My number one is
The X-Factor, and second is probably
No Prayer for the Dying. Then follows
Fear of the Dark and
Virtual XI sits at the bottom.
With your permission I re-post -slightly edited- what I wrote about these albums.
The X-Factor
Never before and after, Maiden was disliked by so many people as in the period of 1995-1998: The Blaze years.
For many young people this is perhaps strange to comprehend. They seem to appreciate this era, just like young people at that time, who grew up with Maiden in the nineties. Like me for instance. I didn’t understand so much disgust. So many people who loved them in the eighties turned their back on Maiden. There’s still some of them on this forum, I bet. Nothing terribly wrong with turning your back on a band, but I find it important to illustrate this, because in my mind it’s hard to separate it, when thinking about
The X-Factor.
People who knew Maiden since the eighties and who still liked the Blaze years at that time were rare species, especially on the internet (Baeleron had furious newsgroup battles with the worst haters, to defend Blaze and the band. Maverick also appreciated this era, which can be seen in the Commentary).
A lof of (especially European and South American) gigs were still very crowded. Most people still cared to see a Maiden gig, which has always been a special experience. But a majority of the media and the fans didn’t like the Blaze albums, especially because of Blaze’s voice, the build-up of the songs, and the musical climate in these years.
Looking back, Janick couldn’t illustrate it in a better way with the following words:
“…X Factor I felt was a great album. Wasn’t well-received at the time. The grunge thing had happened, and every rock artist was canceling tours right across America. We went out and we played and we were the most unfashionable band at the time in the world, but we still went out and did the gigs and we enjoyed ourselves, and we thought we had a good album. See you go out and you play, and you make an album, and you hope the people like it, and if they do like it, got bless them, and the people that don’t, well, God bless them too."
I remember that
The X-Factor review in Aardschok magazine was very negative. It said that the songs were too long, started too slow with too long and calm intros. Nowadays those same reviewers don't seem to bother about other albums with long intros. They rave about Opeth and every band with long songs has suddenly become fantastic.
Anyway, I never had a problem with longer intros.
Afraid to Shoot Strangers and
Fear of the Dark also contained these.
On
The X-Factor Nicko does a very nice job, and the drumsound is also good. Apart from
Somewhere in Time and
A Matter of Life or Death I even like this drumsound the most from all the Maiden albums.
About the whole sound, I read often that people dislike the mix of the album. Everyone his own opinion, but I truly hear that the music (esp. guitars and drums) does not sound as thin as in
Virtual IX,
Fear of the Dark and even
Seventh Son of a Seventh Son. I think it’s the 2nd best sounding album of the nineties (I prefer
No Prayer for the Dying soundwise).
The solos also have something special. This is the only studio album where you can hear Dave’s solos from the left speaker and Janick’s from the right.
TXF's haunting, moody atmosphere was majorily caused by Steve who went through some hard times in his private life. It’s a big quality of this album, and makes it enjoyable to listen to it without a single pause. For such a long record (over 70 minutes!) that’s a rare thing these days, when loose songs are more important than whole albums.
The second half of the album is very strong, and perhaps also most underrated. I have always liked two songs that haven't been mentioned much in the past:
Judgement of Heaven &
The Unbeliever.
The mid-sections of
The Educated Fool and
No More Lies are in my ears clear rip-offs of the mid-section of
Judgement of Heaven. I'd say
The Unbeliever is one of the most interesting things Maiden have ever done! These acoustic guitars parts in the bridges, the instrumental mid-section with the boneshivering solos and almost tribal drumming, really superb!
I was never a huge fan of the studio version of
The Edge of Darkness, but I remember it was surprisingly nice and way heavier, hearing it live in concert, back in 1995, and the song has a nice acceleration (like in
Hallowed Be Thy Name).
2 AM is a nice moody ballad with a typical Janick solo (a la
Wasting Love &
Como Estais Amigos) and I love the atmosphere and the solos in the strong
Blood in the World's Hands.
To end this in a more positive way than the beginning of this post:
This album is getting more and more recognition, and I'm very glad about that. It took a while, but it has the potential to be one of the most loved Maiden records of their whole discography. I hope that Maiden will feel that as well. Let’s hope they will perform another track of it in the future!
No Prayer For The Dying
This was one of the last albums that I bought during my discovery. I knew "Holy Smoke" quite well and also "Bring Your Daughter....To The Slaughter". As often, I discovered that the rest of the material was more interesting than the singles. I especially like the first half of the title track, "Fates Warning", the riffy "Public Enema Number One", the instrumental mid-section in "Run Silent Run Deep" and "Mother Russia" with its haunting keyboards!
No Prayer For The Dying is the most live sounding studio recording Maiden ever created. Seems they really wanted to move away from the polished sound of SSOASS. Everything sounds rougher than ever, of course because Bruce’s vocals do, but also the way Nicko sounds on this record. They both fit the approach.
Fear Of The Dark
This is a very special album for me because it was the first one that came out after I got into the band. My first concert was from the Fear Of The Dark-Tour. At that time I wondered what would have sounded better. "Fear Of The Tour" or "Tour Of The Dark". Uhh, right, anyway, back to the album!
I liked the majority of the tracks with the exception of "Fear Is The Key" (hard to get into) and "The Apparition" with its simple couplets. "Chains Of Misery" wasn't that good either. More recently I start to appreciate these songs, I especially discovered quite a lot in the Apparition.
However, I liked the way "Weekend Warrior" developed into an intruiging song, containing beautiful harmonies, with acoustic guitars underneath it. Favourites were and still are "Afraid To Shoot Strangers" (probably my favourite 90's song), "Childhood's End", "The Fugitive", "Judas Be My Guide" and the title track. I have to confess that I also liked the singles this time. Especially the rocker "From Here To Eternity" with the cool Janick Gers solo.
I think that Iron Maiden does the album not much justice by playing only "Fear of the Dark". I know that the band wants to spellbind all these new people who witness Maiden for the first time. I can't blame them.
But at the same time it looks like they've completely forgotten that "Afraid To Shoot Strangers" had a fantastic reaction from the audience as well! I'll never forget that sea of v-shaped arms in the air, clapping along with the rhythm.
Virtual XI
According to Blaze's biography Maiden waited long with recording this album and when it finally happened they didn't take much time. He felt it was done in a rush.
Maybe this is why the songs don't contain as many details as in other songs. Big disappointment is Nicko. Nicko's drums are the dullest from all the records (he touches his toms 4 or 5 times on the whole album). I remember he said in an interview that he did that on purpose to give the music more room. But it didn't make the music more attractive. People have made some funny comments about it: Steve Harris had done the drums himself. ;-)
Nonsense of course, but when I was in Stockholm I actually saw an album by an artist called Steve Harris and he was the drummer!
Speaking of drums, Nicko's Muppet drums in the fast part of the instrumental section in Don't Look to Eyes of a Stranger are unforgivable.
Another critic of the time was that the album sounded like a demo, and not even one that was recorded well. In the album review I read the album's sound was compared with Helloween's
Better Than Raw album, and it was trashed. I don't have much of a problem with the production sound. It's a warm sound, especially the rhythm guitars are roaring nicely from the speakers (or headphones).
I feel that there is a number of unoriginal moments on the album. A bit too easily Maiden fell back on things they did before. This happened on most of the later records as well but this was the start of it.
Remarkably this album only features one song by Janick Gers. Perhaps he had a writing block of some sort, but looking at his impact on the previous records (especially
The X-Factor), I feel that the album might have suffered from the lack of his input. Thank God his playing was not blocked: He did one of his best guitar solos on The Clansman. And also in Como Estais Amigos.
Virtual XI also contains some spellbinding moments. Take for instance the intros of Lightning Strikes Twice and The Educated Fool!
In 1998 Blaze looked comfortable in his role as frontman and the band was on fire. Apart from the chorus of Lightning, the rest of the VXI-material went down very well.
I can enjoy the album but I simply do not find it as striking as most other stuff Maiden has done.
