Iron Maiden - X Factor
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Category: Music CD
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Music CD Cover
Artist: Iron MaidenEdition: Music CD
Format: Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
CD Release Date: 2002-03-26
Music Label: Sanctuary Records
Soundtracks:
- Sign of the Cross
- Lord of the Flies
- Man on the Edge
- Fortunes of War
- Look for the Truth
- The Aftermath
- Judgement of Heaven
- Blood on the World's Hands
- The Edge of Darkness
- 2 A.M.
- The Unbeliever
Free Music Notes for X Factor
Free Music Review: Sure it isn't Excellent, but its still a great album
Hit: 5 Stars
I can't believe all the intensely polarised opinion for this album. People seem to either love it or hate it. I can't say I LOVE this album like I love Powerslave, or Brave New World, or Somewhere in Time, yet i certainly don't hate it and I can't see how anybody who likes Iron Maiden can detest this cd.
Sure there's no Bruce Dickinson, that was always going to be an impossible void to fill. Hardcore fans will always wonder 'what if' Bruce had sung on this album. Firstly, since many songs are co-written at least with Blaze, it's hard to see if the album as we know it would have even turned out like it did, if Bruce was at the helm. The songs themselves though, may not have suited Bruce's voice; Steve Harris seems to have composed with Blaze in mind, and done a good job.
It's important to see this album in context; the band was going through a tough period, with Bruce's departure after 11 years, and Steve Harris' recent and doubtless traumatic divorce. Perhaps this is what makes the X Factor so different from other efforts. THese influences doubtless informed the darker, more sombre mood of the album, and the subject matter of the songs. You won't find lighthearted songs like 'Holy Smoke' on this CD, the lightest the album gets is 'Sign of the Cross', and that's not exactly uplifting. Overall the themes are constant, futility, hopelessness, inner turmoil and such; sometimes it can even border on the 'corny'; 2am's opening lyric is somewhat amusing, despite its depressing delivery.
BUT this is by no means a BAD album simply because it is so different from the rest of the Maiden catalogue; indeed the music sounds fresh and original in a way not achieved since Seventh Son. This album definitely outshines the fairly average No Prayer for the Dying and Fear of the Dark, though both CDs are still good by any 'non maiden' standard. It is definitely an album to be taken as it is, not as you would like it to be. It isn't like Somewhere in Time, or Number of the Best, but it wasn't intended to be. This is a darker album to reflect a darker mood, and there is a lot to endear it to people who can get past the absence of Bruce
Blaze isn't a great singer, he isn't in Bruce's league but he doesn't do a bad job. He has feeling in his voice that Bruce lacked in the previous two albums, but which the latter thankfully regained in his Solo Work and in the albums after the Reunion. Blaze works well for this album, and the songs are often musically complex. The melodies and guitar harmonies sound great in many songs, particularly in Sign of the Cross or the Unbeliever, and the bass is especially good on Lord of the Flies and Blood on the World's Hands
Give this CD more than a listen or two; if you absolutely love Bruce like I do, it may take a while to get over his absence and see the quality this album has to offer. It isn't all great; I'm not hugely keen on Man on the Edge; yet there are some songs that rank with the best maiden ever did. Sign of the Cross, Lord of the Flies, The Unbeliever etc are great, and the rest of the album averages good to very good.
All in all it deserves Five Stars; sure the X Factor isn't as good as Powerslave or Somewhere in Time, but it's naive to expect that quality constantly from a band. The X Factor is a Five Star album by industry standards, if not by maiden standards; by maiden standards it's probably a four. Give this album a shot; try and be open minded and concentrate on the positives. If you can get past the absence of Bruce, you may just find that you really like this album.
X Factor Poster
Blaze Bailey's strongest performance with the band. Re-packaged in a slip-sleeve. Includes multimedia features for your computer. - 1995Alternative Rock Music CDs
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