CA Bryers
Ancient Mariner
Okay, possibly stupid idea here.
I listened to a very recent interview with Blaze where he was finally asked about the Infinite Entanglement book he'd been working on. Long story short, it's not done but he bought a new keyboard and would like to get back to it, but the window to capitalize on the IE trilogy by adding a complementary novelization is long gone. Hard to say how much incentive he has to actually get back to it other than to get it done.
So, stupid idea time: I'm an indie author, wrapping up the first draft of my tenth book in the next month or so. I've got seven released, and they're semi-adjacent to the genre IE is in. I sell fairly well at conventions, but suck at marketing myself online. Getting to the point, I was thinking of reaching out to his management to see if Blaze would be interested in me taking a crack at finishing it. It's hard to say how close to done it is or if the manuscript is a mess, but I could probably work with either scenario.
Depending on the state of his draft--if there's a TON of work to be done--I'd at minimum ask for a co-writing credit or a ghostwriting fee if the workload is indeed considerable. That's if I'm, say, completing a significant amount of the book or doing a substantial rewrite on the thing or both. Not looking at it as a moneymaking opportunity. I know he's not super-wealthy. I only bring up the possibility of a ghostwriting fee because I have limited time and don't work for free, unless it's something breezy like a read-through with some little punch-ups. I'd be open to doing that for free and maybe a thank you in the book.
I don't know. Part of me would like to help him get it finished, the other part feels like it might be a can of worms I don't want to open. I'm well past the point of the "every written word is sacred" philosophy. If something doesn't work, I typically throw it out and rewrite it, which sometimes can be huge swaths of a book. I could see myself doing that if the manuscript isn't working, so it might be best to just let it lie. He might not be interested. Might even take offense at the idea. Who knows.
Just something I've been considering for a while now, thought I'd get some opinions on it.
I listened to a very recent interview with Blaze where he was finally asked about the Infinite Entanglement book he'd been working on. Long story short, it's not done but he bought a new keyboard and would like to get back to it, but the window to capitalize on the IE trilogy by adding a complementary novelization is long gone. Hard to say how much incentive he has to actually get back to it other than to get it done.
So, stupid idea time: I'm an indie author, wrapping up the first draft of my tenth book in the next month or so. I've got seven released, and they're semi-adjacent to the genre IE is in. I sell fairly well at conventions, but suck at marketing myself online. Getting to the point, I was thinking of reaching out to his management to see if Blaze would be interested in me taking a crack at finishing it. It's hard to say how close to done it is or if the manuscript is a mess, but I could probably work with either scenario.
Depending on the state of his draft--if there's a TON of work to be done--I'd at minimum ask for a co-writing credit or a ghostwriting fee if the workload is indeed considerable. That's if I'm, say, completing a significant amount of the book or doing a substantial rewrite on the thing or both. Not looking at it as a moneymaking opportunity. I know he's not super-wealthy. I only bring up the possibility of a ghostwriting fee because I have limited time and don't work for free, unless it's something breezy like a read-through with some little punch-ups. I'd be open to doing that for free and maybe a thank you in the book.
I don't know. Part of me would like to help him get it finished, the other part feels like it might be a can of worms I don't want to open. I'm well past the point of the "every written word is sacred" philosophy. If something doesn't work, I typically throw it out and rewrite it, which sometimes can be huge swaths of a book. I could see myself doing that if the manuscript isn't working, so it might be best to just let it lie. He might not be interested. Might even take offense at the idea. Who knows.
Just something I've been considering for a while now, thought I'd get some opinions on it.
Spaldy
Ancient Mariner
Just out from seeing Blaze. It was definitely the best I've seen of him in concert it terms of setlist and crowd participation. The place was packed out and everyone was singing along. He seemed genuinely moved at times.
He really ought to be playing bigger venues as he always delivers. It's a shame that so many Maiden fans either hate him or are indifferent.
The first half of the set was Silicone Messiah and the second half was mostly Maiden with a few other tracks.
He really ought to be playing bigger venues as he always delivers. It's a shame that so many Maiden fans either hate him or are indifferent.
The first half of the set was Silicone Messiah and the second half was mostly Maiden with a few other tracks.
CA Bryers
Ancient Mariner
He deserves better than to be where he is. It's unfortunate the Maiden fans who disliked his era will likely never come to realize how much better of a singer and performer he became after his time in Maiden. His solo work, apart from perhaps King of Metal, is remarkably solid. Steve speaks so highly of him and that era even today, it boggles my mind they have yet to give Blaze an opening slot on a Maiden tour.
If they ever do some kind of tour to commemorate the albums post-Fear, it would be the perfect timing to make that happen. Even if they did only Sign again or Clansman, they could have him come out and perform it with Bruce. I mean, they're really the only two Maiden singers still alive and performing at this point. It'd be a shame to miss the opportunity.
Vaenyr
Ancient Mariner
Honestly? Why the hell not? I'd say go for it! Be honest and open about your expectations and concerns as you've been here (maybe don't lead with "you're not the wealthiest" though lol). You can reach out and if it doesn't work out you can simply step away again.
srfc
Ancient Mariner
How humiliating would that be, to have to open for the bad you used to be in? I think Maiden would look like cunts if they made that offer.
Spaldy
Ancient Mariner
Ozzy used to open for Sabbath on Ozzfest tours. Not quite the same thing ofc but it's happened.
MindRuler
Ancient Mariner
I don´t think it would feel humiliating to Blaze.
Quite sure he´d be honoured to be their support act the humble guy he is.
srfc
Ancient Mariner
I think you're probably right, and it might be an ok scenario for Blaze now.
But back on Silicon Messiah and Tenth Dimension when he had the opportunity to have a viable solo career, it would have been a bad move. Playing Maiden stuff was a big factor in Jeff Singer leaving, and I can only imagine it would have been worse if BLAZE were made to look like they were being given a hand out by Steve, effectively being Lauren Harrs or The Raven Age
But back on Silicon Messiah and Tenth Dimension when he had the opportunity to have a viable solo career, it would have been a bad move. Playing Maiden stuff was a big factor in Jeff Singer leaving, and I can only imagine it would have been worse if BLAZE were made to look like they were being given a hand out by Steve, effectively being Lauren Harrs or The Raven Age
Does anyone else think Blaze (often, not always) lacked confidence on stage.
I saw him on a bootleg of Brixton 98. He wouldn't come near the front of the stage that often.
Compare him commanding, admittedly smaller, crowds before and after in Wolfsbane and his solo stuff. Yet in Maiden he would stand there and air drum and pull faces now and then and walk back and forth across the middle of the stage and look a bit out of place in the instrumental sections.
Not always, there were still times he would run around and do crowd participation and get them to cheer at certain points of the songs but it always saddens me to watch him lacking confidence on especially the VXI tour.
I guess living in Bruces shadow, plus knowing the songs were mostly out of his range may have dampened his spirit sometimes.
I saw him on a bootleg of Brixton 98. He wouldn't come near the front of the stage that often.
Compare him commanding, admittedly smaller, crowds before and after in Wolfsbane and his solo stuff. Yet in Maiden he would stand there and air drum and pull faces now and then and walk back and forth across the middle of the stage and look a bit out of place in the instrumental sections.
Not always, there were still times he would run around and do crowd participation and get them to cheer at certain points of the songs but it always saddens me to watch him lacking confidence on especially the VXI tour.
I guess living in Bruces shadow, plus knowing the songs were mostly out of his range may have dampened his spirit sometimes.
CA Bryers
Ancient Mariner
Oh heck no, I wouldn't lead with that. LOL! But you make some great points. If we got to the point where I saw what kind of shape the manuscript was in, I'd tell him what I had in mind for how I would make it into a workable draft. What I'd have in mind might be completely opposite for his vision of it, so no real work would be put in before deciding the collaboration wouldn't work. Looking at it that way, it makes me a lot more comfortable reaching out, so I appreciate it.
I wouldn't be surprised either. Honestly, I thought he might've taken the post-heart attack rest period to finish it up, but that interview he did hints he hasn't touched the book in quite some time. Hearing that was what got me thinking about it again, and I possibly have a window of time in my own release schedule to take on a project like that.
Hard disagree. Similar to those above who replied, I don't think there's anything humiliating about it. Out of all the Maiden singers, Blaze is the one with by far the smallest ego. He thanks his fans profusely in every interview he does, and says often how grateful he is to be still performing at all. I'd just love to see it happen so he might win over some naysayers in the crowd who only wanted Bruce back. That said, I don't see it as a possibility. While Maiden are certainly proud of their history and rightly so, they tend to wipe their hands of ex-members for the most part that don't play into their future plans.
As for opening during the Silicon/Tenth era, I can see your point, but I also think he was pretty eager for any exposure back then as well. It would've be awkward as hell backstage though, I think.
CA Bryers
Ancient Mariner
According to his band biography, during The X Factour he was locked midstage in front of the drumset so he could hear the monitors. I think he had confidence in performing, but in that situation, it didn't seem he had confidence to stand up for himself or at least go to Steve and get the boss to handle it.
As for the Virtual XI Tour, it was better with the in-ear monitors, but I agree, he still wasn't projecting the confidence he should have. I always found it odd that he didn't use crowd participation nearly as much as Bruce had, particularly letting them do the heavy lifting on notes he had trouble with ("lives on and oooooon" in The Evil that Men Do, for instance). Instead, he just sang it straight and tried to hit everything for the most part. Then again, that might've been a confidence issue as well, perhaps unsure if the crowd was really with him if he tried to do it more. Or it was as simple as not wanting to imitate Bruce.
I LOVE the Blaze era. I really do, but Maiden was not the right fit for him. That's more on Steve than it is him, because what struggling singer in their right mind would turn that gig down? You can see that he lost that commanding identity he had with Wolfsbane, and didn't really have much of an identity or presence with Maiden. I'm glad he found himself again afterward, and became a much stronger performer after leaving the band.
Such a shame too. "We've got this great but very different singer to Bruce in the band now. He's a baritone. How should we help him live with the Bruce material? Er.. let's play it in the original key and about 20% faster than the studio version.."
Regarding confidence I think some gigs on both tours he felt great. Greece for example seemed to warmly embrace him on the Virtual XI tour.
srfc
Ancient Mariner
I think Greece put both of the Blaze albums in at number one, was probably Maiden's best market at the time.
Vaenyr
Ancient Mariner
That's a thing I noticed too while listening to the bootlegs and I was wondering about it. Heaven Can Wait is another one. Even Bruce often just sings the "Heaven can" part and lets the audience sing the more difficult "wait" part. Blaze on the other hand usually sang the whole line, which didn't do him any favors. Was it because he didn't want to "copy" Bruce's approach? Do his own thing? Or as you say a lack of confidence?
I think if Maiden sat down to have an open and honest discussion back then, about the strengths and weaknesses of Blaze, about how rigid they want to stay, downtuning or changing arrangements and so on, the Blaze era might've been more fondly remembered nowadays. Not saying that they'd necessarily been more successfull, but maybe the consensus on him would be somewhat more positive.
SixesAlltheway
Ancient Mariner
My opinion on this is that you don't lose anything by trying. I think the chances of him picking someone he doesn't know to write it is pretty slim unless he reads your stuff after you contact him and he *really* likes it. I also think that if you do it - you kinda have to do it as a labor of love and not expect super much in return.
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dickinson1978
Ancient Mariner
It was dificult to listen hin after decades of listening bruce. Even in clairvoyant he was shouting very loud. And in 2MTM the same as trooper. Very hard for himto go out every show and sing songs that you can barely sing. But even in his own songs sometimes he did it wrong. Like edge of darkness in bulgaria or fortunes of war in barrowlands and many others. I think he felt again comforyable in his 2 first solo albums.
In fairness to the guy I've seen him do perfectly respectable to very good versions of the following maiden songs live on his Maiden tours
Futureal
Man on the edge
Sign of the cross
Clansman
Afraid to shoot strangers
Edge of darkness
Fortunes of war
Blood on the world's hands
Sanctuary
Wrathchild etc
Futureal
Man on the edge
Sign of the cross
Clansman
Afraid to shoot strangers
Edge of darkness
Fortunes of war
Blood on the world's hands
Sanctuary
Wrathchild etc
dickinson1978
Ancient Mariner
And aftermath and lord of the flies. Not a bad singer but the bad days were really bad. I have one bootleg that he forget tbe lyrics and start mumblinh the song