After several years of using similar music formula, Maiden
go a step foward with this excellent album, musically superior
than all past albums, added some progresive and gloomy keyboards
Nikko saw that some of the difficult drumms that he been played
is Sign of the Cross, when I discover this album years ago I loved until this day. Some friends that are more involved into
another kind of music like prog. rock, jazz, etc. where amazed
when i show them "Blood on the World's Hand" the intro with
acoustic bass, and the treatment of rythms and drumms are some
of the best i ever hear from Maiden. And if you like the classic
Maiden Line you have excellent tunes like Lord of the flies and
Man on the edge.
This is withou doubt some of the best Maiden Albums, Blaze Bayley is an excellent vocal, different than Bruce, but he really kick's bum!.
Don't lisent the unfair and fool bad reviews of some people that
don't know about Music, all bands need to experiment different ways, need to explore other possibilities, even if a member don't
want to continue it doesn't mean that a band it's Over, Dickinson
is not Maiden!, as a matter of fact some tunes of Blaze's albums
are still played by Bruce in the Actual Line Up.

So do a favor for you're self and buy this album to start
this excellent dark and apocaliptic travel through the
excellent songs packed fully of advanced and outstanding music
skills.

X FACTOR RULES ! UP THE IRONS !

This is IM's most progressive album and it's gloomiest. Blaze has been critized ad nauseum for IM's perceived demise through this era. Not so. This was a great change in direction and while not Bruce, Blaze held his own.

Mature IM fans will love this.

OK, so I rented this from the library back in August, and I listened to it once, and I already made my decision: This album sucks. So then I bought it again a few days ago, because I decided to give it another chance... and I'm glad I did. I listened to it another time, "this is better than when I first heard it", and again and again and now I like it.
PS. You can see my original review on the other X Factor site here on Amazon.

I have actually grown to like Blaze the Messiah, his vocals are interesting, and I own two Woflsbane and BLAZE albums now. Sure he's not as amazing as Bruce Dickinson, but he's a good replacement.

1. SIGN OF THE CROSS: 10/10: This is a beautiful song, a great epic, running in at 11 minutes long. I like the chant at the beginning, and then the soft intro... it's all so great.

2. LORD OF THE FLIES: 9/10: Great, bluesy song, but Bruce sings it better!

3. MAN ON THE EDGE: 8/10: Cool track, very catchy and Blaze shines on this.

4. FORTUNES OF WAR: 8/10: Very cool song, very good lyrics too.

5. LOOK FOR THE TRUTH: 10/10: Creepy song, great vocals, creepy lyrics and amazing guitar work too!

6. THE AFTERMATH: 10/10: Touching song, beautiful lyrics, great war related song.

7. JUDGEMENT OF HEAVEN: 10/10: Very depressing lyrics but a catchy beat and vocal delivery you can't deny will have you singing along.

8. BLOOD ON THE WORLD'S HANDS: 10/10: This song makes you think, great lyrics, and a very well done social commentary.

9. THE EDGE OF DARKNESS: 10/10: Reminds me a bit of Ghost of The Navigator, a very great song, and the lyrics tell a beautiful story!

10. 2 AM: 10/10: A very beautiful song, tells the story of a man who's depressed and is wondering what his life means. Good acoustic song.

11. THE UNBELIEVER: 20/10: They saved the best for last! 8 minutes long, definitely is one of my favorite songs of all time and might be one of Maiden's best.

Could Bruce do better? Probably, but this album is great, and Blaze is a great singer. Worth owning!

In 1995 the world did not know what to expect from the new line up of Iron Maiden. Blaze Bailey joined them out of Wolfsbane, while Bruce Dickenson left into his own solo career. How do you replace a line-up that has gone multi-platinum worldwide many times. This would be a template on how to do that for any other band. Blaze Bailey is Brilliant in his own way on this album. He does not try to emulate the vocal range of Dickenson, and does his own take on Iron Maiden's classic arena/power NWOBHM rock. The songs are slower at times than previous albums, but there are still many blistering guitar solos and songs to get your fist pumping. Favorites for me are Blood On The World's Hands, Man on the Edge, and Sing of The Cross. This is a great album for even new maiden fans to get introduced to. It goes to show that vocals are only a small mix into something that is as evolving as Iron Maiden.