Blaze Bayley, good or bad?

Which was the better album; The X-Factor or Virtual XI

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Shirley's production is not doing Maiden absolutely no favours,is it?!
 
The X Factor. Better songs, great variety, excellent musicianship and the dark atmosphere is very nice to hear from Maiden. I have always thought that even if people don't like this album, they ought to respect it for its very important place in Maiden's history. Not only for being a Blaze album but also because it was where they first went for the prog style that they have really taken to on the reunion albums. For a while this was my favourite Maiden album. Also for me, it is the last album where Steve really laid down some interesting basslines. The bass and drum tones are heavy as hell! Love the guitar work, I feel Janick really came into his own here, and of course Dave is as spectacular as always.

I have always thought of Virtual XI as being the Blaze version of a classic Maiden album. There is a good balance between rockers, epics and a ballad. The drumming is quite boring, the overall sound is a little flat and of course The Angel and the Gambler goes on waaaaay too long but other than those things, I think it is a very good album that does not at all warrant the hate that it gets from some.
 
I saw the X Factour and me and my three buddies were very impressed with the job Blaze did! (Also saw him on the first Wolfbane tour when they opened for Dark Angel and Overkill. He did great then too. Met him in between sets and he was very cool.)
 
Replacing Bruce would have been hard for anybody but Blaze was a very poor choice. Bruce's rendition of Sign of a Cross, Lord of the flies and Clansman were so much better that I never went back to the originals for these songs. Very nice guy though. All the best to him.
 
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To chip in on this thread I have to say I really like blaze, think he has a great voice.

Although I think X factor is a superb album and I really enjoy VXI I think his solo stuff after maiden is superb. His voice suits a heavier more aggressive band than maiden.

Also what did t help in his time with maiden was the production on the two albums. If I'm right didn't Steve Harris produce them on his own? The X factor is terrible in parts. The start of sign of the cross is so quiet that you have to really amp the volume then when the song kicks in you have to turn it down again. I find myself doing this a lot through the the album and it's bloody irritating!
 
22 The Avenue said:
Who are the 11 people who voted for Virtual XII over The X-Factor?! They need to be banned.

It's not even close. Virtual XI sucks.
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I voted for Virtual XI. The X-Factor is heavier and darker and has some great songs, but it's also too loaded with heavy dark filler, in my opinion. It's punishing to listen to the album from start to finish. (I still like it, of course). Virtual XI is a bit punchier, a good album to listen to when driving.
 
I think that VXI is closer to the traditional Maiden values than TXF.
 
If Maiden released Silicon Messiah instead then I most probably wouldn't hate the Blaze-era. At least those songs were made for his voice.
 
Loved The X Factor, his singing wasn't Always 100 % but his voice suited it well and he was mostly brilliant on that album, like Sign Of The Cross, Lord Of The Flies, The Edge Of Darkness, Unbeliever, Blood On The Worlds Hands, Aftermath.
VXI he was better mixed and again did a good performance, but it wasn't as solid, song-wise, though I'll have too admit I like that album too, very melodic, but they sure could have been more creative with riffs, textures, the drumming, but the melodies in themselves are mostly very strong on that album. I also found the songs to work very well live - very powerful and direct, up-your face. I know many will Point the finger, but I actually prefered hearing the VXI-material live than many AMALOAD-songs. My first thought when hearing that album was "Uhm, not much of this will do on a stage", and then they Went and played all of it, of course, but my suspicions were confirmed, I didn't dig it at all. Different World and These Colours Don't Run was a nice, reasonable opening, but somewhere around The Pilgrim/Out Of The Shadows that gig died for me (and 70-80 % of the rest of the audience as well)... whereas I remember the VXI gig I saw as a storming set with a good mood throughout, and a very passionate crowd, even with Blaze's hit and miss-vocals on the classics...
 
He has good voice that can create good atmosphere for songs from X factor and Virtual XI. But on the other hand he has no dynamic in his voice, not like Bruce and that was his problem. But I really, really love his work. Personally I think that he has big impact on current Maiden albums and that's good.
 
TXF. It's more untraditional and fitting for his voice. VXI is more traditional Maiden and needs a higher voice on it.
 
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TXF, it's a pretty good album. VXI is one of ther worst, but not that bad. I enjoy then both, but rarely listen to them anymore...I think they would have been alot better albums, if they were recorded by a different producer and at a different studio.

I think Blaze did allright, he wrote some good songs and tried his best when he was in Maiden. And yeah, he was not really good at singing the higher stuff of the classic songs. And Blaze definetly learned alot of Steve when it comes to songwriting, the albums after his Maiden career sounds very good both songwriting-wise and singing-wise
 
I'm actually more of a fan of Virtual XI. The fact that I like TAATG and don't massively rate SOTC is probably a big factor in this though.
 
Gk1 said:
Shirley's production is not doing Maiden absolutely no favours,is it?!
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Quite the opposite for me... I think Kevin has been really capable of capturing Maiden in the studio as if they were playing live. I like MArtin's records too, of course, but Kevin does a great job on his own as well. Just a different production concept. Most of all, i think, a producer has to deliver what his client wants, and considering the fact that Maiden always wanted a live and natural sound, that means Kevin has been perfect for this band.
 
I listened to VXI yesterday for the first time in a long while - I was surprised how much "Maiden" the whole album is, it's fun, energetic, and it has a certain feel throughout the album. And the fact that it ends on a ballad and that it marked the end of an era (Blaze's last gleaming, if you will), gives it a touch of sadness or melancholy in my eyes.
 
Gk1 said:
Shirley's production is not doing Maiden absolutely no favours,is it?!
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Definitely not, the sound conjured up on the last few is definitely not the best sound to be displaying the band in.

On the topic of Mr. Bayley, he has a great voice. I loved him in Wolfsbane, and I think his voice definitely suited the darker X Factor material. The songwriting on both X Factor and Virtual XI isn't Maiden's best, but I do think Blaze did the best with what he was presented with.
 
I don't have nothing against Blaze's era. TXF is one hell of a record, even when you consider that it is a little exhausting to hear end to end. Sign of the Cross is one of the best songs of Maiden to me (personally, of course, i'm not talking about technique or such), Lord of the Flies and Man on the Edge are nice blows, The Aftermath, 2 A.M and Blood on the World Hands are very cool as well. VXI, on other hand, is one level below (or don't you think Blaze's a savior?), but how can you complain about a album that has Futureal, The Clansman, Como Estais Amigos and Lightning Strikes Twice? The chorus repeating itself again and again, yes, but we all heard No More Lies. And i love No More Lies (x45).

I'll even go further: X-Factor is the best album that Maiden recorded in the 90's. Virtual XI is just a step below Fear of the Dark and tied with No Prayer For The Dying. There are at least 5 or 6 songs that Maiden could use now (you just need to see how Bruce sang The Clansman and SotC to realize that).

P.S.: Blaze's Solo Albums are amazing. I surely recomend, specially Silicon Messiah and The Man Who Would Not Die
 
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