I’ve never listened to this album

I think it's a fine mix of fine rhythms and good solos topped off with one of their best short rocker tracks at the top of the album.

The loud, clear and obvious error of this album is not just over-relying on repetitive choruses - it's overdoing them. And in a couple of cases overkilling them. I'd also say that it's their least adventurous album drum-wise as well.

Just as The X Factor can be considered a proto-A Matter of Life and Death by some people, I could similarly make the argument of Virtual XI being almost like a proto-Dance of Death. High peaks and low lows - but at least the height difference isn't as jarring on Virtual XI as it is on Dance of Death.

Coincidentally, I happen to like The X Factor more than I like A Matter of Life and Death. I think that this also makes for a more even listening experience than Dance of Death.

I like Virtual XI about just as much as I like Fear of the Dark. I like Virtual XI more than I like Killers or No Prayer or the Dying.

At least that's my experience with it.
 
I really like the Blaze era in general and I am a long-time supporter of TXF (it used to be in my top 3, nowadays I'm not that sure anymore, but still), but VXI is somewhat spotty. Futureal is a really good, fast rocker (which isn't really their strong suit, nowadays), Clansman is good with Bruce and with Blaze and the album closer Como Estais Amigos, while very untypical for Maiden, is an absolutely stellar track.

The middle tracks, Two Worlds and Educated Fool are actually kinda good, but are also somewhat sombre in the TXF-style (which suits Blaze), so they don't fit the mood of this hodge-podge record as much, so they get kinda unmemorable. Lightning is weird (and the chorus is very clunky) and Angel and the Gambler and Eyes of a Stranger are two tracks that could be actually rather good, but are notorious for being overlong with nonsensical repetition.

Overhated by the majority, overrated by the hipsters, I don't put it on very often, but neither do I put Number of the Beast on very often, so there.
 
Futureal, the opening track, is certainly a strong one! I think there are some other good tracks as well, but as @Abas mentioned above, the album also delivers quite an overkill when it comes to repetitive choruses.

In my opinion, the album also has a handful great solos by both, Dave & Janick and a plenty of great melodies and other sequences that are really rather good. It's just that while some albums are more than the sum of its parts, I find Virtual XI bit of an opposite: there's enough good ideas and elements in the mix, but the way it's produced & put together suffers from a serious lack of quality control and perspective, which also dulls the edge of its good stuff to a some extent. E.g difference in the energy & overall vibe in the live & studio versions of The Clansman is gigantic and not very favourable on the latter.

So, to put it short, I think you're missing a lot of good Maiden melodies, solos and some good tracks altogether that aren't, however, presented in very favourable circumstances and obviously the album is not quite top-notch Maiden songwriting quality thorough, although probably not quite as horrible (in my opinion) as some might consider it to be.
 
Futureal and The Clansman are great—no doubt about it. As for the rest... pretty disappointing as complete songs, in my opinion. Don’t Look to the Eyes of a Stranger does have that one fast, glorious section though. And The Angel and the Gambler—if it were trimmed down to four minutes—could’ve actually been good.
 
Perun said:
Why don't you put it on and find out?
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I’m too busy appreciating TBoS when I have time to listen to anything at all.

Maybe I’ll have time on my musical calendar for Virtual XI in August.

Also, this is just to hear what people think of the album. More creative than “hey, what do you think of this album?” No?
 
It’s a very warm album. Yes there are performance issues, weak production, and bad songwriting tropes, but Janick and Dave truly come into their own as a guitar duo, the songs feel very personal in a less dark way than TXF, and “Como Estais Amigos” never fails to make me cry.
 
I like this album. It starts off blazing (pun intended) with hyper catchy short rocker Futureal. The next song Angel and the Gambler gets strong reactions across the board but for me it’s basically a catchy rocker with unfortunate repetition of the chorus.

Lightning Strikes Twice and The Educated Fool are also unique, innovative rockers. And The Clansman has proven a well deserved place in set lists over the years.

My only ‘skip’ song is Don’t Look Into the Eyes of a Stranger. Also plagued by a repetitive chorus but not worth the effort overall.

I know a lot of folks place it at the bottom of their IM list but for me it’s solidly in the middle.
 
If you reached 2025 without listening to it, you aren’t missing much and it’s way more fun to never hearing a bad album ever, than the other way around.
I’ve never purchased this album in any format, which is unique feature for a Maiden album for me.

el diablo said:
My only ‘skip’ song is Don’t Look Into the Eyes of a Stranger. Also plagued by a repetitive chorus but not worth the effort overall.
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It has a great instrumental part though. Angel and Gambler is way more skippable imo.
 
No you’re both wrong, I threw it in the microwave. Unfortunately that didn’t help the production and now my microwave shrieks every time I ask it, “Don’t you think I’m a savior? Don’t you think I could save you? Don’t you think I could save your life?”
 
If it was a CD copy I'm amazed your microwave has any voice left to shriek with.

Disclaimer, kids: do not put metal in the microwave, neither the material or the music genre.
 
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