For many Iron Maiden devotees, the years between Bruce Dickinson's departure and triumphant return remain a shrouded era. Blaze Bayley, the vocalist during that time, recently offered his own explanation for the lukewarm reception of the albums he fronted, The X Factor and Virtual XI, in an appearance on the metal podcast The Metal Command (transcribed by Blabbermouth).
Bayley suggested that The X Factor, in particular, might have been "a little too dark" for some longtime followers, with the album's heavier tone and distinct production, contrasting it with Iron Maiden's usual accessibility: "The X Factor's got some incredible music on it, but the sound of it is so dark, and the way it was produced, it's not accessible like some of the other Maiden albums. You've gotta live with that for quite a few spins until you're tuned into what things are doing.
"Then you can get to the music. I think that was maybe a problem with it at the time. It's so dark and the sounds of things were quite different to what came before. People who did live with it, managed to find it. And it's different cultures as well, different countries. In Sweden and Spain, those albums, people loved them as much as every other Iron Maiden album. But in other places, people didn't. It's a different thing."
The complexity extends beyond musical taste. Bayley's tenure was sandwiched between the absence of two iconic figures: Dickinson and his eventual return alongside guitarist Adrian Smith. This context inevitably colored some fans' perceptions. Despite the challenges, Bayley finds solace in dedicated listeners who discover the brilliance within the shadows. He remains proud of the music, acknowledges its lasting impact on his solo career, and explains why he’s grateful for his time in the band.
"For me, I do now shows celebrating my 30th anniversary and that's an anniversary of joining Maiden. It's a great time for me. But what I take away most isn't I play big stadiums or all of that around the world. What I take away most is, working with the guys in Maiden, writing songs with the guys, and what I learned from their experience — they were so generous — and I found, working in the studio and writing, another part of my voice I didn't even know I had.
"So, now I'm able to express the lyric and the melody and get the emotion and the passion and the specific feelings from that lyric, from that song. I'm able to get my voice and use my voice in a way I could never do before. And that's because of everything I learned in Iron Maiden.
“And even though I've been in a wasteland, and I've been underground for a long, long time, I've kept singing and my voice has developed. And now I think my voice is the best it's ever been. I have more control over my voice. I'm able to do more things that help me tell my listener a story than I've ever done before. And that goes back to those five years. That's all it was out of my career of 40 years — five years with Iron Maiden, and I learned so much that I've gradually been able to build up. And now with my upcoming album Circle Of Stone, I'm so proud. The things I've done on this, I haven't been able to do before. And I'm so proud of it."
