a "new" Blaze interview

[!--QuoteBegin-bobby viewing+Jun 30 2004, 10:14 PM--][div class=\'quotetop\']QUOTE(bobby viewing @ Jun 30 2004, 10:14 PM)[/div][div class=\'quotemain\'][!--QuoteEBegin--] OK then, Blaze may well be a nice bloke. I don't know , I've never met him. But he is a crap singer. And as for Jannick, yes I could do better. and maybe he just looks like a wanker then. Anyway, what is it with this forum? Is it just for Iron Maiden arse lickers? Are you not allowed to have any negative thoughts about anything Maiden have ever done? [/quote]
In what means do you consider Blaze crap singer? 'Cause he doesn't have same voice capabilities as Bruce? Come on, relax...

And if you can do better than Janick, why don't you do it?

[!--QuoteBegin--][div class=\'quotetop\']QUOTE[/div][div class=\'quotemain\'][!--QuoteEBegin--]If you don't know what "feel" is, then you don't know anything about playing the guitar, and therefore are in no position to judge.[/quote]

Where did I say I don't know what feel is? If you don't have arguments for this discussion, don't put words that I didn't say into my mouth.
 
Ah, alright, let's see, some negative things about Maiden:

Iron Maiden. Can't blame the guys for this one, they had a shit producer. Still a great album, but it could have been so much better!

Live After Death. Bruce sounds horrible. Want to talk a flat voice? That's where you find it. Sounds like he's been drinking acid (not surprisingly, considering the amount of shows they did on World Slavery!).

Seventh Son of a Seventh Son. Who needs guitaring when you can just use a LOT of synth? Bruce wails too much on songs here. The weakest studio album, in my opinion.

Fear of the Dark. I liked the punky groove of No Prayer For the Dying, but Fear of the Dark isn't really an album. It's a collection of stuff that Steve and Bruce had lying around. One of Maiden's worst songs (The Apparition) is on the album, and there's a fair few other weak ones (Fear is the Key, Chains of Misery, From Here to Eternity, Weekend Warrior) in my opinion. Some brilliant stuff, too, but some crap. Also, Bruce keeps up the punky voice while the guitars mostly get back into a more refined metal sound. That's not too cool!

A Real Live Dead One. Same stuff here. Overmastered, not enough crowd noise, guitars muted, etc, etc.

Virtual XI. A wee bit over produced. Some songs are repetitive (The Angel and the Gambler, Don't Look to the Eyes of a Stranger), but some songs are brilliant. The Clansman, in particular, is easily one of the 2 finest songs of Maiden's 1990s.

Brave New World. Not really a complaint, but seems to be missing a historical epic (although I am coming to REALLY love The Nomad, where before I thought it was just okay). Also, in places, some of the songs feel like they don't need the third guitar. They fixed that problem in Dance of Death, what an amazing album.




You'll notice how I haven't cursed at all. If you don't like Janick or Blaze, that's fine. But try not to just come out and call them down. I think you get a lot of feel in Blaze's voice (close your eyes and listen to Como Estais Amigos and listen there...that song is about men and women dying on an island thousands of miles from home, and about remembering their struggle while making peace) and I think Janick's solos can be pretty over the top. He does what he's good at, which you call repetitive. Well, listen to Adrian's solos, and listen to Dave's solos! They use a lot of the same manouvers in their works. H's solos on the Somewhere in Time album, in particular.

Blaze was with the band for 5 years. He can't hit the same high notes as Bruce, but he's got his own range, and he sings beautifully within it. It's when he tried to hammer those high notes that he flattens out. If people hadn't placed expectations on him to live up to Bruce, then maybe he wouldn't have sounded so flat, especially live. Also, to critique Steve, the band should've lowered their notes a bit, to fit Blaze's vocal range. Run to the Hills and Iron Maiden sound just fine a lil bit lower, guys.

If you can't hear the feeling in Blaze's voice, then I figure all you've listened to with him is The Angel and the Gambler. Listen to the spitting hatred in Virus; listen to the scathing criticism in 2 AM, the depression and hopelessness in The Aftermath, the pride and joy in The Clansman. Then pick up his solo stuff, and listen to songs like Silicon Messiah, Tenth Dimension, and Blood and Belief. If, after giving everything Blaze has done a fair listen, without saying "He's not Bruce Dickinson, fuck 'em", then I'll say you have the right to dislike him.

Does Maiden need three guitarists? No. Are they better with them? Yes. Listen to the harmony on songs like Paschendale, or Rainmaker. Three guitars, playing the same riff, all on different scales, or one guitar doing something wicked-awesome, and the other two harmonizing all over the place, and then there's stuff like Montségur, where it's just crazy, with the guitars flying. Songs like The Nomad and Brave New World would lose a lot without the third guitar.

If you want the "golden era" lineup, then listen to the golden era albums. There's about 6 of 'em. I don't want to see Maiden going back to the same old, same old, been there, done that, type thing. I don't want to see Maiden coming out with the same album they did in 1983, or 1984, or 1988, or even the same album from 2000 or 2003. I want a new album, with new sounds, new songs, new feelings, new subject, in 2006; I want to hear what Maiden's evolving into, not what they came from.
 
Blaze replacing Bruce was the best thing that could happen to Maiden at the time.

If Bruce had stayed on all we would have had is another Fear of the Dark with a singer who's not into it at all. Instead we got one of the best albums Maiden has ever made and that's thanks to the creative push the band got from Blaze!
 
An excellent point, [span style=\'color:purple\']D A R K Shadow[/span]! If Maiden had've tried to make another album with Bruce, that feeling of animosity might have destroyed the band beyond repair.
 
Very well, Reischsmarshall, or how the bloody hell it's spelled [!--emo&:p--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/tongue.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'tongue.gif\' /][!--endemo--]
 
*reads name carefully, then slowly backs away from the computer, making no sudden movements*
 
narrows his eyes and glares at the [span style=\'color:purple\']D A R K Shadow[/span]...
 
Ninjas are overrated, Shadow. So are samurai. Want to impress me, summon up a legion of Roman soldiers.
 
WTF HAVE YOU GUYS DONE TO MY TOPIC?!?!? [!--emo&:cussing:--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/cussing[1].gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'cussing[1].gif\' /][!--endemo--]


[!--emo&:lmao:--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/lol.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'lol.gif\' /][!--endemo--]
 
Well, I trashed a guy, then started goofing off with [span style=\'color:purple\']D A R K Shadow[/span].
 
ok... would you mind reading the interview now? [!--emo&;)--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/wink.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'wink.gif\' /][!--endemo--]
 
I can't believe some of the thing I read on this site. Some of you guys really must listen to Maiden with "rose tinted" ear phones. Iron Maiden have made some a couple of great albums, several utter shit ones, and everything inbetween. Number of the Beast is probably the best "Heavy metal" album ever, whereas Virtual XI is about as bad as music can get. Anyone who liked that album probably liked that "classic" Van Halen album with Gary Cherone on it.
 
NotB was good, I liked Powerslave better, Piece of Mind better, Brave New World better, and Dance of Death better. But I will admit, some of the songs are growing on me. It has a good album feel. Still love Virtual XI though.

As bad as music can get? Go listen to some of the pop and rap of today. That's some pretty crap album. I'll be the first to say that I don't like VXI as much as I do some of the other albums. But without it, I wouldn't be a Maidenfan, either.
 
[!--QuoteBegin-LooseCannon+Jul 1 2004, 04:35 PM--][div class=\'quotetop\']QUOTE(LooseCannon @ Jul 1 2004, 04:35 PM)[/div][div class=\'quotemain\'][!--QuoteEBegin--] Ninjas are overrated, Shadow.  So are samurai.  Want to impress me, summon up a legion of Roman soldiers. [/quote]
Yeah, but "overdramatic Roman legion soldier pose" just sounds wrong.
 
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