Blaze Bayley

Of course Blaze has to make a living; I just think tours like this do his solo career no good.

Well, it's been going downhill for a while now hasn't it? What's there to ruin? :p At least he's not doing those acoustic shows anymore...

And to be honest. He's is very good company here. Geoff Tate and Tim "Ripper" Owens? I'm more wondering what the hell those guys are doing on a bill like this.
 
Hehe Yeah maybe. I guess Owens and Blaze have most in common for both being kicked out of their bands to make way for returning former frontmen. In Owens case it even happened twice...both in Priest and Iced Earth. But come on, both Tate and Owens are of higher profile than Blaze :D
 
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Agree. I watched that recent online tour documentary thing and I definitely have respect for the guy to go out there and give it all, for (sometimes) basically nothing in return. At this point he does have to do whatever it takes because let's be real the prospect of his solo career taking off is null at this point. In fact his solo career did take off not too long after he launched it but it stranded.....And that's many years ago and support has been dwindling every year after that I think.
 
Does Blaze have a day job? I've always wondered if his residuals/royalties from Maiden are enough to keep him afloat....seems like the guy gets more and more underground which each passing year.
 
I think a lot of people here are focusing too much on the state of his career. Like Sixes said, it's not like he's going to suddenly find commercial success anytime soon. This is probably something he is doing for fun.
 
Hm yeah. Probably more a case of not having the means financially to fully promote and launch him in the US, coupled with metal having a hard time in the US in general (The X-Factour and the Virtual tour had not done particularly well in the US either and they even cancelled half of the American leg on the Virtual tour)

Also, at that time I don't think many Americans had any history with Blaze, fans from the UK or Europe who knew him from the Wolfsbane days were perhaps more likely to support his solo outfit.
 
Completely ridiculously low numbers. This is more representative of the ignorance of the Americans than of the quality of these strong works.

I think it's mostly an indicator for the lack of any record company's interest in promoting him.
 
Does Blaze have a day job? I've always wondered if his residuals/royalties from Maiden are enough to keep him afloat....seems like the guy gets more and more underground which each passing year.

He sold all rights to the songs after he got the boot, so there's no money from Maiden coming in. He has said time and again how difficult his financial situation is, and I seem to remember a report from several years ago by someone who spotted him selling used cars.
 
I don't think Blaze has had a dayjob for the last 9 years or so, but I think he worked as a shop assistant between 2004-2006, when he had nearly nothing going on. These days, he is out playing nearly all the time + he has done a lot of guest vocals to have an additional income. And he actually sells a few records on his own label too.
 
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He sold all rights to the songs after he got the boot, so there's no money from Maiden coming in. He has said time and again how difficult his financial situation is, and I seem to remember a report from several years ago by someone who spotted him selling used cars.

That sucks. I haven't followed him that closely in his post Maiden career (though I did buy Silicon Messiah and Tenth Dimension). I know he's mentioned his tough financial state in a few interviews I've run across, but I was never sure if it was as "I live modestly when I'm used to living large" or "I literally struggle to pay rent". I forgot about that he shut down his solo band due to 'health and finances'. What a lousy state to be in.
 
There was one interview a few years back where he mentioned coming home from a tour and finding his power cut off because he couldn't pay his bills. I have the impression he's doing a bit better these days, but I somehow doubt his common audiences are much bigger than the 60 people I saw him with some years back.
 
I'd recommend watching that new tour documentary where they follow him on the Canadian part of the Infinite Entanglement tour. Start at Part 2 because Part 1 is just a bit of background info on Blaze and honestly a bit boring. part 2 is when the tour starts...


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Blaze says The Angel and the Gambler feels too long (and more of course!) Whole interview:
http://www.eonmusic.co.uk/blaze-bayley-eonmusic-interview-november-2016.html

The song ‘The Angel And The Gambler’ has caused a lot of debate due to its length and repetitive nature; nowadays even you acknowledge that is too long.
Basically, we had a [shorter] video version of ‘The Angel And The Gambler’, and I felt that was much more appropriate. I think there’s great parts to that song, and in my acoustic sets I often do a version of that, and it’s something nice to do, and it’s a lot of fun. But the album version of ‘The Angel And The Gambler’, I just really do feel it’s too long.

Did no one mention it to Steve Harris at the time? I suppose it’s not easy telling someone like that that one of his songs needs editing.
Well you say; “I think it’s too long”, and you have an argument about it, and they go; “well, let’s try it - I’m really convinced that this is it”, and then it’s on the album, and you can’t adapt it or change it – it’s done! So, it’s one of those things. These things occasionally happen in the record business; you record something, it’s pressed, and then you’re rehearsing it and then you’re going; “maybe that album version is a bit too long” *laughing”. So, going back in a circle, this is exactly why I’m in rehearsals right now with my band, because if something like that happens, we just turn to each other and go; “you know what, I’m bored shitless”, and if I’m bored now doing it, what’s someone who’s going to listen to the record going to feel like! *laughing*
 
Thanks, that's a highly interesting interview on many accounts.
 
I was just coming here to post that interview. It was quite good, some good questions and responses
 
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