Virtual XI

Virtual XI is the eleventh studio album by British heavy metal band Iron Maiden. It was released on 23 March 1998 and was produced by Steve Harris.

Background

The name Virtual XI refers to the 11th studio album and to eleven players belonging to a football team. The band, especially Steve Harris are very big football fans and so the album even came with a poster where the band posed together with big football stars for a group photo.

The album was produced by band boss Steve Harris in his home studio. Nigel Green was his assistant. Critics accuse Harris that among other things the decision to produce the album himself led to the failure. Indeed, the sound is partly quite punchless and hardly comparable with other Iron Maiden productions.

This criticism led to Steve Harris handing over his place to Kevin Shirley on subsequent productions. Iron Maiden was criticized in North America due to the advertising for AOL on the album and bonus CD. The European versions do not include this advertising.

The album cover was designed by Melvyn Grant, who was also responsible for Fear of the Dark. The cover returns to the proven drawn style. It shows band mascot Eddie reaching for a boy who dives into virtual reality with a pair of glasses.

Tour

The album was toured for most of 1998 on the Virtual XI tour, in Germany with Helloween and Dirty Deeds, and on the US tour with Dio and W.A.S.P. The tour ended in South America in the fall of 1998. Iron Maiden had to cancel some shows in the States due to Blaze Bayley's allergy illness. After the abrupt end of the tour, it was announced that both Adrian Smith and Bruce Dickinson would return to Maiden. This marked the end of Bayley's career as the third Maiden singer.