Iron Aftermath(Chile 1996)

Iron Maiden - Monumental Theatre, Santiago, Chile, Aug. 29, 1996, during ’’ The X Factour ’’ 1995-1996. The Aftermath (Harris, Bayley, Gers) Blaze Bayley:Vocals Steve Harris:Bass Janick Gers:Guitar Dave Murray:Guitar Nicko McBrain:Drums [Lyrics] Silently to silence fall in the fields of futile war Toys of death are spitting lead where boys that were our soldiers bled War horse and war machine curse the name of liberty Marching on as if they should mix in the dirt our brothers’ blood In the mud and rain, what are we fighting for? Is it worth the pain, it is worth dying for? Who will take the blame, why did they make a war? Questions that come again, should we be fighting at all? Once a ploughman hitched his team here he sowed his little dream Now bodies arms and legs are strewn where mustard gas and barb wire bloom Each moment’s like a year I’ve nothing left inside for tears Comrades dead or dying lie I’m left alone asking why In the mud and rain, what are we fighting for? Is it worth the pain, it is worth dying for? Who will take the blame, why did they make a war? Questions that come again, should we be fighting at all? After the war, left feeling no one has won After the war, what does a soldier become? After the war, left feeling no one has won After the war, what does a soldier become? What is at home when the battles are done? After the war and when no one has won I’m just a soldier After the war, left feeling no one has won After the war, what does a soldier become? After the war, left feeling no one has won After the war, what does a soldier become? ........................................ ’The Aftermath’ is a song from Iron Maiden’s album ’’’The X Factor’’,released in 1995. ’The Aftermath’ is a song that questions the validity and necessity of war. The main verses are built around a very simple sequence of guitar chords, but the instrumental contains some great riffs and guitar solos. This song is not readily accessible, and many will not like it at first, but it will eventually grow on you once you fully realise its depth and power. Although it deals with the psychological wounds endured by any soldier who fought in a war from the early 20th Century until now, the text mentions barbed wire and mustard gas, implying that we are faced here with a veteran of the First World War, even if this not as explicit as in ’Paschendale’. Mustard gas was only employed on a large scale during this conflict and the realisation of the horrifying wounds and deaths it caused probably prevented its further use in subsequent wars. Quite interestingly, the famous British war poet Siegfried Sassoon wrote a poem called ’Aftermath’, which also denounces the horrors of all-out war and the loss of innocence of those who went to war merely as boys, but who returned mentally wounded from the terrible battles of the Great War. ’The X Factor’ is the tenth studio album by Iron Maiden, released in 1995. It is the band’s first album to include Blaze Bayley, formerly of Wolfsbane, as vocalist, replacing Bruce Dickinson who left the band following their previous tour to pursue a solo career. The album title came about in the early part of the recording. According to producer Nigel Green: “We all felt that the way things were progressing - the songs, Blaze’s new involvement, the sound, the commitment - the new album really would have that extra quality, that bit of magic, that X Factor. This became the working title for the album and we liked it, so we kept it. It is also very apt as this is our tenth studio album and “X“ can bring up many images.“ Supporting the album was the X Factour tour. Much like the tour for their following album, Virtual XI, it was cut short after Blaze suffered a violent allergic reaction to certain elements used on the stages where the band performed. This is the second album (Piece of Mind being the first) that did not have a title track on it, as well as the first album to not feature the album title in any of the song lyrics.