The X Factor (Iron Maiden)

The X Factor (1995) was the first album of Iron Maiden with Blaze Bayley on vocals. The album showed compositionally more similar events in the work of the eighties than the last two albums with Bruce Dickinson ('No Prayer for the Dying "from 1990 and" Fear of the Dark "from 1992). The album is known for its dark sound, which was a reflection of the personal life of bandleader Steve Harris himself at that time because of a divorce, the death of his father and the departure of former singer Bruce Dickinson. Unlike previous albums not The X Factor starts with a quick short opener, but with the eleven minute epic Sign of the Cross. The subjects of the album cover, in particular, war and religion. These same themes and musical structure later returned back to A Matter of Life and Death in 2006.

Numbers [ edit ]

 * Sign of the Cross - 11:17 (Steve Harris)
 * Lord of the Flies - 5:04 (Steve Harris and Janick Gers)
 * Man on the Edge - 4:13 (Blaze Bayley and Janick Gers)
 * Fortunes of War - 7:23 (Steve Harris)
 * Look for the Truth - 5:10 (Steve Harris, Janick Gers and Blaze Bayley)
 * The Aftermath - 6:20 (Steve Harris, Janick Gers and Blaze Bayley)
 * Judgement of Heaven - 5:12 (Steve Harris)
 * Blood On The World's Hands - 5:57 (Steve Harris)
 * The Edge of Darkness - 6:39 (Steve Harris, Janick Gers and Blaze Bayley)
 * 2 PM - 5:37 (Steve Harris, Janick Gers and Blaze Bayley)
 * The Unbeliever - 8:10 (Steve Harris and Janick Gers)

Occupation [ edit ]

 * Blaze Bayley - Vocals
 * Dave Murray - Guitar
 * Janick Gers - Guitar
 * Steve Harris - Bass
 * Nicko McBrain - Drums

[Single Edit ]

 * Man on the Edge (August 1995)
 * Lord of The Flies (April 1996)