Iron Maiden - The X Factor

Before I start, I'm instantly marking all jokes related to the poor British tv show which retards are told they can sing as UNFUNNY. They have ALL been made before, and the album was out nearly two decades before the show ever was.

Now that's out of the way, the review. This album is universally known to be the worst Maiden album ever to be made. This is because the singer is Blaze Bayley, who released two albums with Iron Maiden while Bruce Dickinson thought it would be hilarious to break the hearts of a few million fans and leave the band for a few years to make an entirely failurous (new word) solo career which only made one famous song. Bayley was no replacement. His voice didn't nearly live up to Bruce's standards, but nonetheless I find it listenable. The two albums were Virtual XI and The X Factor, and though I think this is the inferior of the two, I think it still has a case to argue.

Firstly, the singing is bearable. Sure he's no Bruce, but with the exception of the chorus of 'Man on the Edge', it's not that bad. In some places it can sound better than Bruce would if he were singing, like the chorus to 'Sign of the Cross' and 'Judgement of Heaven'. As much as it sounds like it, Maiden aren't actually obsessed with religion or anything, they're said to be agnostic. Also, if you fully listen to the song 2 A.M, it does prove that some of the good stuff is still present in this album. And of course, there are still the guitarists. At this point in the timeline, Maiden had Janick who has the best stage presence of any musician known to man, and of course Dave, who is the best guitarist of all time, so you can't really go wrong. Two riffs in 'Fortunes of War' and the main one in 'Lord of the Flies' are probebly the ones that realy show it for me. And, of course, the solos are still insane, using both speed and melody in perfect harmony. I can't stress it enough, it itself describes why they are and always will be my favourite band. EVER.

Unfortunately, I'm obliged to mention the letdowns in this album, which I suppose is fair seeing as it is their most disappointing album. The songs can seem kinda boring at times, like 'The Unbeliever' and 'Blood on the World's Hand' but I assure this is ENTIRELY because of Bayley. If Bruce was singing them, they would be normal rockin' Maiden standard, and would make for an awesome album. It also can get on the listener's nerves that in almost every song there is a point where Blaze feels the need to sing so quietly that you have to put the volume up to at least 20 to hear him.

These aside, I wanna say that it isn't all that bad. Yes, it's nowhere near the best that Maiden can produce, and it's probably only really worth your cash if, like me, you're trying to get every studio album on disc (which I have, not a single one ordered online as well xD). However, it is still well made and still shows the skill that Maiden have in creating completely original and frankly amazing heavy metal whilst still holding tightly onto the style which has kept their musical career going on through the decades.