Metal legends Iron Maiden have produced several classic albums over their five decades in existence and remain one of the biggest bands globally to ever come out of the genre. Back in the mid-‘90s, however, longtime singer Bruce Dickinson left the band to pursue a solo career, and Maiden recruited former Wolfsbane frontman Blaze Bayley.
Metal wasn’t regarded very highly in pop culture at the time, Bayley’s voice was vastly different than that of Dickinson, and the two albums he recorded with the group are often cited as the weakest in the band’s catalog. That view has softened considerably over the years, but there are still some segments of the Maiden fanbase who can’t embrace that period of Maiden’s history.
In a new interview with Metal Hammer, bassist Steve Harris defended both 1995’s “The X Factor” and 1998’s “Virtual XI” saying they’ve come to be appreciated much more in hindsight. “I said it at the time and I still believe it – those two are really strong, powerful albums and people will appreciate them later,” Harris said. “And people are going back and discovering them and realizing they’re good.”
Harris continued: “’The X Factor’ in particular is really good, but it’s a dark album. Probably ’cos I was in a bit of a dark place with Bruce leaving and me going through a divorce at the time, all this stuff going on. But what came out of that was a powerful album. You take negative stuff and you turn it into a positive and those emotions come out, and that’s what you can do with music. Music’s such a powerful thing.”
To Bayley’s credit, he has had a very lengthy career outside of Maiden, and the band has often played material from his albums in their live set with Dickinson.
