“Fear of the Dark” by Iron Maiden

"Fear of the Dark" closes out Iron Maiden's 1992 album of the same name, and Steve Harris, the bassist who writes most of the band's songs, wrote this one on his own, words and music both. It's Maiden in full epic mode: a slow, creeping opening that tiptoes like somebody checking the shadows, then a gallop that breaks loose and barely lets up, with Dave Murray and Janick Gers twining their guitar lines and Nicko McBrain driving the charge from behind the kit. Bruce Dickinson wrings every ounce of dread out of the title.

Harris co-produced it with Martin Birch, who engineered the sessions, and the two mixed it together. The song has had a long life beyond the album, too: the Flight 666 version turned up as downloadable content for the Rock Band video games in 2009.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.