The X Factor (album)
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''The X Factor'' is the tenth studio album by English heavy metal band
Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. While fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harri ...
, released on 2 October 1995 through EMI Records.
CMC International CMC International was an American independent record label founded by Bill Cain and Tom Lipsky in 1991, focused mainly on classic rock, and classic heavy metal. The label was the haven of many hard rock, arena rock, thrash metal, glam metal, and ...
released the album in North America. It is the first of two albums by the band to include
Blaze Bayley Blaze Bayley (born Bayley Alexander Cooke, 29 May 1963) is an English heavy metal singer. He was the lead singer of Wolfsbane from 1984 to 1994 (and currently since 2010, following reunions in 2007 and 2009). He was also the lead singer of Ir ...
, formerly of Wolfsbane, as vocalist, replacing Bruce Dickinson who left the band following their previous tour to pursue a solo career. It also saw the departure of the band's longtime producer
Martin Birch Martin Birch (27 December 19489 August 2020) was a British music producer and sound engineer. He became renowned for engineering and producing albums recorded predominantly by British rock bands, including Deep Purple, Rainbow, Fleetwood Mac, W ...
, who retired shortly after the release of their previous album, ''
Fear of the Dark Fear of the dark is a common fear or phobia among children and, to a varying degree, adults. A fear of the dark does not always concern darkness itself; it can also be a fear of possible or imagined dangers concealed by darkness. Some degree ...
'' (1992). The album takes a darker tone than the band's first nine releases, due to the lyrics being based on personal issues surrounding Steve Harris at the time, who was in the midst of a divorce. This is reflected in the cover artwork, which graphically depicts the band's mascot,
Eddie Eddie or Eddy may refer to: Science and technology *Eddy (fluid dynamics), the swirling of a fluid and the reverse current created when the fluid flows past an obstacle * Eddie (text editor), a text editor originally for BeOS and now ported to Lin ...
, being vivisected by a machine.


Background

The album title came about at the start of the recording. According to producer Nigel Green: "We all felt that the way things were progressing – the songs, Blaze's new involvement, the sound, the commitment – the new album really would have that extra quality, that bit of magic, that 'X Factor'. This became the working title for the album and we liked it, so we kept it. It is also very apt as this is our tenth studio album and "X" can bring up many images." The cover art, depicting Eddie undergoing another lobotomy, was created by Hugh Syme. Due to the cover's "lifelike" style, the band was forced to release the album in a reversible sleeve, with a less graphic view of Eddie from a distance. The album was the last until 2015's ''
The Book of Souls ''The Book of Souls'' is the sixteenth studio album by English heavy metal band Iron Maiden, released in 4 September 2015. It is the band's first studio double album, and also their longest to date, with a total length of 92 minutes and 11 s ...
'' to use the classic variant of the band's logo: every studio release from ''
Virtual XI ''Virtual XI'' (pronounced "Virtual Eleven") is the eleventh studio album by English heavy metal band Iron Maiden, released on 23 March 1998. It is the band's second and final album with Blaze Bayley on vocals. It also marks the first album to ...
'' to '' The Final Frontier'' used an alternate that removed the extended ends of the "R", "M", and both "N's". ''The X Factor'' is also unusual in that it yielded several band compositions that did not make it onto the album. "We actually ended up doing 14 songs and we used eleven," said Steve Harris, "which is very unusual for us." The three songs that did not make the cut, "I Live My Way", "Justice of The Peace" and "Judgement Day," were released as
B-sides The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...
to the album’s singles. The latter two would also be featured on the ''
Best of the 'B' Sides ''Best of the 'B' Sides'' is a compilation of B-sides by the British heavy metal band Iron Maiden, released on 4 November 2002 as part of the Eddie's Archive box set. Each track was remastered and the set came with a running commentary from Ro ...
'' collection. ''The X Factor'' was Maiden's tenth consecutive UK top ten album but spent only four weeks on the chart – making it their shortest-staying studio album. The X Factor supported the album. Much like the tour for the following album, ''
Virtual XI ''Virtual XI'' (pronounced "Virtual Eleven") is the eleventh studio album by English heavy metal band Iron Maiden, released on 23 March 1998. It is the band's second and final album with Blaze Bayley on vocals. It also marks the first album to ...
'', several dates in the United States were canceled as Bayley suffered from occasional vocal issues from the band's heavy concert schedule.


Song details

"
Man on the Edge "Man on the Edge" is a single from the Iron Maiden album '' The X Factor'' released in 1995. The song is based on the film '' Falling Down'', starring Michael Douglas. It was the first single the band released with Blaze Bayley on vocals. Syn ...
" and "
Lord of the Flies ''Lord of the Flies'' is a 1954 novel by the Nobel Prize-winning British author William Golding. The plot concerns a group of British boys who are stranded on an uninhabited island and their disastrous attempts to govern themselves. Themes ...
" were released as singles. Both of these songs, and "Sign of the Cross," remained in Iron Maiden set lists following Bruce Dickinson's return. Live versions of these songs with Dickinson on vocals can be found on "
The Wicker Man ''The Wicker Man'' is a 1973 British folk horror film directed by Robin Hardy and starring Edward Woodward, Britt Ekland, Diane Cilento, Ingrid Pitt, and Christopher Lee. The screenplay by Anthony Shaffer, inspired by David Pinner's 1967 ...
" single and the live albums ''
Death on the Road ''Death on the Road'' is a live album and video released by British heavy metal band Iron Maiden on 29 August 2005 on CD and vinyl, and on 6 February 2006 on DVD. The album was recorded at Westfalenhallen in Dortmund, Germany on 24 November 200 ...
'', ''
Rock in Rio ''Rock in Rio'' is a recurring music festival originating in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It later branched into other locations such as Lisbon, Madrid and Las Vegas. Nine incarnations of the festival have been held in Rio de Janeiro, in 1985, 1991, ...
'' and ''
Nights of the Dead ''Nights of the Dead, Legacy of the Beast: Live in Mexico City'' is a live album by English heavy metal band Iron Maiden, released on 20 November 2020. It was recorded on 27, 29 and 30 September 2019 in Mexico City, during the Legacy of the Be ...
'' respectively, while the same live takes of "Man on the Edge" and "Sign of the Cross" were later re-released on Iron Maiden's 2011 compilation album '' From Fear to Eternity''. "The Edge of Darkness" is based on the 1979 film ''
Apocalypse Now ''Apocalypse Now'' is a 1979 American epic war film produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The screenplay, co-written by Coppola, John Milius and Michael Herr, is loosely based on the 1899 novella '' Heart of Darkness'' by Joseph ...
'', adapted from Joseph Conrad's '' Heart of Darkness'', "
Man on the Edge "Man on the Edge" is a single from the Iron Maiden album '' The X Factor'' released in 1995. The song is based on the film '' Falling Down'', starring Michael Douglas. It was the first single the band released with Blaze Bayley on vocals. Syn ...
" is based on the 1993 movie ''
Falling Down ''Falling Down'' is a 1993 American action film directed by Joel Schumacher, written by Ebbe Roe Smith and released by Warner Bros. in the United States on February 26, 1993. The film stars Michael Douglas in the lead role of William Foster, a ...
'', and "Lord of the Flies" is based on the
William Golding Sir William Gerald Golding (19 September 1911 – 19 June 1993) was a British novelist, playwright, and poet. Best known for his debut novel ''Lord of the Flies'' (1954), he published another twelve volumes of fiction in his lifetime. In 1980 ...
novel of the same name. "Sign of the Cross" is based on the
Umberto Eco Umberto Eco (5 January 1932 – 19 February 2016) was an Italian medievalist, philosopher, semiotician, novelist, cultural critic, and political and social commentator. In English, he is best known for his popular 1980 novel ''The Name of th ...
's novel ''
The Name of the Rose ''The Name of the Rose'' ( it, Il nome della rosa ) is the 1980 debut novel by Italian author Umberto Eco. It is a historical murder mystery set in an Italian monastery in the year 1327, and an intellectual mystery combining semiotics in ficti ...
''. Live recordings of "Blood on the World's Hands" and "The Aftermath" from the X Factor were issued as B-sides and also on the ''Best of the 'B' Sides'' compilation.
Blaze Bayley Blaze Bayley (born Bayley Alexander Cooke, 29 May 1963) is an English heavy metal singer. He was the lead singer of Wolfsbane from 1984 to 1994 (and currently since 2010, following reunions in 2007 and 2009). He was also the lead singer of Ir ...
later recorded a re-arranged version of "Sign of the Cross" on the live album '' As Live as It Gets''.


Critical reception

''The X Factor'' was met with lukewarm responses from critics.
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...
rated the album two stars out of five, stating that "suffering from a lack of powerful riffs and tightly written songs, ''The X Factor'' is a lackluster latter-day album from Iron Maiden. Although the band doesn't sound particularly bad on the record, they don't sound inspired and there's a noticeable lack of energy to the performances which makes the lack of imagination all the more apparent." Sputnikmusic were somewhat more positive about the release, deeming the album "a change for Iron Maiden, and a very important one at that" as it "paved the way for future albums of similar length". They also praised the "often criticized" Blaze Bayley, whose voice they claimed "was perfect for the new release."


Track listing


Personnel

Production and performance credits are adapted from the album liner notes.


Iron Maiden

*
Blaze Bayley Blaze Bayley (born Bayley Alexander Cooke, 29 May 1963) is an English heavy metal singer. He was the lead singer of Wolfsbane from 1984 to 1994 (and currently since 2010, following reunions in 2007 and 2009). He was also the lead singer of Ir ...
 –
vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...
* Dave Murray –
guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...
s * Janick Gers – guitars * Steve Harris – bass,
production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...
, mixing *
Nicko McBrain Michael Henry "Nicko" McBrain (born 5 June 1952) is an English musician, best known as the drummer of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden since 1982. Having played in small pub bands since 1966 from the age of 14, McBrain paid his bills after grad ...
 – drums


Additional musicians

*Michael Kenney – keyboards *The Xpression Choir –
Gregorian chant Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainsong, plainchant, a form of monophony, monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song in Latin (and occasionally Greek (language), Greek) of the Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant developed ma ...
s on "Sign of the Cross"


Production

*Nigel Green – producer,
engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...
, mixing *Ronal Whelan – mastering *Mick McKenna – assistant engineer *Les Lambert – assistant engineer * Hugh Syme –
digital illustration Digital illustration or computer illustration is the use of digital tools to produce images under the direct manipulation of the artist, usually through a pointing device such as a tablet or a mouse. It is distinguished from computer-''generated'' ...
, sleeve design, art direction *
Ross Halfin Ross William Halfin (born 11 August 1957) is a British rock and roll photographer. Since the late 1970s he has worked for some of the biggest acts in rock and heavy metal, including Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Black Sabbath, The Who, Kiss, Metallica, ...
 – photography *
Simon Fowler Simon Geoffrey Fowler (born 25 May 1965 in Meriden, Warwickshire) is an English singer and acoustic guitarist, best known as the frontman of Ocean Colour Scene. The Fanatics Simon Fowler commenced his music career as the lead singer and songwr ...
 – photography *Tony Frederick – photography *
Rod Smallwood Roderick Charles Smallwood (born 17 February 1950) is an English music manager, best known as the co-manager of the British heavy metal band Iron Maiden. With his business partner, Andy Taylor, whom he met while studying at Trinity College, C ...
 – management *Merck Mercuriadis – management * Andy Taylor – management *Aky Najeeb – management *Harry Mohan – management


Charts


Weekly charts


Certifications


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:X Factor, The 1995 albums Iron Maiden albums EMI Records albums Albums recorded in a home studio