No-one's favourite Iron Maiden album, it would be hard even to make a case for No Prayer for the Dying as being anything than a disappointing and often-forgotten mess, but let's try anyway! Coming smack between prog-peak Seventh Son of a Seventh Son and the underrated (but also not actually that great...) Fear of the Dark, this album was once widely considered as the bottom of the Maiden discography but seems to have undergone something of a fan reappraisal in recent years. You can understand that opinion, especially coming from the heels of Seventh Son... and being something far more straightforward. The longest song here is just five and a half minutes long, (we'd kill for that now given the fattiness of recent Iron Maiden epics!) and there's a downright bluntness to some of the songwriting here that would have shocked those coming to the band after the near-flawless run that they had in the 80s.

Yet it's what the band wanted, something back-to-basics and stripped down after prog pomp, leading to the unfortunate departure of Adrian Smith after a falling out with Steve Harris, to be replaced by Janick Gers. And the general catchiness and sense of fun (this being only the second ever Iron Maiden album to contain profanity) is what saves a lot of No Prayer for the Dying from truly deserving its reputation, despite the fact that certain songs here feel like dumbed-down versions of better songs. First single Holy Smoke's televangelist satire is a heavy metal romp akin to From Here to Eternity, for instance, never mind album opener Tailgunner which tries a little too hard at apeing Aces High. Still, both are more than solid with undeniable catchiness and a grittier feel which works for these shorter, punchier songs.

And there's not really a song that lets the album down from then on, even the balladic opening to the title track leading to an upbeat classic-Maiden feeling gallop. Public Enema Number One may have the oddest title present but it's definitely a highlight with one of the catchiest stomps present. Despite the songs having a similar feel there's enough to keep them distinct instrumentally, with the melodies and hooks of the likes of Fates Warning (less progressive than you might expect from its title) and The Assassin standing out individually, both feeling as though they could have come from one of the band's early 80s albums. Sure, perhaps the lyrics to the latter aren't the best that Iron Maiden have ever come up with, yet it has that ominous vibe and darkly infectious melodies right from the dawn of the band's career - job done.

The most famous song from this album is, of course, the band's only UK No 1 single, Bring Your Daughter... To The Slaughter, originally written by Dickinson for one of the lesser Nightmare on Elm Street films and feeling very much in line with his Tattooed Millionaire solo era. It's fine, with stock-feeling riffs and carried entirely by the chorus (apparently it was written in around three minutes and you can tell) but hardly a classic Iron Maiden song by any standard. The surrounding songs are far better, not least the viciously grandiose submarine-themed Run Silent Run Deep or Hooks in You, a rocker that does the same job as Bring Your Daughter but does it better. And of course, finale Mother Russia, the one attempt at a genuine Iron Maiden epic on the album. It sort of works, continues the Seventh Son feeling with spooky keyboards but doesn't really do enough to stay memorable despite feeling altogether out of place. Like the other songs here, it's better than you'd remembered but not up to the standards set by better Iron Maiden material, and ultimately that sums up No Prayer for the Dying itself. You can argue about whether it's the worst actual Maiden album (surely Virtual XI deserves bottom place?) but it's certainly at least bottom three and a sign that the nineties wouldn't be great for the band, as with so many peers. The first album from Maiden that wasn't retrospectively worthy of classic status, it's still impressive that they made it seven albums before slipping!