It is hard to believe that this monumental album, a piece of rock history, was only issued on CD in Japan! Finding a domestic LP or cassette isn’t hard (I’ve owned it on all three formats including CD) so hunt your record shops. I know Wendy Dio has a CD/DVD reissue lined up, hopefully including the full album, single edit, and the video and interviews. If you’re reading this Wendy…
At the time, all funds went to starving people in Africa, hence the name Hear N’ Aid. The inspiration was something fairly obvious: No heavy metal people outside of Geddy Lee was involved in the numerous famine relief projects of the time! (Geddy sang a lead on the excellent “Tears Are Not Enough” (1985) by Northern Lights, but nobody metal could be seen in “Do They Know It’s Christmas” or “We Are the World”.)
“Oh, you knoooow that we’ll be there!”
Showing the world that heavy metal bands and fans aren’t a bunch of assholes, Jimmy Bain and Vivian Campbell of Dio came up with the concept for Hear N’ Aid.
The main track, “Stars”, by Hear N’ Aid is a tour-de-force. Written by Bain, Campbell and Dio, this is essentially an epic extended track with a soft intro and heavy verses, and tons of guests. They assembled virtually every major metal singer who was willing and available to take part. That means you will hear Quiet Riot singers Kevin DuBrow and Paul Shortino (still with Ruff Cutt at the time) singing together for the first and only time in history! Rob Halford, Don Dokken, Eric Bloom, Geoff Tate, Dave Meniketti, and Dio himself all take lead vocal slots too.
When the guitar solo kicks in, prepared to be blown away. With Iron Maiden guitarists Dave Murray and Adrian Smith playing backing harmonies, you will hear the monstrous talents of George Lynch, Yngwie Malmsteen, Vivian Campbell, Craig Goldy, Neal Schon, Buck Dharma, Carloz Cavazo, Brad Gillis and Eddie Ojeda all taking a few bars. No charity track had ever attempted to assemble not just singers, but guitar players, on one track before.
All this is backed by drummers, bassists and keyboard players from Dio and Quiet Riot. There are more backing singers than I can name, but most notably, Derek Smalls and David St. Hubbins from Spinal Tap. Of course.
The rest of the album is filled out by songs donated by bands who couldn’t take part in the song, but still wanted to help the starvation situation in Africa. Therefore you will get a live “Heaven’s On Fire” from Kiss, from their Animalize Live Uncensored home video. This is the only place that the audio track was released on. There is an unreleased live “Distant Early Warning” by Rush, and rare ones by Scorpions and Accept as well.
Tracklist:
1.Hear ‘n Aid – “Stars”
2.Accept – “Up to the Limit” (live)
3.Motörhead – “On the Road” (live)
4.Rush – “Distant Early Warning” (live)
5.Kiss – “Heaven’s on Fire” (live)
6.Jimi Hendrix – “Can You See Me”
7.Dio – “Hungry for Heaven” (live)
8.Y&T – “Go for the Throat”
9.Scorpions – “The Zoo” (live)
They started a side project called Rising West, and they quickly found out that it didn’t have any value in the marketplace. They couldn’t sell any shows. They couldn’t get booked for shows. And that’s when they fired me and tried to use the name Queensryche to book shows, so they could all make a living.
So what you’re saying Geoff is that the firing had nothing to do with the spitting and the physical assaults and so on and so forth? This argument doesn’t even make any sense. Geoff’s claiming that Queensryche fired him, because their side project couldn’t sell any shows? I’m sure they don’t need a side project to sell shows to make a living while they’re in Queensryche? If business was as good as Geoff claims, anyway.
On Glen Drover, guitar player in Tate’s new “second” Queensryche:
I had known of him but never met him, but I’ve seen him play a number of times with Megadeth, and I thought he was a fantastic player; just a real fluid, effortless guitar player. And then talking with him, he’s just a really cool guy, very down-to-earth. He’s a Canadian guy who likes hockey and beer, and I’m all down with that.
Alright. I’m down with that too.
And lastly, on his solo album:
It just happened pretty quickly, and I worked at a pace that’s pretty normal for me, really. A lot of what you hear on it are first, second or third takes. It was pretty immediate, us sitting in the same room, playing together, feeding off each other, and just kinda making stuff up as we went. So it was a fun, immediate record, without a lot of rehearsing it into the ground. Not a very polished record, not over-produced and slick. It’s pretty raw.
OK, that doesn’t sound bad. Has anybody heard the record yet? I’ve read good things, but Christmas is coming.
For the first time in a long time, there was this vibe of, “new Maiden? Meh.”
I recall seeing this listed in our distributor’s catalogue and ordering one for myself. We didn’t even order it in for the store. Think about that! The catalog had the title listed as Vartual Xi, which made me wonder what the hell I was buying.
Virtual XI is the 11’th studio album by Iron Maiden. It is the second with Blaze Bayley on lead vocals and second to be co-produced by Nigel Green. It is also the second to feature cover art by Melvyn Grant, this time an improvement on his Fear of the Dark work (but only barely).
You’ll notice the Iron Maiden logo was changed — the jagged bits lopped off! It is this logo that Maiden used almost exclusively going forward. I prefer the original.
I was living with T-Rev when the album came out, early ’98, and both of us were heavily into the Nintendo 64 classic Goldeneye. One Saturday night when he was out working his second job at the Waterloo Inn, I stayed home with Virtual XI, Goldeneye, and enough junk food to last the weekend. I was set. And my feelings on Virtual XI largely go back to that night and the great fun it was to play the Statue Park level whilst rocking out to “When Two Worlds Collide”.
As highly as I rate the two Blaze albums, I will be the first to admit that he was the wrong singer for this band. His voice lacks the range. As I argued in my review for The X Factor, I think Blaze’s voice suited the mid-90’s and the darker tones that Maiden were taking. I remember cranking Best of the Beast in my store, Dickinson wailing away, and two kids laughing. Context is important! In the 90’s, tastes had drifted and so had Maiden. And don’t lie to me — you owned one of these five albums: Ten, Nevermind, Superunknown, Purple or Dirt. I know you did!
I personally enjoy the dreadfully-titled Virtual XI. I bet Steve Harris wishes he could take that title back. It is not as strong as the powerfully dark X Factor album. This is Iron Maiden trying to relax a little more, be more comfortable in their new sound, and trying to lighten up a bit after an entire album of dark thoughts and suicidal tendencies. Witness “The Angel And The Gambler” which is as close to a good-time rocker as Iron Maiden get. Its problem (and the problem with a few songs on the album) is length: At 10 minutes, it’s not an epic, it’s too repetitive. I could also do without Steve’s boppy keyboard line.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. The album kicks off with “Futureal”, a short fast rocker akin to “Man On The Edge” or “Be Quick Or Be Dead”, but with plenty of melody to spare. Harris wrote this one with Blaze.
Up next is “The Angel And the Gambler” which I guess Steve was hoping would sound like 70’s UFO or something like that. A classic Davey guitar solo keeps it in Maiden territory. It had a good video, very Star Wars cantina, funny with dated CG! The video however doesn’t do much to make Blaze Bayley’s case as a frontman.
Then, back to the darkness that marked the last album. “Lightning Strikes Twice” is a decent song with quiet verses and a powerful chorus. It takes a while to build unfortunately, since it’s only 5 minutes long.
Side one ended with “The Clansman”, continuing the Maiden tradition of basing songs on movies and historical events! This was the epic of the album, and one that they performed into the Dance of Death tour. You’ll be chanting, “Freedom! Freedom! Freedom!” by the end. This one sounds very traditional Iron Maiden, especially the fast parts.
Side two kicked off with a personal favourite, “When Two Worlds Collide”. Here’s Maiden’s take on the whole Deep Impact/Armageddon thing:
Now I can’t believe its true
and I don’t know what to do
For the hundredth time
I check the declination
Now the fear starts to grow
even my computer shows
There are no errors in the calculations
Kinda cheesy, kinda nerdy-cool at the same time. Have you ever seen the word “declination” in a heavy metal lyric before? This is the first and only collaboration between Steve, Blaze and Dave Murray.
Another dark and moody one is up next, “The Educated Fool”, another one I like quite a bit due to its delicate guitars. At this point Maiden were no longer trying to simply assault you aurally, now they were introduced in a smoother sounding guitar sound. But the song does kick in soon. There’s a line reflecting some of Steve’s personal inner pain, “I want to see my father beyond.”
This is followed by “Don’t Look To The Eyes Of A Stranger”. These songs are good tunes, but by this time we’ve already had several dark and moody ones with repeated choruses. The repetition was getting a bit much. Even the previous song, “The Educated Fool” suffers from repetitive chorus syndrome.
Last up is the closer “Como Estais Amigos”, translated as “How are you my friends”. It was written by Blaze and Janick. This one has an epic vibe to it as well, with its anthemic chorus of “No more tears, no more tears. If we live for a hundred years, amigo no more tears.” It is as if Maiden are saying, “We have been through some rough patches but better times are up ahead.” And yes, Maiden really did go through rough times, Steve Harris in particular.
And that is it, a mere 8 songs. Brevity this time unlike the previous two albums. No B-sides were recorded, either. The only B-sides were live. Let’s have a look at ’em!
“The Angel And the Gambler” was released in two parts, one with cover art by Derek Riggs, one from the forthcoming new Maiden video game, Ed Hunter. They wisely included a single edit on the second one. The B-sides were live takes of “Blood On the World’s Hands” and “The Aftermath”, which if you recall are two of the songs I ranked poorly on The X Factor.
“Futureal” was the second single, with more Ed Hunter cover art. Inside, a poster featuring Derek Riggs’ far superior artwork. The live tracks were were “Man On the Edge” (another one I’m not fond of) and “The Evil That Men Do”, from Seventh Son of a Seventh Son! This is one of the few official versions available of Blaze doing a Bruce song. My take? His “Come on! Come on! Come on!” intro fails to inspire me, but the band is playing it fast and great. Vocally this one is well suited to Blaze’s voice. He does an excellent job. (He does screw up the lyrics in the same place that Bruce used to, too!) It was recorded in 1995, which makes sense. Everything I’ve heard from that tour sounds great. Everything I’ve heard from the Virtual XI tour, however…
I think after this album the vibe was generally one of “Who cares what Maiden do next?” I still would have loyally bought it. I had just given up on the idea of Maiden being a huge band that mattered again. I didn’t expect albums that would impact me the way that Piece of Mind or Powerslave or even The X Factor did. Maiden seemed to be coasting, at a time that Bruce Dickinson was forging forward with superior solo albums. In general though, it seemed metal was done, Maiden pretty much with it, and all that was left were unremarkable studio albums and tours.
As mentioned in the last chapter, Bruce Dickinson was eager to get back to metal, and he brought Roy Z with him. Together they forged a great modern steel beast of an album. But there was an additional surprise in store:
Bruce had also teamed up with his old Maiden alumnus Adrian Smith! The classic writing partnership was back, and Adrian was playing those trademark melodies again.
And then, just to stick it in Steve Harris’ nose, Bruce hired on Derek Riggs to do the cover art. He came up with a mascot: Edison! Get it?
The opening track, “Freak”, slams the listener right in the face with a modern metallic riff before the classic Bruce wail forces you to admit this is the kind of music he’s best at. And while it’s not the same as Maiden, you will be delighted to learn there are guitar harmony parts once again.
You have to give Roy Z credit where it’s due, the guy is great at writing metal riffs. He’s also a great soloist and a nice contrast to Adrian. Also not slouches are the badass rhythm section: Eddie Casillas (bass) and David Ingraham (drums), both back from the Balls To Picasso album.
“Starchildren” is an absolute stunner, a fucking brilliant song that combines programmed samples with traditional metal riffery. I also love that Bruce has continued on with the sci-fi lyrics, something he’s quite good at.
Although “Taking the Queen” is another great song, it is overshadowed by the epic track “Darkside of Aquarius”. At almost 7 minutes long, “Darkside” combines multiple parts together with guitar harmonies into one cohesive, stomping whole. This to me is the jewel on a fine album. I think this would have made one fine Maiden number (finer than what Maiden were releasing at the time).
Then, “Road To Hell”, a co-write between Bruce and Adrian. You can tell by the catchy guitar parts and singalong chorus. It is followed by the anthemic ballad “Man of Sorrows”. This one was chosen for release as its own EP later.
The single “Accident of Birth” is next, yet another great tune, but also a standout among great tunes. Once again the samples are back, blasting this piece of sheet metal into a pulp. The guitar melodies ground it in familiar territory as Bruce’s wail assaults the listener.
Why is Ingraham wearing that pilot hat?
“The Magician” comes somewhat awkwardly afterwards, as it is more upbeat than the previous material. But “Welcome to the Pit” (also co-written by Smith) sinks deep into a sludgey morass. “Welcome to the Pit” is filler, the first obvious such track on Accident of Birth.
The US edition of the album was elevated by another Smith co-write, the Maiden-esque “The Ghost of Cain” which restores the melody and guitar harmonies to the forefront. The UK edition skipped this track but made it available on a single (which we’ll get to). But it is a song like “The Ghost of Cain” that reminds the listener of the kind of magic that Iron Maiden lost when it lost Adrian Smith.
“Omega” and “Arc of Space” form a sci-fi duo. The sun is about to go all red-giant on Earth’s ass, and most people have left. But many remain behind.
Now it’s Omega-Zero day
The red star shines its last rays
The sun that gave us life yesterday
Is now the sun that takes our lives away
It’s this kind of lyric that gets my nerd-blood pumping. Arthur C. Clarke would have been proud. I’m sure Bruce has read The Songs of Distant Earth. But even musically it’s a winner. At first it sounds like a ballad before the band hits the gas and it turns into a blazing rocker with twin guitar harmonies.
And finally “Arc of Space”, an acoustic number (with cello!), and a perfect ending to a fine album. The choruses soar. Roy Z’s acoustic solo is perfect. The album ends as a triumph.
There were also singles to be had: “Accident of Birth” parts 1 and 2. Part one added “The Ghost of Cain” to the lineup for those who didn’t get it on the UK album. Both parts contained demo versions, basic stripped down recordings of “Accident of Birth”, “Taking the Queen”, and “Starchildren”. It sounds like these were most likely recorded using drum machines. In the case of “Accident of Birth” itself, in a lot of ways I prefer the more mechanical demo!
The Japanese even got their own exclusive EP from the albums called Man of Sorrows.
BRUCE DICKINSON – Man of Sorrows EP (1997)
Man of Sorrows is an awkward 5 song collection, essential only to the obsessed or the lucky ones able to find it at a good price. It has three versions of the title track: A radio edit, an orchestral mix, and a Spanish version (on a CD released only in Japan.) The orchestral version just mixes those instruments in higher. The Spanish version, “Hombre Triste”, is especially poor since the backing vocals in the chorus are still in English. You can also hear edits, as if the vocal recording was probably spliced together piecemeal line by line.
The saving grace to the EP (but not worth the $30 price tag to the average collector) are two more demos: “Darkside of Aquarius” and “Arc of Space”. Much like the other demos, these are fully fleshed out arrangements. “Darkside” features that drum machine again, but “Arc of Space” sounds like Bruce and Roy just doing the song live in a room. The liner notes reveal that Roy Z plays all the instruments on the demo versions.
Incidentally, all these songs plus the “Accident of Birth” single B-sides are now available on the deluxe edition of the album.
Bruce made a hell of a comeback on Accident of Birth, showing up Iron Maiden, and proving that he was built to sing heavy metal music. The cynical said that Bruce was just cashing in, but the next album would prove to be an even more powerful statement. Stay tuned.
Bruce’s studio band from the last album, Balls To Picasso, had a regular gig to get back to (Tribe of Gypies) and Bruce formed a new young band he called Skunkworks: Alex Dickson (guitar), Chris Dale (bass), and Alessandro Elena (drums). Dickson’s since turned up on Robbie Williams albums. (I know because I bought one.)
Why Skunkworks? Well, you know Bruce and his love of aviation. Skunk Works is the top secret project that brought to life the Lockheed Martin SR-71 Blackbird among other advanced aircraft.
Skunkworks, the album, was a new direction once again. Just as Balls To Picasso was very different from Maiden, Skunkworks was another hard left turn. It polarized fans: Some praised Bruce for doing something new and different again, others were puzzled and disappointed.
And some were just pissed that he’d cut his hair.
With most songs of the 13 clocking in between 3 and 4 minutes (none exceeding 5), Bruce and Alex had written a set of tight songs. Bruce was clearly in tune with what was happening with music in the 1990’s as most songs have that alterna-90’s vibe mixed with a heady prog-rock tendency. The sound of the album is dry and in your face.
The problem for me is most of the songs are just not memorable. The single “Back From the Edge” (which we’ll talk about later) is great, a rocket trip to the moon in a very sleek vehicle. Also great is the metallic and angry (but lyrically obtuse) “Solar Confinement”. These songs I like a lot. Most of the lyrics have a sci-fi bent that Bruce would revisit on later solo albums, which is also fine by me.
I don’t mind the epic closer “Strange Death In Paradise”, nor the chrome choruses of “Inside the Machine”. I like the velocity of “Innerspace”. But a day after listening to it, I couldn’t tell you how it went.
I love the Floydian artwork that unified the album with its singles. Compared to later Bruce albums, the artwork doesn’t stand out as much, but as a whole with all the singles it works great.
As I mentioned, fans are really polarized on this album. There has to be something here that I’m missing. I do like the B-sides, which were mostly fantastic! Some were heavy, some melodic, some acoustic. All worth having.
“Back From the Edge” CD1 contained:
“Rescue Day”
“God’s Not Coming Back”
“Armchair Hero”
“Back From the Edge” CD2 contained:
“R 101”
“Re-Entry”
“Americans Are Behind” (one of Bruce’s trademark joke songs)
And the “Back From the Edge” 7″ picture disc contained:
“I’m In A Band With An Italian Drummer” (another joke song based on Alessandro Elena)
SKUNKWORKS – Live(1996 Japanese EP)
There would also be a cool live EP, billed under the name Skunkworks, and just titled Live. This was only made available in Japan, and I paid $30 for a copy at HMV 333 Yonge St. Now, this and all the B-sides are available on a deluxe edition of the album. Then, I spent a lot of money to get all the songs, but the end result is a bunch of cool looking discs with united artwork.
The Live EP had four tracks, three from Skunkworks: “Inertia”, “Faith”, and “Innerspace”. It was capped off by a Maiden cover, “The Prisoner”, something Bruce was only beginning to do as a solo artist. As a cover it highlights the differences in bands.
For the album Skunkworks:
2.75/5 stars
For the EP Skunkworks Live:
3/5 stars
Perhaps Bruce felt a tugging in his heart for heavy metal, or perhaps the fans were too vocal in their rejection of Skunkworks. Whatever the case may be, Bruce decided to abandon the band Skunkworks. He turned to his friend Roy Z, from Tribe of Gypsies and co-writer of Balls To Picasso.
“I want to make a heavy metal album,” said Bruce. “Do you have any metal riffs?”
As it turned out, Mr. Z had plenty. The Balls To Picasso lineup was back. And that wasn’t the only reunion in the works.
Every November 11 at the store, I always killed the sound at 11:00 am for one minute. I remembered going to the cenotaph every year when I was a kid, and watch my Grampa with the other old soldiers laying the wreaths. I plugged my ears when the canons fired! The least I could do as an adult is kill the music for one minute.
This one is for my Grampa and veterans everywhere.
Much like other UK singles, “Virus” was released in two parts each with its own B-sides and cover art. If you bought the first, you also got a box with 5 postcards and space to store the second disc.
The first disc contained the (unadvertized) single edit version of “Virus”. I can happily live without the slow, boring, goes-nowhere first three minutes of that song. At least the single edit only has the up-tempo part of the song. I recall when the single came out, a few of us had grumbled that Maiden seemed to be losing it…
The B-sides on this first single were the previously released covers, “My Generation” and “Doctor Doctor”. You could get these tracks on the previous single, “Lord of the Flies” from The X Factor. Having said that, these are great versions, among the best covers Maiden have ever recorded in this writer’s opinion. “My Generation” is of course the Who classic. Maiden breathe their original punky sensibilities into this one, and it rocks like nothing that actually made it onto The X Factor! “Doctor Doctor” is a beefed up version of the classic UFO song, and my preferred version.
The second disc was the really, really special one. It had the album version of “Virus” (all bloody 6:15 of it, ugh) but it also has the ultra rare “Sanctuary” and “Wrathchild” from the 1979 compilation album, Metal For Muthas! When I had first picked up the single for “Virus”, I didn’t even know these recordings existed. Collectors rejoice! These tracks were previously unavailable anywhere else but Metal For Muthas, and this is the first CD release.
“Sanctuary” and “Wrathchild” both feature Paul Di’Anno on vocals, and are from the short-lived Maiden lineup of Di’Anno, Steve Harris, Dave Murray, Tony Parsons, and Doug Sampson. This represents one of Maiden’s earliest recordings. There are more from this lineup, but we’re not going to talk about those for a while yet…
Do I need to mention that these two tracks are just pure smoke of the early-Maiden variety?
A quick glance at Wikipedia reveals that there is a 12″ single release of “Virus” as well, this one with the two missing Soundhouse Tapes tracks that weren’t on the Best of the Beast CD. Adding to “want” list!
I found the cover art of the “Virus” single to be a little lacklustre, particularly the one in the petri dish. Like, really? It didn’t scream to be made into a cool poster for my wall. There were some cooler things on the postcards including one by Derek Riggs.
I’m not sure what prompted Iron Maiden to put out their first greatest hits disc in 1996, but at least they did it in style. Originally available as a limited edition 2 CD book set, it was pretty extravagant packaging for the time. My only beef is by the nature of such packaging, the paper sleeves will always scratch your discs, 100% of the time.
This album was also available in a standard edition single disc, with the songs in a different running order. I don’t have that one so I’m not going to talk aboot it.
The 2 disc version, perhaps to emphasize that Blaze Bayley is the current Maiden vocalist, starts at the present and then rewinds all the way back to the beginning, closing with The Soundhouse Tapes! An interesting approach indeed. As a listening experience I’m not sure that it works that well.
Since we’re starting at the present, the album kicks off with a new song. “Virus” is 6:30 of same-old same-old X Factor Maiden, but not as good as anything on that album. It drags and drags for three minutes before finally kicking into gear, but it is otherwise repetitive and boring until then. Lyrically, it is another attack on the sicknesses in society, much like “Be Quick Or Be Dead” and “Justice of the Peace” were.
Then back in time one year, to “Sign of the Cross”, the dramatic 11 minute epic from The X Factor, as well as “Man on the Edge”. (I would have preferred “Lord of the Flies” to “Man on the Edge”, but perhaps “Man” was the bigger single of the two.)
To bridge into the Fear of the Dark album, a new live version of “Afraid To Shoot Strangers” is featured, with Blaze Bayley singing. It’s a good live version, but it’s immediately obvious that Blaze is no Bruce.
Bruce takes over on the next track, “Be Quick Or Be Dead”, and we’re back in the saddle. Singles (including the popular live version of “Fear of the Dark”) and album tracks are counted down from 1993 to 1986’s Somewhere In Time album, ending disc 1 with “Wasted Years”, a great closer. My beef here: I would have preferred the single “Stranger In A Strange Land” to the album track “Heaven Can Wait” (but I know the Heavy Metal OverloRd doesn’t agree with me!)
Disc 2 is the glory years, if you will, everything from Live After Death to the beginning. It begins with the epic “Rime of the Ancient Mariner”, a ballsy move for a greatest hits album, and the live version at that. Chasing it is the live single version of “Running Free”. Then we count them down, all the singles from Powerslave to “Run To The Hills”, plus “Where Eagles Dare” and “Hallowed Be Thy Name” thrown in for good measure.
Then it’s the Di’Anno years, which are given an unfortunately brief expose. “Wrathchild”, from Killers is one of the best songs from that era, but the only included track from that album. Maiden’s first epic, “Phantom of the Opera” and the single “Sanctuary” represent the debut Iron Maiden. Finally, an unreleased track from The Soundhouse Tapes sessions (“Strange World”), and the rare Soundhouse version of “Iron Maiden” close the set. To read my review of The Soundhouse Tapes and these tracks, click here.
There was also a 4 LP vinyl edition available, with 7 extra tracks: “Seventh Son of a Seventh Son”, “The Prisoner”, “Killers”, “Remember Tomorrow”, an exclusive live version of “Revelations” from the Piece of Mind tour, plus the final two songs from The Soundhouse Tapes, “Prowler” and “Invasion”. You can read a story about the 4 LP edition by clicking here.
And there you have it, Maiden’s first greatest hits set, with lots of the hits and plenty of rarities thrown in for the collectors. I confess that I don’t listen to it often, and this time for this review was the first time in roughly two years.
The cover art was once again by Derek Riggs, doing a sort of mash-up of his (and nobody else’s) Eddie’s. It’s a suitably glorious piece of art for such a monument of metal. The inside of the book is loaded with concert dates, lyrics, liner notes, and chart positions, as well as more Eddie’s and photos!
I still want to talk about the single, “Virus”, but I think that it should get an article of its own. Check back soon for that!
Curiosity: the cover features an ad for the never-to-be Iron Maiden video game, Melt! Maiden did eventually release a video game, but we’re not going there yet….
A lot of fans confidently proclaimed that you can’t replace Bruce Dicksinson. To some degree, they were right, but Iron Maiden refused to pack it in. Steve Harris was going through dark times, particularly a painful divorce. It was Dave Murray who fired up the demoralized band: “Why should we pack it in just because he quit?”
They began the audition process, eventually calling Wolfsbane vocalist Blaze Bayley. Wolfsbane were once the new proteges of none other than Rick Rubin, who signed the band to Def American and produced their first album. Regardless of Rubin’s involvement, Wolfsbane made little impact.
Bayley turned up at the audition and they played roughly seven numbers including “Hallowed” and “The Trooper”. The personalities meshed and after listening back to the tapes, it was Nicko who declared, “There, now that sounds like Iron Maiden, dunnit?”
With the resulting album, The X Factor, as the only evidence before us, one might wonder just what Nicko was hearing. I remember being quite surprised when I listened for the first time: “This guy doesn’t have any range!” His voice fit in better with the darker tone of the 1990’s than Bruce’s did, but would it work?
As an album – disregarding the live shows, stage presence, or what happens later – I think The X Factor is damn fine. Perhaps it’s not a fine Iron Maiden album, although Steve ranks it among his top three. It’s decidedly darker, softer & slower and sparse, but it is also deeply personal. Characters on all songs are tortured souls, reflecting Steve’s inner torment.
Also important to note: This is the first Iron Maiden album since the first one, not to be produced by Martin Birch. Now, Steve Harris and Nigel Green were producing at Steve’s home studio.
The band made no bones about the new direction, starting off with the 11 minute epic “Sign of the Cross”. A new sound, Gregorian chanting, begins this tale based on The Name of the Rose, specifically the torture part! Blaze ominously warns that “Eleven saintly shrouded men have come to wash my sins away.” The song was written solely by Steve Harris and it follows in the mold set by Fear of the Dark: long, soft, bass-driven sections backed by soft keyboard beds.
It suddenly lurches into a slow march around the 2:45 mark, sounding much like Iron Maiden, but slowed down, more precise, and with a lower, rougher voice spitting out the words. It is similar to past epics in that it goes through different sections and dynamics. Although a soft epic, it is one of the best songs of the Blaze era. Indeed, the band continued to perform it even on the Brave New World tour.
As if to allay your fears that Maiden has gone soft, “Lord of the Flies” is next, retelling the old story of the boys stranded on the jungle island . It stutters forward at first before breaking into a solid groove. This Harris/Gers winner was chosen as the second single. Once again, Maiden continued to perform it even into the Dance of Death tour. Blaze growls his way through the words, his solid baritone carrying the catchy verses and choruses. Davey’s familiar guitar stylings in the solo are vintage Iron Maiden.
The third song on the album to be based on a book or movie is next, the manic “Man on the Edge”. Blaze’s first writing credit with Steve, it’s based on the excellent (and my personal favourite) Michael Douglas film, Falling Down. Lyrically though…this one is pretty poor:
The freeway is jammed and it’s backed up for miles
The car is an oven and baking is wild
Nothing is ever the way it should be
What we deserve we just don’t get you see
A briefcase, a lunch and a man on the edge
Each step gets closer to losing his head
Is someone in heaven are they looking down
‘Cause nothing is fair just you look around
Really guys? “The car is an oven and baking is wild”? What does that even mean?
Even though the band continued to play this one into the Ed Hunter tour, it’s not really a standout Maiden track to me. While it serves as a fast manic number to bang your head to while singing along, it’s simply not that great a song.
Maiden wisely sequenced these three songs first, three songs that wouldn’t alienate fans or critics even with the change at the microphone. It is only now that The X Factor begins to show its true dark face.
“Fortunes of War” is a slow, mournful ballad, a beautiful song, perhaps the sequel to “Afraid to Shoot Strangers” lyrically and musically. There’s Steve’s bass, backing the soft sections with faint keyboards. As if you couldn’t tell by the bass being one of the lead melodic instruments, this one was solely written by Steve. I like this song. Reading between the lines you can hear Steve’s pain, and you can definitely hear it musically, before the song kicks into a triumphant upbeat section with guitar harmonies at 4:35.
“Look For the Truth” is next, beginning ballad-like before going into a mid-tempo stomp. This song featured the new writing triumvirate of Steve, Blaze and Janick. Lyrically, it would be seem to be inspired by Steve’s personal struggles. Musically, I think this is another strong number, and it has a great Davey solo. If there is one thing that always grounds Iron Maiden to its roots on The X Factor, it is Davey’s solos.
This concluded the first side. Side two begins with another slow one, “The Aftermath”, written by the same triumvirate. It is at this point that I began to tire of the slow pace. Lyrically I don’t think this one stands up to anything on side one. Another war song, it doesn’t really bring anything new to the table. It was dropped from the live set after this tour.
Although it’s still the bass carrying the melody, “Judgement of Heaven” quickens the pace. “I’ve been depressed so long, it’s hard to remember when I was happy,” sings Blaze on this obviously Steve-written piece. Yet it’s a positive message, Steve trying to stay strong and look to the future. Once it gets going, it’s a pretty good song, with the chorus being particularly catchy. Blaze’s “yeah yeah’s!” are as close as we get to hearing Blaze trying to do anything in an upper range!
The worst song is up next, “Blood on the World’s Hands”. A really dull Steve bass melody (guess who wrote this song!) takes a full 1:12 to introduce the damn song! There’s nothing here that really makes the song memorable.
Although it starts very slow (again) with bass melodies carrying it (again), “The Edge of Darkness” is a much better song. It follows the plot and quotes dialogue from Apocalypse Now: “What I wanted a mission, and for my sins they gave me one.” Musically, Nicko pounds this one into submission. It stomps forward like a powerful beast, unstoppable, albeit slow and plodding. But fear not, it picks up again at 2:55, going into a faster guitar-harmony based section. Although the album certainly does not need more slower songs at this point, “The Edge of Darkness” is a win.
Less successful is the introspective “2 a.m.”. It’s not dreadful, but it’s pretty pedestrian for Maiden, although I’m sure it was deeply personal to Steve. It’s yet another slow song that goes into a powerful stomp, but that’s too many now.
The quirky “The Unbeliever” ends the album on a better note. It has a neat slippery little riff, and it’s rhythmically very different. Written by Harris/Gers, it’s marked with a standout Janick solo. Even though it’s fast paced, there’s no denying that “The Unbeliever” lacks the crunch and volume of Maiden songs of yore.
And that perhaps is one of the most surprising things about The X Factor. Regardless of the change in direction, singer and artwork, it is the production that shocked me. Clean, free of dirt and distortion, Iron Maiden had never sounded this clear on record. But is that a good thing? I desperately wanted a little more grit and grime in the guitars, not to mention volume. The production is otherwise excellent. The drums are like Bonham on steroids and the bass (of course) chimes perfectly on every cut. I just wish there was more guitar. It’s Iron Maiden, and I felt like I didn’t get enough guitar.
This being a new era for Iron Maiden, the band chose Hugh Syme (he of many Rush and Megadeth covers not to mention dozens more) for the new Eddie. Going for a realistic look, the Eddie lobotomy cover was deemed too scary for some markets, and we received the less graphic electric chair cover facing front.
Now, onto the singles.
The first single, “Man on the Edge” had numerous B-sides.
“Justice of the Peace”: A fast paced rocker about injustice in today’s “sick society”, again reflecting Maiden’s new darker, serious lyrical bent. This is Dave Murray’s only writing credit (with Steve). (Available on US CD single or UK CD single part 1.)
“Judgement Day”: Manic and fast like “Man on the Edge”, relentless although not tremendously catchy. (Available on US CD single, or UK CD single part 2.)
“I Live Way Way”: Starts slow and chime-y like many of the album songs. Yet it launches up to speed after this intro. Another fast B-side, I’m now wondering why Maiden chose to stack the album so heavy with slow songs and pseudo-ballads when they had all this stuff waiting in the wings? Perhaps replacing two album songs with two of these could have changed the balance so much. (Available only on 12″ single or Japanese 2 CD version of The X Factor. The 12″ single comes with a massive poster.)
Parts 1 and 2 of the UK CD single also had a two part Blaze Bayley interview. Essential only to the fan.
It also came with a box designed to house the album and future singles. But even when I include my redundant US “Man On The Edge” CD in the box, there’s still room to spare. This indicates to me that there were more singles planned but cancelled.
The second single, “Lord of the Flies” had two awesome B-sides! Covers. Covers of “My Generation” (The Who) and “Doctor Doctor” (UFO)! And let me tell you, Maiden is one of a few bands that can do “My Generation” properly. Steve ably handles the backing vocals while Blaze spits his way through the lead. This sounds very live off the floor and perhaps it was. “Doctor Doctor” is one that I actually prefer to the UFO original. Blaze nails the vocal, the band are solidly in the groove, and Nicko nails it home. Surely, this must be considered one of the best Maiden covers of all time!
Conclusion and final thoughts:
As always, context is very important. When The X Factor came out, I was working at the store, and I had been waiting three long years to hear it. It was the mid-90’s, and most bands chose to get “darker” or “more serious” or “modernize” in order to stay relevant. It was true from Bon Jovi to Metallica with varying degrees of success.
For me, The X Factor was one of the few things that had come out worth listening to that fall, and I listened to it non-stop. It was largely the novelty, and partly the lack of other new options, but I grew to really like most of The X Factor. It took three listens, I do remember that much. But in the 1990’s, all things considered, it really wasn’t that bad.
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