Virtual XI

Virtual XI (pronounced: Virtual Eleven) is the 11th studio album by British heavy 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.

The album cover and tour tied in with two extra-musical events: The band played football games alongside their tour (the album title relates in part to the eleven players on a football team), and the Iron Maiden videogame Ed Hunter provided much of the album art.

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.

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.

As of April 2009 Virtual XI had sold 84,987 copies in the United States and more than 1,050,000 worldwide according to Billboard. It is the poorest selling album of the band's career.

The Songs

The songs on the album vary greatly thematically. "Futureal" and "When Two Worlds Collide" both appear to hold futuristic themes, while relating to lyricist Blaze Bayley's accommodating to a different lifestyle after joining a major musical group; "The Angel and the Gambler" deals someone who won't be dissuaded from taking risks; "Lightning Strikes Twice" deals with not rejecting something just because it's improbable; "The Clansman" tells of the Scots' battle for independence in medieval Britain, with a "freedom!" chorus that echoes Braveheart; "The Educated Fool" deals with having the increased responsibility of maturity without having all the answers; "Don't Look to the Eyes of a Stranger" is inspired by Steve Harris's observation of the dangers of the world now that he's a parent; "Como Estais Amigos" is a tribute to the soldiers on both sides in the Falklands War^[1] and marked the first and as of 2008 only 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" ("Don't you think I'm a saviour, don't you think I could save you, don't you think I could save your life?") is repeated 22 times.

"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.

The track "The Clansman" has been sampled by singer Brandy in her song "I Tried"