25th September 1995

1. Man On The Edge (Bayley, Gers)
2. The Edge Of Darkness (Harris, Bayley, Gers)
3. Judgement Day (Bayley, Gers)
4. Blaze Bayley Interview, Part I (Wilfort, Bayley)
I Live My Way (Harris, Bayley, Gers)

This is part I of the Man On The Edge single from The X Factor album. It was released as sort of a box set with five postcards and room in the box for five CDs: part I and II of Man On The Edge, part I and II of Lord Of The Flies (Part II was never actually released), as well as The X Factor album.

The highlight of the single is 'Judgement Day', a Bayley/Gers composition that didn't make it onto the album. The single's cover picture is a gruesome shot of Eddie's lobotomy which was also included inside the uncensored version of the album. While it is possible to understand the picture and acknowledge the way it fits into the "Eddie mythology", its extreme realism is a bit disturbing. Riggs's comic-book horror style is much better than this type of explicitness. But it is a worthwhile single nonetheless.

Man On The Edge (Bayley, Gers)
This is the same version as the one that appears on the X Factor album.

The Edge Of Darkness (Harris, Bayley, Gers)
This is the same version as the one that appears on the X Factor album.

Judgement Day (Bayley, Gers)
'Judgement Day' is a song that never made it onto The X Factor album, although it is definitely good enough to have been included. The main thrust of the song is that a person's appearance is no indication of their character, perhaps hinting at the evil that exists inside the hearts and minds of many "beautiful" people. Musically the song has a fairly fast riff and manages to avoid the overly upbeat mood that sometimes ruins otherwise good songs.

Both 'Justice Of The Peace' and 'Judgement Day' were written at the time of the X-Factor but didn't make the album as you can only get 74 minutes of music on a CD!

Blaze Bayley Interview, Part I (Wilfort, Bayley)
This is an interview with Blaze Bayley that seems to be dated relatively soon after the release of The X Factor. The topic of discussion is Blaze's auditions with Maiden and his perceptions of Maiden's songwriting and recording style. Unfortunately, this is not a complete interview – it begins somewhere in the middle and abruptly ends several minutes later. It would have been probably better to include the whole thing, since there's certainly plenty of space for it on the disc.

I Live My Way (Harris, Bayley, Gers)

25th September 1995

1. Man On The Edge (Bayley, Gers)
2. The Edge Of Darkness (Harris, Bayley, Gers)
3. Justice Of The Peace (Murray, Harris)
4. Blaze Bayley Interview, Part II (Wilfort, Bayley)

This is part II of the Man On The Edge single from The X Factor album. The highlight of this version of the single is the Murray/Harris song 'Justice Of The Peace'. It also features a continuation of the Blaze Bayley interview, but otherwise there aren't many differences from Part I. A different song from The X Factor should probably have been chosen for track 2 of this version of the single, perhaps 'Fortunes Of War'. An even better alternative would have been to only have one version of the single that included 'Justice Of The Peace' and the complete Blaze interview.

Man On The Edge (Bayley, Gers)
This is the same version as the one that appears on the X Factor album.

The Edge Of Darkness (Harris, Bayley, Gers)
В This is the same version as the one that appears on the X Factor album.

Justice Of The Peace (Murray, Harris)
'Justice Of The Peace' is another very good song which didn't make it on The X Factor. It laments the rise of crime in society and the failure of the judicial system to handle this crime. Interestingly, in Canada a "Justice of the Peace" is another name for a police officer. So perhaps this song is also a call for greater police protection of society.

Both 'Justice Of The Peace' and 'Judgement Day' were written at the time of the X-Factor but didn't make the album as you can only get 74 minutes of music on a CD!

Blaze Bayley Interview, Part II (Wilfort, Bayley)

2nd February 1996

1. Lord Of The Flies (Harris, Gers)
2. My Generation (Townshend)
3. Doctor Doctor (Schenker, Mogg)

This is one of two singles from The X Factor. The cover picture retains the album's realistic style, depicting Eddie as "Lord Of The Flies" wearing royal garb on an electric-chair throne, surrounded by a couple of giant flies. Both of the B-sides are covers, and 'Doctor Doctor' definitely steals the show as the highlight of the single.

Lord Of The Flies (Harris, Gers) В В В
This is the same version as the one that appears on the X Factor album.

My Generation (Townshend)
This song, written by Pete Townshend, was originally on The Who's first album of the same name, released in 1965. It's a rock anthem that is full of teenage angst and was perhaps a bit ahead of its time. Even when I was a teenager I could recognise the transitory nature and lack of depth in this type of song and now that my teenage years are quite far behind me it seems even more silly. One of the reasons that I like Iron Maiden so much is that their lyrics are almost exactly unlike this.

On the other hand, the reason why Maiden – or more precisely Steve Harris – decided to record this song seems pretty obvious: the work on the bass is absolutely gigantic and Steve does his very best to pay tribute to John Entwistle’s frilly bass playing.

The band have been big fans of both The Who and UFO for a long time. Our first ever gig in LA was supporting UFO at Long Beach in 1981 and they were great to work with. Doing B sides it's good paying tribute to people that you like and respect and recording songs that you like – these two were a case of that and were recorded at the same time.

Doctor Doctor (Schenker, Mogg)
'Doctor Doctor' is from UFO's 1974 album Phenomenon. It really is a great song, even though it is sort of a love song, but like most excellent songs it is extremely difficult to describe why it's so good. It has a powerful mood of sadness and loss, while at the same time setting a fast beat and high energy level. The only thing really lacking here is a guitar solo.

The band have been big fans of both The Who and UFO for a long time. Our first ever gig in LA was supporting UFO at Long Beach in 1981 and they were great to work with. Doing B sides it's good paying tribute to people that you like and respect and recording songs that you like – these two were a case of that and were recorded at the same time.

2nd September 1996

1. Virus (short version) (Harris, Gers, Murray, Bayley)
2. My Generation (Townshend)
3. Doctor Doctor (Schenker, Mogg)

Virus is a single from the Best Of The Beast compilation, where it was the only new and previously unreleased song. Iron Maiden has continued their recent tradition of releasing singles in multiple parts, with part I containing a shortened version of 'Virus', while part II has the full-length version. The B-sides of part I also appear as B-sides on the Lord Of The Flies single.

Virus (short version) (Harris, Gers, Murray, Bayley)
This is the shortened – i.e., with all of the slower intro part edited out – version of the one that appears on the Virus – Part II single.

My Generation (Townshend)
This is the same version as the one that appears on the Lord Of The Flies single.

Doctor Doctor (Schenker, Mogg)

2nd September 1996

This is part II of the Virus single from the Best Of The Beast compilation, where it was the only new and previously unreleased song. It's an awesome song, but the real highlight of this single is the two B-sides, which are none other than the Metal For Muthas versions of 'Sanctuary' and 'Wrathchild'. This was the first time that these songs were officially available on CD.

Virus (Harris, Gers, Murray, Bayley)
'Virus' was written after the end of The X Factor tour in response to some of the malicious press that the band had received. The lyrics are stunningly cutting and powerful, with metaphors that add a sweeping generality that seems to include all of society.

Rape of the mind is a social disorder
The cynics, the apathy oneupmanship order

Without a conscience they destroy
And that's a thing that they enjoy
They're a sickness that's in all our minds

Like many inspired songs, the lyrics of 'Virus' have enough ambiguity to support other interpretations. It could have well been about religion and it could just as easily be referring to politics as well.

Musically, 'Virus' is a brilliant masterpiece which begins with soft acoustics and then breaks into a fast and powerful Maiden riff and melody that will stick in your head for days after you first hear it. Despite its lack of guitar solos, this is an instant Iron Maiden classic song.

Sanctuary (Harris, Di'Anno, Murray)
This is the same version as the one that appears on the Metal For Muthas album.

Wrathchild (Harris)

2nd September 1996

This is the 12" vinyl version of the Virus single, with a Derek Riggs cover picture and a couple of B-sides which originally appeared on the legendary Soundhouse Tapes. These are the two tracks that did not appear on the Best Of The Beast CD although they do appear on the vinyl version.

Virus (Harris, Gers, Murray, Bayley)
This is the full-length version of the song, which also appears on the Virus Part II CD single.

Prowler (Harris)
This is the same version as the one that appears on the Soundhouse Tapes.

Invasion (Harris)
This is the same version as the one that appears on the Soundhouse Tapes.