Blaze Bayley

BloodOnTheBassistsHands said:
  • "Infinite Entanglement" - part of a three album trilogy (which tells us the story of the fictional William Black, even though it's hard to follow the plot).
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That's kind of the annoying part of the trilogy, plot-wise, is that there is a plot...but it's not in order. Once they had it recorded, they put it in a tracklist order that flowed well musically, but you're lost if you're trying to follow the plot from beginning to end. This was a point of discussion on Blaze's "Circle __" FB groups (which you had access to as a preorder perk). Back then, it was assumed we'd know the proper flow when his Infinite Entanglement novel came out, but obviously it never did. As a writer myself, I can only assume there was something about it that wasn't working, and he shelved it indefinitely.
 
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TheMercenary said:
blabbermouth.net

BLAZE BAYLEY Says Sound Of 'The X Factor' Album Was Too 'Dark' For Some IRON MAIDEN Fans

In a new interview with Tony Webster of The Metal Command, British heavy metal vocalist Blaze Bayley, who fronted IRON MAIDEN more than 20 years ago, spoke about some fans' initial reluctance to embrace his era of the band. When Webster noted that Blaze's solo work over the last two decades has...
blabbermouth.net blabbermouth.net
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The part about it not being as accessible as what fans were used to, I get that. I got heavy into Maiden in '93, found out Blaze was coming in, and hunted down as much Wolfsbane as I could find to see what he sounded like. Knowing he didn't sound like Bruce, I adjusted my expectations, and was still underwhelmed. It was dark, it didn't have the energy that the older stuff had, so many slow intros, and the production was a bit lifeless and everything sounded oddly separated rather than cohesive. Even the Blaze I'd come to expect wasn't there. Instead of the crazy howler I thought we were getting, he was deeply measured and not very explosive vocally.

It took me a LOT of spins before it clicked. Now I listen to it more regularly than some of the "golden age" Maiden albums, and with the cut B-sides in the tracklist. It's part of the reason why I dug Virtual XI when it came out, is that it fixed a lot of those problems. Production is brighter, Blaze sounds a lot more confident, and we get more shorter, straight-to-the-point rockers. It felt like a stab at recapturing the '80s sound, but a lot of time it feels like most people slag it off because, "oh, that's the one with 'Angel and the Gambler' on it, isn't it?" and that alone equals the album sucking. It's far from a perfect album, I'll be the first to admit. The football theme is only cool if you're Steve Harris. TAATG is basically a crowd-participation live arrangement song done in the studio for some wacky reason. Nicko phoned it in. But...I still enjoy it.
 
CA Bryers said:
The part about it not being as accessible as what fans were used to, I get that. I got heavy into Maiden in '93, found out Blaze was coming in, and hunted down as much Wolfsbane as I could find to see what he sounded like. Knowing he didn't sound like Bruce, I adjusted my expectations, and was still underwhelmed. It was dark, it didn't have the energy that the older stuff had, so many slow intros, and the production was a bit lifeless and everything sounded oddly separated rather than cohesive. Even the Blaze I'd come to expect wasn't there. Instead of the crazy howler I thought we were getting, he was deeply measured and not very explosive vocally.

It took me a LOT of spins before it clicked. Now I listen to it more regularly than some of the "golden age" Maiden albums, and with the cut B-sides in the tracklist. It's part of the reason why I dug Virtual XI when it came out, is that it fixed a lot of those problems. Production is brighter, Blaze sounds a lot more confident, and we get more shorter, straight-to-the-point rockers. It felt like a stab at recapturing the '80s sound, but a lot of time it feels like most people slag it off because, "oh, that's the one with 'Angel and the Gambler' on it, isn't it?" and that alone equals the album sucking. It's far from a perfect album, I'll be the first to admit. The football theme is only cool if you're Steve Harris. TAATG is basically a crowd-participation live arrangement song done in the studio for some wacky reason. Nicko phoned it in. But...I still enjoy it.
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'The X Factor' and 'Virtual XI' are among my favorites. I loved them since their releases. They were some big changes in Maiden's catalog, but for me they were both tenebrous and joyful and these were the feelings I had at the time. So, that's why I love them so much. <3
 
TheMercenary said:
blabbermouth.net

BLAZE BAYLEY Says Sound Of 'The X Factor' Album Was Too 'Dark' For Some IRON MAIDEN Fans

In a new interview with Tony Webster of The Metal Command, British heavy metal vocalist Blaze Bayley, who fronted IRON MAIDEN more than 20 years ago, spoke about some fans' initial reluctance to embrace his era of the band. When Webster noted that Blaze's solo work over the last two decades has...
blabbermouth.net blabbermouth.net
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Blaze is right, although that's probably not the only reason. TXF is a unique, special and dark album - one very different from the band's previous 2 albums. The style of it could have been appropriate (in a way) to succeed SSOASS. Other reasons were: the new voice, longer intros/longer songs, no much use of the classic Maiden harmonies or style, more mid-tempo songs, not a polished production. That's a bold (with some new and fitting musical adjustments for the band) and ''more'' Maiden album than the previous 2 albums. It also works better as a whole piece/concept. They tried to go old school with VXI.
 
Mosh said:
Probably the lyrical themes and extended instrumentals. I don’t think it’s a huge stretch.
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It's this. Both albums have this "futuristic/Sci-Fi" feel to them. Some of the guitar work is similar as well, like the Wasted Years riff appearing in the back half of The Clansman. It's a "brighter" sounding album similar to Somewhere in Time as well. If your argument is that "omg Somewhere in Time is WAY better than Virtual XI," then that's cool, but that's also not my argument.
 
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