Whats wrong with NPFTD And FOTD albums?

RVD30

RVD30

Prowler
Just been listening to both albums over the weekend while playing FIFA and I really think there are so great songs on the albums, so why do they always get so much stick. I also love the Blaze era disks as well.

on a side note did NPFTD & FOTD come out on vinyl?
 
No Prayer has a rather weak sound, and Gers plays horribly on it, especially solo-wise. I do like some song on it, but it halso have quite a lot of songs I don't care much for.
Fear Of The Dark is great, even if Gers is still finding his way around playing solos. I don't really get why people bunch those albums together? They're quite different IMO.
 
I find that some songs on those albums are so irritating to me that I can't listen to them for more than 5 seconds, like From Here to Eternity, Assasin, Bring your Daughter, Apparition, Chains, Fugitive, etc. FotD is more polarized, it has both better songs and worse songs than any on NPFTD

And if you skip those, you get half-albums

There are weak songs on other albums, but rarely are they so irritating
 
To answer the question in the title of the thread, I'd say the main flaw of No Prayer For the Dying is mainly the lack of focus and motivation, which made Steve Harris take the "back-to-the-roots" direction by default. It feels like they did not really know what to do after Adrian Smith's departure and the input of another "creator" in the band was sadly missing- but it is just supposition on my part. The album -though likeable on many points- sounds patchy, mixing crisp rock-sounding numbers (Tailgunner, HS, HIY) and reminiscences of a more atmospheric sound (title track, MR, FW, PE#1). Let's not even mention the fact they have used a song written by a member that had left the band.

Moreover, Bruce Dickinson, having tasted reasonable success with his solo venture, did not seem that committed (let's remember that "BYDTTS" was a solo song originally and that "Run Silent Run Deep" derives from some folk idea that had been rejected during the Somewhere in Time sessions - don't bother asking for the reference, I've lost it ;) ). Besides, years of world tours had strained his vocal chords a little, hence the raspy sound of his voice on those two albums that have not been to everybody's taste.

However, I think the real problem is that Steve Harris (on Smallwood's insistence?) had become the sole captain on board again and the lack of healthy creative challenge from the other members took its toll on the surprise factor of the music, and on the production - all the albums from the 90s having been recorded at Harris's home, in the Barnyard Studios.

Sales tend to suggest Fear of the Dark was slighly better because it was more a collective effort - with Janick Gers's input and Dickinson's more relevant contributions (although that is subjective) and a jolt of motivation on Bruce's part... before his mood swang later on.

All in all, I would say that the band should have waited until they really knew what to do when Adrian left. Yet, Maiden already being a big business machine at that time, they might not been able to afford to wait that long.
 
Last edited:
thanks for the feedback, whenever I chat to my friends they always say how bad these to cds are but I think they have some great songs on them, just like the blaze cds.

i'm listening to Piece of Mind on vinyl so much better than I have ever heard it loving the vinyl box set .
 
why does Bruce sing FOTD on the cd so differently than live, is it him or are the whole band playing it differently
 
There's nothing wrong with the albums per se, but they aren't as good as the albums that preceded them or succeeded them (maybe except Virtual XI). No Prayer has several good songs, but none that I find truly great. FOTD has a couple of classics, some good songs, but some really ungood (by Maiden standards) as well.
 
They have many silly rock songs . I don't consider Smith's composed post reunion rockers to be silly . For me songs like Holy smoke, weekend warrior, from here to eternity, hooks in you, bring your daughter ....e.t.c don't belong in an IM album , they just aren't IM music .

The lyrics are also silly while trying to be edgy . Dickinson's voice is awful . Adrian Smith rhythm guitar's absence is a huge blow to these albums .

I hate everything about these albums . Even the normal sounding IM songs in there lack the class of the previous albums.

The sad fact is that Maiden changed their sound because 7th son was a failure in the U.S , with NPFTD , and then tried to copy , with dreadful results , Metallica's black album with FOTD .

I consider these albums to be, by far, the worst Maiden albums . I still remember the shock of listening to "holy smoke" at the radio for the first time , before NPFTD was released . The hype they had created made you believe that NPFTD was going to be a balls out heavy metal album , something like a more modern version of "killers" . Listening to "holy smoke" and learning that "bring your daughter " , a Dickinson song we had already listened in a "nightmare on elm street " sequel was going to be in an IM album was devastating .
 
I'm pretty sure NPFTD's reputation suffers a bit from the fact that it followed the mighty SSOASS. Had it been released between Killers and TNOTB, it would probably be regarded as an early classic.
 
johnglen said:
The sad fact is that Maiden changed their sound because 7th son was a failure in the U.S , with NPFTD , and then tried to copy , with dreadful results , Metallica's black album with FOTD .
Click to expand...
source?

It did pretty well out here I thought.
 
Mosh said:
source?

It did pretty well out here I thought.
Click to expand...

Fear Of The Dark remains one of the most successful Maiden albums, in terms of sold units, yes. I also happen to really like the album. It's diverse and I like the sound, which is very "studio" which I prefer on studio albums.
 
sorry, I meant is there a source on SSOASS being a failure? #12 on the billboard charts isn't bad at all.
 
Mosh said:
sorry, I meant is there a source on SSOASS being a failure? #12 on the billboard charts isn't bad at all.
Click to expand...

I do remember Steve saying in to bio that SSOASS sold somewhat less in the US than SIT, but was very sucessfull in Europe. Artistically though, it's surely one of their greatest triumphs, regardless.
 
jazz from hell said:
What makes you think so?
Click to expand...
The entire album structure .
As for 7th son, at least when it comes to initial sales, it went from the 2.5 million of SIT to 500 k . I have to say that SIT was the album that lost Maiden the chance to become truly mainstream in the U.S but that's another discussion....
 
PlayClassics! said:
I'm pretty sure NPFTD's reputation suffers a bit from the fact that it followed the mighty SSOASS. Had it been released between Killers and TNOTB, it would probably be regarded as an early classic.
Click to expand...
Had it been released between killers and TNOTB , it would have buried Maiden .
 
Black Bart said:
To answer the question in the title of the thread, I'd say the main flaw of No Prayer For the Dying is mainly the lack of focus and motivation, which made Steve Harris take the "back-to-the-roots" direction by default. It feels like they did not really know what to do after Adrian Smith's departure and the input of another "creator" in the band was sadly missing- but it is just supposition on my part. The album -though likeable on many points- sounds patchy, mixing crisp rock-sounding numbers (Tailgunner, HS, HIY) and reminiscences of a more atmospheric sound (title track, MR, FW, PE#1). Let's not even mention the fact they have used a song written by a member that had left the band.

Moreover, Bruce Dickinson, having tasted reasonable success with his solo venture, did not seem that committed (let's remember that "BYDTTS" was a solo song originally and that "Run Silent Run Deep" derives from some folk idea that had been rejected during the Somewhere in Time sessions - don't bother asking for the reference, I've lost it ;) ). Besides, years of world tours had strained his vocal chords a little, hence the raspy sound of his voice on those two albums that have not been to everybody's taste.

However, I think the real problem is that Steve Harris (on Smallwood's insistence?) had become the sole captain on board again and the lack of healthy creative challenge from the other members took its toll on the surprise factor of the music, and on the production - all the albums from the 90s having been recorded at Harris's home, in the Barnyard Studios.

Sales tend to suggest Fear of the Dark was slighly better because it was more a collective effort - with Janick Gers's input and Dickinson's more relevant contributions (although that is subjective) and a jolt of motivation on Bruce's part... before his mood swang later on.

All in all, I would say that the band should have waited until they really knew what to do when Adrian left. Yet, Maiden already being a big business machine at that time, they might not been able to afford to wait that long.
Click to expand...
Steve was not the sole captain when it comes to songwriting. On these albums we have more songs without Steve than most if not all other albums.
 
Not the sole contributor of course, but he is still credited on 7 of the 9 new songs of NPFTD ("Bring Your Daughter..." having been nicked from Dickinson's solo album) and he wrote 3 of them on his own.

As I was saying, FOTD sounded a bit fresher because the others participated more (Steve was credited on 7/12 songs, this time writing 5 of them alone.

Your remark made me want to research for a little recap as regards "Steve-less songs" on each album:
IM: 1/8
Killers: 0/10
TNOTB: 1/8
POM: 3/9
Powerslave: 4/8
SiT: 3/8
SSOASS: 1/8
NPFTD: 3/10
FOTD: 5/12
TXF: 1/11
VXI: 1/8
BNW: 0/10
DoD: 1/11
AMOLAD: 0/10
TFF: 0/10
TBOS: 4/11

It is to be noted that, in the case of FOTD, Steve still contributed to more than half the album. Powerslave is the album to which Steve contributed less in terms of songwriting in percentage.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top