Virtual XI is the 11th studio album by Britishheavy metal band Iron Maiden. The album was released on March 23, 1998. It was the second and final Iron Maiden album recorded with vocalist Blaze Bayley. The album is slightly unusual in the Iron Maiden catalogue for its extensive keyboard use. For this album all the keyboard parts were performed by band founder/bassist Steve Harris whereas on previous albums the keyboard parts were handled by session musician Michael Kenney. The album also had a reduced songwriting input from Janick Gers compared to the previous Iron Maiden albums since he joined the band in 1990. This is the third album by Maiden that was not named after a song on the album (similarly to Piece of Mind and the previous album). The limited edition of the CD came with a lenticular cover. The songs on the album vary greatly thematically. "Futureal" and "When Two Worlds Collide" both appear to hold futuristic themes; "The Angel and the Gambler" deals with obsessive gambling; "Lightning Strikes Twice" appears to deal with a childhood fear of thunder-storms; "The Clansman" tells of the Scots' battle for independance in medieval Britain; "The Educated Fool" deals with a person high in intellect but lacking a goal in his life. "Como Estais Amigos" is a tribute to the soldiers on both sides in the Falklands War[1] and marked the first time the closing track on an Iron Maiden album was not a Steve Harris composition. Many fans felt that tracks like "The Angel and the Gambler" and "Don't Look to the Eyes of a Stranger" were overlong, which was the basis of much of the criticism aimed at the album. For example, the chorus line in "The Angel and the Gambler" is repeated over 20 times. Just like the tour of The X Factor album, the tour for this album was cut short when Bayley suffered from an allergic reaction caused by certain elements used on the stage. "The Angel and the Gambler" and "Futureal" were released as singles. After Bruce Dickinson came back to the band, Iron Maiden continued to play both "Futureal" and "The Clansman" in concert. While "Futureal" only was performed live in 1999, "The Clansman" would become a popular live track on all tours through 2003. Live versions of both songs with Dickinson on vocals can be found on "The Wicker Man" single and the Rock in Rio album, respectively.
