X Factor, Iron Maiden (EMI-1995)
So I have been doing this blog for a little under a year and have never had an Iron Maiden album in it. Well that shows you how unbiased I can be. Also the fact is they are one of the highest selling metal bands ever.
Every album up till this one had sold significant numbers and all got a reward in America and the UK. Be it platinum or gold it sold but in 1993 the lead singer choose to leave the band.
I will not go into the departure of Bruce Dickinson now as one of the reason he left is in the sound of this album. The bands sales had diminished a little over the years and in 1992s Fear of the Dark album was to be the last with the singer till 2000. The band had no obvious replacement so advertised for a singer and auditioned many. Enter Blaze Bayley singer of Wolfsbane he had supported the band and was a fan and his voice stood out amongst the other tapes received.
Iron Maiden do not mess about it was right into the studio, the band just wrote it all and got the job done. Bayley was used to demoing music but not for this band. I think a reason I like this album is how raw it is and how loud it is. Sometimes under producing an album can make it better. There is nothing big sounding on here and it does sound very different to all of there other albums. Described as being a darker album by the press, it did sound a little less positive but at the end of the day it is a rock album. If you take the content of the songs over the music the you will be shocked to understand what many other songs are about (for instance Tutti Frutti is about gay sex).
Starting off with "Sign Of The Cross" and over 11 minutes it is the hardest song to take here. But it feels like an intro track with the monks awwwing (real name is a Gregorian chant) and the atmosphere building. The song is about a murder mystery in a monastery based on the book "The Name of the Rose" it is a good start and has some nice riffs and really shows the band are together on this one. "Lord Of The Flies" is a classic all out rock song and a second single (Yes it is based on William Golding's novel) no real surprises and the first single "Man on the Edge" is the first you really hear Mr Bayley. It is the classic Iron Maiden single and a great song, the band really play loud here and I think it is to keep up with Blaze. All the classic stuff is here from solos big bass lines and a great air drum track.
"Fortunes Of War" is a classic tale of war and the loss. The guitar players get a chance to show there skills with some nice little acoustic intros and even keyboards to help it all flow nice and lite. Blaze shows his softer side. The song never builds into the classic Maiden wall of noise but a nice little melodic riff and simple drum sound. All very cozy and I love it. More so "Look For The Truth" keeps that idea going and a similar song, nice guitar arpeggio helped by the odd bass string to build to the band coming in but it is not that big and still very melodic more in a dance sort of way. Choppy riffs and trashy drumming. The band follow the singers melody here and it sound great, simple and fun.
"The Aftermath" feels bigger but it really continues the war theme with vocals concisely singing the words and lyrics like "should we be fighting at all?" make you think. "Judgment Of Heaven" is self explanatory in it's title. But it is a more upbeat sounding song, more like the sound you get on a funny story at the end of the news. Again a classic rock song and again some nice melodic vocals from the singer. My least favorite song "Blood On The World's Hands" is nothing bad but it does not sound quite right on the album. Next track "The Edge Of Darkness" was on the first single as taster to the album and I see where the opinion in the press of a darker album comes from. Based upon the film Apocalypse Now if you have ever seen the film it is real grim stuff but the band pull it off with some classic metal. And a tune that should have been out as a single. The guitars really get an exercise in riffing here. Again the vocals belt over the music and really make you look at the lyrics.
This album clocks in at 71 minutes and even the last two tracks still fit in some highlights "The Unbeliever" has some nice bass playing and the band let rip a few times. The writing for this album seem to go that well they even had some songs left over. The three leftovers were used on singles as b sides.
The album does sound a bit rough by todays standards and a reason that Bruce Dickinson left was the recording studio the band used. They were using Barnyard Studios, a studio owned and in the house of bass player Steve Harris. Bruce felt the quality was not up to the bands level. But listening to the last album done outside the studio 1988s Seventh Son of a Seventh Son I feel that album is way poorer than this. Yeah it has some classic songs like The Evil That Men Do and Can I Play with Madness but the rest are not that great.
At the time this came out the fans hated the album, they hated the new singer and so much so people would spit at Blaze at gigs. Sometimes a change can just throw people who are used to repetitive things. A new singer who at the time really helped keep the band going and so much he is credited on six songs. Ignore the press as they can get it wrong and if like me you like a change give it a go. In 1995 it was all pop punk and britpop. The band took the hard option they really could have called it a day or even just waited longer but not for these guys.
So much about this album is good I love the artwork, done by Hugh Syme it was a model that was photographed and at the time it was decided it was too graphic due to the lifelike Eddie having another lobotomy. It is my second favorite Maiden cover after the Thatcher killing of Killers. Looking at the cover and listening to the music it does not look sound like 1995 and that is what I like about it.
