"Iron Maiden's" ninth album, "Fear Of The Dark", was released on May 11, 1992.
Here are 28 facts about the album:
1. This is Bruce Dickinson's last album with the band until the reunion in 1999 and the "Brave New World" album that followed.
2. The album was recorded in a barn at the home of Steve Harris which was converted into a studio and named: "Barnyard Studios".
3. It is also the band's latest album with producer Martin Birch who has accompanied the band since their second album "Killers", contributed to its big break, and aided to its meteoric success during its golden age.
4. This is the band's first album in which Steve Harris gets credit as a producer. Birch will overlap on this album and pass the torch to him, so that from this album onwards Harris will be part of the production of all the band's albums.
5. This album is the band's first album to be released as Double Vinyl (LP2).
6. It's also the longest album the band has released to date.
7. English guitarist Gordon Giltrap released an album of the same name back in 1978.
8. Drummer Nicko McBrain was a member of Guiltarp's band in 1973.
9. The font used by Giltarp on "Fear Of The Dark" album is very reminiscent of the font in the "Iron Maiden" logo.
10. This is the third "Maiden" album to reach number one in the UK.
11. This album was the first in which the band on the cover was not designed by renowned cover designer Derek Riggs, but by designer Melvyn Grant.
12. The reason for the designer's replacement was "Maiden's" attempt to upgrade Eddie's character during the 1990s. They wanted him to look even more menacing than he had been until then.
13. Grant will later design additional "Maiden" albums, such as: "Virtual XI", "Death on the Road", "The Final Frontier" and more.
14. This is the first album where guitarist Janick Gers was a co-writer. 5 of the 12 songs on the album were co-written with him.
15. Two of the album's songs, "Be Quick or Be Dead" and "Wasting Love" were written by Dickinson and Gers while they were still working on Bruce's solo album - "Tattooed Millionaire".
16. Three singles were released from the album: "Be Quick or Be Dead", "From Here to Eternity" and "Wasting Love".
17. The song "Be Quick or Be Dead" is a song that deals with political and economic scandals in Europe at the time of the album's release, including Robert Maxwell's scam and the collapse of the - Bank of Credit and Commerce International - BCCI, stock market crashes and more.
18. The song "Fear is the Key" refers to AIDS. The song was written following the death of Freddie Mercury. It includes the line: "nobody cares' til somebody famous dies". The song features oriental motifs that are reminiscent at times of "Rainbow" in the Dio period.
19. The song "From Here to Eternity" is the fourth and final part of the band's Charlotte song series, which included the songs "Charlotte the Harlot", "22 Acacia Avenue", and "Hooks In You".
20. In this episode of the saga Charlotte meets a man on a motorcycle and rides with him to the horizon.. The line "They took a spill at the devil's bend" implies that the two had an accident and died, so the Charlotte series actually died with the song.
21. The single "From Here to Eternity" is the first of the band's studio songs released as singles, in which Eddie's character does not appear.
22. The song "Afraid to Shoot Strangers" was written by Harris following the first Gulf War. It describes how governments and generals use soldiers as playthings.
23. The "Wasting Love" song is "Maiden's" first Power Ballad.
24. The song "Weekend Warrior" was written about the English hooligans in the football league.
25. The theme song "Fear of the Dark" was nominated for a Grammy in 1994, but lost to the song "I Don't Want To Change The World" by Ozzy Osbourne.
26. This song has been featured on all of the band's live albums since.
26. This song has been featured on all of the band's live albums since its release.
27. Only two of the band's songs, the theme song and the song "Afraid to Shoot Strangers" will appear on the band's setlists after 1993.
28. According to Bruce Dickinson, Harris wrote the song about himself, since he is really afraid of the dark.
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