Blaze Bayley

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...so I was driving home behind a late model Chevy Trax this evening, and wondering whether Blaze should sue:

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Discussion of a theoretical third Blaze-era Iron Maiden album came up in the setlist thread, so I was wondering what that might have looked like if Bruce and Adrian had never come back.

We already know that “Blood Brothers”, “The Mercenary”, “Dream Of Mirrors”, and “The Nomad” had been worked on while Blaze was still in the band. “The Thin Line Between Love And Hate” was the only other BNW song with no writing involvement from Bruce or Adrian, so that one would likely be in too. And the music for “Brave New World” was Murray/Harris with Dickinson just providing the lyrics, so it probably would have shown up with a different name.

From Blaze’s end we know that “Ghost In The Machine”, “Born As A Stranger”, “The Launch”, and “Stare At The Sun” were all written with Maiden in mind.

So what does that leave us with...?

Iron Maiden - Dream Of Mirrors (2000)

1. Born As A Stranger
2. The Mercenary
3. (Brave New World with different lyrics)
4. Blood Brothers
5. Ghost In The Machine
6. Dream Of Mirrors
7. The Nomad
8. The Launch
9. Stare At The Sun
10. The Thin Line Between Love And Hate

An interesting mix. It would be bizarre to hear Blaze sing “The Thin Line...”, and who knows what direction the song formerly known as “Brave New World” might have gone. The Silicon Messiah songs would have had much lighter guitars and gotten a more Maidenesque coat of paint, too. Odd to think about.
 
Blaze does not play any guitar at all, so I don't think a third Maiden album with him would have sounded anything like Silicon Messiah, because he writes vocal melodies and lyrics based on finished guitar riffs.

As an example, Ghost in the Machine was written based on a riff which guitarist Steve Wray put on a demo he sent to Blaze for auditions etc.
Wray also mentioned that Blaze had a demo ready before they started writing, but it was just Blaze whistling something and making drum noises with his voice, according to the the book "At the end of the Day" .

I think the lyrics in Reach for the Horizon, The Launch and a bit of Stare At the Sun are based on the movie "Gattaca" from 1997, maybe he would have brought that idea to Maiden.
A big movie in my life has been Gattaca because it came along about the time I was working on "Silicon Messiah" and I found that the motif for the movie is that there's no gene for the human spirit, in other words, sheer force of will can get you further than talent.
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http://uftureviews.blogspot.com/2014/02/blaze-bayley-interview.html
 
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TheTalisman said:
I think the lyrics in Reach for the Harizon, The Launch and a bit of Stare At the Sun are based on the movie "Gattaca" from 1997, maybe he would have brought that idea to Maiden.

http://uftureviews.blogspot.com/2014/02/blaze-bayley-interview.html
Click to expand...

Interesting, it sounds like it influenced the concept for the Infinite Entanglement-trilogy too.

Actually, the "sheer force of will can get you further than talent"-part might just be the most accurate description of Blaze's career in general.

Don't get me wrong, I probably like his voice and music more than most people, but there's is no doubt that it's because of him working his ass off and never giving up that he's where he is today, rather than his vocal talent (or lack thereof, as some would say). As to whether he has gone further than he would had he been in possession of a voice like Bruce's, for example, is debatable, but the man deserves credit for his strength and determination.
 
I think Blaze overall has a good voice. Live he struggles (during his time with Maiden), but in the studio I like his voice a lot. Nowadays, he is a lot better live too.

Di'Anno also has a very good raspy voice and of course Bruce is the best, but they all have a distinctive voice that is different than the others and they're all great.
 
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Just to be clear, I definitely like Blaze's voice - read the full sentence in my post to know what I meant with "probably".
 
Some more North American dates.

APRIL
27 - Teaneck, NJ - Debonair Music Hall
28 - Elmhurst, NY - Blackthorn 51

MAY
08 - Lombard, IL - Brauerhouse
09 - Westland, MI - Token Lounge
10 - Toronto, ON - The Rockpile
11 - Quebec City, QC - L'Anti Bar & Spectacles
12 - Montreal, QC - Le Piranha Bar
16 - Smithtown, NY - The Rail
17 - Baltimore, MD - Ottobar
18 - Kilmarnock, VA - Private
 
I’d never heard Blaze’s solo work before the Blaze ranking thread, and my impressions posted there were after 1 or 2 listens. I’ve picked up almost all of his solo albums since then (no need for The King Of Metal, thanks), and I’ve warmed to some of the material a bit more.

After repeated listens, I have to say that Tenth Dimension is the one I consistently come back to the most, with Blood & Belief close behind. The production is great on these, the songwriting is mostly solid, and there are a few great tracks along with a lot of OK-to-good ones.

The Man Who Would Not Die and Promise And Terror have consistently great music, but Blaze’s bad phrasing and uneven vocal performances drag them both down. That said, there are some gems in the mix, including IMO Blaze’s best solo song and vocal performance on “While You Were Gone”.

The Infinite Entanglement trilogy is enjoyable, and has a few great songs with an interesting back story. My main issues with these are weak production, a feeling of sameness and rehash in the songwriting, and some of the weird quirks in Blaze’s new approach to singing (see the end of “Escape Velocity”). I will say that he’s much better at hitting the notes on these albums, at least when he’s trying to, which makes me wonder if he took some singing lessons. Also, after repeated listens I think “Escape Velocity” may have the best chorus of any of his solo tracks.

The King Of Metal is a steaming pile of garbage with a couple of moderately OK tracks on it. No need to say anything more.

Which brings me back to the big puzzle of Blaze’s solo discography, Silicon Messiah. Most people seem to think this is far and away his best solo album, but I just don’t get it. It’s not terrible or anything, and there are certainly some good moments, but I generally find it to be mediocre when it’s not being openly plagiaristic. So many of the vocal lines meander around without landing on the notes, and large parts of the album are just mindless nu-metal crunch to me. And the number of parts that are directly cribbed from other bands’ songs is pretty appalling. Let’s review:
  • The chorus vocal line from “Ghost In The Machine” bears a striking resemblance to the guitar line from the chorus of Iron Saviour and Gamma Ray’s “Watcher In The Sky” from 1997.
  • The outro groove on “Evolution” is lifted from Metallica’s cover of “The Wait”.
  • The vocal line in the title track is lifted from Yngwie Malmsteen’s “Disciples Of Hell”, while the descending guitar bit came straight from Queensrÿche’s “Spreading The Disease”.
  • The delivery of the verses in both “Born As A Stranger” and “The Launch” directly mimic “Man On The Edge”.
  • The outro of “The Hunger” is lifted from Queensrÿche’s “I Don’t Believe In Love”.
His later albums don’t crib on this level, aside from going back to the “Man On The Edge” well a few more times.

So, yeah. Silicon Messiah. I don’t get it. His second worst solo album, IMO.
 
Does anyone know which 2019 Blaze shows would feature the 25th anniversary of him joining Maiden setlist? I could not find the information anywhere.

Thanks in advance.
 
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