Best Tune on "The X Factor" by Iron Maiden

The X Factor



Recorded 1994 – August 1995 at Barnyard Studios in Essex, England
Released Oct 2 1995
Produced by Steve Harris and Nigel Green

My first listen of this album when it came out was three tracks before hiding it from the light of day. I thought it was absolutely horrible. Yes, mostly because of Blaze. After hearing Sign of the Cross on Rock in Rio recently, however, I realized that the songs may be stronger than I initially felt, marred by the horribly miscast frontman. So I've decided to take a second listen for this poll.

I've only made it halfway. This is still terrible.

Part of the problem is the mix. The band sounds plain tired and zapped of all energy. There's just no power coming from anyone. Perhaps that's why Sign of the Cross sounds so much better on Rock in Rio, with a refreshed band and a majestic vocalist. It's a much better delivery.

The other problem is Blaze, sure. But also I'm baffled by the songwriting. There's a lot of recycled riffs in here that hang and stretch FOREVER in the longer proggy songs. This is also where Maiden really started to show far too much dependency on a certain chord progression--something that I'll address in a future post--and it seems their creativity was close to null.

I'm going to finish the album off before making a decision. Perhaps Fortunes of War. But for now, I can't say I've changed my mind on this album. When I was 15 in 1995 this was the greatest disappointment I had faced in the world of music. Still feels that way.

Side note: anyone notice how many "________ of [the] ________" song titles there are in here?? The first four alone have this pattern!

I actually really love this album. Maybe I'm just a fanboy, lol. It doesn't touch the classics, but in my eyes it's so much stronger than most give it credit for.

The Unbeliever is my favorite track here, followed by Sign of the Cross and Blood on the World's Hands.

And I think the album art kicks ass, too.

Judgement Of Heaven, one of my favorite Maiden songs!

Wurthless wrote:

I actually really love this album. Maybe I'm just a fanboy, lol. It doesn't touch the classics, but in my eyes it's so much stronger than most give it credit for.

Mega ditto!

Can't vote. I only heard this once and was so unimpressed I never gave it another chance. Very uninspired music I think.

Voted for "Lord of the Flies." It's really upbeat and catchy. The only song off this album I'd considering adding to my collection. I like parts of "The Unbeliever," too. The rest was meh.

Went with Sign of The Cross. I absolutely hated this album when it came out - I didn't give it another chance until I heard Bruce's version of Sign Of The Cross on Rock In Rio. That version of the song is awesome and really brings it too life. Adrian's Smith playing on the track beefs it up into a monster Maiden track.

Years later, I did give the album a chance - it's a decent album with some good songs. The production is terrible and hurts the album. Blaze, while a very nice guy, is just wrong for Maiden. I got to meet him after one of his shows a few years back - he spent time talking to all the fans, had a nice chat and a beer with him. His vocals were just wrong from Maiden.

I voted Sign of the Cross as the best "song" on the album (i.e. not necessarily with Blaze singing). It sounded great in their set once Bruce came back.

Falling dooooowwwwwn! Falling doooowwwwwwn! Falling doooooowwwww-ooooooowwwwwwn!

...never really cared for this album much, but "Man on the Edge" is a great track.

(Begin shameless plug)
I wrote a "Forgotten Hard Rock Albums" entry on my blog about X Factor a while back: http://hub.me/ageAJ
(end shameless plug)

man on the edge only

DallasBlack wrote:

Wurthless wrote:

I actually really love this album. Maybe I'm just a fanboy, lol. It doesn't touch the classics, but in my eyes it's so much stronger than most give it credit for.

Mega ditto!

Super Mega ditto!

I vote none. Terrible.

Terrific album.

The trilogy of Fortunes of War, Look for the Truth and the Aftermath is my personal favourite part of this album. Heavy, epic and dark. Afraid to Shoot Strangers from the previous album would fit in perfectly. Blaze is the right singer for these songs.

Basically the whole album is excellent. Lord of the Flies is a little dull and doesn't fit in. But the rest is great stuff.

I ended up voting for the Edge Of Darkness. That's among the absolute best Maiden tracks ever. An epic song about the movie Apocalypse Now (and it's about the movie, not the book, because it's clearly about Vietnam), great lyrics that tell the story, insane instrumental parts and it's just a perfect fit for this album.

Lari wrote:

Terrific album.

The trilogy of Fortunes of War, Look for the Truth and the Aftermath is my personal favourite part of this album. Heavy, epic and dark. Afraid to Shoot Strangers from the previous album would fit in perfectly. Blaze is the right singer for these songs.

Basically the whole album is excellent. Lord of the Flies is a little dull and doesn't fit in. But the rest is great stuff.

I ended up voting for the Edge Of Darkness. That's among the absolute best Maiden tracks ever. An epic song about the movie Apocalypse Now (and it's about the movie, not the book, because it's clearly about Vietnam), great lyrics that tell the story, insane instrumental parts and it's just a perfect fit for this album.

Love Edge Of Darkness! The lyrics are great and I love to sing along to it.

In my opinion, Blaze Bayley will go down as the worst replacement singer of all time from a big band. For myself, Blaze sounds like he fits something like that of The Dictators, but not Iron Maiden! The songs aren't terrible, but they are hampered by thin production and the atrocity already mentioned. The two songs I really like, minus Blaze, would be "Sign of the Cross" and "Aftermath". I just got done listening to "Sign of the Cross" and "Lord of the Flies" with Bruce and it's hard to state how much better they both are with him on vocals. It's cool that Bruce has never felt threatened by singing a song from the Blaze years. I wish Halford might have done this with something like "Cathedral Spires" off of "Jugulator".

Man on the edge.
Bruce is the voice of maiden but blaze is still an awesome vocalist. I love his solo material.

Lord of the flies and Blood on the world's hands.

A dark album. Blaze has a melancholy voice, which only adds to darkness. Some good riff's and solos.

Sign of the Cross for me.

Man On The Edge but I almost went with Sign Of The Cross.

I've never heard this album, only a song or 2 that appeared on a hits comp I own. That being said, 'Man on the Edge' gets my vote moreso because I liked the movie it was based on.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

I've never heard this album, only a song or 2 that appeared on a hits comp I own. That being said, 'Man on the Edge' gets my vote moreso because I liked the movie it was based on.

Wow, I had forgotten that little tidbit.

007 wrote:

MetalGuy71 wrote:

I've never heard this album, only a song or 2 that appeared on a hits comp I own. That being said, 'Man on the Edge' gets my vote moreso because I liked the movie it was based on.

Wow, I had forgotten that little tidbit.

I recall listening to that song in the pre-internet days and thinking, "Man, this song sounds just like that movie 'Falling Down'. I wonder if they wrote it about that movie?"

Just recently got the 2-Disc Japanese version with "Justice Of The Peace", "I Live My Way" & "Judgment Day". I have always loved this album and the inclusion of the three aforementioned tracks makes me like it more.

akeldama wrote:

Just recently got the 2-Disc Japanese version with "Justice Of The Peace", "I Live My Way" & "Judgment Day". I have always loved this album and the inclusion of the three aforementioned tracks makes me like it more.

Interesting. Will check this version out.