hear the differences in style of the two guitarists. The title track follows and is a more melow but good song, similar to "Children of the Damned" from the "Number of the Beast" album. The album now proceeds to descend into a series of songs not worth mentioning. Assasin is just not a good song, not up to Maiden calibur. It does, however, pick up towards the end with the last three songs. "Hooks in you" is indeed a catchy song, with a cool chorus, and characteristic creepy vocals from Bruce Dickinson. Great guitar work as well. "Bring your Daughter to the Slaughter" in next, and was the other single released. A very catchy chorus with hysterical lyrics. "Mother Russia" is a descent attempt to end the album with a Maiden characteristic epic finale, but it falls short compared to "Alexander the Great" or "Hallowed be thy name". In general, it's a good album as far as Rock and Roll goes, but the worst Maiden album up until that point.

This album gets little aclaim but,this cd rocks! Shorter songs,power chords that will rip your head off and Bruce Dickensons tarzanian vocals add up to a effort that will grab you and never let you go!

I gave this album another listen the other day, and I remembered why this is my least favorite Maiden album. While albums like Piece of Mind and Powerslave offered intelligent, imaginative lyrics, Maiden often resorts to cliche here. Subject matter varies from the atypical heavy metal attack on televangelists ("Holy Smoke") to an uninspired song about aerial combat ("Tailgunner"). By the way, "Tailgunner" is a carbon copy of "Aces High" from Powerlave. "Mother Russia" is Maiden's inevitable attempt at a history lesson. It is even more formulaic than "Alexander the Great" from the Somewhere in Time album (another stinker), and is definitely tacked on. They are not nearly as musically ambitious as they were on past efforts. It used to be that Maiden kept you guessing, but the music on No Prayer for the Dying is so predictable it is depressing. This album lacks hooks, melody, and Bruce Dickinson's formidable vocal range is never even challenged. The only reason to buy this album is to fill out a collection. If you are looking for great music, get Piece of Mind, Powerslave, or Live After Death. Listen to Maiden in its glory, and you will realize why this album is so embarassing.