iron maiden's ninth full length record "fear of the dark" wasn't well recieved when it was released in 1992 and is still no fan favourite. it was the last album before bruce dickinson called it quits and focused on his solo career. it seemed that his focus already drifted upon time of recording. the rest of the band and their performance was also subpar. too many basic ac/dc-ish riffs and too less epics like the closing title track "fear of the dark".
despite these facts, original pressings sell for a considerable chunk of money. in the same store i found the used "powerslave" copy, i talked about in the preceeding post, i also came across a used "fear of the dark" copy with a ninety euro price tag on it. this contradiction seems to be the way to go with maiden. original copies of the despised "the x-factor" album with singer blaze bayley sold for two hundred bucks and more.
anyway, as i was never going to pay the asking prices on second hand markets these days, i was more than pleased to have now this nice re-press in my collection. i mainly wanted "fear of the dark" because the cover was the first impression of iron maiden i ever got. i remember holding the cd in hands at some point in the mid-nineties in some big super market with a small cd-section. i thought that the cover was the most evil thing i ever saw. i had too much respect to even listen to it.
this little reminiscence made the re-issue a no-brainer for a spot on the wishlist plus it was affordable. again parlophone re-pressed this record in the very same way as the original pressing from 1992 on emi records. from the pictures inside the gatefold to the centre labels of the vinyl discs - besides the fine print a complete replica. the cover is made of some heavy and glossy cardboard with great artwork and the vinyl comes on 180gr quality, indeed. good job, parlophone. 2017.
