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Jer said:
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Underrated album (like FOTD, but even more) with no fillers imo. Yeah, most of the Maiden albums are better, but that's becasue they are really strong. Maiden don't have a single bad album for me. NPFTD has really great melodies, riffs and solos. Even the production is not that bad, I only don't like the sound of the drums. Some of the songs in the album benefits from the production (the title track, ''The Assassin'') and others not (''Fates Warning''). Maybe some of the songs are not liked because they have simple choruses (like in the next album).

The album has only short songs, the only one in Maiden's discography (maybe Killers too), so the stripped down approach was not only for the stage set of the album tour. I always wondered how the album would have been with 2-3 long songs... it lacks the traditional Maiden epic, although we can feel that the closing song was going in that direction (only one verse, no chorus!). A couple of songs written by Adrian (or Janick) are really missing.

I also like the writing approach: Steve and Bruce wrote together again (after the closing song of the previous album) - ''Tailgunner'' (perfect song for an album opener), ''Holy Smoke'' (underrated more rock type of song with great solos and it's a lot of fun) and ''Run Silent Run Deep'' (the classic gallop). Since Adrian was not in the band, Bruce wrote with Dave for the first time - ''Public Enema Number One'' (pretty good song). Steve also wrote a song with Dave - ''Fates Warning'' (SSOASS vibe, vintage Maiden twin-lead harmony, only the chorus is a bit weak). Adrian took part in the first writing session for the album, so I like that they included a song written by him, even though it's my least favorite from the album (it's in the style of A.S.A.P.) - the only 90's era song by Adrian, I appreciate it. Bruce wrote a song all by himself (for the first time since 1984 and he co-wrote more than half of the album!) - it's a great song and it was a big success for the band. Steve wrote 3 songs all by himself, as we expect - the title track is a magnificent song and rightfully so because it is the best song in the album imo, ''The Assassin'' (a nice nod to the early years of the band and it fits the straightforward style of the album) and the closing song is the traditional epic in a Maiden album, but 2 minutes shorter due to the band's/Steve choice.
 
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