Let’s blame it on Iron Maiden‘s Dickinson, shall we? Some time back in 2025, the man himself commented on the happy birthday of The X Factor and asked the wide audience for their favorite tracks.1 And my point was, truthfully, that there weren’t any. And there still aren’t. Or are there?
Olde is our memory after all these decades. And – perhaps – now is a good moment to revisit an ancient and possibly misunderstood record. This time, with the weight of 10 years of reviews behind us. Viewpoints overturned and ancient observations brutally squashed? Dusty pergament and contemplations of ancient mariners will decipher the truth. Open the vault!
I must say, back in 1995 when The X Factor first aired, this record came as a shock. Bruce Dickinson magnanimously disappeared on a solo trip back in 1993. And who could blame him? The band’s 1992 album Fear of the Dark was only a shadow of the Maiden‘s successes of the ’80s. A bunch of sluggish, half-baked tracks with only the title holding at least some promise. And it got an equally lukewarm reception from critics, even if – strangely – the sales soared in the Anglo-Saxon marketplace.
So, fast forward to ’95 again and The X Factor‘s strange musings. Gone were the scream-fests, the soaring solos, and the exuberant and often bombastic machinations on and off stage of this band. And in came a flat and often austere production that sounded strangely like one of those garage pieces. A meandering mass of unconnected tracks loosely referencing the X (the cross) greeted the astonished audience. This came with a newly ‘invented’ toned-down, slightly sludgy sound marshaled by one Blaze Bayley. A mix of Heavy and – hold on to something – a weird version of Progressive Metal.
As the lore goes, the new vocalist was carefully distilled from a large list of pretenders. I am still scratching my head as to why Harris and his bandmates would hire a demonstrably gifted singer, but one with a completely different vocal range compared to the Bruce man. And it was, apparently, the issues with his vocal range and subsequent damage to his pipes that got the man finally dismissed from the band in 1999. But I digress.
That said, Bayley was actually a good choice for this here record. His performance truly met the zeitgeist Iron Maiden found itself in after all. The often trembling and slightly grating vox wasn’t all astray from the essence of the record, given the morose and sinister atmosphere The X Factor exudes. However, this very atmosphere and the implied cruelty of the lyrics also seemed to fill the early agents of political correctness with dread.2 Even the original cover was – apparently – too graphic for their delicate souls and had to be replaced with a weaker one for some markets. And that is why two of them exist today.
The Sign of the Cross, the first track, already sets the tone, and not necessarily in a good way. Bayley‘s strange and monotonous holler and the annoying sound of the snare drum immediately grated on our nerves then and still does so now. And it’s almost amusing how this infamous drumbeat sounds just like the one that was to appear on Metallica’s St. Anger in 2003.3 The track itself ain’t all that bad. If you fancy that kind of dull Heavy Metal, that is. But the sudden break into a weak pseudo gallop, the abrupt speed changes into – more of the same with a different flavor and back really didn’t help.
That said, the A-side is still pretty well furnished with comparatively decent material. Man on the Edge, for instance, resembles the typical maiden fare with lustily paced Heavy Metal. One that will garner some of the best riffing and a stellar solo to boot. The depressively somber Fortunes of War blended some lengthy acoustic intro with a pretty sturdy med-tempo metal piece. A track yet again saved not by astute riffing and roaring energy. But – instead – by endless repetitions that got finally overwhelmed by a famous combined key and guitar solo.
The most confusing aspect of The X Factor truly is the lack of clarity about where this is going finally. Iron Maiden built enough melancholy into their songsmithing to make us think about some gothic traits at times. Then, suddenly, some progressive vibes appear out of the murky wastes of Heavy Metal – and disappear again right away. And so, the record noodles itself aimlessly along the tracklist until you hit the last track. The Unbeliever stands out from the pack like a burning extra horn on the devil’s ass. A juvenile-sounding, matter-of-fact prog piece that could possibly be a part of Jethro Tull’s portfolio sans the flute, but it just makes no fucking sense on an Iron Maiden piece.
Lastly, reviewing a record that old gives you the possibility to read other opinions ad nauseam. The X Factor was and still is a divisive piece. The takes range from mule-puke to one of the best albums the band ever did. Just take your pick, like. As to the RMR crew, this is yet again an album that’s neither here nor there. A piece concocted with a dangerously loose theme as opposed to a rock-solid one. And that is what killed the cat. The X Factor represents a motley collection of stories, references to books, myths, and sagas. And it is only once you delve into the lyrics that this becomes clear. Said differently, nerds might shower praise on the concoction because of – words, even though it is beset with lackluster songsmithing and a questionable production.
In a way, the detailed look at this piece has been a revelation of sorts, and it wasn’t a pleasant one. The crew here found, yet again, a mixed bag of moments. A bunch of ill-conceived ideas suffering from a lost compass syndrome that led to nowhere.
Past opinions confirmed.
Record Rating: 4/10 | Label: EMI | Web: Official Band Site
Release Date: 2 October 1995