Blaze co-wrote tracks on Brave New World?

Ardius

Trooper
I did a search and didnt find anything, so here goes:

I just noticed on wikipedia that it mentions that several tracks from Brave New World were left over tracks used from the Virtual XI sessions according to an interview with Adrian Smith. Now, I rarely ever trust wikipedia for such things, however...it had a source to back it up:
http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbe ... emID=26808

Ive never seen it mentioned here or anywhere else, although I havent been around since 2004, so not really surprising. Anyway, is it true? Or is it just speculation and rumour?
 
Blabbermouth isn't considered credible.

However.  Blaze, as far as I know, only contributed lyrics.
 
LooseCannon said:
Blabbermouth isn't considered credible.

However.  Blaze, as far as I know, only contributed lyrics.

Yeah, I know, hence why I'm asking if this is correct or not.
 
I remember reading this a while ago. I also remember reading an interview with Blaze where he was asked about this, and he replied "I can't talk about that"...
 
Something like that, Onhell. I heard a live radio interview with Blaze back in early 2007 where he was asked repeatedly about this subject, and his response every time was the phrase "I can't talk about that". It does sound like there's some kind of contractual obligation keeping Blaze silent. And while the contract likely doesn't include leprechauns, I wouldn't put it past Rod Smallwood to threaten bodily harm.
 
It's probable that since the news story hit, Blaze was compensated monetarily in response for a non-disclosure agreement.
 
It better be a good sum considering he doesn't get credited at all... IF in fact he did contribute anything that stayed on the album.
 
It probably wasn't a good sum. First of all, Blaze has never been known for being very financially comfortable since he left Maiden. Second, Maiden didn't get super-rich by paying out good sums. Rod Smallwood is a vicious beast who would rather murder kittens than pay out cash to anyone. Not that this is a criticism - it is in fact an essential characteristic for a good manager.

Disclaimer: I'm not saying Smallwood actually has murdered kittens. But I wouldn't leave my pets alone with him.
 
There were supposedly 4 tracks left over from VXI. Steve Harris said this in an interview for Metal Hammer when VXI was released. I don't have a copy of it. Nobody seems to but I remember reading it. If you think about it you can work out which ones they are from the sound of the guitars. Now whether the lyrics were changed or not I think depends on whether Blaze had any input into those songs.My suspicion is they were probably Harris tracks anyway.
 
One and a half year ago I found out that the origins of The Mercenary (Gers, Harris) are way older than the Virtual XI sessions:


-----------
http://forum.maidenfans.com/http://foru ... 08#p156608 -->

Recently I downloaded old studio demos from White Spirit.

The directory says:
White Spirit - studio demos 17 March 1981

Today I decided to give it a listen.

One of the tracks is called Till the Kill and it has the same opening riff as The Mercenary (Gers/Harris)!

Interesting to know that the main riff of The Mercenary came from a 1981(!) song of Janick himself.

I haven't heard the rest of the demo tracks yet, we'll see if there's more !
 
I did a search and found our old news story on this (scroll down a bit on the page to find it), dating back to September 2004. The following is from an interview with Adrian Smith:

Q: After VXI, Steve said that there are 4 unused songs left off VXI sessions and that they will use them for the next album. Which ones are those 4 songs?

A: Yes, you are right. "Nomad" is one of them. The others are "Dream Of Mirrors", "Mercenary", I can't remember the 4th one.


The interviewer also claims that Blaze said he wrote some of the lyrics to "Dream of Mirrors", but I have no idea how reliable the source is.
 
Shadow said:
A: Yes, you are right. "Nomad" is one of them. The others are "Dream Of Mirrors", "Mercenary", I can't remember the 4th one.[/i]

We can narrow it down a bit more, by removing from consideration any tracks with songwriting credits to Dickinson or Smith. That leaves "Blood Brothers" and "The Thin Line Between Love And Hate".

Now if I recall correctly, "Blood Brothers" was inspired by the death of Steve's father. Anyone know when that happened? If it was after VXI came out, then "The Thin Line..." is the leading candidate for #4.

Of course, Bruce or H could have earned a writing credit by adding material to an already-existing song, so this method is not foolproof. For instance, "The Thin Line..." seems to me to be more in the style of the BNW album, while "Brave New World" sounds like it could be a VXI-era song with new lyrics by Bruce.
 
From what I remember, the death of Steve's father already influenced The X Factor. I know for sure there is a reference to it in Virtual XI (The Educated Fool).
 
SinisterMinisterX said:
We can narrow it down a bit more, by removing from consideration any tracks with songwriting credits to Dickinson or Smith. That leaves "Blood Brothers" and "The Thin Line Between Love And Hate".

Now if I recall correctly, "Blood Brothers" was inspired by the death of Steve's father. Anyone know when that happened? If it was after VXI came out, then "The Thin Line..." is the leading candidate for #4.

Of course, Bruce or H could have earned a writing credit by adding material to an already-existing song, so this method is not foolproof. For instance, "The Thin Line..." seems to me to be more in the style of the BNW album, while "Brave New World" sounds like it could be a VXI-era song with new lyrics by Bruce.

Adrian denied that it was Blood Brothers, though he might have been covering the facts, but I don't see why.
 
So that leaves The Thin Line...

I don't remember us having this discussion when the album came out... I just mention that because to worry over something he's not even getting credit for for an album nearing 10 years... um... who cares?
 
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