The album cover of Fear of the Dark was the first Iron Maiden album cover not to be designed by artist Derek Riggs. In an interview with MTV, Bruce Dickinson said they had asked three different artists to design a cover, and they then picked the best one. Melvyn Grant's illustration was chosen over the one Riggs submitted. Melvyn Grant has since drawn two more album covers for Iron Maiden, and the cover for their single "The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg" and 2010's The Final Frontier album makes him the second most-used artist for Eddie after Riggs.
The album's musical style showed some experimentation with "Be Quick or Be Dead", a fast tempo song released as the album's first single, and "Wasting Love," the group's sole power ballad. Both songs were Dickinson/Gers collaborations, stark contrasts to the traditional progressive Maiden songs penned by Harris, such as the Gulf War track "Afraid to Shoot Strangers," the band's most political song since "2 Minutes to Midnight".
Only two songs from the album, the title track, and "Afraid to Shoot Strangers", would survive on tours past 1993. "Fear of the Dark" became a popular live track and was the only song played on the Somewhere Back in Time World Tour not from the 1980s. "Afraid to Shoot Strangers" became a frequent addition on setlists during Blaze Bayley's tenure with Iron Maiden.
Both critics and fans saw the album as a stale offering from an increasingly tired band. Dickinson's commitment to the band was in question despite the fact he tried to move the band out of its progressive metal stupor with more experimental and political material such as "Fear is the Key," and "Wasting Love." Metal Hammer criticised the lyrics on such tracks as 'The Apparition' and 'The Fugitive', but said the guitar solos redeemed the otherwise mediocre songs.
"Be Quick or Be Dead," "From Here to Eternity," "Wasting Love," and a live version of the title track were released as singles.
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