When this album was originally released, I was so entrenched in Hardcore that I don't think that Iron Maiden was anywhere close to being on my radar. I can't even remember if I was aware that Dickinson had been replaced with Blaze at the time. It probably took me around 15 years after the release of X Factor before I even bothered to check it out, and as someone that grew up on Iron Maiden through the 80's, my first impression was not that favorable. This is a much darker period for Maiden...hell, most Metal bands were trying to figure out how to survive in a Grunge/Nu Metal world at the time, and Maiden were no exception. Over last couple of years however, I've really grown to appreciate Blaze-era Maiden...much more than I ever expected.
I remember when I first started to get into record collecting, and was chasing Maiden vinyl back in 2005/2006, I figured that Blaze-era vinyl would be a relatively cheap score...I mean no one liked those two albums, so how expensive could they be? Apparently the answer was "holy shitballs" expensive. I quickly backed off, and resigned myself to never owning a copy on vinyl, and at the time I was okay with that since I didn't have a whole lot of love for those two albums anyway.
Well, as I mentioned, I've really come to appreciate X Factor and Virtual XI over the past couple of years, and the itch to own one of these became unbearable, and I added it to my 2015 Top 10 Want List. Once Doug picked up a copy, all bets were fucking off. I couldn't let him show me up, and I was on a mission to grab one too. I bellied up to the discogs marketplace bar, and laid my money down. Hell yeah. There is something oddly satisfying in buying a piece of vinyl that you know the majority of people don't give a shit about.
4 comments:
Great score! One more to check off the side bar. Now I just got something in the mail today you will definitely want to pick up! Up the Irons!
The only time I've ever seen Iron Maiden was on this tour. My main memory is that Blaze Bayley had the mic strapped to his hand and had a little run way that extentended from the stage for him to run down. Decent show but I feel I really should catch 'the real' Iron Maiden at some point before it's too late.
man, i know that album and i can understand why it isn't that well recieved. i checked the prices for it on discogs and was totally blown away by how high they are. insane for a record the majority doesn't like. you must be truly dedicated!
The price is most likely dictated by the fact that it was 1995, and there was not a lot of vinyl being pressed at that time. Trying to find any release on vinyl for this year is going to cost you some money...and since I love this album, it was well worth the money spent!
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