Fear Of The Dark   by Iron Maiden

Fear Of The Dark, the ninth studio album by Iron Maiden, is the album with which the band concludes an era. It will be the last album to feature Bruce Dickinson until his return several years later. Also, it will be the last album produced by Martin Birch, for whom it is the last album of his career. Another unprecedented aspect was the collaboration with designer Melvyn "Mel" Grant, rather than Derek Riggs, for creating the cover, as well as the band logo being positioned elsewhere, not at the top of the cover. Finally, the initial release was on double vinyl as its length approached 60 minutes, thus becoming Iron Maiden's first double studio album.

The songwriting is a contribution from everyone except drummer Nicko McBrain. The new guitarist, Janick Gers, also participates in five of the twelve songs on the album. Fear Of The Dark was not received with positive comments from both the band's fans and critics. Indicative is the fact that, in concerts, only Fear Of The Dark and Afraid To Shoot Strangers have survived and are played.

Its sales were moderate. In Britain, it has sold 100,000 copies, while the big surprise comes from Italy with 200,000 copies. On the Billboard chart, it reached No. 12.