I was very sceptical when I firstly bought this album.
I was a fan of Bruce's voice and also Di Anno's voice, and honnestly I was a bit afraid of what I could hear from this album.
I put the CD into the player, setup the bass and volume, sit down and close my eyes til the album finished...
...I was just blown away !
This is definitly a masterpiece.
Some die hard fans would complaint that this album is not as heavy as the previous albums etc.
They're right indeed, but Blaze's voice perfectly fit the atmosphere of this album. This is an incredible deep album, with a dark and melancholic atmosphere. Most of the songs begin softly and slowly but quickly become deep and powerful.
The mood is heightened by Blaze's voice which perfectly complements the dark atmosphere of the album, much better than Di'Anno or Bruce would have done !
The album begins straight-ahead with The Signe Of The Cross. This is in my opinion one of the best epic song of Iron Maiden, with a long instrumental part after Blaze's chrous. Here again, Blaze's voice perfectly complements the darkness of the song's atmosphere.
The first time I heard Lord Of The Flies, it was during Dance Of Death tour, in live. I loved it. But no way, the X-Factor version is much better because it has not the "Dramatic and Theatrical" style of Bruce's voice.
This verion is much more raw and powerful. Another great heavy song.
Actually, this album seems to be packed of great epic songs, all along with Fortunes Of War, The Aftermath and Blood On The World's hands. In these 3 songs, incredibly deep dark and powerful, Iron Maiden take us into the world of the war, the soldiers and the question of the necessity of the war.
Just focus on the lyrics and you will understand how the sadness, the horror of the war, is perfectly narrated by Blaze Bayley. I do appreciate Blood On The World's Hands which is in my opinion the deepest song of the three aboves. It softly begins with a bass solo and finally build with power in a more theatrical and dramatical style during the Chorus.
Don't forget also a couple of good "kick ass"songs such like "Look For The Truth". Here again the songs begins slowly and softly but the main body is not quite as dark than the intro. It's a pretty good song with a tempo and a tune that sticks in your mind !
Overall, The X Factor is a dark and melancholy masterpiece which in my opinion has revitalised Iron Maiden after Bruce left.
Despite the critics of the fans who did not accept the change, The X Factor is in my opinion one of Maiden's best album.
Zyend
