The X Factor (album)

The X Factor
Studio album by Iron Maiden
Released 2 October 1995
Recorded Barnyard Studios, Essex, England, About 1994 - August 1995
Genre Heavy metal
Length 1:11:02
Language English
Label EMI
Producer Steve Harris and Nigel Green
Iron Maiden chronology
Fear of the Dark
(1992)		 The X Factor
(1995)		 Virtual XI
(1998)
Singles from The X Factor
  1. "Man on the Edge"
    Released: 25 September 1995
  2. "Lord of the Flies"
    Released: April 1996

The X Factor is the tenth studio album by Iron Maiden, released in 1995. It is the band's first album to include Blaze Bayley, formerly of Wolfsbane, as vocalist, replacing Bruce Dickinson who left the band following their previous tour to pursue a solo career. It is considered Iron Maiden's darkest album due to the lyrics being based on personal issues surrounding Steve Harris at the time, who was in the midst of a divorce and the death of his father,[1] and the album cover, which depicts the band's mascot, Eddie, being graphically mutilated through surgery.[2]

Contents

Background

The album title came about in the early part of the recording. According to producer Nigel Green:

"We all felt that the way things were progressing - the songs, Blaze's new involvement, the sound, the commitment - the new album really would have that extra quality, that bit of magic, that 'X Factor'. This became the working title for the album and we liked it, so we kept it. It is also very apt as this is our tenth studio album and "X" can bring up many images."[3]

The X-Factor's cover art depicts Eddie undergoing another lobotomy and was created by Hugh Syme.[4] Due to the covers "life-like" style,[2] the band were forced to release the album in a reversible sleeve,[5] including a less graphic alternative, showing Eddie from a distance.[6]

This album is also unusual for the band in that it produced several band compositions that did not make it onto the album, with Steve Harris commenting, "We actually ended up doing 14 song and we used eleven, which is very unusual for us."[1] All three songs, "I Live My Way", "Justice of The Peace" and "Judgement Day," were released as B-sides, while the last two would also feature on the Best of the 'B' Sides collection.

Supporting the album was the X Factour tour. Much like the tour for their following album, Virtual XI, several dates in the United States as Bayley suffered from occasional vocal issues from the band's heavy concert schedule.[7][8]

Song details

"Man on the Edge" and "Lord of the Flies" were released as singles. Both of these songs, and "Sign of the Cross," remained in Maiden set lists following Bruce Dickinson's return. Live versions of these songs can be found on the single for "The Wicker Man" and the live albums Death on the Road and Rock in Rio respectively.

"The Edge of Darkness" is based on the 1979 film Apocalypse Now, adapted from Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness,[9] "Man on the Edge" is based on the 1993 movie, Falling Down,[10] and "Lord of the Flies" is based on the novel of the same name.[2] "Sign of the Cross" is based on the Umberto Eco's novel The Name of the Rose[2] and is Iron Maiden's second longest song at more than 11 minutes long, the longest being "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" at 13 minutes (from Powerslave). Live versions of "Blood on the World's Hands" and "The Aftermath" can be found in Best of the 'B' Sides compilation album.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [11]
Sputnikmusic [12]

Initially, The X Factor was met with lukewarm responses from critics. Allmusic rated the album two stars out of five, stating that "suffering from a lack of powerful riffs and tightly written songs, The X Factor is a lackluster latter-day album from Iron Maiden. Although the band doesn't sound particularly bad on the record, they don't sound inspired and there's a noticeable lack of energy to the performances which makes the lack of imagination all the more apparent."[11]

Sputnikmusic were somewhat more positive about the release, deeming the album "a change for Iron Maiden, and a very important one at that" as it "paved the way for future albums of similar length."[12] They also praised the "often criticized" Blaze Bayley, whose voice they claimed "was perfect for the new release."[12]

Track listing

No. Title Writer(s) Length
1. "Sign of the Cross"   Steve Harris 11:17
2. "Lord of the Flies"   Janick Gers, Harris 5:03
3. "Man on the Edge"   Blaze Bayley, Gers 4:13
4. "Fortunes of War"   Harris 7:23
5. "Look for the Truth"   Bayley, Gers, Harris 5:10
6. "The Aftermath"   Bayley, Gers, Harris 6:20
7. "Judgement of Heaven"   Harris 5:12
8. "Blood on the World's Hands"   Harris 5:57
9. "The Edge of Darkness"   Bayley, Gers, Harris 6:39
10. "2 A.M."   Bayley, Gers, Harris 5:37
11. "The Unbeliever"   Gers, Harris 8:10
Total length:
 1:11:01

Credits

with

Chart performance

Album

Chart (1995) Peak
position
Austrian Albums Chart 19[13]
Finnish Albums Chart 2[14]
German Albums Chart 16[15]
Japanese Albums Chart 17[16]
Norwegian Albums Chart 25[17]
Swedish Albums Chart 4[18]
Swiss Albums Chart 27[19]
UK Albums Chart 8[20]
U.S. Billboard Hot 200 147[21]

Singles

Single Chart (1995) Peak
position
"Man on the Edge" Finnish Singles Chart 1[14]
French Singles Chart 33[22]
Norwegian Singles Chart 18[17]
Swedish Singles Chart 23[18]
UK Singles Chart 10[23]

References

  1. ^ a b Wall, Mick (2004). Iron Maiden: Run to the Hills, the Authorised Biography (3rd ed.). Sanctuary Publishing. p. 311. ISBN 1-86074-542-3. 
  2. ^ a b c d Popoff, Martin (2005). "The X Offender". Metal Hammer presents: Iron Maiden 30 Years of Metal Mayhem: 63. 
  3. ^ Paterson, Lawrence (2009). Blaze Bayley: At the End of the Day. Blaze Bayley Recordings Ltd.. pp. 41–42. 
  4. ^ "The X Factor- Discogs". http://www.discogs.com/Iron-Maiden-The-X-Factor/release/383568. Retrieved 2011-09-22. 
  5. ^ James, Darren (2005). "Art of Darkness". Metal Hammer presents: Iron Maiden 30 Years of Metal Mayhem: 59. 
  6. ^ "Eddie - mascot of Iron Maiden". http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A444601. Retrieved 2011-09-23. 
  7. ^ Wall, Mick (2004). Iron Maiden: Run to the Hills, the Authorised Biography (3rd ed.). Sanctuary Publishing. p. 322. ISBN 1-86074-542-3. 
  8. ^ Paterson, Lawrence (2009). Blaze Bayley: At the End of the Day. Blaze Bayley Recordings Ltd.. p. 55. 
  9. ^ Popoff, Martin (2005). "Maiden at the Movies". Metal Hammer presents: Iron Maiden 30 Years of Metal Mayhem: 104–105. 
  10. ^ Paterson, Lawrence (2009). Blaze Bayley: At the End of the Day. Blaze Bayley Recordings Ltd.. p. 44. 
  11. ^ a b Erlewine, Stephen. The X Factor (album) at Allmusic. Retrieved 2011-06-26.
  12. ^ a b c "Sputnikmusic review". http://www.sputnikmusic.com/album.php?albumid=1198. Retrieved 2011-06-26. 
  13. ^ "Iron Maiden- Austrian Charts". http://austriancharts.at/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Iron+Maiden. Retrieved 2011-10-17. 
  14. ^ a b "Iron Maiden- Finnish Charts". http://finnishcharts.com/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Iron+Maiden. Retrieved 2011-10-17. 
  15. ^ "The X Factor- German Charts" (in German). http://www.charts.de/album.asp?artist=Iron+Maiden&title=The+X-Factor&cat=a&country=de. Retrieved 2011-10-17. 
  16. ^ "Iron Maiden- Japanese Charts" (in Japanese). http://www.oricon.co.jp/prof/artist/32233/ranking/cd_album/. Retrieved 2011-10-17. 
  17. ^ a b "Iron Maiden- Norwegian Charts". http://norwegiancharts.com/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Iron+Maiden. Retrieved 2011-10-17. 
  18. ^ a b "Iron Maiden- Swedish Charts". http://swedishcharts.com/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Iron+Maiden. Retrieved 2011-10-17. 
  19. ^ "The X Factor- Swiss Charts". http://swisscharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Iron+Maiden&titel=The+X-Factor&cat=a. Retrieved 2011-10-17. 
  20. ^ "Official UK Albums Archive 14th October 1995". http://www.theofficialcharts.com/archive-chart/_/3/1995-10-14/. Retrieved 2011-10-17. 
  21. ^ "Iron Maiden- Billboard charts". http://www.billboard.com/#/artist/iron-maiden/chart-history/4887. Retrieved 2011-10-17. 
  22. ^ "Iron Maiden- French Charts". http://lescharts.com/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Iron+Maiden. Retrieved 2011-10-17. 
  23. ^ "Official UK Singles Archive 7th October 1995". http://www.theofficialcharts.com/archive-chart/_/1/1995-10-07/. Retrieved 2011-10-17.