This week we move on to the ’90’s era of Iron Maiden. It is their least-heralded decade but there’s some stuff worth going over here. We are onto the band’s eight album No Prayer For The Dying. The album itself does divide opinion but its not widely hailed as one of their classics, the stripped down approach after two synth epics left an odd impression on many listeners.

We are also, once again, out of order in this singles series. Well, I am, no one else really is. Today’s single is actually the second from the album and next week’s will be the first. This honestly works out fairly well since there’s a lot to talk about on today’s single and next week’s will be super quick, so I can include the line-up change and additional lore here.

There is a new member of Iron Maiden on this album – replacing Adrian Smith is Janick Gers. Janick had played with Ian Gillian as well as in a project with Paul Di’Anno and Clive Burr, among other acts. He would hook up with Bruce Dickinson for Bruce’s first solo album Tattooed Millionaire, which, well, it has bearing on the lead track today so I’ll save that. After Smith departed Maiden, Gers was in and he remains a part of the group today, staying on even after Smith returned in 1999.

Today’s single was available in several versions and had two different covers – the one I have pictured is the “main” copy and another one featuring Eddie in Grim Reaper garb is an “alternate” cover. There are 7-inch, 12-inch, cassette and CD versions, and several of each. Mine is a 12-inch vinyl and offers a second B-side, so that’s what we’ll stick with today.

The cover art is kind of crazy and very busy, featuring Eddie holding a woman, presumably someone’s daughter being brought to the slaughter, and a whole lot of stuff in the background. Derek Riggs was still the artist for these, but his time is coming close to an end as Maiden’s illustrator, and subsequent single covers will highlight that.

Bring Your Daughter … To The Slaughter

The lead track here is the second single from No Prayer…, the first single will show up next week because time is just a human invention and not real anyway. This song has a lot to discuss in its origins, its real and perceived quality, and in its commercial reception.

The song also did not actually have its origins in Maiden itself – it was the brainchild of Bruce Dickinson, who wrote and recorded the track and put it on offer for the soundtrack to A Nightmare On Elm Street 5: The Dream Child. I personally don’t remember the movie much and even though I was a huge Maiden fan around this time I didn’t pay it much mind. Dickinson chose not to include it on his debut solo album Tattooed Millionaire, though re-issued copies feature it as a bonus track.

Well, Steve Harris heard and liked the song so he brought in Bruce’s guitarist Janick and the track. Maiden improved upon the original song by a fair bit and wound up releasing it as a single. It featured a video with performances spliced in with footage from an old movie called The City Of The Dead. The movie footage shows a lovely young woman being kidnapped for part in some evil ritual, which I guess is in keeping with the song.

And for the song? It’s a pretty good one. It is no frills and basic, which was something of a comedown for us Maiden fans after the several years prior. But this track is decently enjoyable, I won’t shit on it just to be elitist or anything. This album isn’t my favorite but I also don’t mind putting it on, many of the songs are goofy but enjoyable. This one certainly fits that concept.

One other note of trivia about this song, and it’s a big one – Bring Your Daughter … To The Slaughter is the first, and to date only, Iron Maiden song to top the UK Singles Chart. I don’t really know how or why it happened, especially with a lack of support from entities like the BBC who did not care for the song’s theme, but Iron Maiden scored a number one hit with one of the least heralded songs of their catalog. The singles market is funny and is usually not where heavy metal dwells, so for this of all songs to top the charts is pretty funny. And hey, good for them, it’s still an accomplishment worth having.

I’m A Mover

Both B-sides today are covers, the first one is an early, somewhat decent hit for the band Free. This would be a few years before Free’s massive smash All Right Now.

Maiden perform a very serviceable version of the song. It does get the feel of the track right, though done a tad harder as would be expected for Maiden. It might miss some of the finer points of Paul Rodgers and the blues-based rock of Free but this is a pretty good job done and it’s a very interesting cover song among the several Maiden have done over the years.

Communication Breakdown

The 12-inch bonus B-side is obviously a cover of the early Led Zeppelin standard from that band’s first album. While Maiden did a fair job on the Free song, this one doesn’t really get on track. It’s played decently enough but it does sound like a bar cover band doing Zep. Bruce is a great singer but one thing he is not is Robert Plant, and the absolute insanity of Plant’s original is lost here. I’d say this isn’t “bad” but honestly it might be, it just doesn’t hold a candle to the original.

That does it for today’s single. Next week will go quick and easy and then it’ll be on through my last remaining handful as I cross through a few eras of the band.

The Iron Maiden Singles Series

Live! + One

Running Free

Sanctuary

Women In Uniform

Maiden Japan

Purgatory

Twilight Zone/Wrathchild

Run To The Hills

The Number Of The Beast

Flight Of Icarus

The Trooper

2 Minutes To Midnight

Aces High

Run To The Hills (live)

Running Free (live)

Stranger In A Strange Land

Wasted Years

The Clairvoyant

Infinite Dreams

Bring Your Daughter … To The Slaughter (you are here)

Holy Smoke

Be Quick Or Be Dead

From Here To Eternity

Virus

Out Of The Silent Planet

Rainmaker

Different World

The Reincarnation Of Benjamin Breeg

Empire Of The Clouds