THE X FACTOR

I came to this album in order to defend it from the hatred and scorn it constantly recieves from fans of Iron Maiden. I was pleased to find that here on progarchives this is not the case, people see this release for what it is; a remarkable shift in sound and progressiveness of Iron Maiden.

For the life of me I cannot see why Iron Maiden has made it here to Progarchives. They are by all measures a metal band through and through, the small grains of progressivness you can find in their music hardly warrants their presence here. I could stretch so far that with The X-Factor they might deserve a honorary mention at least. But make no mistake prog-rock lovers, this is not the record for you if you do not like Iron Maiden. This is just Iron Maiden with a twist, not a revelation of their sound and musical approach.

All in all what can be said about this album is that if you are both fond of Iron Maiden and progressive metal, this is the most interesting album they've made. Go get it if you fit into this criteria-- If you don't, just skip it like all their other releases.

3,5/5