I would say the X factor is the most underrated album from all of them. I think there where missing Adrian on no prayer . Some of the songs are a lot of filler .
I have to agree Blaze Bailey is a great singer just not the best fit for Iron Maiden (But seriously how do you replace Bruce Dickinson) Blaze did workers ass off but how many could pull that off?. The X factor definitely has some gems of songs on it Even though for me personally I was following Bruce and Adrian and Bruce’s Roy Z and his band at the time. As pretty much all of you know Roy-z Is it just a great producer he’s also a fantastic entire choir so if you add Adrian Smith (My favorite guitar player ever ) in the mix I’m on board. Lol So now I’m saying this about The X factor these comments don’t really apply to virtual-X which is probably Maidens worst album ever In my opinion. My opinion of no prayer for the dying at the time and now is that I do love listening to this album but it’s very fair I meant diehard iron maiden fan so my Opinion is slightly skewed.LOL. Rock on fellow heavy metal hard rock fans:)
X Factor was ruined by desastrous production, it sounds horrible. Half the songs are amazing, the other half suggests Harris went through depression. Blaze's singing, when it is audible, is indeed very good.
This is the album that got me into Iron Maiden in the 90’s as a teen. My buddy’s big bro came down to my house and gave me this album saying “here you can have it, it blows!” I listened to that CD on loop after loop growing up painting houses, working jamming. I was hooked! Then I began loving all the other albums too! 😀
This is pretty much how I got into Metallica! The black album was and still is hated by a lot of the "old school" fans but it was its more commercial nature that put them on my radar. I'll always be thankful for that record because it took me down the road to finally discovering everything that had come before it. All part of the beauty of music.
It's really funny how lot of the guys in the comment section say they stopped listening to Maiden after this or that album, or saying RIP etc... but regularly come back to this channel which is all about Maiden.
That would be an interesting discussion to have! I think it's perfectly fine to enjoy only a particular era of a band (can't argue personal taste) but it's also perfectly fine to embrace a band's change of direction as long as it doesn't feel contrived and to enjoy it for what it is. Shoving either view down people's throats serves no purpose. We're all just fans here after all 🙂
@@LicksOfTheBeast absolutely my friend, but the issue is that for many people, if band doesn't change anything they complain it's repetitive, if band evolves in some sense, then "they changed and it's not like before". It's damn if you do, damn if you don't type a thing. For sure nothing wrong to dislike or like an era of the band 😎
My first Iron Maiden album. I’ve always loved it. I didn’t know the band at this time and didn’t understand why fans hated it. The tour was great too with the return of catching high notes from Bruce. Amazing.
Very underrated record that was probably released in wrong period. Seventh son was very hard to follow anyway, but hey there are many great solos, two part harmonies, hooks and songs in general. My favorite songs: - Public enema number one - Fates Warning - The Assassin - Hooks in you - Mother Russia It was also my very first record I bought but I kind of never took some serious listening, so once I did it - OH, MY GOD!
Yeah I think it was the wrong period for a lot of good albums released between '89 and '94 or so. Fifth Angel's Time Will Tell is a great example. Very unfortunate.
If you come to listen to this album without any prejudice, it is truly great. Definetly more simple and straightforward that its predecessors but still an absolutely enternaining album!
I love this album so much.. Got me through so many graveyard shifts at work. Tailgunner probably my favourite Maiden opener.. Such an epic intro that feels hopeful but tense with the driving rhythm building up to when the song explodes. Bruce's vocal delivery on this record is one of my favourites of his too. Love the attitute on this album! ❤❤
Tailgunner opening bass line blasting through the speakers at the Kings Hall, Belfast in September 1990. My first Iron Maiden concert. Came out with my ears ringing. Going to see them next month (June) for the 10th time, again in Belfast. Iron Maiden have been with me since I was 11 years old and still listen to them most days. It’s fantastic to see new audiences and generations appreciate their music through RUclips and becoming fans.
Pretty much the same story here! My first Maiden gig was in Liverpool 1990 (with a Blaze Bayley-fronted Wolfsbane in support). I got into them in '88 but too late to get a ticket for the 7th Son tour. 2 school friends went to the Birmingham show which was the gig released as Maiden England - I was so gutted! Maiden are the reason I begged my dad for my first guitar when I was 14 and now in my late 40s I'm in a Maiden tribute band and still never get bored of playing nothing but Maiden - the love just doesn't go away. I'll be seeing them for the 7th time next month at Download! What a band - just incredible
This album mostly holds a special, irreplaceable place in my heart because when I was kid, I got both No Prayer and Fear of the Dark as CDs as one of my Christmas presents. I was so young back then I didn't even understand metal music back then nor was I into anything in particular, but it truly was the starting point of me getting into the genre, even if it took many more years until I actually started listening to metal.
This album made me a maiden fan. Borrowed a cassette, and i think listened to it for years. Very melodic, heavy album. I like bruce raw, gritty sound on this.
I really don't understand how any true maiden fan can dislike this album. I believe that a majority of the songs are awesome. Tailgunner, NPFTD, Run Silent Run Deep, BYDTTS, etc., just amazing.
As a Maiden fan since late 1987, I was pretty much done exploring because I owned all the tapes by the release of No Prayer for the Dying. At first I was disappointed in the album. Then I quickly remembered how I felt with Number of the Beast. I didn't like it at first and it grew on me. Then I got those Iron Maiden vibes with No Prayer. I'd rank the album in my top half of Maiden albums. Not sure what place, but it's in the top half. Great presentation Nico! Much love from Pittsburgh!
From 1982 thru 1990 I was 15 to 24 years old. I was a massive Maiden fan! I mean....massive!!! I went to see every tour in those years. Every one. Sometimes twice for each tour. I had the Luxury of living in N.y. Maiden would always Play in NYC and then go directly across the Hudson River and sell out the Meadowlands in NJ. I would go to both! You couldn't get Iron Maiden out of my head for that whole decade!! Those were really great times in my life. Thanks for the re-cap my friend. I also went to see "No Prayer for the Dying" tour. You do a great job covering Iron Maiden and all these great songs. They really bring back such good memories for me personally. Thanks!
Thanks man! Bringing back good memories was one of the main reasons I started this project so I'm always glad to when someone tells me it does 😊 Cheers! 🤘
No Prayer was the first "new" Maiden album after I had started listening to them, and when it came out I listened to it lots...on cassette too. All those years ago.
My favourite Iron Maiden album is No prayer for the dying :) and always will. I love everything about it. Fear of the dark is my second favourite album. Also Janick is my favourite guitar player and i really love Bruces rough vocals on early 90s.
Thanks for your video. I always wondered how much Janick influenced the whole vibe of the album. I saw him in an interview with Dave in which he dismissed guitar effects etc - while Dave looked on bemused. I have a feeling he pushed the back to basics sound. It is around this time I stopped listening to Maiden, after seeing them live in 1986 (when I was 12!), it was hard to get used to Adrian leaving. Having said that, I think Holy Smoke is a great song. I saw them in 1990 at Birmingham and I was on Janick's side of the stage (Dave was my hero) and I really could not stand his antics and his approach to the solos - I think they did 22 Acacia Avenue and Heaven Can Wait - which contain two of Adrian's best solos. Having said that, I respect Janick so much for bringing something new to the band that I'm thankful many people enjoy.
Incredible!!!! This is the analysis that many Iron Maiden fans were waiting for! Nico you promised and here we have it!!! Up The Irons & Up The Licks Of The Beast!!!
Great video! No Prayer was my first Maiden album (bought it back in 1990), AND my first metal album ever! I also have a special place in my heart for it, love 'till today.
Never understood why this album received so much hate - I do really enjoy this record a lot. It’s still a REAL Maiden album, and apart from “Bring Your Daughter…” I like the songs as well. “Tailgunner” and “Holy Smoke” are huge hits in my humble opinion.
Ever since I found your channel maybe 5 or 6 months ago and quickly devoured your back catalog, you have put the bug in my ear to revisit this album and I did. I looked at it with fresh eyes and ears. Although this album will never be my favorite I now have one more Iron Maiden album that I enjoy listening to!! That’s a win! This video is the logical conclusion to the journey and more reasons to dig the album! Thank you sir!!
Thank YOU! I've had my share of revisiting albums or songs after watching a video about it so I'm glad I could return the favour to the community in my small capacity on here 😊
It's amazing what this album can mean when you listen to it without any prejudice!!! Thank you for doing justice to an album that will delight anyone who listened to it with an open mind.
Thank you for this! I love this album to death since my older brother came home with it when i was only 7 years old in '91. The "hard rock" singles are awesome and played with such ferocity; Dave and Janick's solos are wild: "The Assassin" brings me back in the empty and scary London Underground at night just as the atmospheres of the first two albums; then songs like the title track or "Fates Warning" are real super-underrated masterpieces!
"Bring Your Daughter" should have never been a single. "Run Silent, Run Deep" is classic Maiden and would have been much more relatable to long time fans as a single.
agree. I had this album very early into my Maiden fandom, I was just a little kid. it confused me back then.. as an adult I've come to appreciate at least some of it. Run Silent Run Deep is a secret gem, Bruce sings his ass off there
Thank you Nico, thank you, thank you! Every IM fan should watch this video, since NPFTD has been always dismissed as a bad album, while it is truly entertaining and delivers powerful messages.
Excellent review, keep it up Niko, this is my favorite album over somewhere in time, and I fully agree with you that it sounds strongly maiden. I think this album and many of the songs there are underrated. The riffs and melodies of No prayer for the dying song put the real foundations of melodic rock.
My dearest Maiden-album. Bought it -90 and it was my first Maiden-album and my first CD. Title song, Public Enema and Run Silent are still among the best songs of Maiden.
"No prayer" on kans mun eka Maiden levy ja kaikista rakkain. Levyn soundit ja Brucen äänenkäyttö miellyttää. Oikeastaan ainoa heikompi biisi on "Hooks in you" muuten tykkään levyn joka biisistä.
Never understood the hate for this album. I've loved it since day one. Maybe because I also come into Maiden more seriously during my teens in the early 90s. I'd heard other albums, of course, but this one was the latest album released when I became a major fan. The album barely has any weak songs (fates warning and public enema are my least favourites) but the energy, aggression and absolutely phenomenal solos throughout rank among the best. The bare bones production is also perfect ....and the vibe on Mother Russia with the amazing solo trade off at the end is still something I listen to a lot today. I can see similiarities between this and Bruce's debut solo album (which I also love). It's more rock oriented and high energy and also a simple production. It also showcased what a great studio guitarist Jannick is. I am not a major fan of him live because he often is super sloppy on the solos and rarely plays them as the album versions are. I think your overall analysis is correct. It was not an album of its time and was not the direction expected. Especially, when you consider how further down the prog road they have travelled now. I still think this album is better than most of the albums released after BNW and before Senjutsu - which has some serious return to form vibes.
Thanks for this video Nico, because No Prayer is really criminally underrated!! Which I have been keep telling people for years. Perhaps because of the sound.. I really always appreciate Mr Birch's work but sometimes I find myself thinking "what would it be if Maiden did work with another producer in late 80s and early 90s"..
This was one of the first Maiden Albums I heard. My friend bought it when it was released, and we listened to it a lot. So it's got that nostalgia hit for me. No prayer for the dying is still one of my favourite songs.
Great initial summary of their first 10 years. I think Wasted Years was Adrian's take on that period rushing past. This album was one I didn't gel with and I missed Adrian's input, but I'm going to revisit it based on your enthusiasm for it 👍
As a listener who knows all the ins and outs of this album as well, hearing your take on it is such breath of fresh air. I've always loved the album but you highlight things I've never put much thought into. Nice work man, awesome tone, chops. Rooting for you 🤘
Jesus, I always loved this album a lot, but now EVEN MORE!!!!! THANKS A TON FOR ALL THE INSIGHTS, PLEASE, DO EVERY SINGLE ALBUM FOR THE LOVE OF MAIDEN !!!!!!!!!!!!!
I always loved that album... the strange sound of the production, gives a mystic black atmosphere in the air, that nowheare else can be heard. The sound is like the fog, in the pics of the band, of the album.
So many memories of this era. I’ve always loved this album despite my no1 not being on it. Despite that I was SO into Maiden then and when this came out I listened to it hours a day. I never had a problem with Janick on the album. He did some nice solos. When we saw them live for the first time we were all shocked at how scrappy he was! It was a far cry from polished Mr Smith. And Dave started copying him! Great video man. Enjoyed it.
you should make more videos like this, you made me see no prayer for the dying in a different way even though i considered it a good album and very underrated.It made me want to listen to it again
This was my second album I heard after getting TNOTB and it has special place in my heart because it started my journey in to discovering Iron Maiden and that first major lick/riff on Holy Smokes was first thing I learned on guitar and it was without any tabs because I didn't have internet at that time and I was just stumbling through neck of guitar to find the right notes. That were good times I love to remember. So yeah, Prayer will always be one of the albums with special place in my heart.
I've always loved this album, since the day it came out. I absolutely love both, the atmosphere of the album and Bruce singing approach on these sessions (with a raspy voice). Loved he kept this approach for Fear Of The Dark too
To me this album is really good maiden album and its something else than previous ones. It just has something that makes me to spin this album again and again. All maiden albums are an experiences and this is no exception. I remember the firts time listening public enema number one and saw that it was written by Dave Murray. The little Murray fan inside me was forever hooked to this album. Thanks for the amazing video and keep doing this great content.
Ahh finally some love for Mother Russia! I have fond memories of learning that song not long into my guitar journey, was quite a challenge back then haha Great to see you breakdown this album overall it’s definitely a lot better than it’s made out to be imo
I always love your videos. Do you think you can make a video showcasing your whole guitar collection? That would be very cool. That Ibanez Explorer looks and sounds badass. The Adrian Smith Jackson’s are nice as well, especially the USA one. I also like your Strat. The one with no fine tuners. That mini Floyd seems cool.
Wow you really broke it down, I've been a Maiden fan since around 82 up till this day, I love no prayer for the dying so much, I thought this album was phenomenal and I love every song on this album. Thank you so much for this deep insight and knowledge. I love the holy smoke video, they are acting so silly in the video.
Brother, Maiden is an unstoppable force and you are the herald that opens the gates of clarity and appreciation, lifting my soul to new heights as you reveal the nuances of their music. You are awesome! Cannot thank you enough!!! Your videos give me life. Keep it up!!!!! 🔥🤘🏼🦇🔥
When Adrian popped up on the screen! 🤣🐟 This is a fantastic overview of the album! I have always loved NPftD, but this video still makes me want to go back and listen to the whole album straight through - because that’s what we Maiden fans love to do! 😂 I think this video would give people who weren’t completely sold on NP before, a push to revisit it with fresh ears and a new approach. 😊 Well done!
When Sara first showed me that part, I literally had tears. 😂 So glad you liked this video. I am a big fan of the "trip down memory lane" thing especially with albums like this that have so many vivid memories attached to every aspect... individual songs, solos, the show, the cover, singles... 😊 Thank you for the encouragement as always!! 🙏
@@LicksOfTheBeast I was wondering whose idea that was! 🤣 When the video was over, I tried to go back to replay that part and couldn’t find it! 😂 The edited add-on of laugh after you said, “Public Enema Number One” was funny, too!!
@@SomewhereInTheMaidenverse I was actually a little worried it might get flagged for Nicko's ha-ha 😬 Still a bit traumatized from all the Senjutsu blockings 😅
@@LicksOfTheBeast I’m so glad for you guys that this video made it through! I remember that ordeal with the Senjutsu videos. I felt terrible for you because I could see what was going on from my side. 😔
Dude thanks for giving this album some love that it deserves. I don't understand all the thumbs down, but like you said it's the most misunderstood album in their catalog. Sure no Adrian Smith no problem because Dave Murray stepped up his game and went berserk on this album. Thanks for the video.
Tailgunner is one of my favorite all-time Maiden songs. I wish they did it live more. It might even make a great opener. That (G flat?) pedal at the beginning really builds the tension! Great post Nicko!
Thank You for this amazing retrospective. It's amazing to see the passion You feel when You play these riffs and solos. I discovered Maiden with this album. That time was the latest one. And it was love at first sight. This album has a darker and dramatic tune compared to the previous ones. Public Enema n.1, the Assassin, Bring Your Daughter To the Slaughter for instance move You in a new dimension from the energetic kind-of-happy power metal We knew since "iron Maiden". But correct me if i'm wrong, I feel a subtle connection with This album and the album Killers: the dramatic aggressiveness in the voice, a light touch of sadness, and here an added sense of disenchantment.
Yeah I feel that similirarity with Killers too. Although I find Killers is objectively a stronger and better produced record... But yeah I have always loved No Prayer!
I must've missed this video! Have to be honest it never really grabbed me, but then I was so obsessed at the time with Live After Death, Somewhere in Time and Seventh Son I didn't give it a proper listen. Having watched this breakdown though, I will 100% have to go and give it a proper listen.
@@LicksOfTheBeast Just been listening to it again several times through. I obviously just wasn't ready for it back then and missed out, really really enjoying it now, some great writing here. Thanks for putting a video up about it.
I revisited this album because a lot of people were giving it love. Now Tailgunner, No Prayer, Bring Me Your Daughter and Holy Smoke are all on my gym playlist. I love this album. It doesn't deserve the negativity.
Another great video, dude! 💪 Such an underrated album. Not a perfect album; but with the exhaustion of recording albums and touring for 8 straight years and losing Adrian, it amazes me they still released some good material.
Bruce composed "Bring your daughter" but Janick was also involved. When Bruce showed the song to Janick it was "Green fruit" and Janick added things to it and they also redid the chorus.
Great breakdown of No Prayer… I have always loved side one of this album and over time side 2 has grown on me. Your breakdown of this stripped down album brought me right back to Irvine Meadows, CA, where I saw The Prayer On The Road Tour! I had seen Bruce’s Tattooed Millionaire Tour at The Bacchanal in San Diego and knew Janick was going to be Whirlwind on stage! Dave even became more energetic again. Thanks again for the Licks of The Beast videos!!! Up The Irons🤘⚒😎🤘
"Fates Warning" is a real gem on this album. Every part of the song is a highlight in its own right, but my favorite is when Bruce starts singing, "A volcano erupts and sweeps a town away, a hurricane devastates the cities in its way." This is what puts Maiden in a league of its own. This album is unique in that it is the last Maiden album that has a special mystique and mood to it. The pictures of the band surrounded by mist fit atmospheric songs like "Fates Warning" and "Mother Russia" perfectly. The harmonies, a Maiden specialty, are awe inspiring and don't seem gratuitous or uninspired, like on some later albums. Finally, the overall sound of the album is very fresh and present, almost crystal clear, which, again, suits the visuals and the mood of the album, and is possibly a holdover from the Seventh Son of a Seventh Son aesthetic.
THANK YOU FOR MAKING THIS VIDEO!!!! I love this album. I was a teenager in the 90s and this was one of those metal albums that was just as good as anything else at the time. LOVE THIS ALBUM!!! Be well my friend and THANK YOU once again.
@@LicksOfTheBeast Yes Sir!!! I love the time period and the album. It was such a care free time in life and to have great music like this was just AMAZING as a teenager. I long for those days everyday. Anyway, be well my friend and THANK YOU for the video once again.
So happy I found this channel and this video in particular. I’m a career-spanning, older fan and I always had a soft spot for this raw, angry, less-produced Maiden offering. In a way, it reminds me of the Dianno albums with their quick, punk-influenced rhythms, but with more socio-political commentary from the band. Not my favorite album, yet distinctive and marked by membership changes that happily and eventually resulted in Bruce and Adrian’s return.
This is a great album, I always enjoy it so much when I hear it. Never understood the criticism around it, but your video makes me like it even more. UP THE IRONS!!
Nico, thanks so much for this video. NPFTD was the first Maiden album I bought as it was released and, oh my, how it impacted (and has still impacted) after all these years. It’s one of my top 5 Maiden albums (Killers is my number one) and it is surely underrated. I found this video absolutely incredible! 🤘🏻
Great video. I had a look back at No Prayer recently in the past months and I really appreciate the album, and give it a better value than in the past. Especially i think that is really remarkable the typical maiden sound due to the "hand" of Mr. Martin Birch.
Great video. The first maiden song I ever listend to was "the assassin", I was immediately hooked, and the song reminded me of a horror movie combined with an action game. No prayer still holds up for me, as an interesting album that changed my life many years ago. Keep up the good work Nico 🤘
This is a hidden gem in Maiden's discography for me. The X Factor as well.
I would say the X factor is the most underrated album from all of them. I think there where missing Adrian on no prayer . Some of the songs are a lot of filler .
I have to agree Blaze Bailey is a great singer just not the best fit for Iron Maiden (But seriously how do you replace Bruce Dickinson) Blaze did workers ass off but how many could pull that off?. The X factor definitely has some gems of songs on it Even though for me personally I was following Bruce and Adrian and Bruce’s Roy Z and his band at the time. As pretty much all of you know Roy-z Is it just a great producer he’s also a fantastic entire choir so if you add Adrian Smith (My favorite guitar player ever ) in the mix I’m on board. Lol So now I’m saying this about The X factor these comments don’t really apply to virtual-X which is probably Maidens worst album ever In my opinion. My opinion of no prayer for the dying at the time and now is that I do love listening to this album but it’s very fair I meant diehard iron maiden fan so my Opinion is slightly skewed.LOL. Rock on fellow heavy metal hard rock fans:)
@@ewin1st i agree about 3 great songs on no prayer rest is filler but i can listen to x factor start to finish no problem.
X Factor was ruined by desastrous production, it sounds horrible. Half the songs are amazing, the other half suggests Harris went through depression. Blaze's singing, when it is audible, is indeed very good.
@@ewin1st but still less fillers compare to FOTD.
The chorus in "public" is one of my all time favs.
This is the album that got me into Iron Maiden in the 90’s as a teen. My buddy’s big bro came down to my house and gave me this album saying “here you can have it, it blows!” I listened to that CD on loop after loop growing up painting houses, working jamming. I was hooked! Then I began loving all the other albums too! 😀
Nice to hear from someone who actually got hooked on Maiden from this album! I still enjoy it a whole lot 🙂
This is pretty much how I got into Metallica! The black album was and still is hated by a lot of the "old school" fans but it was its more commercial nature that put them on my radar. I'll always be thankful for that record because it took me down the road to finally discovering everything that had come before it. All part of the beauty of music.
I love this album. I'm one of those who were hoping for t return to the raw sounding earlier stuff. It's still one of my favorite Maiden albums.
Somehow I could imagine this album with Dianno on vocals. It's very raw and energetic like the first two albums
It's really funny how lot of the guys in the comment section say they stopped listening to Maiden after this or that album, or saying RIP etc... but regularly come back to this channel which is all about Maiden.
That would be an interesting discussion to have! I think it's perfectly fine to enjoy only a particular era of a band (can't argue personal taste) but it's also perfectly fine to embrace a band's change of direction as long as it doesn't feel contrived and to enjoy it for what it is. Shoving either view down people's throats serves no purpose. We're all just fans here after all 🙂
@@LicksOfTheBeast absolutely my friend, but the issue is that for many people, if band doesn't change anything they complain it's repetitive, if band evolves in some sense, then "they changed and it's not like before". It's damn if you do, damn if you don't type a thing. For sure nothing wrong to dislike or like an era of the band 😎
My first Iron Maiden album. I’ve always loved it. I didn’t know the band at this time and didn’t understand why fans hated it. The tour was great too with the return of catching high notes from Bruce.
Amazing.
Very underrated record that was probably released in wrong period.
Seventh son was very hard to follow anyway, but hey there are many great solos, two part harmonies, hooks and songs in general.
My favorite songs:
- Public enema number one
- Fates Warning
- The Assassin
- Hooks in you
- Mother Russia
It was also my very first record I bought but I kind of never took some serious listening, so once I did it - OH, MY GOD!
Yeah I think it was the wrong period for a lot of good albums released between '89 and '94 or so. Fifth Angel's Time Will Tell is a great example. Very unfortunate.
If you come to listen to this album without any prejudice, it is truly great. Definetly more simple and straightforward that its predecessors but still an absolutely enternaining album!
I love this album so much.. Got me through so many graveyard shifts at work.
Tailgunner probably my favourite Maiden opener.. Such an epic intro that feels hopeful but tense with the driving rhythm building up to when the song explodes. Bruce's vocal delivery on this record is one of my favourites of his too. Love the attitute on this album! ❤❤
Definitely one of my personal favourites from the great maiden catalog. I love the sound of the album and the songs are bloody good!
Tailgunner opening bass line blasting through the speakers at the Kings Hall, Belfast in September 1990. My first Iron Maiden concert. Came out with my ears ringing. Going to see them next month (June) for the 10th time, again in Belfast. Iron Maiden have been with me since I was 11 years old and still listen to them most days. It’s fantastic to see new audiences and generations appreciate their music through RUclips and becoming fans.
It really is and it always makes me so happy to see young metal fans discover this music and to be so enthusiastic about it! 😃
Pretty much the same story here! My first Maiden gig was in Liverpool 1990 (with a Blaze Bayley-fronted Wolfsbane in support). I got into them in '88 but too late to get a ticket for the 7th Son tour. 2 school friends went to the Birmingham show which was the gig released as Maiden England - I was so gutted! Maiden are the reason I begged my dad for my first guitar when I was 14 and now in my late 40s I'm in a Maiden tribute band and still never get bored of playing nothing but Maiden - the love just doesn't go away. I'll be seeing them for the 7th time next month at Download! What a band - just incredible
A tape with The Number of the Beast and No Prayer for the Dying was my first contact with Iron Maiden back in 1995. It has always been one of my favs
I remember being 14 and this was the first Maiden record I bought at the local cd store in Belluno, northern Italy. Still love it today
Bei ricordi quelli! 😊
This album mostly holds a special, irreplaceable place in my heart because when I was kid, I got both No Prayer and Fear of the Dark as CDs as one of my Christmas presents. I was so young back then I didn't even understand metal music back then nor was I into anything in particular, but it truly was the starting point of me getting into the genre, even if it took many more years until I actually started listening to metal.
This album made me a maiden fan. Borrowed a cassette, and i think listened to it for years. Very melodic, heavy album. I like bruce raw, gritty sound on this.
I really don't understand how any true maiden fan can dislike this album. I believe that a majority of the songs are awesome. Tailgunner, NPFTD, Run Silent Run Deep, BYDTTS, etc., just amazing.
Different strokes for different folks 🤷🏻🙂
Me, I still love it! 🤘
As a Maiden fan since late 1987, I was pretty much done exploring because I owned all the tapes by the release of No Prayer for the Dying. At first I was disappointed in the album. Then I quickly remembered how I felt with Number of the Beast. I didn't like it at first and it grew on me. Then I got those Iron Maiden vibes with No Prayer. I'd rank the album in my top half of Maiden albums. Not sure what place, but it's in the top half. Great presentation Nico! Much love from Pittsburgh!
Thanks man! Right back atcha from Toronto 🤜🤛
Great video, as always, Bro😉
I do love Bruce's painful, Bluey vocals on No Prayers For The Dying😋 Great tune, too😜
Keep it up🤗
From 1982 thru 1990 I was 15 to 24 years old. I was a massive Maiden fan! I mean....massive!!! I went to see every tour in those years. Every one. Sometimes twice for each tour. I had the
Luxury of living in N.y. Maiden would always Play in NYC and then go directly across the Hudson River and sell out the Meadowlands in NJ. I would go to both! You couldn't get Iron Maiden out of my head for that whole decade!! Those were really great times in my life. Thanks for the re-cap my friend. I also went to see "No Prayer for the Dying" tour. You do a great job covering Iron Maiden and all these great songs. They really bring back such good memories for me personally. Thanks!
Thanks man! Bringing back good memories was one of the main reasons I started this project so I'm always glad to when someone tells me it does 😊
Cheers! 🤘
No matter how this album is perceived, the title track is still my ringtone for like 10 years now.
Intro to Run Silent Run Deep has been my ring tone for many a year, fully agree with this video
No Prayer was the first "new" Maiden album after I had started listening to them, and when it came out I listened to it lots...on cassette too. All those years ago.
I heard it a whole lot on cassette too. Loves the portability 😊
My favourite Iron Maiden album is No prayer for the dying :) and always will. I love everything about it. Fear of the dark is my second favourite album. Also Janick is my favourite guitar player and i really love Bruces rough vocals on early 90s.
Great resume for a great album.
Thanks for putting it where it deserves.
Ridiculously underrated gem.
Thanks for your video. I always wondered how much Janick influenced the whole vibe of the album. I saw him in an interview with Dave in which he dismissed guitar effects etc - while Dave looked on bemused. I have a feeling he pushed the back to basics sound. It is around this time I stopped listening to Maiden, after seeing them live in 1986 (when I was 12!), it was hard to get used to Adrian leaving. Having said that, I think Holy Smoke is a great song. I saw them in 1990 at Birmingham and I was on Janick's side of the stage (Dave was my hero) and I really could not stand his antics and his approach to the solos - I think they did 22 Acacia Avenue and Heaven Can Wait - which contain two of Adrian's best solos. Having said that, I respect Janick so much for bringing something new to the band that I'm thankful many people enjoy.
Incredible!!!! This is the analysis that many Iron Maiden fans were waiting for! Nico you promised and here we have it!!! Up The Irons & Up The Licks Of The Beast!!!
Great video!
No Prayer was my first Maiden album (bought it back in 1990), AND my first metal album ever! I also have a special place in my heart for it, love 'till today.
Never understood why this album received so much hate - I do really enjoy this record a lot. It’s still a REAL Maiden album, and apart from “Bring Your Daughter…” I like the songs as well. “Tailgunner” and “Holy Smoke” are huge hits in my humble opinion.
Ever since I found your channel maybe 5 or 6 months ago and quickly devoured your back catalog, you have put the bug in my ear to revisit this album and I did. I looked at it with fresh eyes and ears. Although this album will never be my favorite I now have one more Iron Maiden album that I enjoy listening to!! That’s a win! This video is the logical conclusion to the journey and more reasons to dig the album! Thank you sir!!
Thank YOU! I've had my share of revisiting albums or songs after watching a video about it so I'm glad I could return the favour to the community in my small capacity on here 😊
@@LicksOfTheBeast - Awesome
It's amazing what this album can mean when you listen to it without any prejudice!!! Thank you for doing justice to an album that will delight anyone who listened to it with an open mind.
Thank you VERY much for your awesome encouragement and support! Cheers man 🤜🤛
My favourite is the title track. There is an amazing live video on youtube from that tour in Philadelphia!
I've seen that! It's so great that there is footage from that tour 😊
And I agree... The title track is a definite high point!
Thank you for this! I love this album to death since my older brother came home with it when i was only 7 years old in '91. The "hard rock" singles are awesome and played with such ferocity; Dave and Janick's solos are wild: "The Assassin" brings me back in the empty and scary London Underground at night just as the atmospheres of the first two albums; then songs like the title track or "Fates Warning" are real super-underrated masterpieces!
I have ALWAYS loved this album. It WAS the "New Release" after I first discovered Maiden's brilliance.
"Bring Your Daughter" should have never been a single. "Run Silent, Run Deep" is classic Maiden and would have been much more relatable to long time fans as a single.
agree. I had this album very early into my Maiden fandom, I was just a little kid. it confused me back then.. as an adult I've come to appreciate at least some of it. Run Silent Run Deep is a secret gem, Bruce sings his ass off there
Thank you Nico, thank you, thank you! Every IM fan should watch this video, since NPFTD has been always dismissed as a bad album, while it is truly entertaining and delivers powerful messages.
Many thanks to you!! Glad you enjoyed this vid 🙏🤘
Great T-shirt - kudos for still fitting in it after all these years 😉
Hahahahahaha thank you!!! 😄🙏🤘
Excellent review, keep it up Niko, this is my favorite album over somewhere in time, and I fully agree with you that it sounds strongly maiden. I think this album and many of the songs there are underrated. The riffs and melodies of No prayer for the dying song put the real foundations of melodic rock.
I've not listened to this album for a good while. This discussion reminded me how good it really is
My dearest Maiden-album. Bought it -90 and it was my first Maiden-album and my first CD.
Title song, Public Enema and Run Silent are still among the best songs of Maiden.
"No prayer" on kans mun eka Maiden levy ja kaikista rakkain. Levyn soundit ja Brucen äänenkäyttö miellyttää. Oikeastaan ainoa heikompi biisi on "Hooks in you" muuten tykkään levyn joka biisistä.
Never understood the hate for this album. I've loved it since day one. Maybe because I also come into Maiden more seriously during my teens in the early 90s. I'd heard other albums, of course, but this one was the latest album released when I became a major fan.
The album barely has any weak songs (fates warning and public enema are my least favourites) but the energy, aggression and absolutely phenomenal solos throughout rank among the best.
The bare bones production is also perfect ....and the vibe on Mother Russia with the amazing solo trade off at the end is still something I listen to a lot today.
I can see similiarities between this and Bruce's debut solo album (which I also love). It's more rock oriented and high energy and also a simple production.
It also showcased what a great studio guitarist Jannick is. I am not a major fan of him live because he often is super sloppy on the solos and rarely plays them as the album versions are.
I think your overall analysis is correct. It was not an album of its time and was not the direction expected. Especially, when you consider how further down the prog road they have travelled now. I still think this album is better than most of the albums released after BNW and before Senjutsu - which has some serious return to form vibes.
Thanks for this video Nico, because No Prayer is really criminally underrated!! Which I have been keep telling people for years. Perhaps because of the sound.. I really always appreciate Mr Birch's work but sometimes I find myself thinking "what would it be if Maiden did work with another producer in late 80s and early 90s"..
Thank you for reviewing this album. No Prayer for the Dying is so underrated.
This was one of the first Maiden Albums I heard. My friend bought it when it was released, and we listened to it a lot. So it's got that nostalgia hit for me. No prayer for the dying is still one of my favourite songs.
I thought I was the only no prayer's lover on earth. Thanks so much for putting this up, very accurate beautyful!
Great initial summary of their first 10 years. I think Wasted Years was Adrian's take on that period rushing past. This album was one I didn't gel with and I missed Adrian's input, but I'm going to revisit it based on your enthusiasm for it 👍
As a listener who knows all the ins and outs of this album as well, hearing your take on it is such breath of fresh air. I've always loved the album but you highlight things I've never put much thought into. Nice work man, awesome tone, chops. Rooting for you 🤘
Thank you so much for your kind and thoughtful comment!! Cheers 🤜🤛
Jesus, I always loved this album a lot, but now EVEN MORE!!!!! THANKS A TON FOR ALL THE INSIGHTS, PLEASE, DO EVERY SINGLE ALBUM FOR THE LOVE OF MAIDEN !!!!!!!!!!!!!
I always loved that album... the strange sound of the production, gives a mystic black atmosphere in the air, that nowheare else can be heard. The sound is like the fog, in the pics of the band, of the album.
So many memories of this era. I’ve always loved this album despite my no1 not being on it. Despite that I was SO into Maiden then and when this came out I listened to it hours a day. I never had a problem with Janick on the album. He did some nice solos. When we saw them live for the first time we were all shocked at how scrappy he was! It was a far cry from polished Mr Smith. And Dave started copying him!
Great video man. Enjoyed it.
you should make more videos like this, you made me see no prayer for the dying in a different way even though i considered it a good album and very underrated.It made me want to listen to it again
That's so great to hear. Thank you!!
My first album. I love it. I was born in 90.
This was my second album I heard after getting TNOTB and it has special place in my heart because it started my journey in to discovering Iron Maiden and that first major lick/riff on Holy Smokes was first thing I learned on guitar and it was without any tabs because I didn't have internet at that time and I was just stumbling through neck of guitar to find the right notes. That were good times I love to remember. So yeah, Prayer will always be one of the albums with special place in my heart.
I've always loved this album, since the day it came out. I absolutely love both, the atmosphere of the album and Bruce singing approach on these sessions (with a raspy voice). Loved he kept this approach for Fear Of The Dark too
I always back to see this video again and again when i listen No prayer for the dying, is the best vídeo about this record i ever seen.
It's a great album. Dave really lifts the solo game on this album. Saw maiden in 91 they were awesome.
Thanks for the reminder! I haven’t listened to this record for years. Have to dig it out again! 🤘🔥
I have always loved this album. From the day it came out until now. And it's great, Niko, how you put those right words to it!
Thank you! Glad to see this video resonates with some fellow Maiden fans as well 😊
I just finished listening to the full album!!! Cheers Nico!!!🤘😉🤘
To me this album is really good maiden album and its something else than previous ones. It just has something that makes me to spin this album again and again. All maiden albums are an experiences and this is no exception.
I remember the firts time listening public enema number one and saw that it was written by Dave Murray. The little Murray fan inside me was forever hooked to this album.
Thanks for the amazing video and keep doing this great content.
I feel the same about Public Enema 😊
Ahh finally some love for Mother Russia! I have fond memories of learning that song not long into my guitar journey, was quite a challenge back then haha
Great to see you breakdown this album overall it’s definitely a lot better than it’s made out to be imo
It was for me too man! Cheers 🤜🤛
@@LicksOfTheBeast Keep up the great work! Up the irons 🤘
Nico, your Channel is just brilliant.
Much appreciated! Thank you 🙏
Great video! It made me appreciate No Prayer for the Diying as an album even more!
I always love your videos. Do you think you can make a video showcasing your whole guitar collection? That would be very cool. That Ibanez Explorer looks and sounds badass. The Adrian Smith Jackson’s are nice as well, especially the USA one. I also like your Strat. The one with no fine tuners. That mini Floyd seems cool.
Yes, absolutely! I plan to make a video about my guitars this year 😊
And thank you!!
Wow you really broke it down, I've been a Maiden fan since around 82 up till this day, I love no prayer for the dying so much, I thought this album was phenomenal and I love every song on this album. Thank you so much for this deep insight and knowledge. I love the holy smoke video, they are acting so silly in the video.
An extremely underrated record. Great B-sides as well 🎸
Excellent video! I've discovered the band in 1992 with this album. I have a special love for it.
Brother, Maiden is an unstoppable force and you are the herald that opens the gates of clarity and appreciation, lifting my soul to new heights as you reveal the nuances of their music. You are awesome! Cannot thank you enough!!! Your videos give me life. Keep it up!!!!! 🔥🤘🏼🦇🔥
I don't even know what to say to such a gracious and kind comment. Thank you, really! 🙏🙏
When Adrian popped up on the screen! 🤣🐟
This is a fantastic overview of the album! I have always loved NPftD, but this video still makes me want to go back and listen to the whole album straight through - because that’s what we Maiden fans love to do! 😂 I think this video would give people who weren’t completely sold on NP before, a push to revisit it with fresh ears and a new approach. 😊 Well done!
When Sara first showed me that part, I literally had tears. 😂
So glad you liked this video. I am a big fan of the "trip down memory lane" thing especially with albums like this that have so many vivid memories attached to every aspect... individual songs, solos, the show, the cover, singles... 😊
Thank you for the encouragement as always!! 🙏
@@LicksOfTheBeast
I was wondering whose idea that was! 🤣 When the video was over, I tried to go back to replay that part and couldn’t find it! 😂 The edited add-on of laugh after you said, “Public Enema Number One” was funny, too!!
@@SomewhereInTheMaidenverse I was actually a little worried it might get flagged for Nicko's ha-ha 😬
Still a bit traumatized from all the Senjutsu blockings 😅
@@LicksOfTheBeast
I’m so glad for you guys that this video made it through! I remember that ordeal with the Senjutsu videos. I felt terrible for you because I could see what was going on from my side. 😔
Dear Nico, I share your oppinion on the album, such an underated piece ! Awesome job as usual in the video ! Keep up the good work 🤘🏻
Dude thanks for giving this album some love that it deserves. I don't understand all the thumbs down, but like you said it's the most misunderstood album in their catalog. Sure no Adrian Smith no problem because Dave Murray stepped up his game and went berserk on this album. Thanks for the video.
Tailgunner is one of my favorite all-time Maiden songs. I wish they did it live more. It might even make a great opener. That (G flat?) pedal at the beginning really builds the tension! Great post Nicko!
The fact you still fit into that shirt all these years later blows my mind. (Yes I'm jealous) 🤣🤣
Thank You for this amazing retrospective.
It's amazing to see the passion You feel when You play these riffs and solos.
I discovered Maiden with this album. That time was the latest one.
And it was love at first sight.
This album has a darker and dramatic tune compared to the previous ones.
Public Enema n.1, the Assassin, Bring Your Daughter To the Slaughter for instance move You in a new dimension from the energetic kind-of-happy power metal We knew since "iron Maiden".
But correct me if i'm wrong, I feel a subtle connection with This album and the album Killers: the dramatic aggressiveness in the voice, a light touch of sadness, and here an added sense of disenchantment.
Yeah I feel that similirarity with Killers too. Although I find Killers is objectively a stronger and better produced record... But yeah I have always loved No Prayer!
I must've missed this video! Have to be honest it never really grabbed me, but then I was so obsessed at the time with Live After Death, Somewhere in Time and Seventh Son I didn't give it a proper listen. Having watched this breakdown though, I will 100% have to go and give it a proper listen.
Always worth another shot this far down the line! Who knows.... You might find a few things in there you really like 🙂
@@LicksOfTheBeast Just been listening to it again several times through. I obviously just wasn't ready for it back then and missed out, really really enjoying it now, some great writing here. Thanks for putting a video up about it.
My first Iron Maiden album. I became a fan in the moment I listened tailgunner's intro. Great album.
These breakdowns are KILLER! 🤘🏼😎
Thank you! Stay tuned for a new one coming up later this week 😊
One of my top 5 Iron Maiden album. My first Iron Maiden show. Well done mate
I revisited this album because a lot of people were giving it love. Now Tailgunner, No Prayer, Bring Me Your Daughter and Holy Smoke are all on my gym playlist. I love this album. It doesn't deserve the negativity.
Fates Warning is my favourite track on this album. Criminally underrated
I think this is a top 10 Maiden album honestly!!
Very good album and amazing video!
Another great video, dude! 💪 Such an underrated album. Not a perfect album; but with the exhaustion of recording albums and touring for 8 straight years and losing Adrian, it amazes me they still released some good material.
Absolutely! And tha my you so much!!
Bruce composed "Bring your daughter" but Janick was also involved. When Bruce showed the song to Janick it was "Green fruit" and Janick added things to it and they also redid the chorus.
Great video, as ever. I love these track by track album commentaries. Please do one for every album!
Great breakdown of No Prayer… I have always loved side one of this album and over time side 2 has grown on me. Your breakdown of this stripped down album brought me right back to Irvine Meadows, CA, where I saw The Prayer On The Road Tour! I had seen Bruce’s Tattooed Millionaire Tour at The Bacchanal in San Diego and knew Janick was going to be Whirlwind on stage! Dave even became more energetic again. Thanks again for the Licks of The Beast videos!!! Up The Irons🤘⚒😎🤘
"Fates Warning" is a real gem on this album. Every part of the song is a highlight in its own right, but my favorite is when Bruce starts singing, "A volcano erupts and sweeps a town away, a hurricane devastates the cities in its way." This is what puts Maiden in a league of its own.
This album is unique in that it is the last Maiden album that has a special mystique and mood to it. The pictures of the band surrounded by mist fit atmospheric songs like "Fates Warning" and "Mother Russia" perfectly. The harmonies, a Maiden specialty, are awe inspiring and don't seem gratuitous or uninspired, like on some later albums. Finally, the overall sound of the album is very fresh and present, almost crystal clear, which, again, suits the visuals and the mood of the album, and is possibly a holdover from the Seventh Son of a Seventh Son aesthetic.
Nico,sou seu fã, adoro o seu trabalho, não pare nunca!!
Muitissimo obrigado! Não pretendo parar, amigo! 🤜🤛
It was my first ever Maiden album back in 1998 and even though I now have every album No Prayer for the Dying is still my favourite album.
THANK YOU FOR MAKING THIS VIDEO!!!! I love this album. I was a teenager in the 90s and this was one of those metal albums that was just as good as anything else at the time. LOVE THIS ALBUM!!! Be well my friend and THANK YOU once again.
Thank you for watching and for sharing your enthusiasm for this album! I'm always happy when someone says they like NPFTD 🙂
@@LicksOfTheBeast Yes Sir!!! I love the time period and the album. It was such a care free time in life and to have great music like this was just AMAZING as a teenager. I long for those days everyday. Anyway, be well my friend and THANK YOU for the video once again.
Oh, and absolutely AWESOME guitar playing.
So happy I found this channel and this video in particular. I’m a career-spanning, older fan and I always had a soft spot for this raw, angry, less-produced Maiden offering. In a way, it reminds me of the Dianno albums with their quick, punk-influenced rhythms, but with more socio-political commentary from the band. Not my favorite album, yet distinctive and marked by membership changes that happily and eventually resulted in Bruce and Adrian’s return.
Murray’s most inspired compositions in my opinion.Very good album!!I always liked it!!
This is a great album, I always enjoy it so much when I hear it. Never understood the criticism around it, but your video makes me like it even more. UP THE IRONS!!
Nico, thanks so much for this video. NPFTD was the first Maiden album I bought as it was released and, oh my, how it impacted (and has still impacted) after all these years. It’s one of my top 5 Maiden albums (Killers is my number one) and it is surely underrated. I found this video absolutely incredible! 🤘🏻
Thanks man! Glad you liked the video and that you could relate to it :)
Cheers 🤘
I'm Maiden fan for 25 years & im grateful for your revision.
Great video. I had a look back at No Prayer recently in the past months and I really appreciate the album, and give it a better value than in the past. Especially i think that is really remarkable the typical maiden sound due to the "hand" of Mr. Martin Birch.
Your analysis it's really good, completely aligned with you. Cheers
I need to go back and listen this album again. So underrated, thanks for highlighting it!
Great video. The first maiden song I ever listend to was "the assassin", I was immediately hooked, and the song reminded me of a horror movie combined with an action game. No prayer still holds up for me, as an interesting album that changed my life many years ago. Keep up the good work Nico 🤘
I love this kind of videos. Great job Nico!!