SoHo 3667 - Iron Maiden

TOWARDS THE UNKNOWN
1986-1988

Blaze Bayley and Steve Harris in 1998 From the dark despair of the Dickinson affaire Iron Maiden seem to come out with the impossible: a new young vocalist to challenge the world with. The only way to find a suitable definition of this moment is The X Factor; can anybody say what the band will do? Someone even hoped for the return of Paul Di'Anno, currently living of his past and trying to get on the Pantera train, but without the slightest bit of who he was; same hopeless hope for a Killers part 2, again after the disaster in 1990. Not this time people.
Some said that choosing Blaze Bayley wasn't the right choice because he was too much similar to Bruce Dickinson; they said later that choosing Blaze Bayley wasn't the right choice because he was too different from Bruce Dickinson. Well, people, think whatever you feel more fit. On my own, I think that choosing Blaze was the right choice because he was an Iron Maiden fan who had nothing of purely maidenian in himself. He was so incredibly far from what the band played that... well, you'll see.

THE X FACTOR

The X Factor - Front CoverThe X Factor - Inside Cover
Blaze Bayley
Steve Harris
Dave Murray
Janick Gers
Nicko McBrain
 Man On The Edge - part 1Man On The Edge - part 2
The X Factor Sign Of The Cross - Lord Of The Flies - Man On The Edge - Fortunes Of War
Look For The Truth - The Aftermath - Judgement Of Heaven
Blood On The World's Hands - The Edge Of Darkness - 2 A.M. - The Unbeliever
Man On The Edge Man On The Edge - The Edge Of Darkness - Justice Of The Peace - Judgement Day
Lord Of The Flies Lord Of The Flies - My Generation - Doctor, Doctor

This is the impossible album. They just cannot have recorded it. This is a quantum leap, and I'm not sure about the direction; it's not backward, so I must suppose it's forward. Eddie comes to life on the cover, and it's a big change again, but at least makes some sense and it's not that far from his creator's style (anyway, the alternative cover is light years better than the fron one!).
The songs are deep, so deep that you could get frightened. Sign Of The Cross opens, and Blaze's voice comes out of total darkness and from the blackest depths roars, solemn and on his edge. Then two oldstyle, and I will say that if you must write something not new, Man On The Edge is at least a good way to do it. Then comes the half-concept of the album: war. I think I never listened to so much war songs in a single album but, hey, they're all great. While the guitar sound is bad and the production even worst (please, 'Arry, hire someone who knows what the knobs on the console are for!). The lyrics are deep and meaningful, without the rethorics of Fear Of The Dark, like on Judgement Of Heaven, which is simply great and shows you why Blaze is in.
Yes, a little of space just to talk about Blaze, since you all seem to want to know this: is he any good? Yes, he is, but you're looking the wrong way. It took me three years to understand the band's decision, knowing that even the legendary Andre' Matos of Angra auditioned for them. So? Any solutions? Here is it: Blaze is a believer, he believes every single note of what he sings, and while he can miss lots of notes in an evening, the world of the song is his world until the end, and that has no price (and remember that Matos, I'm sad to say it, is a piece of ice on his albums).
So the singer is in this bleak and bad sounding world of sadness, but somehow the music is great. You're not listening to the classic Iron Maiden, you're listening (finally!) to what should have come after Sevenh Son, even if it's of lower quality. This is the evolution we were waiting for. This way we can enjoy 2 AM and The Unbeliever: introspection in all of the two, and the weirdest sounding jingle ever. It's the future. Welcome to the future.

BEST OF THE BEAST

Best Of The Beast
All Iron Maiden Line-Ups
 Virus - CD 1Virus - CD 2Virus - Vynil
BEST OF THE BEAST Virus - Sign Of The Cross - Man On The Edge - Afraid To Shoot Strangers (Live)
Bring Your Daughter To The Slaughter - Holy Smoke - The Clairvoyant
Can I Play With Madness - The Evil That Men Do - Heaven Can Wait
Wasted Years - Rime Of The Ancient Mariner (Live) - Running Free (Live)
2 Minutes To Midnight - Aces High - Where Eagles Dare - The Trooper
The Number Of The Beast - Run To The Hills - Hallowed Be Thy Name
Wrathchild - Phantom Of The Opera - Sanctuary - Strange World - Iron Maiden
Virus (CD 1) Virus (Edit) - My Generation - Doctor, Doctor
Virus (CD 2) Virus - Wrathchild - Sanctuary
Virus (Vynil) Virus - Prowler - Invasion

What can I say about this? A Best Of about Iron Maiden is like saying "you just want it or it's even a need?" I did not madly like the collection to be true (just because I already had everything, excluding the live Afraid To Shoot Strangers with a Blaze you cannot tell from Bruce and Virus that I got anyway on the singles. Virus, the important one, is a great song if you cut off 2 minutes in excess at the start, that cripple its potentials. Nothing else to say, but if you can get the collectors edition of Best Of The Beast and recreate the legendary Soundhouse Tapes (you need the collection and the vyinil version of Virus), getting also the never released Strange World (again from the tapes) and the two songs from the compilation Metal For Muthas (Virus CD 2), you could have some nice surprise (and still have less costs than looking for the originals.

VIRTUAL XI

Virtual XI
Blaze Bayley
Steve Harris
Dave Murray
Janick Gers
Nicko McBrain
 The Angel And The Gambler (CD 1)The Angel And The Gambler (CD 2)The Angel And The Gambler (Picture Disc)Futureal
VIRTUAL XI Futureal - The Angel And The Gambler - Lightning Strikes Twice
The Clansman - When Two Worlds Collide - The Educated Fool
Don't Look To The Eyes Of A Stranger - Como Estais Amigos
The Angel And The Gambler The Angel And The Gambler - Blood On The World's Hands - The Aftermath
Man On The Edge (Video)
Futureal Futureal - The Evil That Men Do - Man On The Edge
The Angel And The Gambler (Video)

This album states that I was right on X Factor and in giving Blaze all my trust. What the band still lacks is a focus: I mean, there isn't something to build the album around it, so this seems a more modern version of Piece Of Mind since it hasn't a sound uniform like on Somewhere In Time.
Steve Harris, sadly, is still behind the console, and we hear it; we hear at as well as a large amount of noise. Well, I hope he's getting better (and he stops those scratches in the background, I have bought a cd-player for something I hope!). On the creative side, the songs are great, excluding The Angel And The Gambler which is brilliant but off-stage needs to be cut down to 5 minutes (WITH the silent part, not like on the single) from its former 10 (with thousands of little changes, it's not really the same all the time). Too bad there's only one fast stab with Futureal while the other songs are unbalanced towards the "long epic with slow start". Anyway, the results are more than pleasing, so I'll be happy.
While you were looking the other way, the guitars finally found their place and Jan and the Blonde duel with wonderful style like in the 80s, but with the wise of a "best of", since every solo reminds a different album. No new ideas? I'd call it self-tribute, and a band like Iron Maiden can be allowed it. The "repeated lyrics syndrome" is not as dramatic as it seems, and in the end you have something like one could-be-good song (still a crowd pleaser), two great ones (Futureal, When Two Worlds Collide), and five (five!!) masterpieces (Lightning Strikes Twice, The Clansman where Blaze reaches for somewhere the late Bruce couldn't even dream of, The Educated Fool, Don't Look To The Eyes Of A Stranger where adrenalyne rules, and the deeply felt Como Estais Amigos tat nearly makes you cry.
Is this enough to say that the legend is definitely back?
Yes, my friend, it is...

NAVIGATION CONTROLS

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