Review Summary: The X Factor is a masterpiece on all accounts
The 90s seemed to be a bad period for metal in everyone's eyes, Metallica released Load and Reload, Megadeth released Risk and Judas Priest released Jugulator. Then of course you have The X Factor, this was the first of two studio albums that new vocalist Blaze Bayley would do with Maiden. This album seems to get alot of hate because people expected it to be something was never meant to be.
The X Factor has a deep meaning behind it, with everything bad happening in Steve Harris's life, he put his emotions and thoughts into his writing and a much slower, deeper and meaningful album was created.That's what this album is, its not just your typical Maiden record that you throw on and be entertained for forty minutes, Its an evaluation of the human mind, how we think, how we feel and how we cope with different emotions. Its an album that you stick on, sit back and really listen to the music. People who understand this record know what im talking about.
The album is alot like a book, although it may read as something clearly, if you focus and read between the lines, you may find that it know reads differently than before. Thats what The X Factor is about, on paper, the album just looks like its all about war, insanity and religion, and while it does go through those topics, it goes much deeper and on to a personal level. A key example of this is in the song 'Aftermath' which has the lyrics "After the war, left feeling no one has won". That to me sounds alot like a relationship falling apart and accepting that no one can win in that situation.
So anyway on to the review. Blaze Bayley was brought into replace Bruce Dickinson after he left. Blaze was a perfect choice to sing on this release, the album needed someone who could covey emotion through there performance which (in my opinion) Bruce couldn't do very well. Blaze's performance throughout the album is fantastic, I actually heard that he would sing low parts in the morning, and high parts at nice when his voice was appropriate for the song which is a fantastic idea and the album is better for it.
The lyrics are of course an important part of what makes The X Factor so amazing. Most of the lyrics were written by Steve himself and the rest were collaborations between him, Janick and even Blaze. The lyrics are among the best Maiden has written and in my opinion there best work in the lyric department. The music is what started Maidens addiction to long songs and complicated arrangements and stuff like that. Alot of people have actually criticised the album for having no memorable riffs, Once the songs get heavy they have some of the best riffs and solos Maiden have written (in my opinion of course)
Every song on this album is just brilliant, the only songs that arnt as good as the others are Blood On The Worlds Hands and Man On The Edge, but these are by no means bad songs, slap them on any other Maiden album and they would be In the top 3 tracks. Sign Of The Cross is such a breathtaking epic from the intro all the way up until the end, its fantastic all the way through. Look For The Truth is a fantastic song with personal lyrics, a catchy chorus and blistering solos all compressed into 5 minutes.
Overall, The X Factor is a masterpiece on all accounts and its a shame that people will never see it as that.
