Bruce's versions of Di'anno and Bayley era songs

Taker

Cannon Fodder
Let me start by stating that I think Bruce Dickinson is one of the greatest rock n roll vocalists ever, as well as THE greatest frontman to ever grace a stage. That being said, I have yet to hear one of his versions of songs off the Iron Maiden and Killers albums that I can consider superior to Paul's original versions. On the other hand, all of Bruce's versions of songs off Blaze's two Maiden albums sound head and shoulders above Blaze's original studio recordings to my ear. I realize all three singers are very different in their styles, and that Bruce's talents eclipse Paul and Blaze. Anyone in agreement with me on this?
 
Every singer on the planet brings thier own flavor of style when they sing. The 3 maiden singers are no exception. Most cover versions usually fall short of being as good as the original. That being said when Bruce sings Paul or Blaze material most of the time his isn't as good as the original. Sometimes it can be really bad (lord of the flies anyone?) and sometimes it can be pretty good (Sign Of The Cross comes to mind) The same misfortune took Blaze but at least Bruce had plenty of material besides the 4 albums he wasn't on. But like Bruce with Blaze songs, Blaze could do some songs almost as good as Bruce (Afraid to shoot Strangers is a big one)  So I can agree with your Paul statement even though there are a few good songs he does (it has been awhile since Early Days so I don't quite remember how Bruce did those songs) Paul is usually better. Now here is where I disagree, I don't think all of Bruce's versions are better than Blaze's. In fact I don't think any of them are. First let me ask you, do you even like the Blaze material? Do you even like Blaze? It's ok if you don't as we all have opinions but what you said would make sense to me if you didn't like Blaze. If you do like Blaze I would consider taking another look at Lord Of The Flies from 2004.
 
I don't dislike Blaze's vocal stylings, but his two albums with the band are among my least favorites. A few of his tunes I like very much (Futureal, The Clansman), but still think Bruce does them more justice. TAATG is , believe it or not, one of my favorite Blaze era tunes, although I understand why it's so disliked by many. I'm definately not a Blaze basher...
 
I suggest listening to Lord Of the Flies on X Factor and DOTR back to back. But I guess if you don't like the albums in the first place then it won't make much of a difference.
 
I prefer Bruce on the Di'Anno-era songs. Di'Anno had his own charm, but Bruce is better. This may be influenced by the fact that I heard the Bruce versions first, having owned Live After Death before the first two albums.

Blaze sings his songs better, though Bruce does a superb Clansman.
 
taker64 said:
Let me start by stating that I think Bruce Dickinson is one of the greatest rock n roll vocalists ever, as well as THE greatest frontman to ever grace a stage. That being said, I have yet to hear one of his versions of songs off the Iron Maiden and Killers albums that I can consider superior to Paul's original versions. On the other hand, all of Bruce's versions of songs off Blaze's two Maiden albums sound head and shoulders above Blaze's original studio recordings to my ear. I realize all three singers are very different in their styles, and that Bruce's talents eclipse Paul and Blaze. Anyone in agreement with me on this?

*nods his head in agreement*

I completely and wholeheartedly agree with your opinion. For me BD is the definitive voice of maiden and I attribute his role in the band as one of the main reasons for Maiden's phenomenal longevity and success, and I'm not convinced that it would of been as sucessful with Di'Anno or BB over an extended time period. Why do i prefer Bruce?... it is a question of vocal range, BD has an outstanding vocal range whereas the other two sound limited by comparison.
 
First off let me say this is a good topic!!

Now, yes, usually the original singer does better at the songs than the other however, there are some tunes that ARE improved by the new/repalcement singer.

Now I'm at work so I have to think from the top of my head but here are a few of my thoughts:
PAUL
Drifter ....Paul way better ....
Twilight Zone ... Paul better....(But let's be honest when Bruce joined the band all he had was Paul material to sing b4 666 came out)
Killers ..... bruce
Phantom of the Opera .....Bruce BY FAR!
Wrathchild......don't care for it by either of them...perhaps too overplayed.
Remember Tomorrow .. Bruce (more emotional)

BLaze
Futureal ... Blaze better
Man on the Edge .. Blaze Better
Lord of the Flies .. Blaze Better
Sign of the cross ... Blaze Better
Clansman..Blaze Better
Afraid to shoot Strangers....Blaze Better
Wrathchild...I like Blaze on this one
Heaven can Wait...again I like Blaze on this.



The rest I would say Bruce is superior on.....Basically all the Blaze songs tat Bruce has done I prefer Blaze......However I belive that Bruce would totally own Edge of Darkness.

Blaze just couldnt do some of bruce's songs and I really liked blaze so, I think they should have just stuck with x-factor and virtual IX for the majority of their tunes with only a few bruce favourites........mainly hallowed (which is a must but not great with Blaze) and fear of the dark.


At the end of the day maiden IS Bruce on Vocals but the other 2 held their own I believe

Chris
 
My opinion:
All of the songs from TXF and VXI that Bruce sang are better with his vocals. Blaze NEVER EVER sang Paul's or Bruce's songs better than them.
Prowler '88 and Charlotte The Harlot '88 are better than the originals. Paul sings Sanctuary, Remember Tomorrow, Another Life and Killers better than Bruce, but Bruce beats him at Phantom Of The Opera, Running Free, Iron Maiden, Wrathchild and Murders In The Rue Morgue.
 
For me, the more attitude laden Paul songs I prefer Paul's versions.  Running Free, Sanctuary, Prowler, Murders, etc.  However the more typical to Bruce era material like Phantom of the Opera and Remember Tomorrow I vastly prefer Bruce on.

With regards to the Blaze songs, I like Blaze as a vocalist but prefer Bruce on all those tunes.
 
Have to disagree on Remember Tomorrow and especially Killers. Any time Bruce tries to do the screams in those 2 songs I cringe. So in my view, Paul is much better on those specifically. I will always prefer Bruce to Blaze (even on Lord of the Flies--I just don't think it's that good of a song).

Now let's discuss how Nicko does on Clive's songs...
 
Nicko does great on all of Clive's songs except The Prisoner. I like how he changed Running Free drum pattern.
 
I'm equal to Bruce and Blaze on Afraid to Shoot Strangers. I prefer Bruce on the epic songs: Phantom, SotC and Clansman to Paul or Blaze. On the shorter songs I prefer the singer who recorded it generally - although I'm of the opinion Bruce is great at Lord of the Flies - that last chorus is exceptional.
 
In general, I perfer Paul in the first 2 albums, with the possible exception of Afraid to Shoot Strangers, vastly prefer Bruce on the Bruce songs, and am about 70-30 Bruce to Blaze on the Blaze songs ... One thing I always have Bruce credit for is singing his ass off on the Blaze songs (he really did not have a choice on the Paul ones), but it would have been real easy after the reformation to ignore the 2 Blaze albums which would have been a shame since there are some reall good songs on them.  Look at Sammy Hagar and how they quickly ditched the David Lee ROth tunes and they ones he did do live, it seemed he would have rather had an ice pick shoved in his head rather than sing Panama.
 
SinisterMinisterX said:
I prefer Bruce on the Di'Anno-era songs. Di'Anno had his own charm, but Bruce is better. This may be influenced by the fact that I heard the Bruce versions first, having owned Live After Death before the first two albums.

Blaze sings his songs better, though Bruce does a superb Clansman.

Now we agree.  I'm quite partial to Di'Anno's Phantom of the Opera and Killers, but that's about it.
 
You don't like Bruce on The Clansman? I'm with SMX on that one, although I love that song with Blaze as well. Bruce's presence adds a dimension to live renditions of most songs, and The Clansman is no exception.
 
SinisterMinisterX said:
I prefer Bruce on the Di'Anno-era songs. Di'Anno had his own charm, but Bruce is better.

Blaze sings his songs better, though Bruce does a superb Clansman Sign of the Cross.

Bruce's live performances of Di'Anno songs are good, it sometimes makes me feel that the songs were written for a guy with Bruce's style even though they were written in the Di'Anno era. Like the Phantom of the Opera from Live After Death or Killers from Maiden England :)

I absolutely loved Blaze in Iron Maiden. Blaze is one of my favourite singers overall, and The X Factor is my all time favourite album. But he couldn't sing Bruce's song good in my opinion. Well, no shit since they have veeery different kinds of voices and styles (even though I LOVE his Afraid to Shoot Strangers and Fear of the Dark). Now you wouldn't let a veteranian perform a surgery on a human, or a regular surgeon perform a surgery on a bird.

Well if Blaze now was a doctor performing a surgery on an animal, Bruce would've been the veteranian performing a surgery on a man. I don't enjoy any of his versions of Blaze songs aside from the ones in Rock in Rio
 
taker64 said:
Let me start by stating that I think Bruce Dickinson is one of the greatest rock n roll vocalists ever, as well as THE greatest frontman to ever grace a stage. That being said, I have yet to hear one of his versions of songs off the Iron Maiden and Killers albums that I can consider superior to Paul's original versions. On the other hand, all of Bruce's versions of songs off Blaze's two Maiden albums sound head and shoulders above Blaze's original studio recordings to my ear. I realize all three singers are very different in their styles, and that Bruce's talents eclipse Paul and Blaze. Anyone in agreement with me on this?

Agree about Blaze. Poor bastard was put in an impossible position by a band who really SHOULD'VE known better. Disagree about Paul. His punky style does little for me.
 
The Knife Master said:
I suggest listening to Lord Of the Flies on X Factor and DOTR back to back. But I guess if you don't like the albums in the first place then it won't make much of a difference.

I beg to differ. Bruce did manage to make a turd shine only by the way he sings 'Lord Of The Flies'.
 
I actually don't like Blaze's version of the Clansman so I am on the side of liking Bruce's better.

I think the live version of LOTF is really good but it is brought down a lot with Bruce's singing.
 
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