Thrash til' Deth wrote:
DawnGleaminG wrote:
^^Both fantastic releases.
It had been many years since I listened to X Factor from beginning to end. What struck me immediately was how clearly it marked the stylistic transition from Maiden's energetic 80s sound to their modern progressive bent. But I was also pleasantly surprised with its mood and consistency. Blayze Bailey doesn't have Bruce's range or his power, but adds a welcome element of mystery and atmosphere that really works for the (slightly) darker direction Harris took the band at the time. Maiden fans that wrote this album off should really give it another chance. Virtual XI as well. It's bogged down by a fair share of substandard tracks, but Futureal, The Clansman and Two Worlds Collide are as good, or better, as anything they've done since Bruce jumped back on the mic.
Absolutely! I think the whole history of musical criticism can be summarized as irrational and unusual biases, that simply do not relate to what the artist has achieved, most urgently. I think both
Virtual XI and
The X Factor are broadly speaking, an entirely different territory of Maiden-metal, and indeed, it was because of the ice-cold shower, after such a long stretch of excellence in the hot 80's outputs, most especially, in the 90's, with
Fear Of The Dark and
No Prayer For The Dying that Maiden fanatics had completely lost hope in their beloved bands' ability to make more conquests. But I am completely with you, that both the aforementioned
Factor and
Virtual do have many brilliant moments, giving precedence to
The X Factor, with good reason. In the 90's, Maiden had a great desire to simplify and that is the central reason why Adrian Smith left the band at the time and, ultimately, for the radical changes of musical direction, in Maiden's discography.
