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The X Factor, Iron Maiden. Let me clarify this right away: my favorite Maiden album. Why is Ed on the cover being sadistically tortured? We don’t know, but one could almost say that he symbolically represents Iron Maiden, who receive special treatment to forget the dominant and overwhelming figure of Dickinson. They emerge from their very own clinic with different faces. They are no longer the rockers from Fear of the Dark, the treatment has worked. This is how they tell us about their post-treatment world with a journey into their world and their minds in search of the X Factor, "The X Factor". They start accompanied by monks in black, who influence them. Who is in Mr. Dickinson’s place? Brother Bayley. His deep voice similar to that of the monks makes us define him this way.
In "The Sign Of The Cross" he takes us to the Middle Ages, perhaps that stage of the journey was intended for Dickinson, but Brother Bayley adds a darkness to the sound that Dickinson did not know how to give. It’s wonderful, as a stage. Then we are catapulted to a deserted island in the company of guitars soaring high, free and light in a crystalline sky, we are in front of the "Lord of the Flies". After which Bayley takes us by the hand again, showing us a "Man on the Edge" that reminds us of Dickinson in style, but does not make us miss him. A flash, and we are in a city after a war, skillfully guided by Harris to see the "Fortunes of War" with a bass and guitar intro that feels new and exalts. For "Look For The Truth" we end up in the minds of Bayley, Gers, and Harris, something that will happen to us quite often in this journey in search of the X Factor. Again, an experience that feels fresh, but does not disappoint, indeed, it surprises and moves.
This time the group loads us with a rifle and camouflage suit, and we find ourselves in the midst of a war in "Aftermath", where McBrain shows us with his sticks what rifle shots are... Just in time to escape the enemies, we return to Harris’s mind for "Judgement of Heaven". A splendid adventure, crowned by solos and bridges that fit perfectly, like the songs of this album. This time we don’t move, we stay with Harris and hear his opinions regarding "Blood on the World’s Hands". The guest welcomes us with an amazing bass line and continues undeterred to show his skill. We return to war with "The Edge of Darkness", always at a very rhythmic pace and with McBrain at the forefront. Finally, the final stages of our adventure: "2 A.M." and "The Unbeliever", splendid, dark, and introspective as the whole journey has been.
Have Iron Maiden finally found the X Factor? Without a doubt. But then they moved to a Brave New World, losing a pinch of the Factor on the way there; who knows, maybe there will be a return journey to find it again.
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
01 Sign of the Cross (11:17)
Eleven saintly shrouded men
silhouettes stand against the sky
one in front with a cross held high
come to wash my sins away
Standing alone in the wind and rain
feeling the fear that is growing
Sensing the change in the tide again
caught by the storm that is brewing
Feel the anxiety hold off the fear
some of the doubt in the things you believe
Now that your faith will be put to the test
nothing to do but await what is coming
Why is then God still protecting me
even when I don't deserve it?
Though I am blessed with an inner strength
some they would call it a penance
Why am I meant to face this alone
asking the question time and again
Praying to God won't keep me alive
Inside my head feel the fear start to rise...
They'll be saving their prayers when the moment comes
there'll be penance to pay when it's judgement day
And the guilty'll bleed when that moment comes
they'll be coming to claim, take your soul away
The sign of the cross
The name of the rose
A fire in the sky
The sign of the cross
They'll be coming to bring the eternal flame
They'll be bringing us all immortality
Holding comunion so the world be blessed
my creator, my God, lay my soul to rest
The sign of the cross
The name of the rose
A fire in the sky
The sign of the cross
Lost the love of heaven above
Chose the lust of the earth below
Eleven saintly shrouded men
Came to wash my sins away
02 Lord of the Flies (05:03)
Lord Of The Flies (Harris, Gers) (Commentary)
I don't care for this world anymore, I just want to live my own fantasy
Fate has brought us to these shores, what was meant to be is now happening
I've found that I like this living in danger
Living on the edge it feels, it makes feel as one
Who cares now what's right or wrong, it's reality
Killing so we survive wherever we may roam
Wherever we may hide, we've got to get away
I don't want existence to end, we must prepare ourselves for the elements
I just want to feel like we're strong, we don't need a code of morality
I like all the mixed emotion and anger
It brings out the animal, the power you can feel
And feeling so high with this much adrenaline
Excited but scary to believe what we've become
Saints and sinners, something within us
We are lord of the flies
Saints and sinners, something willing us
To be lord of the flies
(3:17-Solo: Janick Gers)
Saints and sinners, something within us
We are lord of the flies
Saints and sinners, something willing us
To be lord of the flies
Saints and sinners, something within us
We are lord of the flies
Saints and sinners, something willing us
To be lord of the flies
04 Fortunes of War (07:23)
After the war
And now that they've sent us homeward
I can't help but feel that I'm on my own
No one can see just what this conflict has done to
The minds of the men who are on their way home
I'm scarred for life
but it's not my flesh that's wounded
So how can I face the torment alone
The vivid scenes and all the recurring nightmares
I lay there and sweat until it gets light
People say 'don't worry'
Say that time's a perfect healer
That the nightmares they will come to pass
Can't hear what they're saying
I am living in my own world
And I'm feeling trance-like all the time
I hear voices in my head
Could I really be going crazy
In the night the visions seem so real
Do you care if you live or die
When you laugh are you really crying
You're not sure what's real anymore
Fortunes of war
Fortunes of war
Fortunes of war
no pain anymore
Sometimes I wake
I feel that my spirit's broken
I wonder if I've the strength...
carry on carry on
05 Look for the Truth (05:10)
All my dark dreams drift
Like smoke in the breeze
The fear grips me as I fall towards my sleep
Here comes the nightmare that never ends
Here is the dream that makes monsters of men
In the house of my soul
In rooms of ugliness and cold
Memories locked away
All the doubts and fears I never faced
Now they come again
I am falling down to meet with them
Fears within us all
Mine awake and they stand up tall
Look for the truth
Deepest cut of all from you
Knife of the truth
Blade of harted slicing through
I pray my sleep will break
Maybe this time I won't wake
Weakness I hide so well
This dagger in my mind will tell
It's my final stand
I make a fist out of each hand
To shadows of the past
Take a breath and I scream attack
Look for the truth
Deepest cut of all from you
Knife of the truth
Blade of hatred slicing through
Here is the truth
Deepest cut of all from you
knife of the truth
Blade of hatred slicing through
06 The Aftermath (06:20)
Silently to silence fall
in the fields of futile war
Toys of death are spitting lead
Where boys that were our soldiers bled
war horse and war machine
Curse the name of liberty
Marching on as if they should
mix in the dirt our brothers' blood
Chorus:
In the mud and rain
what are we fighting for
Is it worth the pain
Is it worth dying for
Who will take the blame
Why did they make a war
Questions that come again
Should we be fighting at all
Once a ploughman hitched his team
Here he sowed his little dream
Now bodies arms and legs are strewn
Where musterd gas and barbwire bloom
Each moment's like a year
I've nothing left inside for tears
Comrades dead or dying lie
I'm left alone asking why
repeat chorus
After the war
Left feeling no one has won
After the war
What does a soldier become
10 2 A.M. (05:37)
I get in from work at 2a.m.
And sit down with a beer
Turn on the late night t.v.
And then wonder why I'm here
It's meaningless and trivial
And it washes over me
And once again I wonder
Is this all there is for me
Here I am again
Look at me again
Here I am again
On my own
Trying hard to see
What there is for me
Here I am again
On my own
Life seems so pathetic
I wish I could live it all behind
This canvas chair, this bed,
these walls that fall in on my mind
Hold on for something better
That just drags you trough the dirt
Do you just let go or carry on
And try to take the hurt
11 The Unbeliever (08:10)
When you start to take a look within
Do you feel at ease with what you see
Do you think you can have peace of mind
And have self belief or be satisfied
Do you think you even like yourself
Or really think you could be someone else
Is there something that you'd rather be
Never thought you'd be, had the chance to see
All my life I've run away
All my life I've tried to hide away
Feel the paranoia creeping in
Like a cancer eating at the skin
Do you feel you've lost your self-esteem
And your self respect, what can you expect
All my life I've run away
All my life I've tried to hide away
All my life... I've run away
Let my faith... slip away
All my life... I've run away
Allowed my faith... to drift away
Are you scared to look inside your mind
Are you worried just at what you'll find
Do you really want to face the truth
Does it matter now, what have you got to lose
Try to release the anger from within
Forgive yourself a few immortal sins
Do you really care what people think
Are you strong enough to release the guilt
All my life I've run away
All my life I've tried to hide away
All my life... I've run away
Let my faith... slip away
All my life... I've run away
Allowed my faith... to drift away
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