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,[2] and only having contributed to one song, "Hooks in You".[3] Smith was
replaced by Janick Gers, who had previously worked with singer Bruce Dickinson on
his first solo-album, Tattooed Millionaire,[4] and had also worked with Ian Gillan,
[5] former Marillion singer Fish,[5] and new wave of British heavy metal band,
White Spirit.[6]

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,[2] which ushered
in a change of vocal style for Bruce Dickinson from the operatic sound of the 1980s
to a raspier way of singing.[7] 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.[2] 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!'"[8]

The album also departed from literary and historical lyrical themes in favour of
more political content, with songs focusing on religious exploitation (such as in
the record's first single, "Holy Smoke") and social concerns ("Public Enema Number
One").[3] No Prayer for the Dying is the only Iron Maiden studio album to date
without a song exceeding six minutes in length and the second one to contain
profanity in the lyrics, the debut album being the first to do so. It was also the
band's first release with Epic Records in the US, after the band left Capitol
Records, but was sold through EMI for all territories outside the US. Despite
charting well in most countries, particularly in the UK where it debuted at No. 2,
[3] it would be the band's last album to receive gold certification in the US.[5]

No Prayer for the Dying includes the hit song "Bring Your Daughter... to the
Slaughter", which, in spite of a ban by the BBC, remains Iron Maiden's only UK No.
1 single to date.[3] A tongue-in-cheek song written by Dickinson and originally
recorded with his solo band for the A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child
film soundtrack, Harris decided that the song would be "great for Maiden" and had
the band re-record it.[9]

Following Dickinson's departure from Iron Maiden in 1993, songs from No Prayer for
the Dying have been largely ignored at live performances. "Bring Your Daughter...
to the Slaughter" was the only song played on a post-1993 setlist, appearing on the
band's 2003 summer tour.

No Prayer on the Road was the tour in support of the album.