IRON MAIDEN (UK) - No Prayer for the Dying (LP, EMI, 1990)

RATING: **

I'm sure it seemed to be a good idea at first: a back-to-basics approach to Iron Maiden, moving away from the increasingly progressive overtones of the three previous albums in order to rejuvenate the band and plant the seeds for new and exciting things to come. Instead of fully metamorphosing into a metallic answer to Pink Floyd (some may say it happened eventually, but let's not rush things), their collective option would be to reconnect with their denim-and-leather looks and street-level attitude from the early 1980's, not to mention less artsy, way more aggressive lyrical subjects. While the whole pop-meets-metal thing was rapidly becoming a thing of the past, and with the advent of caustic variants such as death metal and even black metal, the turn of the decade seemed to suggest a collective move towards heavier, more straight-to-the-point waters - and bands like Judas Priest (always the trendsetters), Metallica and Pantera were already testing the water for some exciting developments ahead. Iron Maiden thought they could do the same by recapturing some of the magic from their "Killers" days as a new starting line, and I honestly don't see anything fundamentally wrong about that; in fact, I stongly think that 1990's "No Prayer for the Dying" LP could have been a hell of a great record under different circumstances. But the road to hell is full of good intentions, as Bruce Dickinson himself would state in later years, and the resulting album never really threatened to take the world by storm, instead becoming the opening act for a whole decade of confusion and instabilities (not to mention a handful of painfully poor songs to match).

Well, maybe we should all have seen it coming when Adrian Smith announced his departure in January 1990, with the dreaded artistic differences playing a major role in such decision. In fact, after recording a pretty decent (but ultimately unsuccessful) solo album under the name ASAP - which explored the same progressive avenues of previous Maiden records, though going to some decidedly different directions - the guitarist felt the idea of a stripped-down Iron Maiden was a step backwards and something of a non-starter, his preference being towards an even more adventurous, prog-oriented sound. Unable to bring substantial creative contributions to the table, and feeling increasingly unattached to the whole Maiden thing, Smith decided to pack his bags and take something of a sabbathical, being very much of a family man for  number of years. The thing is, Adrian had been one of the band's main songwriters since his arrival in 1980, and his absence meant that much of what made Iron Maiden such a powerplant of metal classics simply wouldn't be there for a full decade. With new axeman Janick Gers (ex-White Spirit/Gillan, and a colleague of Bruce Dickinson in his solo effort "Tattooed Millionaire") still being too shy to contribute to songwriting just yet, the group had little usable ideas to work with for their new record - and it shows, unfortunately. I won't delve into the stylistic differences between Smith and Gers right now, as it's my intention to give it a proper analysis in later reviews, but let's just say that Adrian Smith is missed, and the group would continue to have a hard time without him in later years.

The decision to keep things raw and simple resulted in at least two other significant changes - both not coming for the best, IMHO. First, singer Bruce Dickinson decided to adapt his vocal delivery to the new decade, leaving his operatic intonations behind in order to pursue a raspier, aggressive sound. Now, I know some Maiden fans love it to death, but I'm generally less charitable about it, and I tend to think it marks a significant low point in Dickinson's career. It's not at all atrocious, and it sounds good enough on record, but it was surely the less impressive Bruce The Air Raid Siren ever sounded upon a stage, and some of his performances (available in a number of bootleg recordings from 1990-1993) are simply not good enough for such a enormous entity like Iron Maiden. Similarly, the decision to record in Barnyard Studios (basically, a Rolling Stones Mobile Studio parked in a farm owned by Steve Harris in Essex) must be seriously called into question, as it resulted in a thin, generic sound that doesn't add any fuel to the fire, if you know what I mean. I'm sure Martin Birch did his best, but a quick comparison with the stellar results from albums like "Killers" and "Seventh Son of a Seventh Son" show in no uncertain terms how the whole let's-record-it-at-home-and-in-a-very-relaxed-manner thing was a mistake.

Though not an unmitigated disaster, fact is that "No Prayer for the Dying" is easily the least enjoyable album released by Maiden up to this point, and still ranks as one of the lesser points in the band's discography. And it doesn't take a masters degree to understand why: the songwriting simply wasn't there. Let's take opening track "Tailgunner" as an example: though a pretty decent song in its own right (in fact, it's one of the best tracks on display around here), it's honestly little more than a restrained, less intense rehashing of "Aces High" (the subject matter is very similar, and the song structure is pretty much the same), and it simply doesn't hold enough fire in itself to be a suitable opening number. The fact that it is followed by "Holy Smoke" (easily my favorite here, with tons of energy and funny, tongue-in-cheek lyrics about televangelism) sure help matters to a considerable extent, but it's still not enough to really get the party started. And it doesn't get better, believe me - in fact, we have just passed through the highlights, and it's mostly a struggle from this point onwards.

The title track is a more laid back, highly melodic tune with guitar harmonies that bear more than a passing resemblance to "Infinite Dreams" - it's not bad, really, just lacking the ingenuity and bite to make it genuinely interesting. Songs like "Fates Warning" and "Run Silent Run Deep" are plagued by the same lack of imagination, with weak choruses and melodies that one will forget as soon as the songs are over; "Public Enema Number One" is a bit better, admitedly, but suffers from the same hindrances for the most part. "Bring Your Daughter... To the Slaughter" is the hit single from the LP, and arguably the most memorable tune from the entire package, but I don't think it stood that well the test of time, as it's so cheesy that you need to appreciate its unintentional humor in order to really enjoy it. And don't get me started on "Mother Russia", a weak pastiche of former epics that is pretty much a clumsily edited version of "Alexander the Great" (c'mon, even the atmospheric part in the instrumental section is near identical!). I love you, Steve, but this one is embarassing, easily one of the worse songs ever penned by band. 

I wouldn't really list these as standouts, mind you, but I tend to consider "Hooks in You" (nice, hard-rocking riffing, and some vocal lines you can sing along with without much effort) and "The Assassin" (nice twists and turns in instrumentation, and I like the "better watch out" part in the chorus, though Bruce's rendition is perhaps too over-the-top for my liking) as decent songs for Maiden's standards, both adding some depth and color to the proceedings - just never compare it to previous records and you will be fine, I guess. Still, it's too little to save "No Prayer for the Dying" from its fate: let's face it, the whole back-to-street-level thing just didn't work out as planned, and the resulting album clearly shows Maiden in a descending curve, for the first time in their glorious career. It still wasn't enough to really tarnish the band's reputation, you know, and the tour to support the album was a great success for the most part, but the heroes were no longer invincible, and the lackluster results of the record were something of a bad sign of things to come. As for the album itself, you'll probably like it if you're a fan, but newcomers must be warned that there's not a single brilliant song on sight, and more casual listeners will have a hard time trying to listen to it without skipping.

Bruce Dickinson (V), Dave Murray (G), Janick Gers (G), Steve Harris (B), Nicko McBrain (D).

01. Tailgunner (Harris/Dickinson) 4:13
02. Holy Smoke (Harris/Dickinson) 3:47
03. No Prayer for the Dying (Harris) 4:22
04. Public Enema Number One (Murray/Dickinson) 4:03
05. Fates Warning (Murray/Harris) 4:09
06. The Assassin (Harris) 4:16
07. Run Silent Run Deep (Harris/Dickinson) 4:34
08. Hooks in You (Dickinson/Smith) 4:06
09. Bring Your Daughter... To the Slaughter (Dickinson) 4:42
10. Mother Russia (Harris) 5:30

Have you been involved with any of the bands mentioned here? Have any extra info and/or corrections? Please e-mail me (drequon@gmail.com) and let me know!