The X Factor (1995)
Alternate "reverse" cover
Blaze Bayley - Vocals
Dave Murray - Guitar
Janick Gers - Guitar
Steve Harris - Bass
Nicko McBrain - Drums
The months following Bruce’s departure were a scary time for Maiden. Not only did they lose a lead singer and major songwriter, but they also lost producer Martin Birch who had retired early 1993. Where other bands would’ve taken the safe route of hiring a Bruce Dickinson clone and making the best attempt at recapturing their 80s glories, Maiden took the opportunity to create what is quite possibly the boldest and most controversial album of their careers.
Of course this starts with the new lead singer. The “obvious” and highly rumored choices included Doogie White and Michael Kiske. However, they were never under consideration as they failed to meet two of Steve’s requirements: One, the new singer had to be a relative unknown. Two, the new singer had to be English. From Steve’s perspective, Blaze fit the bill perfectly. He had a great relationship with the band already and he had a unique voice that was very unlike Bruce’s. Where Bruce had a wide range with an operatic style and tenor voice, Blaze was much more limited and was a baritone. His low vocal style would be well suited to the darker music Steve was writing.
Which brings us to the album itself. Why is The X Factor so dark? The truth is that Steve Harris was going through a very rough time. In addition to the major changes in the Maiden camp, Steve was also going through a divorce. During the making of the album, the band would read interviews from Bruce that were dismissive of Maiden, which didn’t help the morale. It was a time of uncertainty both in the band’s professional and personal lives. However, times like these can serve as inspiration. That is exactly what happened with The X Factor.
Once the band begun to write, doubts within the Maiden camp were quickly cast aside. The music was fresh and exciting. It was a brand new direction, with the band returning to the progressive tendencies of the late 80s but with a new dark twist. The album’s opening song, The Sign Of the Cross, immediately signals to the listener that they are in for something different. The new Steve Harris epic was the second longest Maiden song, being just 2 minutes shorter than Rime. In addition to being the first song on the album, it was one of the first songs brought into the sessions. The dark, heavy, and progressive tone helped shape the rest of the album.
In many ways, The X Factor is Steve’s baby. Through the 80s and early 90s, as the band developed along with Bruce and Adrian becoming increasingly influential in the musical direction, Maiden was becoming more of a collaborative effort. That remains the case on The X Factor, but in some ways it also goes back to the band’s early days when Steve was the primary songwriter and creative director. Steve has a hand in all but one song on The X Factor, with four of the eleven songs being solo compositions. Steve’s lyrics are introspective and brutally honest. The themes include depression, doubting your beliefs, and PTSD. There are also several songs that deal with war in particular. However, they don’t deal it in the almost glorified portrayal of songs like The Trooper, but more along the lines of Afraid To Shoot Strangers. They deal with the effects of war on the soldiers who fight them. The common theme of a soldier’s mental health seems to tie in nicely with Harris’ own autobiographical lyrics.
Interestingly, around the time Bruce was leaving the band, he commented that Steve tends to be closed off and isn’t one to write about his personal experiences or feelings. When informed of the comment, Steve expressed surprise and disagreed. Of course, the next album happened to contain Steve’s most personal songs to date, and maybe the most personal in his career. There is some truth to Bruce’s statement, however. Very few of Steve’s songs were clearly autobiographical. Existential themes were common in songs like Number Of the Beast and Infinite Dreams, but they were through the eyes of another character. On The X Factor, songs like 2 A.M. and Judgement of Heaven seem purely biographical. However, as previously mentioned, there are still moments of allegory in the songs that deal with war and soldiers.
In addition to The Sign Of the Cross, the sole Harris compositions include Fortunes Of War, Judgement of Heaven, and Blood On the World’s Hands. Fortunes Of War is where the meat of the album begins. After an epic and two high energy singles, the album starts to get “difficult”. Fortunes of War is very dynamic, with many abrupt shifts between soft and heavy. It’s one of several songs on the album to use the “heavy song with a soft intro” format that would become a staple of modern Maiden. Blood On the World’s Hands is a much more unique structure, starting with a surprise bass solo. When the song kicks in it’s more characteristic of the rest of the album, although it features really heavy riffing and a triplet based rhythmic structure that gives a contrast to the more typical 4/4 rhythms. Judgement of Heaven is one of the few lighthearted and energetic moments on the album. Lyrically though it’s another dark affair with Steve questioning his purpose in life and the afterlife.
Steve also wrote two songs with Janick Gers. The first, Lord of the Flies, is another one of the few energetic songs. It was also the second single. Lord Of the Flies is probably the closest thing this album has to a classic Harris rocker. It contains a theme based on literature, it has a “woah oh oh” singalong chorus, and of course it has the Maiden energy. The only thing it seems to be lacking is the classic Maiden gallop, which the band slowly phased out in the 90s. The other Harris/Gers track is the total opposite of Lord Of the Flies. The album closer, The Unbeliever, is one of the oddest songs in the Maiden catalog. It features a really strange rhythm during the verses and an acoustic chorus. It’s a controversial track on an already controversial album, but it is probably the most appropriate way to end the album for that reason. The lyrics are like a continuation of Judgement of Heaven, but with more focus on Harris’ (lack of) faith in God.
One benefit to having a new lineup ready to go when starting sessions for the new album is that Blaze was able to take an active role in the songwriting process. This was important as Bruce had become the most important writer after Steve. Blaze contributes to five songs on the album, although it’s not clear what exactly he contributed to certain songs. Most of the songs he writes on are also credited to Janick and Steve. When Bruce wrote a song with Steve and Janick or Adrian, he typically handled all the vocal parts while Steve tied the parts together and added various sections. However, some of the songs credited to Blaze, Steve, and Janick feature obvious Harris lyrics. The best example is The Aftermath which, similar to Fortunes of War, deals with PTSD and nightmares that former soldiers deal with. The other definite Harris lyric is found on The Edge of Darkness, a song based on the film Apocalypse Now.
Blaze probably wrote the lyrics to the other Bayley/Gers/Harris compositions: Look For the Truth and 2 A.M. The latter in particular fits perfectly with the album’s musical and lyrical themes. Look For the Truth is another song with a slower start. The lyrics for both songs deal with depression, but the theme is given a fresh take coming from a different lyricist than Steve.
The only song without a Harris writing credit also became the first single: Man On the Edge. Along with Lord of the Flies, Man On the Edge is the closest this album comes to classic sounding Maiden (ironic considering it was written by the two most recent members). It’s an uptempo rocker that proves this version of Maiden is still capable of capturing their earlier glories.
Everybody was driven to prove themselves with The X Factor and the sessions proved to be one of Maiden’s most fruitful. 14 songs were written for The X Factor, clocking in at about 80 minutes total. For the first time since Number Of the Beast, Maiden had a surplus of material. Three songs had to be cut from the album: Justice Of the Peace, I Live My Way, and Judgement Day. Justice Of the Peace also happened to be Dave Murray’s only contribution to the album. These songs also happened to represent the more energetic side of the sessions and were probably cut for clashing with the overall mood. They were used later on b-sides and a bonus CD for the Japanese edition. Even with these three songs cut, the 70 minute album was Maiden’s longest at the time.
Like the last two albums, The X Factor was recorded at Steve Harris’ home studio. Though this time it was mostly produced by Steve Harris. The album also credits Nigel Green, who was Martin Birch’s engineer. Steve Harris’ production style is yet another one of the album’s many controversial elements. The X Factor has a very hollow and thin sound that’s very unlike the powerful 80’s albums. In some ways it’s appropriate for the style of music on the album, although the weak sound definitely makes an already challenging album less appealing to many listeners.
All that being said, the album’s controversy starts with the cover. Maiden spent the 90s trying to “modernize” Eddie. The first step was to move away from Derek Riggs as the album artist. Melvyn Grant’s Fear Of the Dark painting was different but still largely maintained the comic book style of Riggs. With The X Factor, Maiden decided to take it to the next extreme: a live action Eddie. The album cover was created by an artist who is notorious around here: Hugh Syme. It featured a realistic looking Eddie undergoing a lobotomy. The cover is nothing like anything Maiden has done before or since and is another aspect of the album that divided fans, although it’s probably much more universally disliked than any other aspect of the album. The graphic nature of the cover also put off retailers, so it was shipped with a reversible cover that showed Eddie at a distance. The artwork for the singles was also all variations of the cover photo shoot.
The title contains multiple meanings. The obvious meaning is that it references this being the band’s tenth studio album. The X Factor was actually the album’s working title and was meant to inspire the band. Many things could be this album’s “X Factor”, from the new lineup to the experimental sound. The band liked this idea so much that they ended up keeping it as the title. This also makes it the second Maiden album not to contain a title track.
Perhaps inevitably, The X Factor was met with mixed reviews. Many fans felt that it lacked the best qualities of early Maiden. There were very few high energy rocking moments and most of the album was slow, introspective, and, to some, plodding. As previously mentioned, the production also didn’t help matters and The X Factor became the first of many Maiden albums to be criticized for Harris’ poor production style.
Most of the criticism seemed directed at the new singer. Again, something that was probably to be expected. It was going to be impossible for anyone to step into Bruce’s shoes, but Blaze’s job was especially hard considering his style was so different. Many were put off by his voice and the dry production gave a very warts and all presentation of his singing. There was a significant backlash against his vocals and many fans walked away from this new incarnation of Maiden.
All of that being said, The X Factor is still highly regarded among many fans. For many it was a breath of fresh air after two mediocre albums. Fans of the band’s progressive side welcomed its return in songs like Sign of the Cross, The Unbeliever, and Blood On the World’s Hands. The album’s dark and introspective vibe also spoke to fans, especially those who were in dark places themselves. Those who liked the album hailed it as one of the greatest moments in Maiden’s career. They also welcomed Blaze into the band, arguing that his low voice fit the material.
Commercially, the album actually did OK. By this point Maiden were pretty much irrelevant in America, with the album just barely making it on the Billboard Top 200. In the UK, Maiden still had clout. The Man On the Edge single was met with great anticipation in the UK and landed comfortably at #10. The album followed a month later at #8, no small feat especially for a Metal band in the 90s. Interestingly, the band did especially well in the Nordic countries. Man On the Edge was a #1 single in Finland and the album peaked at #2. Despite the album’s mixed reception, Maiden were still holding on in Europe.
The X Factor is really the beginning of the modern Maiden sound. For better or worse, many of the characteristics found on their current albums begin here. From the obvious slow intro format to more subtle things like the E C G D chord progression. It’s also the beginning of songs that are longer and progressive in nature. There are hints of many of these things on the last few albums, but it all comes together in a direct and focused way on The X Factor.
I try not to editorialize too much with these posts, but The X Factor is one of those albums that gets a unique reaction. Most people seem to love it or hate it. Personally, I think it ranks solidly in the middle of Maiden’s discography. It’s certainly their most unique album and takes multiple listens to digest. You also need to be in the right mood for it. This isn’t a carefree summer type of album. It’s best listened to and appreciated when the listener is in a dark place as well. I urge everyone to approach this album with an open mind and try to understand where the band (and Steve in particular) was when they were making it. Regardless of the quality, it’s commendable that they did anything but go the safe route. While maybe it didn’t get the attention it deserved, it’s an example of why Maiden have such a large dedicated fanbase and it was a necessary step toward where they are today.