No Prayer for the Dying
| No Prayer for the Dying | ||||
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| Studio album by Iron Maiden | ||||
| Released | 1 October 1990 | |||
| Recorded | June – September 1990 | |||
| Studio | Barnyard Studios, Essex, England | |||
| Genre | Heavy metal | |||
| Length | 43:42 | |||
| Label |
EMI Epic (US) |
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| Producer | Martin Birch | |||
| Iron Maiden studio albums chronology | ||||
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| Alternative cover | ||||
Remastered edition
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| Singles from No Prayer for the Dying | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   |
| Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal | 7/10 |
| Entertainment Weekly | C+ |
| Sputnikmusic | 2.0/5 |
No Prayer for the Dying is the eighth studio album by English heavy metal band Iron Maiden. It marks their first line-up change since 1982; guitarist Adrian Smith left the band during the pre-production phase, unhappy with the musical direction it was taking, and only having contributed to one song, "Hooks in You". Smith was replaced by Janick Gers, who had previously worked with singer Bruce Dickinson on his first solo-album, Tattooed Millionaire, and had also worked with Ian Gillan, former Marillion singer Fish, and new wave of British heavy metal band, White Spirit.
Although it received generally mixed to negative reviews, the album peaked at No. 2 in the UK Albums Chart and contains the band's only UK Singles Chart No. 1, "Bring Your Daughter... to the Slaughter".
The album departed from the keyboard- and synthesiser-saturated progressive rock direction of the band's two previous studio outings (1986's Somewhere in Time and 1988's Seventh Son of a Seventh Son) in favour of a more "stripped down," straightforward style, reminiscent of the band's earlier material, which ushered in a change of vocal style for Bruce Dickinson from the operatic sound of the 1980s to a raspier way of singing. The idea to make a more "street level" release also inspired the band to record in a barn on bassist Steve Harris's property in Essex, using the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio. This means it is the first Iron Maiden album to be recorded in their home country since 1982's The Number of the Beast. Dickinson states that this idea was a mistake, commenting that "It was shit! It was a shit-sounding record, and I wished we hadn't done it that way. At the time, I was as guilty as anyone else in going, 'Oh great! Look, we're all covered in straw! What a larf!'"
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