Wow. Lots to chew on here. I'll work my through these comments throughout the week as I'm busy with school starting and a new job.
Here's my take on Blaze: He's not a bad singer at all. He's not great, but he's OK. The problem is that he was coming from what was essentially a bar band and was still very much an amateur. He developed a lot through his time in Maiden and really proved himself on his solo albums. Unfortunately, most people stopped paying attention by that point. It also didn't help that Steve was writing a lot of stuff that didn't suit his voice. His best performances are easily the songs that he had a hand in writing. He also gives more emotive performances. Look For the Truth is my vote for the album's hidden gem and it's also a fantastic performance from Blaze.
That being said, picking someone who couldn't handle the back catalog was a mistake. The least they could've done was downtune or change the melodies to better accommodate his vocals.
BTW, he did a cover of Blood Brothers a few years ago and it's fantastic. He would've done a more than respectable job had he stayed on for a third album.
- First and foremost, the notion that we "reject Blaze" because he's "not Bruce". Look, it's painfully obvious that he's not Bruce, but I LOVE Di'anno, who isn't Bruce either. Killers is a Top Three Maiden record for me (and potentially a Top 15 ALL TIME record for me, which I guess makes it a Top Two Maiden album, since only Powerslave is in my Top 15 all time list). Blaze just wasn't a good fit for Maiden, period. Di'Anno wasn't either, but the music was different and it didn't show as much. Maiden then was 3:25 seconds of grit, grime and attitude. That is NOT Maiden circa 1995.
There are definitely fans who rejected Blaze because he wasn't Bruce, my dad among them. As you said, you have to look at the context. Di'Anno wasn't replacing Bruce. People were either there to experience Paul in real time or in retrospect checking out Maiden's back catalog. Paul was allowed to exist in his own context while Blaze was always going to be in the shadow of Bruce. I think people are more open to his era now because he's in a similar position to Paul, as the former singer who was only there for a couple hours. But in 1995 that wasn't the case.
- Second, that it is "underrated"; it is, in my opinion, exactly correctly rated. It IS a polarizing album. There are good points - Sign of the Cross, the Genesis rip-offs not withstanding, and The Unbeliever - but this is a classic example of that common pitfall of the mid'-90's (ironically, Genesis fell into it with "We Can't Dance" as well) and that is, just because a CD holds 80 minutes, doesn't mean that you have 80 minutes worth filling.
I think I can agree with this. I tried to refrain from the word "underrated" both because it tends to be overused and I don't think it applies here. It's much like Train Of Thought in that it's fairly one dimensional. There's a single tone and mood to the album that isn't one of the hallmarks of Maiden so it's not going to be for everyone. But for those who appreciate that kind of thing, it's a real special treat.
- What are we, fourth now? I think the songwriting is average. I've listened to this countless times - it's not quite "Grace Under Pressure", my least favorite Rush album that I revisit religiously about every year to see if I've missed something or to see if I have warmed to it, but it's close - and there just aren't the hooks or the melodies that the best Maiden - even the heaviest Maiden - has.
This is where I refrain from putting the album on the pedestal that some fans have it on. I love that they tried something different and I really enjoy the result, but the songwriting doesn't hold up to most other albums. They're trying a new direction and they worked on refining it for years after. I don't think the modern Maiden formula was perfected until A Matter of Life and Death. That album is the zenith of what they were trying to achieve with The X Factor.
- Fifth, the production DOES blow, but Martin Birch notwithstanding, Maiden has never been known to be a "production paradigm".
The production is bad even for modern Maiden standards. Some of the badly produced albums (mostly the debut) have a redeeming charm, but X Factor does not. For the reunion era, some of the albums could've been improved in the production department, but only Dance of Death is ruined the way The X Factor is, all the others are more than listenable.
- Sixth, and finally, I think this album suffers because of Nicko McBrain; famously, he was (allegedly) the guy that told Steve "it's your band, your call, but you need to SERIOUSLY consider bringing Bruce back, bro." I think he consciously/subconsciously knew that this wasn't right. There are parts on this record (and the follow-up) where I've actually gone to Wikipedia because I wasn't convinced it was actually him playing. That's a CRUCIAL point for a power band like Maiden.
This is the reason I give Dave and Janick more credit than Nicko for being the backbone of Maiden in the 90s. Nicko really took a back seat during the Blaze years and it gets worse on the next album. It's obvious that he took Bruce's departure really personally and Steve is lucky he's one of the most loyal guys in the business because otherwise he probably would've left shortly after.
A question regarding the lyrics - I was always sure all of the songs that list Blaze with a writing feature his lyrics. I'm surprised that's not the case. I'd question what his contributions to some of those songs were.
It's possible the details of the songwriting have been revealed, but I wasn't able to find anything. It seems that in the credits the lyricist is listed first on this album, so Blaze probably did the lyrics on Look For the Truth and 2 AM. It's also a very different writing style than Steve's, less literal and more metaphor. As for the other songs with Blaze's name in the credit, maybe he helped out with some of the vocal melodies. Bruce and Paul rarely worked as closely to Steve as Blaze did, so their creative relationship is very unique in Maiden's history.
3...Jannick's songwriting is brilliant on this album. He has a hand in 8 of the 11 album tracks plus Judgement Day. I think anyone that takes the position that TXF is a masterpiece, yet doesn't care for Jannick being in the band, is confused.
I'd take that further and say that anyone who doesn't like Janick but appreciates anything they've done since The X Factor is confused. The guy has been in the band for nearly 30 years and people still act like he's only allowed to stay in the band as some sort of courtesy. Anyway, he definitely hits his stride on this album. This album could've easily been entirely written by Harris and that wouldn't have been a good thing.
4....This would be the second half of my Bruce epiphany. Because what this album truly feels like it needs is balance. Personally, other than Sign Of The Cross, Man On The Edge, Lord Of The Flies, and 2 AM, I'm not sure the other tracks are completely fleshed out. I think you get Steve's vision, and I've often referred to TXF as Steve Harris solo album, but I've always wondered if some of these more meandering tracks could've used a little more push back in the studio. I have a hard time thinking Jannick, and especially Blaze would've challenged Steve with an occasional "you know Steve, that really doesn't work." This is where I truly understood how Bruce's absence would be realized. Especially when comparing TXF to the fresh and exciting Picasso.
I go back and forth on whether this album would've improved with Bruce's involvement. I think Bruce's 1998 vocal style would've been good (as proven on Rock In Rio) but definitely not his 1993 vocal style. His voice was still going through a lot of growing pains throughout most of the 90s. I also think his creative contributions might've clashed with Steve's in a negative way. This album has flaws but Steve's vision isn't one of them. Bruce would've been good on Virtual though.
Bosk: That sounds like a pretty typical first impression. I preferred Virtual too at first, but over time I've grown to prefer X Factor. X Factor is a definite grower. I didn't get it at all at first. Also Brave New World is very close to Virtual, which will be discussed when we get there.