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.
