Virtual XI (1998)
Maiden were reenergized after finally returning to the stage from their longest break in touring. Blaze was beginning to settle into the band and some of the pressure that comes with a new lineup was beginning to fade. After taking part of 1997 off, the band returned to the studio to record the next album.
The X Factor was very much a studio effort and reflected the band being away from the live stage for an extended period of time. Virtual XI was to be the opposite: the band were fresh off a tour and the new material would be an attempt at capturing the live energy of a Maiden show on record in both songs and production. As a result, the songs on Virtual XI are heavier, more energetic, and much less dreary than the songs on The X Factor. There was also a sense of optimism that replaced the feeling of uncertainty just a few years earlier. The production itself didn’t differ much from the previous album. The band once again recorded at Steve Harris’ Barnyard studio with Steve and Nigel Green co-producing. The production contained very little frills or effects. Some of Blaze’s vocal tracks even came from the rough demo tracks that were never intended for the final product.
In addition to its more upbeat feel, one of the most noticeable things about Virtual XI is its length. At just 53 minutes and 8 songs, it’s the shortest album since No Prayer For the Dying and a stark contrast from The X Factor’s 70 minutes and 11 songs. Even Fear of the Dark was slightly longer. Part of The X Factor’s length could be attributed to the amount of time the band spent working on the album, where Virtual XI wasn’t quite as long a process (although it still took longer than what was typical for the band at the time). Despite being shorter and with less songs, several of the songs on Virtual XI are on the longer side. Three songs exceed the 8 minute mark compared to only two on The X Factor. However that’s not to say they’re all long. One of Maiden’s shortest songs appears on the album: Futureal.
Once again, Steve’s songwriting dominated the album. Seven out of the eight songs are credited to Harris, including four solo compositions. As usual, Steve really flexes his Prog muscles on his solo tracks, which happen to be the four longest songs on the album. The longest song is also one of the band’s most controversial: The Angel and the Gambler. Steve conceived the song while driving which influenced its uptempo energy. With this song, he wanted to capture the 70s Hard Rock vibe of bands like UFO and The Who. The song definitely captures that vibe and even includes an organ part that adds a 70s flare. Unfortunately, the song is also one of Maiden’s most repetitive and is probably best remembered for its seemingly endless chorus. Another one of Steve’s songs, Don’t Look To the Eyes of a Stranger, faces similar criticisms. According to Steve, the idea for this song existed for some time before it fully germinated in time for Virtual XI. Here the organ is replaced with string synths to give the song a darker more orchestral feel.
Steve’s other two solo contributions are generally better received. The Educated Fool is a lyrical precursor to Blood Brothers, being inspired by the death of Steve’s father. Musically there’s a lot more going on in this song than in Angel and the Gambler or Don’t Look To the Eyes of a Stranger, despite being significantly shorter. Structurally it wouldn’t be out of place on one of the Reunion era albums. It’s also unique for having a chorus with vocal overdubs, something that The X Factor mostly avoided. While it’s not the only song on the album to feature vocal harmonies, they are at their most prominent here. The last Harris piece is another that utilizes vocal harmonies and is also widely considered the best song on the album as well as the highlight of the Blaze era: The Clansman. This song was the result of two separate ideas Steve had that he merged into one. The lyrics were based on the Mel Gibson film Braveheart, which was released a few years earlier. The Edge Of Darkness from The X Factor was also based on a film, but was more of a literal retelling of the plot. The Clansman goes back to Steve’s traditional lyrical style found in songs such as Where Eagles Dare or The Trooper. Musically the song is also not too far removed from the classic 80’s Maiden sound with its huge anthemic chorus and dueling guitar solos.
Despite having a song rejected from The X Factor, Dave Murray was a very active writer in the 90’s through the early 00’s. He had two writing credits on No Prayer and Fear and also contributed to The X Factor with Justice of the Peace (which was unfortunately rejected). Of course there was also Virus on Best of the Beast. On Virtual XI, Dave returned with two more tracks. The first, Lightning Strikes Twice, was a classic collaboration with Steve. Dave brought in some disorganized musical ideas and Steve arranged them into a song. The title came first, which Dave Murray really liked, so Steve wrote lyrics around the title. The other song Murray contributed was When Two Worlds Collide, this time a collaboration with Blaze and Steve. This song was written in a similar manner as Can I Play WIth Madness, but with different writers. It began as a collaboration between Blaze and Dave, with Steve adding additional parts and working on the arrangement. It was one of three lyrical contributions to the album from Blaze and is about exactly what the title says.
The sci-fi element found in When Two Worlds Collide is also present in one of Blaze’s other songs: the opening Futureal. The bulk of this song was written by Steve and was another tune that Steve had spent a lot of time working on, despite being a pretty simple rocker. Steve wrote the music and even the vocal melodies, but he asked Blaze to handle the lyrics. This song is probably most aligned with the album’s title and art direction (which is why it is often mistakenly referred to as the title track). It deals with virtual realities and the rapidly growing technology. It’s a song very much of its time, being written as the internet was beginning to really take shape. However, its themes are still relevant today.
The one song on Virtual XI that Steve Harris did not contribute to is also the only song written by Janick: Como Estais Amigos. It’s not clear why Janick was less present on this album after becoming an increasingly creative force in the band. Regardless, Como Estais Amigos stands as one of the more unique tracks on the album. It’s one of the few Maiden songs that can be considered a ballad. It has a soft start of just guitar and vocals, but even when the full band comes in it maintains a slow and steady pace. The lyrics, written by Blaze, are about the 1982 Falklands war between Britain and Argentina. It is meant as a tribute to the people of Argentina and the soldiers who died.
Another factor that is unique to Virtual XI is the fact that its title and cover were influenced by outside sources instead of a musical/lyrical concept or song title. Virtual XI has multiple meanings. The first, and most obvious, is that this is the band’s 11th album. However the title originated when Steve Harris began noticing fans of West Ham and other soccer teams in the audiences at Maiden shows. Steve has often said that soccer (or association football) was his second passion with music. In fact, he wanted to be a professional player before For those unfamiliar with the sport, the starting lineup in a soccer game is often referred to as the Starting XI. The FIFA World Cup was also being held that year, an event that has only coincided with a few Maiden albums. Part of the promotion for Virtual XI also involved Maiden forming their own soccer team featuring all 5 members of the band in addition to some professionals. Iron Maiden’s own Starting XI could be pictured in the booklet for the CD.
Around this time, there was also a video game based on Iron Maiden in development by Synthetic Dimensions. We’ll discuss the game, titled Ed Hunter, in a later entry. Both the band and management were very enthusiastic about Ed Hunter and decided to use some of the character designs in the artwork for Virtual XI. None of this appeared on the cover, thankfully, but the booklet was filled with the 3D models from the game and featured a small advertisement for Ed Hunter at the end. The two singles also had artwork taken from the game.
The cover itself featured all these influences but with a more traditional looking image. After a major departure from the usual Maiden art style on The X Factor, the band went with something more traditional for Virtual XI. They reenlisted Melvyn (spelled Melvin in the liner notes) Grant, the artist who made Fear of the Dark. The cover included the main themes that influenced the title through a boy with a virtual reality machine and a game of soccer. While the cover was a return to Maiden’s traditional look, it still received mixed reviews from fans and remains one of their less popular covers.
Another interesting feature of the cover was a new Maiden logo. It’s hard to say why Maiden changed their logo after almost 20 years, especially since it was such a subtle change. My guess is that it was related to graphic design and being easier to cut and paste, but there’s never been an official comment on that. The new logo would feature on all Maiden singles and studio albums, while compilations, archival releases, and anything related specifically to the 80s usually featured the classic logo.
As usual, two singles were released for Virtual XI. The first, The Angel and the Gambler, was released at the insistence of Steve. The band’s manager, Rod Smallwood, wanted Futureal as the first single, but Steve refused. At 10 minutes in length, The Angel and the Gambler was a highly unorthodox choice and became their longest single ever (until 2016). In a compromise, a few edits of the song were made. A 6 minute edit was made for the 7” single and a 4 minute edit was made for the music video (although an extended version of the video was also made to accompany the full song). Futureal eventually was released as a single as well a few months later. The CD single came with a poster featuring brand new artwork from Derek Riggs. The stunning image was a futuristic redesign of the Powerslave cover. How this wasn’t used as the single artwork or even the album artwork is one of the most bizarre mysteries of Maiden’s history.
Despite all the promotion and high budget videos, neither the album or single made much of a commercial splash. The Angel and the Gambler charted in a few countries, performing best in Finland at #3. It also made top 20 in the UK. It is worth mentioning, however, that most of Maiden’s singles in the 90s were released in multiple versions and formats which certainly helped with sales from hardcore fans. The album itself charted decently in Europe, making #6 in Finland and top 20 UK. It barely charted in the US, peaking somewhere in the 100’s. Despite the decent chart positions in the UK, it didn’t sell as well as their previous albums. To this day it has only been certified silver. I’m not sure of the exact numbers, but it’s very likely that Virtual XI was the poorest selling Maiden album.
Virtual XI is a strange album. It represents the end to many parts of the band’s history: it’s the last album of a fairly turbulent decade and it’s the last album with Blaze Bayley on vocals. However, it’s also in some ways a precursor to 2000’s Maiden. There’s more emphasis on longer songs, it features an attempt at a “live” sounding production, and some of the album’s leftovers even ended up on Brave New World (we’ll cover that when we get there). It is also a controversial album. The subpar production continues in addition to songs that are often criticized for their repetitive choruses and a surprising lack of energy in the performances (especially the drums). However, once you get past those things, there’s a lot to enjoy especially if you like modern Maiden. In retrospect, it is best seen as a bridge between the dark brooding X Factor and the triumphant Brave New World. It is not a bad album at all and features more than a couple forgotten gems.
For those interested in learning more about the album, Virtual XI became the first album to have studio footage something resembling a documentary. The 40 minute EPK features interviews with all the band majors about the making of the album, the promo tour, the artwork and title, and more. Maiden rarely put out this sort of thing, so it's very cool to have one for this album:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k93Wb9pyLrY(Derek Riggs Futureal)