The X Factor – Iron Maiden

(Warning, this post was started after a couple of glasses of port which turned into about half a bottle by the time I was finished, so I can’t vouch for its coherence. Originally posted to the Headbangers Ballroom on Shadowmarch TWMB).

I finally bought Iron Maiden’s The X Factor (from 1995) today, I had been avoiding it because of Blaze Bayley.

Virtual XI was the first Iron Maiden album I ever bought, and it was nearly my last, as my reaction went from ‘This is brilliant!’ from the intro to Futurereal, to ‘What the hell is this? Who produced it? Did they just stick a tape recorder in the corner of the room when they were recording the vocals?’ the moment Blaze opened his mouth.
Fortunately, when I indignantly played the album to the friend who had recommended Iron Maiden as a band I might like, he said “that’s not Iron Maiden, this is Iron Maiden” and lent me The Number of The Beast and Fear of the Dark, and all was forgiven :)

I could see that musically Virtual XI was exactly the sort of thing I’d like, but Blaze’s voice (and the inability of the sound engineer to do anything about it) turned me right off.

So as I mentioned above, today I finally bought The X Factor for the sake of completeness. I also bought A Matter of Life and Death – their 2006 Album.
Between the two, I’d have to say that The X Factor was by far the better album. Blaze still kind of sucks – but he sucks significantly less than he did on Virtual XI (which is odd, because I’d have thought that having had an album to practice with, Virtual XI would have been better).
But Blaze aside, I’d say The X Factor is musically one of their best – there’s quite a bit more experimentation than usual – with a lot of very Dream Theater like extended syncopated riffs, and other nice variations, but without ever stepping too far away from the essential Iron Maiden feel.

A Matter of Life and Death however, was just kind of meh. I’d explain why but I can’t – it simply made too little an impression on me to care. All I could manage was to acknowledge that it was a bit more interesting than Dance of Death was, (and both of them are compressed to hell, which makes listening to them fatiguing) but otherwise: meh.

I have a feeling that Brave New World was the last truly good Iron Maiden – mind you, to be only two albums into the downward spiral after 26 years is a pretty good run :)
It seems that they’re pretty much aware of it too, and are moving into nostalgia mode, since their current tour is apparently focused very heavily on their 80s stuff.