Blaze Bayley

My band have released our latest album, Alternative View, today, and it contains one track with Blaze on vocals. The song, 24 Hours of Freedom, had been previously released, but this is a remixed version with a solo on the Hammond Organ by Derek Sherinian added. You can of course stream it on the digital platform of your choice. If you fancy checking out any of the other tracks on the album, then I’d say the song, Tutankhamun is the most Maiden-esque track on there.


Cool song! Bit of a Deep Purple/Rainbow feel about it. I'll check out the rest of the album.
 
Decent tune for sure, I also hear a strong Purple influence.

@Vantage Point - how exactly did you go about getting Blaze and Sherinian on the song? Was it a simple work for hire thing?
Yeah if you go to Blaze's website and check out the contact section then it states that if you want him to record a guest vocal then to contact his manager, and it provides an e:mail address. Obviously there is a fee involved.

While with Sherinian, I contacted him through Instagram and agreed a few to play on the song.
 
His run of albums from Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow, through Heaven and Hell up to Last in Line is a run of classic after classic that maybe only Maiden can match in terms of the number of consecutive classics.

Never thought he was a particularly great live singer though, comes out with a lot of guff like "you are all rainbows in the dark" etc. and ad libs a load of nonsense in the outro of songs.

His crowd banter wasn't the most creative or meaningful, but he had an enormous stage presence. Not in terms of running around and performing antics, but just by being there and seemingly make the world revolve around him. You could have fifty people around him doing flip flops and fireworks, when he stood there and sang, he was the centre of everything. There was only one person who could ever function as a counterpart, and that was Tony Iommi. When these two men were onstage together, the atmosphere they created just by being there and doing their craft was incredible. You could almost believe that they really were gods.
 
His run of albums from Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow, through Heaven and Hell up to Last in Line is a run of classic after classic that maybe only Maiden can match in terms of the number of consecutive classics.

There's Megadeth & Dream Theater with 7 as well. Manowar 7ish. Black Sabbath -Slayer 6, Metallica -Judas Priest -Pantera 5.
 
I'm talking classics, not a run of good albums from a band. Some of those bands mentioned are too niche to have any albums considered as classics.

Everything is relative. For huge audiences worldwide, Iron Maiden is also niche. All the bands I mentioned are important within Metal genre, have sold millions of albums, and those respective albums are generally regarded as classics from their fans and from Metal Community.

But again if you want to exclude Dream Theater & Manowar (north of 10 millions sold each), we still have Megadeth that with 40 millions albums sold and for many the best metal record ever (Rust in Peace), cannot be considered niche by any means.
 
Am I the only one who thinks that it is s bit sad that these guest slots involve paying a fee? I know of several musicians who guest for free.
It's a give and take, so I don't think it's sad at all. Bands who want Blaze to guest aren't doing it just because "oh that would be cool to have him do it." Yes, that's probably one reason, but they're mainly doing it to attract Blaze's fans to their music in hopes of gaining new fans, and he's likely very affordable for a band that hasn't broken yet. Also, artists have to eat too and deserve to be paid for their work, so no, he shouldn't be doing it for free.

On top of that, it's not like Blaze is financially set for life. He's said many times in interviews that he has a small but dedicated fan base that allows him to do this for a living, and even post-Maiden, he's had to go out and get day jobs from time to time, like the wheelbarrow factory he worked at for a while.
 
It's a give and take, so I don't think it's sad at all. Bands who want Blaze to guest aren't doing it just because "oh that would be cool to have him do it." Yes, that's probably one reason, but they're mainly doing it to attract Blaze's fans to their music in hopes of gaining new fans, and he's likely very affordable for a band that hasn't broken yet. Also, artists have to eat too and deserve to be paid for their work, so no, he shouldn't be doing it for free.

On top of that, it's not like Blaze is financially set for life. He's said many times in interviews that he has a small but dedicated fan base that allows him to do this for a living, and even post-Maiden, he's had to go out and get day jobs from time to time, like the wheelbarrow factory he worked at for a while.

I guess I am from a generation when guest appearances were done by colleagues who did not charge a fee for that.

Of course Blaze deserves to be paid for his work and there is nothing wrong with that. :) On the other hand, I know of some (metal) musicians who wanted to get paid for taking part in charity events and that is just taking the piss!
 
I guess I am from a generation when guest appearances were done by colleagues who did not charge a fee for that.

Of course Blaze deserves to be paid for his work and there is nothing wrong with that. :) On the other hand, I know of some (metal) musicians who wanted to get paid for taking part in charity events and that is just taking the piss!
I can absolutely see it in the case of a friend in one band doing a favor for another, or someone who just plain believes in the project, wants to be part of it, and is in a financial situation where compensation isn't necessary. Charity too, obviously.

In Blaze's case, he pretty clearly offers it for a little pop in the income stream, as I imagine he lives none too extravagantly these days.
 
My band have released our latest album, Alternative View, today, and it contains one track with Blaze on vocals. The song, 24 Hours of Freedom, had been previously released, but this is a remixed version with a solo on the Hammond Organ by Derek Sherinian added. You can of course stream it on the digital platform of your choice. If you fancy checking out any of the other tracks on the album, then I’d say the song, Tutankhamun is the most Maiden-esque track on there.



Thanks to everyone who gave the song a listen. If you liked it enough to want a physical copy, then we now have the album for sale on CD in our bandcamp page - https://vantagepointrocks.bandcamp.com/album/alternative-view
 
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