He's on tourI wonder if Blaze is recording a new album? Iits been more quiet than usual.
He's on tourI wonder if Blaze is recording a new album? Iits been more quiet than usual.
The Iron Maiden founder was asked if the band ever considered downtuning to accommodate Bayley's voice.
Harris stated that the members never really thought about it and that they didn't notice any issues with his singing until they were on stage (transcribed by Ultimate Guitar):
"Not really, no. Maybe on some things in retrospect, we could have done, but no we didn't really think about it. It wasn't really till we got out and played live that we realized it was a couple of things."
"The weird thing is that he was really confident when we were rehearsing, and then a couple of times on a couple of songs, we got out live, and there was maybe an issue or two here and there. But in general, he just handled it really well."
Blaze's voice always started to crack whenever he passed the high G. They could have down-tuned or he could have changed some of the high notes himself but foolishly, nothing was done (well, except from removing certain tracks like RTTH which would have been impossible for him).Maybe Steve is trying to be polite. I love Blaze, but the constant high Bs in songs like The Trooper or HBTN are incredibly tough to sing and something he's always struggled with.
Just look at the end of Blaze's performance of Wolfsbane song "(Tough As) Steel" on the Alive In Poland CD/DVD and you'll see that Blaze can/could sing high notes.Blaze's voice always started to crack whenever he passed the high G. They could have down-tuned or he could have changed some of the high notes himself but foolishly, nothing was done (well, except from removing certain tracks like RTTH which would have been impossible for him).
Blaze can (and could) but some of the Maiden songs require the singer to be at the same range for an extended period of time which is incredibly exhausting and fatiguing. Singing The Trooper is difficult on a good day. Singing it live when it's just one of 12 to 18 other songs (depending on the setlist's length)? Madness for singers with deeper voices.Just look at the end of Blaze's performance of Wolfsbane song "(Tough As) Steel" on the Alive In Poland CD/DVD and you'll see that Blaze can/could sing high notes.![]()
I do think it's a little weird to see Steve kind of dance around the topic, when he's also publicly stated he regrets not recording Cross-Eyed Mary in a lower key since it was (obviously) too high for Bruce's range and sounds rather poor for a cover as a result. It's not like it's some taboo to alter the key of a song to make it suit the singer better, hell they did it to Lord of the Flies in '03 so Bruce could sing the chorus an octave higher.
I have to disagree with you. Blaze was the right man for this job. Without him, Bruce wouldn't have returned to the band and we wouldn't have these great albums we had since the reunion. That's a fact. If some guys like Graham Bonnet, Michael Kiske and Edu Falaschi have got the job, Bruce wouldn't be here on The Future Past tour. So, Blaze was the right guy at the right time, doing his job perfectly (being a temporary replacement). OK, he's not Bruce, but his solo albums are great and he's singing very well his own covers of his own Maiden songs he wrote or co-wrote with other guys when in Maiden.I think Steve is just being polite. Blaze was a team player who followed Steve’s vision and, therefore, he is thanked for his loyalty to the cause.
No disrespect to Blaze (he is a nice guy and I wanted him to succeed in Maiden), but he was not the right man for the job. Had Youtube been a bigger thing back in the mid 90s, he might not have lasted more than one tour as Maiden’s singer.
Eh, while I get your overall point, that's not a fact. That's purely conjecture. No one knows how things would've worked out with another singer. Chances are a singer with a larger range would still have caused issues and Maiden's popularity could still have declined. In a sense, all roads lead to BruceI have to disagree with you. Blaze was the right man for this job. Without him, Bruce wouldn't have returned to the band and we wouldn't have these great albums we had since the reunion. That's a fact. If some guys like Graham Bonnet, Michael Kiske and Edu Falaschi have got the job, Bruce wouldn't be here on The Future Past tour. So, Blaze was the right guy at the right time, doing his job perfectly (being a temporary replacement). OK, he's not Bruce, but his solo albums are great and he's singing very well his own covers of his own Maiden songs he wrote or co-wrote with other guys when in Maiden.
Not all roads lead to Rome.Eh, while I get your overall point, that's not a fact. That's purely conjecture. No one knows how things would've worked out with another singer. Chances are a singer with a larger range would still have caused issues and Maiden's popularity could still have declined. In a sense, all roads lead to Bruce![]()
Indeed. One thing never mentioned in regards to the Blaze era is that Maiden were already on the decline before he came on board.I don't think any washed up 80s guy would have been much help to Maiden in the 90s. Bruce himself probably wouldn't have done much better, they still would have declined given the musical climate at that time.
I have to disagree with you. Blaze was the right man for this job. Without him, Bruce wouldn't have returned to the band and we wouldn't have these great albums we had since the reunion. That's a fact. If some guys like Graham Bonnet, Michael Kiske and Edu Falaschi have got the job, Bruce wouldn't be here on The Future Past tour. So, Blaze was the right guy at the right time, doing his job perfectly (being a temporary replacement).
Poor old Blaze never saw a penny of that presumably. Unless his cut was included in whatever payout he got when he was sacked?No, the Bowie Bond deal would still have happened and Bruce would have gone back for financial reasons:
Note that the date of the article is just before the announcement for the reunion was made.
Money rules.
Poor old Blaze never saw a penny of that presumably. Unless his cut was included in whatever payout he got when he was sacked?
He mentioned a few years ago that he received a "golden handshake" from the band when he was dismissed:Poor old Blaze never saw a penny of that presumably. Unless his cut was included in whatever payout he got when he was sacked?
It was not all bad. When he was let go, Bayley received a golden handshake. “Maiden took very good care of me,” he says. “I can’t complain about that.”