REVIEW: Black Sabbath – Headless Cross (1989)

BLACK SABBATH – Headless Cross (1989)

This is one of the last Sabbath albums I got, because it was pretty scarce in the mid-90’s.  I paid about $25 for a US import, thanks to Orange Monkey Music in Kitchener, the only store that was able to get it.  (They were not, however, able to get me Seventh Star, then only available from Japan.)

While Headless Cross is lopsided to keyboard-heavy melodic numbers, I consider it a really underrated album.  I like it a lot better than the previous one, Tony Martin’s debut as Sabbath singer, The Eternal Idol.  I can’t say I adore it as much as Born Again, my favourite album of all time by anybody.  I can’t say I prefer it to Seventh Star, but it’s pretty close.

It’s a short one, a mere 7 tracks plus intro “The Gates of Hell”, but most of the songs are in the 5-6 minute range.  The intro then segues into one of the most powerful Sabbath songs of the entire catalog:  “Headless Cross” itself.  Cozy Powell kicks this one in the nuts.  If you love Cozy’s drumming, you will love “Headless Cross”.  It pulsates before it explodes in the chorus with Tony’s youthful scream.   In the 1980’s most bands needed a singer who could shatter glass and Tony M delivered.  If that’s not your thing, then just walk away, because you won’t like the rest of this review.

Another riffy number shows up next, “Devil & Daughter”, which also showcases Tony Iommi’s underrated soloing.  Martin scorches through the song with bravado and lung power to spare.   Its only flaw is that Geoff Nicholls’ keys are mixed way too high, as they are on almost every song on Headless Cross.

“When Death Calls” is a slow burner that I witnessed Sabbath perform live in 1995 on the Forbidden tour.  It has three distinct sections:  the mellow verses featuring Lawrence Cottle’s chiming fretless bass, the heavy choruses, and the scorching “Don’t look in those sunken eyes…” section.  This one section, as far as I’m concerned, makes the song.  Take it out and you don’t have enough to keep it interesting.  And best of all, who shows up to play the guitar solo?  Does he sound familiar to you?

I should hope so.  It’s Iommi’s mate Brian May!  A heavier Brian May than you were hearing at that period of the 1980’s, and his solo totally makes the song that much more special.  By the time Martin proclaims that there’s no tomorrow, “just an evil shadow” at the end, you’re probably exhausted from rocking so hard.

And that’s side one, a decidedly dark affair.  The mood brightens a little on side two.  The hard rock song “Kill In The Spirit World” boasts song damn strong verses before it melds with a spooky chorus.  Then Tony nails it with a hauntingly bluesy solo.  I’m sure this song was derided by skeptics at the time for its pop tendencies; meanwhile Dio got away with songs like “Mystery”.  I think there was definitely a double standard in how fans treated Sabbath in the late 80’s.  Their albums were a lot better than given credit.

Another hard rock song follows:  “Call of the Wild”.  It’s not as good as “Kill In The Spirit World”, but it  has a good pulse and it’s pretty decent.  Reportedly this song was to be called “Hero” until Ozzy released one with the same title a few months prior.  The lyrics are pretty lame:

In this last macabre hour, witches cry

And turn to dust before the moon

Many spirits are lost forever but one survives

To call the tune of Lucifer

There’s one pretty-much universal criticism of Headless Cross, and that’s the lyrics.  The above is a glaring example of Martin specifically trying to write “Satanic” lyrics, something he admitted to.   It feels contrived because it was, and in fact it loaned Sabbath less credibility than when Ronnie was singing about neon knights, and Ian was singing about getting trashed.

“Black Moon” is next, actually a re-recorded B-side from The Eternal Idol.  As such, it’s not that remarkable.  The riff is cool, as Tony wrings out something bluesy while Cozy pounds out a passable groove.

The album closes with the haunting, acoustic “Night Wing”.  This is where Cottle’s fretless bass really plays a role.  I love fretless and this song has some strong sections with great bass.  It’s odd to hear fretless bass on a Sabbath album, but I like different.  Tony’s guitar solo is a scorcher, as he seemingly loses control and then reels it back in.  And then as if to make a point, he composes a simple but appropriate acoustic solo.  And then another electric one.

You know, looking back, 1989, it was the era of the guitar hero.  And nothing wrong with that.  I love Van Halen, I love Satriani, Vai, Morse, all those guys.  But it truly is a shame that in the 80’s, the guitar kids ignored Tony Iommi.  A guitar hero — nay! legend! — was playing better than ever and the kids didn’t buy Headless Cross.

‘Tis a shame.

Lawrence Cottle was a studio cat, and arguably never an official member of Black Sabbath, but Joe Siegler’s got him listed and that’s good enough for me.  You could hardly see him in the music video for “Headless Cross” as he is always in the background, blurry.  But Sabbath fans were soon in for a treat that many did not appreciate:  the arrival of Neil Murray on bass.  Neil and Cozy had become a formidable rhythm section in Whitesnake, and now they were back together, the two guys who did Slide It In (the US version anyway).

The Black Sabbath lineup of Iommi/Martin/Powell/Murray/Nicholls bears the dubious distinction of being the third-longest lived behind the classic Ozzy and Dio (with Appice) lineups. They did three tours and two albums (Tyr and Forbidden).  The hiring of these musicians was hoped to bring the credibility back.   Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.

As mentioned, this lineup recorded the next album, Tyr, before breaking up in the face of the first reunion with Ronnie James Dio, and it was this lineup that I saw in 1995, thus far the only time I’ve seen the band.

If Headless Cross were remixed today, to just tone down the keyboards a tad, I think it would help a lot.  But I do like this album.  Sabbath had written some great songs (all songs are credited to the band), and Tony Martin was at the absolute peak of his voice.

4/5 stars

Part 132: Tremolo

RECORD STORE TALES PART 132:  Tremolo

One of the perks to working at a record store was taking first crack at anything that came into the store.  Frequently, people who worked other record stores would sell us their promos, and often we’d happily buy them, especially when they preceded the actual album.

In spring 1997, Blue Rodeo released their next album, Tremolo.  Some guy from another chain sold us a promo copy several weeks before its release date.  Me being a big Blue Rodeo fan, I made sure we snagged it.  We couldn’t really sell promos on the shelves, but I knew several people who’d want a copy, if I didn’t take it myself.  It was just a simple black and white sleeve, so I didn’t offer much for it.

I eaglerly put it into the player.  Their last album, the experimental Nowhere To Here, was a hard one to love but it became one of my favourites.  I was surprised to hear that Tremolo was nothing like it.  I gave it a couple spins in store but it wasn’t doing anything for me.  Nah, I could live without it, I thought, at least until the original release.  Then I’ll try ‘er again.

I called up Bethany, one of our best customers, and massive Blue Rodeo fan.  She came in immediately to pick it up.  Even though us record store guys usually prefer an official release to a promo, Bethany preferred the promo.  Not only was it weeks in advance and cheaper, she considered it to be a collector’s item, so it worked out for everyone!

Eventually the real thing came out, and when a cheap used one came in, I bought it and took it home.  It still didn’t click.  It took several months to really grow on me, but by winter it finally had.  Like an onion, I had peeled the layers and uncovered the beauty within.  Tremolo, like Nowhere To Here, was far from immediate for me.  Its acoustics and almost complete lack of anything electric or uptempo had thrown me for a loop.  But somehow during that laid back winter of  ’98, Tremolo and I saw I to eye, and we have been companions ever since.

Lesson:  Albums must always be listened to over time, in different contexts, before abandoning!

REVIEW: Twisted Sister – Under The Blade (1985 remix)

First of my reviews from Record Store Excursion 2012!  Check out the video below if you missed it. This one bought at Sonic Boom Kensington.

MIKE AND AARON GO TO TORONTO

TWISTED SISTER – Under The Blade (1985 remix)

The original 1982 Secret Records mix of this album was raw and heavy, like a bulldozer with a singer and sense of rhythm.  Secret folded and Atlantic re-released the album in ’85 with a remix helmed by Mark Mendoza.  For added measure they added Twisted’s first single, “I’ll Never Grow Up, Now!” as a bonus track.

Although less so in its remixed for, Under the Blade served as a brutal reminder that Twisted Sister were and are a heavy metal band, before the MTV hits happened. No ballads, the only slow moment is the intro to “Run For Your Life” which soon hits the gas and takes off at breakneck speed. Like a cross between early Kiss, Cooper, Sabbath and Priest, Under the Blade was an aural assault. The assault was assisted by a brutally ragtag heavy production and mix, frayed at the edges and certainly way too heavy for kiddies weaned on autotune today.  Elsewhere, more melodic fare like “Bad Boys (of Rock and Roll)” and “Shoot ‘Em Down” plot the way for the more commercial years about to unfold.

But then they did that remix, and toned everything down.  The drums aren’t as loud, the guitars less cutting.  In short, it sounds like they were trying to make Under the Blade fit in more with the Stay Hungry sound.  I did like that they included “I’ll Never Grow Up, Now!”, one of my favourite TS tracks of all time.

Production is by Pete Way (UFO), and Fast Eddie Clarke (Motorhead) takes a guest guitar solo.

For the remix:

3/5 stars

REVIEW: Iron Maiden – A Real Live One (1993, plus single)

Part 16 of my series of Iron Maiden reviews!  NOTE:  This album was later reissued as part of A Real Live Dead One.

IRON MAIDEN – A Real Live One (1993)

And then the bombshell hit.  Just as Iron Maiden were releasing their next live album, Bruce Dickinson was leaving the band.

It was another in a string of major metal singer departures:  Vince Neil and Rob Halford in 1992, and now Bruce Dickinson.  Not to mention Dio splitting with Sabbath, again.  It was a very demoralizing time to be a metal fan.

Tattooed Millionaire was a big enough success to warrant a sequel.  On the advice of Maiden manager Rod Smallwood, Bruce was encouraged not to just do a half-assed sequel, but to really throw himself into the creative process.  What he came up with was very different and intriguing; Bruce likened it to early Peter Gabriel.  This triggered some soul searching.  What if this direction was to pursued?  What then?

Bruce approached Smallwood.  “As you can see, the music is very different, that’s the good news,” he started.  “The bad news is I’ve decided to leave the band.”

As a compromise, Bruce agreed to do the next tour, promoting the live album A Real Live One.  A Real Live One was a document of the Fear of the Dark tour, and after it was mixed the band planned to hit the road again for a second leg.  Bruce did not want to jeopardize the tour, and Steve Harris agreed to do it as a farewell.  This was a decision that all parties would regret, but more on that later.  In the meantime, Maiden had a live album to promote, with a distinct black cloud over it.

Maiden had chosen to do two live albums.  First came A Real Live One, which covered music from 1986-1992.  Then, post-tour, A Real Dead One covering the early years was scheduled.  Splitting the live album into two may have proven to be a mistake, as it meant A Real Live One was lopsided and full of songs that many in North America did not care about:  “Heaven Can Wait”, “From Here To Eternity”, “Bring Your Daughter”, but nothing of the beloved earlier period previously covered on Live After Death.

And how do you top an album like Live After Death?  You can’t, so A Real Live One was doomed to be deemed inferior from the start.

Making matters worse, not only were Maiden releasing a live album that summer, but so did Kiss, Ozzy, and Van Halen.

The production seemed a little muddier (the first without Martin Birch since the early days).  The performances were fine, as expected, Maiden are nothing but professionals.  I don’t listen to this album often.  Later live albums that cover this material are superior, and it would have helped if the album had pre-1986 classics on it.  Although A Real Live One had four albums to draw upon, that period of Maiden is not the golden era, and the albums are undeniably less classic than the pre-’86 period.

I can understand their reasoning of doing the release like this.  I’m sure they felt that a live album without overlap with Live After Death was better value for the money.  And if you wanted those songs, you could get A Real Dead One later on.  But still, a Maiden live set without “The Trooper” or “Hallowed” or “Number” was a lopsided Beast indeed.

Worthy:  “Fear of the Dark”, “Afraid to Shoot Strangers”, “The Evil That Men Do”, “The Clairvoyant”.

Ugh:  a flat “Can I Play With Madness” & “From Here To Eternity”.

Missing:  “Wasted Years”.  That would have been a worthy addition to the set.

Derek Riggs returned to do the cover art for this and it’s a fun striking painting.  Nothing special, just another cool Eddie.

The single was the awesome “Fear Of The Dark”, live (which had a better cover than the album).  This had become a concert classic already, with a massive fan singalong.  The B-side was “Hooks In You” from the No Prayer album and tour.  I’ve never been a fan of this song, but I have no problem with Maiden issuing live B-sides of songs that are rarely aired live.  It’s good for documenting history.  It’s also available on the Fear of the Dark bonus disc edition.

2.5/5 stars

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

Part 131.5: The Crimson Guard

RECORD STORE TALES PART 131.5:  The Crimson Guard

Sort of an intermission here:  People often come to me and say, “LeBrain, what’s with that GI Joe you that’s in all your Record Store Tales?”

I say, “Oh, you mean this guy?”

“I used him for re-enacting scenes from the old days at the store.  I’ve chosen him due to his uncanny resemblance to the real thing.”

REVIEW: Judas Priest – Turbo (1986)

JUDAS PRIEST –  Turbo (1986)

Most people know the story by now:  Turbo wasn’t supposed to be so lite.  It was originally supposed to be a double album called Twin Turbos, featuring a mix of styles from ballads to hard rock to heavy metal.  When the record company balked, they put the most commercial stuff out as Turbo, saving the rest of the songs for later use.  Some, such as the awesome “Heart of a Lion” (later covered by Scott Travis’ band Racer X) and “Red White & Blue” ended up on Priest box sets and remasters.  Other songs such as “Ram It Down” were re-recorded with a heavier sound and put out on the next album.

If you’re one of the many who considers Turbo one of the worst (if not the worst) Judas Priest album, I get it.  It was their “sell out” album.  It’s cold, it’s synthetic, it’s somewhat soulless. I understand. However, I tend to look at the Judas Priest back catalog, the complete gestalt, if you will, as one whole. Looking at this album in context, it is clear that Turbo is a unique record in Judas Priest’s canon, and indeed the whole of heavy metal in general. There’s never been an album that sounds quite like Turbo and it’s likely that there never will be again.

Turbo came in ’86 while Priest decided to experiment with guitar synthesizers. These are not keyboards on this album, but guitars played through a synth. Priest have done it since (Ram It Down, Nostradamus) but never again to this degree. Some of the sounds on this album are really cool. That weird vacuum cleaner combined with a jet engine sound in the opening of “Turbo Lover”, for example?  Cool.

The songs are also good, albeit commercia hard rock. Priest had been increasing the commercial tendencies ever since British Steel, but on Turbo it veered heavily into MTV territory. “Turbo Lover” is an example of this.  There’s not much in terms of a riff, which used to be the bedrock of a Priest song. The melody is the framework on which you hang the cool sounds and robotic groove. But it works, and the song is often brought out into the setlist, still — the only song from Turbo to make the setlist post-1987.

“Locked In” is a bit more rockin’, not a great song, but at least it ups the tempo a bit. The shout-chorus of “Private Property” is catchy as hell and this could easily have been a single. It sounded great live with the crowd joining in.

“Parental Guidance”, was probably my favourite Priest song in ’86-87. It’s just really catchy. It’s not heavy metal, but it’s really well-written pop metal. And as kids, we dug the words, even though Halford was 35 years old when he wrote them!

“Rock You All Around The World” closed side one, a fast number designed to get the crowd going nuts in concert. Sounds like Scorpions to me.

Side two started off with the long, dramatic epic, “Out in the Cold”. Man, what a great song. This one opened the live show in 1986 (and the following live album, Priest Live).  I guess this would technically be the ballad of the album!

A pair of so-so songs follow, “Wild Nights, Hot And Crazy Days” (sounds like Van Hagar) and “Hot For Love” (another fast one that could have been covered by Scorpions). Not great songs, but at least they’re rockers. “Wild Nights” is kind of one of those 80’s party rockers. Nothing special, but it suited the times.

The final song is a total winner, “Reckless”, written for the Top Gun soundtrack but held back for this album. Awesome tune, “coming at galeforce ten.” This is just a perfect rock song for Judas Priest. Not a metal song, a rock song. It’s as aggressive as it gets on this album and it has a great solo, too.

There are two bonus tracks on the current remastered edition, “All Fired Up” (a lacklustre outtake) and a live version of “Locked In”. Since “Locked In” didn’t make 1987’s Priest Live album, it makes good sense to include it here. It was a single/video, released at the exact same time as “Turbo Lover” but always remained in that song’s shadow. Good to finally have a live version.

Liner notes and pictures are included. This album also contains the infamous “lead break credits”! While I don’t know if Glenn and Ken are interesting enough guitar players to warrant lead break credits for every song, it was a feature I enjoyed at the time and helped me identify the individual styles of the two players.

4/5 stars.

Part 131: Quagmire

RECORD STORE TALES PART 131:  Quagmire

We used to have piles and piles of CDs, stacked on a unit behind the counter.  Due to lack of space, this is where we put stock that was:

1. on hold for staff
2. on hold for customers
3. being sent elsewhere for customer orders

Unfortunately these stacks were visible to customers, although not available for sale to the general public.  Sometimes you’d have a situation like this:

“Cool!  I can see OK Computer by Radiohead!  Is that for sale?”

And it wasn’t, which you’d explain.  If the CD was on hold for someone, they’d often ask how long it was on hold for so they could be next in line, provided the other person didn’t pick it up.

When stuff was on hold for staff (who usualy snagged the best stuff and held it for longer periods of time) I didn’t like the customers seeing it.  But we didn’t really have anywhere better to put it.  I proposed putting it in the back room but that didn’t last long.  So what we’d do is disguise it in some way.  Instead of having a pile labeled “Mike”, we’d change the name.  It sometimes threw the customers off the scent.

At one point, I had all the staff hold piles named after Canadian cities.  That way looked like stuff that was ordered by other stores.  So for example, we’d have a pile labeled “London” which would be a pile of stuff destined for that store.  Next to it was a pile labeled “Saskatoon”.  We didn’t have a store in Saskatoon, Saskatoon was a staff member’s pile.  We didn’t have stores in Yellowknife or Winnipeg either, but those labels threw customers off the scent.  They’d assume the stock was there for another store.

I liked this system, but the staff often preferred nicknames on the labels.  Some people liked their nicknames, some people didn’t.  There was a girl named Meredith — she really hated being caled Megadeth, for example (I assume that’s true of most Merediths out there).  I hated being called Cheeser — so named because I liked what other people refer to as “cheese metal” (although I think Zakk Wylde would be happy to punch somebody in the face for calling his music cheese metal).

Later on, someone had all the piles named after Family Guy characters.  At the time, I’d never seen an episode in my life, and I didn’t know it was a bad thing that my nickname was Quagmire!  Joke was on me I guess!

REVIEW: Iron Maiden – Fear of the Dark (1992, 1996 bonus disc)

Part 15 of my series of Iron Maiden reviews!

IRON MAIDEN – Fear of the Dark (1992, 1996 bonus disc)

I remember staying up late one night, listening to Q107, waiting to hear the new Maiden track.  They promised it, and after airing “Burn” by Deep Purple, they debuted “Be Quick Or Be Dead”.

Nice riff, I said.  The song took a while to grow on me, because Bruce was still growling a bit too much for my taste.  If there was one thing I disliked about Maiden’s previous, No Prayer for the Dying, it was Bruce’s growl.  I’d rather hear him sing.  He was growling the verses, and singing the choruses.  And Nicko was doing some serious steppin’!  It was the Maiden writing debut of Janick Gers (with Bruce), and it was a rant on big business.  Maiden were the 99% in 1992!  I thought it was one of the best songs from the new album, Fear of the Dark.

The second track, “From Here To Eternity” featured the return of Charlotte!  Harris wrote this one alone, and it too was a single.  It has a shout-along chorus, but too much rinky-dink bass way up high in the mix.  This song wouldn’t make my road tape, I never particularly cared for it.

Much, much better is “Afraid To Shoot Strangers”.  Steve wrote this one for the men and women who served in the Gulf War, who as Bruce said, “never wanted to kill anybody.”  I consider this song to be the birth of the “new” Iron Maiden.  The gentle guitar, with the melodic bass in the background, the keys…is it a ballad or an epic?  It’s both.   Then it picks up with some of the catchiest guitar parts Steve’s ever written.  There would be many many Maiden songs that followed this blueprint on albums to come, especially The X Factor.  (My friend Andy and I beat this song by a year.  In 1991 we wrote a Maiden-inspired tune called “Unleashed in the Middle East” about the Gulf War.  Fortunately, it remains unrecorded to this day.)

Did you also noticed Maiden getting more topical?  Big business…the Gulf War…it was the 90’s.

The Zeppish “Fear Is the Key” is next.  Bruce and Janick wrote this one, but again, I’m not too fond of it.  It has a great hook, and it’s technically accomplished, but Maiden and Zep don’t always mix.  I don’t think they ever played it live.  Do I hear a slide?

“Childhood’s End”, written by Steve, doesn’t seem to have anything to do with the Arthur C. Clarke novel.  It is rhythmically complex and melodic and powerful with a soaring guitar melody.  I don’t consider this one of Maiden’s greater songs in the canon, but it is one of the better songs on Fear of the Dark.

The triumphant ballad, “Wasting Love” closes side 1.  This one may have thrown people for a loop, both by the title and the music.  Maiden, singing about love?  More Scorpions sounding than Maiden, this one came from Bruce and Janick.

Maybe one day, I’ll be an honest man

Up til now I’m doing the best I can

Long roads, long days

of sunrise to sunset, sunrise to sunset

The song seems to be a reflection on infidelity on the road, but was there more between the lines?  “Maybe one day I’ll be an honest man…”

Yes, it’s a ballad, but it is not wimpy.  The guitar harmonies evoke mellow Thin Lizzy.  I think “Wasting Love” is among the three best songs on Fear of the Dark.  “Afraid to Shoot Strangers is another one, and we’ll get to the third in due time.

Side 2 opened with Steve’s “The Fugitive”.  It takes a long time to build.  It’s OK, nothing special.  Again, I doubt it was ever played live.  I don’t know if The Fugitive really needed to be made into a song, but Steve beat the movie adaptation by a year!

Bruce and Davey’s “Chains of Misery” follows.  I think it’s another OK song, again nothing special and again I doubt it was ever played live.  Nice shout-along chorus.

Another Zeppish song is next:  “The Apparition”.  Steve wrote this one with Janick.  See above comments:  OK song, never played live.  The lyrics start with promise, a ghost story perhaps, but then it turns into a series of pieces of advice from the apparition to the living.  Stuff like “You can make your own luck,” etc.  And Bruce is doing that annoying growl vocal!

Thankfully, “Judas Be My Guide” gets us out of this slump!  Ironically I always found this one to sound kind of Priest-like!  I like this tune.  Bruce wrote it with Davey, and to me this is the kind of song that Adrian Smith used to bring to the table.  Melodic, powerful, anthemic, sing-along metal.  I don’t think it was ever played live, but to me this one would have been single material.  I would have picked it over “From Here To Eternity”.

The mellow “Weekend Warrior” is one of the oddest on the album.  Bruce does his growl vocal (again!) but the song goes from acoustic section to electric section to acoustic again, and it’s quite unlike most Maiden songs.  The lyrics seem to be about football hooliganism.  I’m not sure if this was a topic that Iron Maiden needed to delve into, but there it is.

Finally, we have the Steve epic you have been waiting for:  “Fear of the Dark”.  It’s a little simple and repetitive compared to past epics, but it’s solid and has remained in the live set tour after tour after tour.  It is a fan favourite worldwide, and I think it’s great.  Although it’s simpler musically, I think in a lot of ways it’s one of Steve’s best epics.  It’s absolutely perfect live, it begs to be sung along with, and it goes from peak to valley so well!  I like big gothic opening riff.  The mellow sections, again, would serve as a blueprint for the next era of Iron Maiden.  Steve’s melodic bass, backed by quiet keys…

And that’s the album, a fat 12 songs, and although many are in the 3 minute range, there are several over 5 minutes this time.  It was a generous slice of studio music from Maiden, never before had they crammed so many songs onto a record.   It was also released on DAT, cassette, and CD.  The vinyl was a double, and very hard to find.  Vinyl was an import here in Canada:  Capitol stopped pressing vinyl here in early 1990.

As I mentioned, there are moments here that musically look into Maiden’s future.  But changes were already afoot, and in a real way, Fear of the Dark is the first album of the new Maiden.   For the first time ever, Derek Riggs’ artwork was absent.  Maiden instead chose a painting by Melvyn Grant.  Gone were the Riggs trademarks, and a lot of fans reacted negatively to the new art.  Eddie looked more Nosferatu than Eddie, and the idea of Eddie being reborn from a tree was…weird?

This was also to be Martin Birch’s final production effort.  He retired after Fear of the Dark.  Happy retirement, Martin!  What can you possibly say bad about the man who produced Machine Head?  Nothing.  I will say though that this album, recorded digitally for the first time, sounds very thin.  I think it was immediately noticeable and this was rectified on future albums.

My 1996 reissue has a bonus disc chock full of B-sides.

“Be Quick Or Be Dead” came with the piano-infused joke boogie tune, “Nodding Donkey Blues”, an ode to plus-sized ladies.  It’s actually really great fun.  “Ahh, there should be some kind of guitar solo here!” says Bruce before the piano kicks in.

Also from the same single is Montrose’s “Space Station #5” – Sammy Hagar’s first and only writing credit on an Iron Maiden disc!  Maiden of course kick this song in the nuts.  What an awesome riff.  But wait — don’t turn it off.  The hidden track “Bayswater Ain’t A Bad Place To Be” is yet another hilarious roast of manager Rod Smallwood!

Second single, “From Here To Eternity” was an oddity of sorts, one of the few Maiden singles to not feature Eddie on the cover.  It’s B-sides included a Chuck Berry cover/ode to roadie Vic Vella called “Roll Over Vic Vella”.  There were also two live tracks from the previous tour:  “Public Enema Number One”, and “No Prayer For the Dying”.  Nice to have live versions of these songs, as I doubt they were played again after that tour.

“From Here To Eternity” also supposedly featured a remixed A-side — a “Triumph Mix”.  (The name “Triumph Mix” is only printed on the disc itself and not the back cover.)  I can’t tell the difference, so don’t get excited.  I also haven’t attempted to do a detailed comparison, so if you know more than I do, please comment.

The third and final single was “Wasting Love” which unfortunately had a terribly boring music video.  It’s just too 90’s!  It had three more live tracks, all from the previous tour:  “Tailgunner”, “Holy Smoke”, and “The Assassin”.  Same comment as above:  Nice to have live versions.  But note, none of these songs are on the 1996 reissue with bonus disc!  Not one!  And this is one of the rarest of Maiden singles.  Took me a while to find a copy at a decent price.

There was one bonus included on the 2 CD edition of Fear of the Dark, in lieu of the above:  “Hooks In You”, also live from the previous tour.  Probably my most hated of all Maiden tunes.  It’s actually from a later single, and I’ll get to that when I get to that album.

This was the last of the ten Iron Maiden 2 CD reissues from 1996.

So there you have it:  Fear of the Dark.  It’s superior to No Prayer, I believe.  Both the good songs and the filler are superior.  It pointed the way to some interesting new directions, mixing light and shade, and it proved that Janick Gers was an able songwriter in Iron Maiden.  He had also begun to gel with Dave Murray as guitar player.  Yet the album also had much filler, it would have been stronger at a traditional 9 or 10 tracks.   I still have a fond place in my heart for Fear of the Dark, for it was one of many albums that helped me get through the 90’s.

But if you thought the last couple Maiden albums were controversial among fans, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.

3.75/5 stars

Part 128: VIDEO BLOG – Mike & Aaron Go To Toronto! (now with Store Report Card!)

Join Mike and Aaron as they hunt for rare albums!

REPORT CARD

Sonic Boom, 782 Bathurst St – 5/5 stars

BMV, 471 Bloor Street West – 3.5/5 stars (Mike) 4/5 stars (Aaron)

Rotate This, 801 Queen St. W – 3/5 stars  (no rating from Aaron)

Pauper’s Pub,  539 Bloor Street West – 3.5/5 stars

Paradise Bound, 270 August Ave – 4/5 stars * note I got the name wrong in the video

Moonbean, 30 Saint Andrew Street – 5/5 stars

Sonic Boom Kensington, 201 Augusta Ave – 4.5/5 stars

HMV, 333 Yonge Street – 1.5/5 stars

Sunrise, 220 Yonge Street, 1.5/5 stars (no rating from Aaron)

 

See what Aaron bought by clicking here!

FINAL NOTE:  I procured a the Japanese import from eBay a week later, October 27, for $41, free shipping.