Back in 1993

Moonchild88

Moonchild88

Trooper
I was listening to the old Judas Priest albums (which I don't really like, only songs here and there), but then a question came to my mind as I don't remember how Bayley was chosen since I was only a child and I think I wasn't even into Maiden at that time, but... Was there any rumour at the time about Rob Halford who was leaving Priest at the same time Bruce was out of the band?

Another big question for me was if Dio was ever considered, but I doubt It since he wasn't british and looks like that was a requirement to join the band.
 
I dont remember seeing anything in the press about either of those two. I dont think Steve would have wanted too big of a name or an American. Plus i dont think Rob ever really wanted to leave Priest and was always hoping for a return.
Neither would have been seriously considered.
 
Christopher Baines said:
I dont remember seeing anything in the press about either of those two. I dont think Steve would have wanted too big of a name or an American. Plus i dont think Rob ever really wanted to leave Priest and was always hoping for a return.
Neither would have been seriously considered.
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Yeah, Rob said he never intended to leave Priest, but it sort of happened through management miscommunication and contracts or something, and the train left the station.
 
I was really into Maiden in the early 90’s. I was devastated when I read that Bruce was leaving.

I do recall at the time there was no talk about Halford or Dio joining. I only read that the singer from Helloween might be a possibility.
 
No rumors about Rob Halford or Dio, as @Abiathar said only Michael Kiske was considered to replace Bruce, but I remember they launched a campaign through Kerrang for singers to send his auditions on tape. They received tons
 
Michael Kiske would've been a good replacement too, except for the non-british things which I always found stupid.

With all respects for Bayley, but I think he wasn't a good choice to replace Bruce.
 
It's interesting that Steve/the band don't want too big/famous names. I guess that's more common in metal.

Kiske would have been a very good fit for the 80's material because of Bruce's 80's voice, but for the rest, it wouldn't have been right. Although he also has a deep voice, but not aggressive/powerful like Bruce, Rob or Dio. He's perfect for power metal. Bruce and Rob can't replace each other because they are so distinctive to their bands, even though their voices have a similarity after 2000's. Bruce can sing Dio stuff.

The key to it all was that not only the band wanted a British singer, but one very different from Bruce. Like with Bruce and Paul, Adrian and Janick. Or Ozzy and Dio. Doogie White's timbre is similar to Blaze.
 
Don't think so.

I was 13 in 1993 and had got into metal in 91, and Priest weren't on my radar at the time, I remember seeing the Painkiller video and thinking "look at the state of them", I didn't know anyone who was a fan of Judas Priest and didn't become a fan until I decided to check them out in the early 2000s after joining the Maiden forum and seeing they were held in high regard by Maiden fans.

They were a blast from the past in the 90s*, something Maiden clearly feared becoming themselves, particularly with dipping their toes in a few different styles on the Fear of the Dark album. Halford was even older than they were. I think there was absolutely no chance he was even on their agenda at the times because of this.

*I remember they were a source of absolute ridicule among my friends when they had an album called "jugulator" and a singer called "ripper" and the state of how they dressed right at the heart of the Korn era.
 
Kalata said:
Kiske would have been a very good fit for the 80's material because of Bruce's 80's voice, but for the rest, it wouldn't have been right. Although he also has a deep voice, but not aggressive/powerful like Bruce, Rob or Dio. He's perfect for power metal.
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The thing is that; in those days, Kiske was also tired of metal, as shown by his most of his input on "Pink Bubbles Go Ape" and "Chameleon". His solo album, Instant Clarity (featuring one Adrian Smith) also had one or two token metal songs "for show" but it was mostly rock.
 
Moonchild88 said:
With all respects for Bayley, but I think he wasn't a good choice to replace Bruce.
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He could have been way more successful if Harris offered some help after hiring him, i.e., downtune their instruments and write new songs in a register more suitable to Blaze's voice.
 
____no5 said:
He could have been way more successful if Harris offered some help after hiring him, i.e., downtune their instruments and write new songs in a register more suitable to Blaze's voice.
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If the material on both Blaze albums isn't more suitable for him, well... ofc there are some exceptions, but the vocal parts aren't soaring. Downtune, yes, but I guess they didn't want to because of the instruments. I think only Bruce and Adrian are interested in that. Janick? He admitted this.

Successful (better accepted is different, again no one is Bruce so) could have been only Kiske, he has the high voice and was at his peak during that time. Popular wise too. But he wasn't interested in metal at that time, Rob didn't want to leave either, but it happened and he also wanted something different solo-wise like Bruce. I wonder if the hypothetical ''rivalry'' could have been taken into account. The options for big names weren't many (and available), the audition tapes - hundreds. You either choose a copy, a completely different voice, or one who can sing the songs well enough with a little similarity. I just don't see who could have been ''right'' compared to Bruce, as opposed to Rob's situation.
 
I've found some adverts and articles from that time in Reedit.
Kerrang started to talk about Michael Kiske, Blaze and even rescue Paul.

kerrang-archives-1993-2-v0-a9sv87ald2wd1.jpg
 
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