The X Factor  by Iron Maiden

The X Factor is the tenth studio recording effort by Iron Maiden in 1995. Twenty years after the formation of the band and fifteen years after their first album, much has changed for Britain's most iconic heavy metal band. Blaze Bayley is on vocals instead of Bruce Dickinson, Nigel Green is in production instead of Martin Birch, and Janick Gers is on guitars instead of Adrian Smith. Steve Harris is trying to make a fresh start for his band.

The album approaches 70 minutes in length and, in short, nothing resembles albums like Killers or Powerslave. The sound of the album surpassed the classic heavy metal sound and moved into progressive metal. The X Factor took almost a year to complete. The "peculiar" title of the album was the title that Iron Maiden gave to the album as they were recording it, and they ultimately felt it expressed the reality of the band at the time, so they kept it as the official title of their new album.

The album managed to reach No. 8 on the UK charts but reached No. 147 on the Billboard.