Iron Maiden changed singers for the second time in 1994, when Blaze Bayley joined them, following Bruce Dickinson's departure. Bayley's tenure with the band saw the release of two studio albums, The X Factor in 1995 and Virtual XI in 1998, and both records failed to achieve the commercial success of their predecessors, and at the same time became hot topics of conversation among the band's rabid fanbase, with many considering them the lowest point in the band's career.
However, Iron Maiden's bassist and founder Steve Harris has a completely different opinion about those albums. In a recent interview on the Scars And Guitars podcast, Harris was asked if the band ever considered tuning down their instruments during the Blaze Bayley era to better suit Bayley's baritone voice. Harris candidly responded, saying: "Um, not really, no. Maybe on some things, in retrospect, we could have done. But no, we didn't really think about it."
He mentioned that it wasn't until they performed live that they realized a few issues might have been addressed by adjusting the tuning: "It wasn't, really, till we got out and played live that we realized there was a couple of things… The weird thing is that Blaze was really confident when we were rehearsing. And then a couple of times on a couple of songs, then we get out live and there was maybe an issue or two here and there, but in general, he handled it really well. But it is what it is."
However, Harris expressed gratitude for Bayley's contributions: "I suppose in retrospect you can do all kinds of things, but Blaze, he helped keep the band alive for that period. So we owe him a lot."
Reflecting on Iron Maiden's albums from that time, particularly The X Factor, Harris shared his personal connection to the music during a 2018 interview with Chris Jericho's Talk Is Jericho podcast: "I really like that album. It's very personal to me," he remarked, noting that these albums are now gaining more appreciation.
"I remember saying at the time that those albums that we did with Blaze, that people would in the future come to appreciate them a lot more later on. And they are — they are starting to do that now. They definitely appreciate them a lot more now. They were bloody good albums, in my opinion. It was just a point in time where, whatever we were going through at the time, I think it brought out some really good stuff."
Harris acknowledged that the era was marked by both struggles and determination to keep the spirit of heavy metal alive: "We were fighting — everyone was kind of fighting at the time because everyone thought metal was going down and all this. And it was, to a certain degree — but it makes you fight, makes you change and fight harder. I like that. There's an element to it, a fire in it, that's very important. It's an important part of our career. Every career has highs and lows and ups and downs, whether Bruce is in the band or not, and it is what it is. You just ride the waves, really. At the moment, we're on the crest of a wave, which is fantastic. You take it all day long, but you never know what's around the corner, really."
