The Problem with the X-Factor?

gazda said:
The problem with X Factor is that there is no any problem.

This was a album that kept Maiden alive and pushed Steve in direction of long epic and melodic songs.
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The album got them dropped from their US record label and saw them reduced to playing clubs. They may have been "alive" but they were on life support.
 
Having said the above, no matter if we like it or not, TXF is an important milestone for Maiden's history.
I always had a theory, that the song Mother Russia & album TXF were crucial to the direction that Maiden has taken ever since.
Mother Russia's Celtic 'dancing' guitar harmonies set the blueprint for what is now a signature sound from ATSS to The Pilgrim to TWotW.
TXF set the standard for modern Maiden songwriting with slow bass into -outros, as already @Spaldy pointed out.
 
The main problem with TXF is that Steve was in charge of everything. He was/is not experienced enough to take the producer role.

This resulted in plodding songs, lucklaster performances, the singer being out of tune. Also doing this while being depressed isn't the best thing that can happen to you. Other bands might get inspired by their grief (or whatever you want to call it) but not Steve/Maiden.
 
Gk1 said:
The main problem with TXF is that Steve was in charge of everything. He was/is not experienced enough to take the producer role.
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Indeed!

I think that The X-Factor is the most consistent of the 90's Maiden records and the overall quality of the songwriting took a step-up from the previous efforts, even though it arguably also resulted in some
Gk1 said:
plodding songs.
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But altogether, I think the material and the overall thing, from atmosphere to initial songs and all is strong. However, it's technically a bit lost indeed... I can see Steve's vision, but maybe he should've just focused on the things he's best at and let a proper producer deal with the mix. Ideal situation would've been someone who could guide Blaze a little bit more and - in the vein on Martin Birch - mirror the band at it's best. The X-Factor, while being sort of a strong statement (in my opinion) - retrospectively looking anyway, doesn't really execute it's own vision to a maximum effect. Then again, as I've often expressed, I feel a lot when it comes to this album. In a way, it's poor, demo-ish production and gloominess kind of completes it.

Still, would've been interesting to see what Birch could've done with Blaze & this material.

Long story short, to me, it's a good and very interesting album, but it's easy to see why the mere sound of it is a turn-off to many.
 
I'll say this. TXF is a lower tier album for me, but, all Iron Maiden albums are good. Man on the Edge, Sign of the Cross, Lord of the Flies, Judgement of Heaven? Top notch tracks. The only album I struggle with is No Prayer, but even that contains some gems.

AMOLAD though. yeah, going to put that on now and go for a lunchtime walk.
 
He kind of wasted Blaze too. Proof the very good albums Blaze produced when he left Maiden. As someone said above, there was little effort to adapt the songs to his voice.
 
______no5 said:
He kind of wasted Blaze too. Proof the very good albums Blaze produced when he left Maiden. As someone said above, there was little effort to adapt the songs to his voice.
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Well, Steve started showing his fatigue in FOTD. This is the last Maiden album with 4-5 classic songs (IMO). Yep, Steve kind of ruined Blaze too. Thus VXI was a more Maidenish album but it was already too late. Thank god that period is over and thank God that blaze found his - less successful - path. At least his albums are quite sold since then.
 
Well, it sure doesn't have any Judgement of Heaven on it. It's not dark in the sense it's seemingly heavily influenced by personal tragedies like TXF.
 
I sure do get tired of relitigating the same arguments about the Blaze-era albums. Doesn't anyone else?

There's really two camps here - those who appreciate Steve's vision and those who don't. I think TXF is the most honest, most Steve album. Just an honest examination of the man's psyche at the time. I think if you don't understand TXF, you don't really get the same tortured mind that brought us Children of the Damned, The Number of the Beast, and Infinite Dreams.

Whatever else TXF is, it's personal and honest. That's really interesting.

It's a little long. But also, when I'm in the not very of moods, it's really really apt. And there are at least four songs I really love on it. Yeah. Really good album.
 
LooseCannon said:
I sure do get tired of relitigating the same arguments about the Blaze-era albums. Doesn't anyone else?
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Yeah, I haven't really seen a new point of view in years. It's usually Team Steve vs Team Bruce or Team Classics vs Team Everything.

For the last two decades, The X Factor has been my favourite album not just by Maiden, but in general. I somehow never bothered to care for people saying how crappy it is or that it's "NOT REEL MAIDUN lol", I'm too busy liking the album for that. Then again, most of my favourite music these days is described by others as slow, boring, monotonous, tedious, testing patience, all sounding the same and whatever else. I don't recall ever asking anyone to like the music I like, so I honestly don't know why I should care.
 
The album would've been a lot better if it included all three of the B-Sides (Justice of the Peace, Judgement Day, I Live My Way) in my opinion; all of these songs are the shot of adrenaline the album needs.

Still, while I don't like it as an album there's good stuff here. Sign of the Cross, The Edge of Darkness and Judgement of Heaven are all fantastic songs worth the price of admission.
 
But why they put only 8 songs on XI, they had Virus and 3 b'sides song but they didnt want to include them on XI album.
 
The X Factor is a fantastic album. The Sign of the Cross, Lord of the Flies, The Edge of Darkness, The Unbeliever - all real gems on top of other solid tracks. There's no bad one, to be honest. I appreciate what they went for in terms of songwriting. Steve did what he wanted to do and I always respect it when an honest artistic vision wins over trying to make fans and/or management happy.

But I'm saying this from a time perspective. I'm not sure if I'd be as optimistic in the 90s, if I was a fan back then. Maybe, maybe not. Now I know Bruce and Adrian came back and they released an album that solidified the band and their approach to music, which started with TXF. I like Blaze's performance on the album, he's my second favourite Maiden vocalist, but Bruce is just a better singer and a better frontman and every song from TXF played live sounds superior when he performs it IMO. So I see TXF as a very interesting detour, a crucial change of direction and perhaps a necessary reset in the band's history and I'm grateful for it, but I'm really glad that in the end it paved the way to the current era of the band.
 
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