Blaze Bayley

Seriously thought I was in the marvel thread seeing s2 images from Daredevil. :p
 
Blaze is on of the luckiest people alive. When Sabbath needed to substitute Ozzy they got one of the best vocalists around ( Dio ). Priest got The Ripper who could sing anything without breaking a sweat.

And Maiden got Blaze. In my opinion the guy could not even sing in Wolfsbane.

In my opinion Maiden got him cause they knew him well and cause they could hang out with him. He was the average singer who happened to be at the right place and at the right time.

I think his voice was not suitable for Maiden. The songs lost any type of dynamic presence with Blaze on the vocals. I think anyone could have done a better job.

He was a pain to watch live. We can count his good performances on one hand. I never got why we have to praise the guy because he tried!!! I mean who wouldn't. He got the gig in Maiden after all.

Silicon Messiah was a really strong album. It suits his voice very well, and that's about it. I think he is ranging from average to good on the Maiden albums. Anyone who sings can easily understand that technically he is quite average. Maybe he could do a better job on Misfits songs but then again he hasn't got the range Danzig has. Just think about it. Even his image was a mix between Danzig and Elvis.

Good luck to him and I am really happy he is not in Maiden. He is indeed a lovely person. I met him back in 1998 with Steve and Nicko. He is really funny and all....but back in the day Maiden needed a singer. He is the guy you want as your mate and your best friend. He was never capable of fronting Maiden. I always thought he was quite funny onstage as well....trying to move to the beat..and even failed to do that right.
 
I don't blame people for not liking Blaze/being critical of him and certainly objectively speaking his singing has some flaws as did his time with Maiden. But I am glad things went the way they did, and I can see why Maiden chose him. After the drama they went through with Bruce near the end, I can see why having someone they could get along with was important. And considering the dark chapter of Steve's life at the time, I get why Steve went with Blaze. He obviously saw potential there to help him create the dark mood of The X Factor. Not saying whether these were the objective right reasons or not (I am a fan of the Blaze era for what it's worth), I am just placing myself in the band's shoes.

I never saw Maiden live with Blaze so I can only comment on how good/bad he was by the recordings out there. Yes objectively there were some cringe worthy moments and the band didn't have as bright a future with him (for example the band would never be able to play Aces High or Seventh Son of a Seventh Son with him) as they have had and continue to have with Bruce (and Adrian). But the good part is (for those of us who enjoy them) we got The X Factor and Virtual XI which are damn good albums (minus a handful of flaws of course), Bruce and Adrian had awesome solo careers which produced incredible albums, after Blaze left he got to pursue a solo career and now the band is firing on all cylinders as a 6 piece.

Call it cheesy but I am thankful that Adrian and Bruce left, Blaze came in and then the reunion happened. I think everything happened for a reason. It all made and continues to make for some really incredible music and moments for us Maiden fans!
 
Hopefully it will sound more like Silicon Messiah or Tenth Dimension, and less like his later efforts.
 
I've been listening to Silicon Messiah on the way to work after running across the CD in my collection and realizing I haven't heard a lot of it in a pretty long time. His stuff isn't really my bag but he's got some great songs. Will probably check out this album if the reception seems to be good.
 
I don't see the slightest indication.
Honestly, I'd be okay with a "The Man Who Would Not Die" direction. I'd definitely buy it. I will not, despite being a great Blaze supporter, buy anything with "King of Metal" quality, production, performance or song wise.
 
I just found this recording, my god - Blaze is amazing. Ok, some may argue that his voice is not great but fun that he has with people…

 
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