Yeah, I dunno. “Circle of Stone” is a pretty decent song but Blaze’s voice sounds a bit wobbly and overly forced. Solo section is lit. Bruce’s vocals aren’t the best he’s ever done but the chorus in “Afterglow” is really good. Honestly I never even played the last Blaze album and I don’t know if I’ll remember this one, but we’ll see.
I hope so too, but I'm not counting on it. Health issues aside, it seems Blaze is playing it safe as far as where he goes, likely for financial reasons. I'm not saying he's hard up for money--I highly doubt he is--but I think he and his management are being conservative as far as where the audience is. Gambling on a costly North American tour where there may not be much of an audience left probably isn't the wisest move, particularly when touring costs already are stupidly high for artists.
Unfortunately, I completely agree.
This is really about Stonehenge where he was in 2022 with his new fiancée Kate.When I first saw the title I thought "Blaze wants to make a song about Stonehenge that won't make people shout "Spinal Tap!""
Honestly I think this is great. I'm starting to think that Blaze was wasted on Maiden
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I'd have to agree--though I do think Maiden was more a massive learning experience for him than anything. I'm an enormous Blaze fan, but I don't think he was ready for Maiden, and the evidence suggests that he didn't really stand up for himself much in the band (not downtuning, the ongoing battle with the monitor crewman on the X Factour where it seemed the crewman won, etc.). It drives me absolutely nuts that that one thing--downtuning the Bruce material--could have massively bolstered the general opinion of what the Blaze era was weakest at, which was playing live.Honestly I think this is great. I'm starting to think that Blaze was wasted on Maiden
The mid 90's were a transformative time for touring/PA equipment. In-ears became common instead of an oddball, line array speakers were invented, you were still using analog mixers and (mostly analogue aside for FX) rack gear for processing... The landscape shifted quite dramatically from there onwards. It likely was difficult to accommodate his needs under whatever the circumstances were rather than a prick of a monitor guy. Poor monitoring (especially compared to the last 15-20 years now) was the norm, really - Ask Bruce during RiR 1. Blaze wasn't seasoned enough yet to handle it, and as you said, it was a learning experience.
True, though Blaze's issue with the monitors, according to his account in the At the End of the Day band autobiography was that the guy setting up the monitors was setting them up exactly the way Bruce had them set up, not because of a paradigm shift in stage setups. Presumably Blaze either never went over the roadie's head or Steve never backed Blaze up on it, which is why Blaze said that throughout the whole tour he had to stand right in front of the drum riser in order to hear the guitars in the monitor--which, if you watch videos from that tour, that's where he is most of the time.The mid 90's were a transformative time for touring/PA equipment. In-ears became common instead of an oddball, line array speakers were invented, you were still using analog mixers and (mostly analogue aside for FX) rack gear for processing... The landscape shifted quite dramatically from there onwards. It likely was difficult to accommodate his needs under whatever the circumstances were rather than a prick of a monitor guy. Poor monitoring (especially compared to the last 15-20 years now) was the norm, really - Ask Bruce during RiR 1. Blaze wasn't seasoned enough yet to handle it, and as you said, it was a learning experience.
He has said many times that Maiden was a big learning experience for him. Steve, for writing and finding his full voice. And with his solo band, he writes the songs (lyrics) for himself. There's a noticeable difference in the vocals of Man On The Edge and this new single, both written by him. So it's not just the downtuning, although that played a big role, especially live.I'm starting to think that Blaze was wasted on Maiden
Indeed, except I think it had more to do with hard work than pure luck. I understand that his first wife Debbie did a lot of the groundwork that resulted in the change of his fortunes.
So he got the standard wedge treatment with his wedges centered. What did he want? More side fills vocals? Did he elaborate?
Wow, the intro! What a voice! Fantastic! Great Song!
Not a fan of this one. It has a TXF-esque melancholic intro (which is always welcome, especially with his voice; Stare At The Sun vibe too), cool riff and harmonies (Maiden in the soul!) and nice solo, but the vocal melodies are not catchy. It's also too similar to the previous single. Still, it's great that Blaze was able to include a longer intro, solo and melodic interlude into such a short song.
Don't like the video at all. But, the song is better than the previous one.
