BLAZE: The Rankings (Completed... At Last)

[Diesel 11]

18. Endure And Survive
Average Score: 7.86/10
Endure And Survive 8/10

Another title track bites the dust, and the "nothing below 6 but also no 10s" thing rears its head for the last time. This is actually the highest-ranking song not to receive any 10s; the final 17 all received at least one. It's a solid track and I can see why it got so high.

Comments:

The album opens with the great title track, which is basically Blaze's "get up, you're not dead yet" songs repackaged into a piece of the William Black story. And he does a good job of it. "By sheer force of will!" is a great line and Blaze and the boys make a fine song out of it.

A simple riff with some boring lead fills cuts into an OK verse with terrible phrasing. The chorus is much better, and Blaze sounds pretty good there. Nice spoken word interlude followed by a good harmonized bit and an OK choral section. A decent melodic lead returns to the chorus. Nice variations on the chorus at the end. If the verse and pre-chorus had been better I would have gone higher.

Solid opener. The riff is simple but enjoyable, the verses are decent, and the chorus is pretty good (and tends to get stuck in my head). The instrumental part and solos is the definite highlight for me, though.

A very nice song all the way around.

Votes:

Spoiler

10 - 0
9 - 3
8 - 2
7 - 0
6 - 2
5 - 0
4 - 0
3 - 0
2 - 0
1 - 0

Overall:

Spoiler

18. Endure And Survive
19. Speed Of Light
20. Dark Energy 256
21. Time To Dare
22. Eating Lies
23. Ten Seconds
24. Comfortable In Darkness
25. The Truth Revealed
26. Regret
27. The Brave
28. Blood
29. What Will Come
30. Already Won
31. Samurai
32. A Work Of Anger
33. Voices From The Past
34. City Of Bones
35. Independence
36. The Man Who Would Not Die
37. Life And Death
38. Alive
39. Identity
40. Stranger To The Light
41. Life Goes On
42. The World Is Turning The Wrong Way
43. While You Were Gone
44. Tearing Yourself To Pieces
45. Will To Win
46. Smile Back At Death
47. Prayers Of Light
48. At The End Of The Day
49. God Of Speed
50. Solar Wind
51. 18 Days
52. Evolution
53. The Hunger
54. Kill And Destroy
55. Letting Go Of The World
56. 1633
57. Human
58. The Trace Of Things That Have No Words
59. Dawn Of The Dead Son
60. Redeemer
61. Immortal One
62. Human Eyes
63. The First True Sign
64. The Dark Side Of Black
65. Stars Are Burning
66. Madness And Sorrow
67. Waiting For My Life To Begin
68. The Launch
69. Fight Back
70. End Dream
71. Robot
72. Remember
73. Reach For The Horizon
74. Destroyer
75. The Day I Fell To Earth
76. Nothing Will Stop Me
77. Land Of The Blind
78. Faceless
79. Serpent Hearted Man
80. Stealing Time
81. Are You Here
82. Living Someone Else's Life
83. The Dreams Of William Black
84. Blackmailer
85. Russian Holiday
86. Crack In The System
87. The Path & The Way
88. Hollow Head
89. Difficult
90. The Rainbow Fades To Black
91. Motherfuckers R Us
92. Beginning
93. Hatred
94. Dimebag
95. Fate
96. The Truth Is One
97. Forgotten Future
98. Eating Children
99. Fighter
100. Shall We Begin
101. One More Step
102. Judge Me
103. The Black Country
104. The King Of Metal

Albums:

Spoiler

Silicon Messiah 6/10
Tenth Dimension 8/12
Blood & Belief 8/10
Promise And Terror 9/11
Infinite Entanglement 9/12
Endure And Survive 8/10
The Redemption Of William Black 10/11
#8: The Man Who Would Not Die 12/12 (6.61/10 avg.)
Bonus tracks 6/6 (5.65/10 avg.)
#9: The King of Metal 10/10 (4.91/10 avg.)

 

[Diesel 11]

17. Infinite Entanglement
Average Score: 7.88/10
Infinite Entanglement 10/12

The epic introduction to the world of William Black is the next song to fall, and that's sad because it could've been a Top 10 contender. "Infinite Entanglement" is such a great song. The lyrics, the chorus, the music, it's so good. Maybe Blaze is a little weak in the first verse, but he makes up for it with the rest of the song. Hell, even Jer likes this song. If only it could've gone higher.

Comments:

Fantastic song, fantastic lyrics, fantastic way to open up his trilogy.

There are some noticeable weaknesses here, but the fundamentals are strong, and I genuinely like the song.

At first this track felt very iffy, but I've come to regard it as one of the best tracks on the album. It sets the tone and introduces the story/concept perfectly. As I've said before the production is a bit weak on this album, and this is one of the songs that really could've benefitted from beefier guitars especially. Still, we got decent verses, a great pre-chorus and a gorgeous chorus.

Solid opening track. Not totally sold on the vocals, though.

Votes:

Spoiler

10 - 1
9 - 2
8 - 1
7 - 3
6 - 1
5 - 0
4 - 0
3 - 0
2 - 0
1 - 0

Overall:

Spoiler

17. Infinite Entanglement
18. Endure And Survive
19. Speed Of Light
20. Dark Energy 256
21. Time To Dare
22. Eating Lies
23. Ten Seconds
24. Comfortable In Darkness
25. The Truth Revealed
26. Regret
27. The Brave
28. Blood
29. What Will Come
30. Already Won
31. Samurai
32. A Work Of Anger
33. Voices From The Past
34. City Of Bones
35. Independence
36. The Man Who Would Not Die
37. Life And Death
38. Alive
39. Identity
40. Stranger To The Light
41. Life Goes On
42. The World Is Turning The Wrong Way
43. While You Were Gone
44. Tearing Yourself To Pieces
45. Will To Win
46. Smile Back At Death
47. Prayers Of Light
48. At The End Of The Day
49. God Of Speed
50. Solar Wind
51. 18 Days
52. Evolution
53. The Hunger
54. Kill And Destroy
55. Letting Go Of The World
56. 1633
57. Human
58. The Trace Of Things That Have No Words
59. Dawn Of The Dead Son
60. Redeemer
61. Immortal One
62. Human Eyes
63. The First True Sign
64. The Dark Side Of Black
65. Stars Are Burning
66. Madness And Sorrow
67. Waiting For My Life To Begin
68. The Launch
69. Fight Back
70. End Dream
71. Robot
72. Remember
73. Reach For The Horizon
74. Destroyer
75. The Day I Fell To Earth
76. Nothing Will Stop Me
77. Land Of The Blind
78. Faceless
79. Serpent Hearted Man
80. Stealing Time
81. Are You Here
82. Living Someone Else's Life
83. The Dreams Of William Black
84. Blackmailer
85. Russian Holiday
86. Crack In The System
87. The Path & The Way
88. Hollow Head
89. Difficult
90. The Rainbow Fades To Black
91. Motherfuckers R Us
92. Beginning
93. Hatred
94. Dimebag
95. Fate
96. The Truth Is One
97. Forgotten Future
98. Eating Children
99. Fighter
100. Shall We Begin
101. One More Step
102. Judge Me
103. The Black Country
104. The King Of Metal

Albums:

Spoiler

Silicon Messiah 6/10
Tenth Dimension 8/12
Blood & Belief 8/10
Promise And Terror 9/11
Infinite Entanglement 9/12
Endure And Survive 8/10
The Redemption Of William Black 10/11
#8: The Man Who Would Not Die 12/12 (6.61/10 avg.)
Bonus tracks 6/6 (5.65/10 avg.)
#9: The King of Metal 10/10 (4.91/10 avg.)

 

[Diesel 11]

16. Watching The Night Sky
Average Score: 7.88/10
Promise And Terror 10/11

I love this song so much. The verses are great, that chorus is so fucking good, what a great album opener. It's the second-highest ranked song from Blaze's Promise And Terror album, and despite some detractors, there were enough supporters of the song to push it up to here. Thank you. It's one of Blaze's finest, IMO. Now the only question remains... how high will "Surrounded By Sadness" be, and when will Promise And Terror take its bow? Only time will tell...

Comments:

After the disappointing (in my opinion) The Man Who Would Not Die, Promise and Terror wastes no time whatsoever in proving that it's better than the predecessor in every way. "Watching The Night Sky" begins with a cool bit of guitar before Blaze and drums join right in. The production isn't perfect, but everything sounds better than on the previous album. Blaze steers a very nice verse which gets better with the pre-chorus and culminates in the true chorus, which is fantastic. "Watching The Night Sky" may not sound like a particularly gripping song, but by god, it most certainly is. A full head and shoulder over everything on the previous album.

Well, I feel like typing the same stuff in every album review, but, honestly, every Blaze record has a decent opener - "Watching the Night Sky" is no exception. It's a fast and energetic song that's enjoyable all the way through, but still missing something that could provide that extra bit of magic.

The vocal rhythm on the verse and pre-chorus is "Man On The Edge" again? Jesus. The chorus is better, but not good enough.

Decent enough song that doesn't really have anything wrong with it, but it doesn't have anything that makes it stand out either. Middle-of-the-road Blaze song.

Votes:

Spoiler

10 - 2
9 - 1
8 - 1
7 - 2
6 - 2
5 - 0
4 - 0
3 - 0
2 - 0
1 - 0

Overall:

Spoiler

16. Watching The Night Sky
17. Infinite Entanglement
18. Endure And Survive
19. Speed Of Light
20. Dark Energy 256
21. Time To Dare
22. Eating Lies
23. Ten Seconds
24. Comfortable In Darkness
25. The Truth Revealed
26. Regret
27. The Brave
28. Blood
29. What Will Come
30. Already Won
31. Samurai
32. A Work Of Anger
33. Voices From The Past
34. City Of Bones
35. Independence
36. The Man Who Would Not Die
37. Life And Death
38. Alive
39. Identity
40. Stranger To The Light
41. Life Goes On
42. The World Is Turning The Wrong Way
43. While You Were Gone
44. Tearing Yourself To Pieces
45. Will To Win
46. Smile Back At Death
47. Prayers Of Light
48. At The End Of The Day
49. God Of Speed
50. Solar Wind
51. 18 Days
52. Evolution
53. The Hunger
54. Kill And Destroy
55. Letting Go Of The World
56. 1633
57. Human
58. The Trace Of Things That Have No Words
59. Dawn Of The Dead Son
60. Redeemer
61. Immortal One
62. Human Eyes
63. The First True Sign
64. The Dark Side Of Black
65. Stars Are Burning
66. Madness And Sorrow
67. Waiting For My Life To Begin
68. The Launch
69. Fight Back
70. End Dream
71. Robot
72. Remember
73. Reach For The Horizon
74. Destroyer
75. The Day I Fell To Earth
76. Nothing Will Stop Me
77. Land Of The Blind
78. Faceless
79. Serpent Hearted Man
80. Stealing Time
81. Are You Here
82. Living Someone Else's Life
83. The Dreams Of William Black
84. Blackmailer
85. Russian Holiday
86. Crack In The System
87. The Path & The Way
88. Hollow Head
89. Difficult
90. The Rainbow Fades To Black
91. Motherfuckers R Us
92. Beginning
93. Hatred
94. Dimebag
95. Fate
96. The Truth Is One
97. Forgotten Future
98. Eating Children
99. Fighter
100. Shall We Begin
101. One More Step
102. Judge Me
103. The Black Country
104. The King Of Metal

Albums:

Spoiler

Silicon Messiah 6/10
Tenth Dimension 8/12
Blood & Belief 8/10
Promise And Terror 10/11
Infinite Entanglement 9/12
Endure And Survive 8/10
The Redemption Of William Black 10/11
#8: The Man Who Would Not Die 12/12 (6.61/10 avg.)
Bonus tracks 6/6 (5.65/10 avg.)
#9: The King of Metal 10/10 (4.91/10 avg.)

 

[Diesel 11]

15. Leap Of Faith
Average Score: 7.89/10
Tenth Dimension 10/12

Another great song takes its bow here. "Leap Of Faith" is one of Tenth Dimension's finest tunes, and while a few detractors held it down, enough fans came together to push it up right into the Top 15. Good show, ladies and gentlemen, good show.

Comments:

I love this song, it's the band really truly firing on all cylinders, Blaze sounds fantastic, and the chorus is one of the hands-down best parts of the album.

This is like an upgraded version of "The Launch" from the debut, and a much stronger song in every way. A simple but very catchy chorus will follow you for a while!

A very mixed bag.

Enjoyable, but the generic lyrics and simple, repetitive chorus are holding it back from greatness.

Votes:

Spoiler

10 - 1
9 - 2
8 - 4
7 - 0
6 - 1
5 - 1
4 - 0
3 - 0
2 - 0
1 - 0

Overall:

Spoiler

15. Leap Of Faith
16. Watching The Night Sky
17. Infinite Entanglement
18. Endure And Survive
19. Speed Of Light
20. Dark Energy 256
21. Time To Dare
22. Eating Lies
23. Ten Seconds
24. Comfortable In Darkness
25. The Truth Revealed
26. Regret
27. The Brave
28. Blood
29. What Will Come
30. Already Won
31. Samurai
32. A Work Of Anger
33. Voices From The Past
34. City Of Bones
35. Independence
36. The Man Who Would Not Die
37. Life And Death
38. Alive
39. Identity
40. Stranger To The Light
41. Life Goes On
42. The World Is Turning The Wrong Way
43. While You Were Gone
44. Tearing Yourself To Pieces
45. Will To Win
46. Smile Back At Death
47. Prayers Of Light
48. At The End Of The Day
49. God Of Speed
50. Solar Wind
51. 18 Days
52. Evolution
53. The Hunger
54. Kill And Destroy
55. Letting Go Of The World
56. 1633
57. Human
58. The Trace Of Things That Have No Words
59. Dawn Of The Dead Son
60. Redeemer
61. Immortal One
62. Human Eyes
63. The First True Sign
64. The Dark Side Of Black
65. Stars Are Burning
66. Madness And Sorrow
67. Waiting For My Life To Begin
68. The Launch
69. Fight Back
70. End Dream
71. Robot
72. Remember
73. Reach For The Horizon
74. Destroyer
75. The Day I Fell To Earth
76. Nothing Will Stop Me
77. Land Of The Blind
78. Faceless
79. Serpent Hearted Man
80. Stealing Time
81. Are You Here
82. Living Someone Else's Life
83. The Dreams Of William Black
84. Blackmailer
85. Russian Holiday
86. Crack In The System
87. The Path & The Way
88. Hollow Head
89. Difficult
90. The Rainbow Fades To Black
91. Motherfuckers R Us
92. Beginning
93. Hatred
94. Dimebag
95. Fate
96. The Truth Is One
97. Forgotten Future
98. Eating Children
99. Fighter
100. Shall We Begin
101. One More Step
102. Judge Me
103. The Black Country
104. The King Of Metal

Albums:

Spoiler

Silicon Messiah 6/10
Tenth Dimension 10/12
Blood & Belief 8/10
Promise And Terror 10/11
Infinite Entanglement 9/12
Endure And Survive 8/10
The Redemption Of William Black 10/11
#8: The Man Who Would Not Die 12/12 (6.61/10 avg.)
Bonus tracks 6/6 (5.65/10 avg.)
#9: The King of Metal 10/10 (4.91/10 avg.)

 

[Diesel 11]

14. The Tenth Dimension
Average Score: 7.89/10
Tenth Dimension 11/12

Tying with "Leap Of Faith" is the album's epic title track, a monster in every sense of the word. With a back-breaking chorus and a ton of gut thrown into it, it's managed to ride out this river for quite a while, but unfortunately, it too must take a fall. A respectable spot, certainly. We'll meet it again, standing in the darkness, surrounded by the night... in the tenth dimension.

Comments:

Easily decimates many other songs in the discography.

This might be my favourite Blaze song. Everything, from the main riff and the little bass lick leading into the first verse, to the pre-chorus/chorus and solos, is absolutely perfect. I get the same feeling as with "Stare at the Sun", that if you removed just one of the parts, it wouldn't be the same.

Almost great.

Here we go! A major highlight of the album.

Votes:

Spoiler

10 - 3
9 - 2
8 - 0
7 - 2
6 - 0
5 - 1
4 - 1
3 - 0
2 - 0
1 - 0

Overall:

Spoiler

14. The Tenth Dimension
15. Leap Of Faith
16. Watching The Night Sky
17. Infinite Entanglement
18. Endure And Survive
19. Speed Of Light
20. Dark Energy 256
21. Time To Dare
22. Eating Lies
23. Ten Seconds
24. Comfortable In Darkness
25. The Truth Revealed
26. Regret
27. The Brave
28. Blood
29. What Will Come
30. Already Won
31. Samurai
32. A Work Of Anger
33. Voices From The Past
34. City Of Bones
35. Independence
36. The Man Who Would Not Die
37. Life And Death
38. Alive
39. Identity
40. Stranger To The Light
41. Life Goes On
42. The World Is Turning The Wrong Way
43. While You Were Gone
44. Tearing Yourself To Pieces
45. Will To Win
46. Smile Back At Death
47. Prayers Of Light
48. At The End Of The Day
49. God Of Speed
50. Solar Wind
51. 18 Days
52. Evolution
53. The Hunger
54. Kill And Destroy
55. Letting Go Of The World
56. 1633
57. Human
58. The Trace Of Things That Have No Words
59. Dawn Of The Dead Son
60. Redeemer
61. Immortal One
62. Human Eyes
63. The First True Sign
64. The Dark Side Of Black
65. Stars Are Burning
66. Madness And Sorrow
67. Waiting For My Life To Begin
68. The Launch
69. Fight Back
70. End Dream
71. Robot
72. Remember
73. Reach For The Horizon
74. Destroyer
75. The Day I Fell To Earth
76. Nothing Will Stop Me
77. Land Of The Blind
78. Faceless
79. Serpent Hearted Man
80. Stealing Time
81. Are You Here
82. Living Someone Else's Life
83. The Dreams Of William Black
84. Blackmailer
85. Russian Holiday
86. Crack In The System
87. The Path & The Way
88. Hollow Head
89. Difficult
90. The Rainbow Fades To Black
91. Motherfuckers R Us
92. Beginning
93. Hatred
94. Dimebag
95. Fate
96. The Truth Is One
97. Forgotten Future
98. Eating Children
99. Fighter
100. Shall We Begin
101. One More Step
102. Judge Me
103. The Black Country
104. The King Of Metal

Albums:

Spoiler

Silicon Messiah 6/10
Tenth Dimension 11/12
Blood & Belief 8/10
Promise And Terror 10/11
Infinite Entanglement 9/12
Endure And Survive 8/10
The Redemption Of William Black 10/11
#8: The Man Who Would Not Die 12/12 (6.61/10 avg.)
Bonus tracks 6/6 (5.65/10 avg.)
#9: The King of Metal 10/10 (4.91/10 avg.)

 

[Diesel 11]

13. Silicon Messiah
Average Score: 7.91/10
Silicon Messiah 7/10

One more title track is added to our kill count as "Silicon Messiah" says its goodbye. An epic song about a machine that takes over Earth to rule humanity - with humans having allowed it to do just that - Blaze gives off a fantastic performance and helps make this song as memorable as it is. This is the final track to get less than an 8/10 average, by the way. It's time to see the real titans in our show fight it out.

Comments:

I can't really explain why, but I feel the title track is a bit overrated. It's not bad at all, and once again I'm digging the lyrics, but it feels like it's missing something.

And with the third track the living, beating heart of Silicon Messiah makes its appearance in the form of the album's title track. "Silicon Messiah" is awesome. Truly one of Blaze's finest solo songs, it features some awesome music fronted by some of his best vocals. The chorus in particular stands out; while some may criticize him for it, I've always loved the interesting ways he sings certain words, and his pronunciation of "Messiah" is really goddamn cool. There's also pieces that remind me of Bruce's solo work and another that feels a lot like a song from The Cult. Really, it doesn't get too much better than this.

Nice clean intro. Unfortunately, sleepy off-key Blaze has returned. Hmm, this vocal melody is straight out of Yngwie Malmsteen's "Disciples Of Hell", while the descending guitar bit is right out of Queensrÿche's "Spreading The Disease". The vocal harmonies on the chorus are genuinely interesting, but the phrasing has issues. This repetitive guitar break in the middle is not working for me. Pretty sweet solo, though.

When this track first started, I thought I was in for a ballad-y type of song. How foolish of me! It's a fantastic song nevertheless, though not quite as good as the previous 2.

The first Blaze song I ever heard.

Votes:

Spoiler

10 - 1
9 - 4
8 - 4
7 - 0
6 - 0
5 - 1
4 - 1
3 - 0
2 - 0
1 - 0

Overall:

Spoiler

13. Silicon Messiah
14. The Tenth Dimension
15. Leap Of Faith
16. Watching The Night Sky
17. Infinite Entanglement
18. Endure And Survive
19. Speed Of Light
20. Dark Energy 256
21. Time To Dare
22. Eating Lies
23. Ten Seconds
24. Comfortable In Darkness
25. The Truth Revealed
26. Regret
27. The Brave
28. Blood
29. What Will Come
30. Already Won
31. Samurai
32. A Work Of Anger
33. Voices From The Past
34. City Of Bones
35. Independence
36. The Man Who Would Not Die
37. Life And Death
38. Alive
39. Identity
40. Stranger To The Light
41. Life Goes On
42. The World Is Turning The Wrong Way
43. While You Were Gone
44. Tearing Yourself To Pieces
45. Will To Win
46. Smile Back At Death
47. Prayers Of Light
48. At The End Of The Day
49. God Of Speed
50. Solar Wind
51. 18 Days
52. Evolution
53. The Hunger
54. Kill And Destroy
55. Letting Go Of The World
56. 1633
57. Human
58. The Trace Of Things That Have No Words
59. Dawn Of The Dead Son
60. Redeemer
61. Immortal One
62. Human Eyes
63. The First True Sign
64. The Dark Side Of Black
65. Stars Are Burning
66. Madness And Sorrow
67. Waiting For My Life To Begin
68. The Launch
69. Fight Back
70. End Dream
71. Robot
72. Remember
73. Reach For The Horizon
74. Destroyer
75. The Day I Fell To Earth
76. Nothing Will Stop Me
77. Land Of The Blind
78. Faceless
79. Serpent Hearted Man
80. Stealing Time
81. Are You Here
82. Living Someone Else's Life
83. The Dreams Of William Black
84. Blackmailer
85. Russian Holiday
86. Crack In The System
87. The Path & The Way
88. Hollow Head
89. Difficult
90. The Rainbow Fades To Black
91. Motherfuckers R Us
92. Beginning
93. Hatred
94. Dimebag
95. Fate
96. The Truth Is One
97. Forgotten Future
98. Eating Children
99. Fighter
100. Shall We Begin
101. One More Step
102. Judge Me
103. The Black Country
104. The King Of Metal

Albums:

Spoiler

Silicon Messiah 7/10
Tenth Dimension 11/12
Blood & Belief 8/10
Promise And Terror 10/11
Infinite Entanglement 9/12
Endure And Survive 8/10
The Redemption Of William Black 10/11
#8: The Man Who Would Not Die 12/12 (6.61/10 avg.)
Bonus tracks 6/6 (5.65/10 avg.)
#9: The King of Metal 10/10 (4.91/10 avg.)

 

[Shmoolikipod]

3 of the remaining songs have no business getting top the top 10 (or really top 50)

 

[Diesel 11]

12. Calling You Home
Average Score: 8.00/10
Infinite Entanglement 11/12

A highly emotional song with a soaring chorus, "Calling You Home" is one of the highlights from the entire Infinite Entanglement trilogy. It's the first song we've seen on the countdown to get an 8/10 score, which means it's pretty well-liked. Can you hear me in the endless list alone? I'm calling... I'm calling us home.

Comments:

This album really can't stop exceeding all expectations, can it?

The first half of the song had some issues, but the second half of the song made up a lot of ground.

For all the great choruses on this album, I think this one has the weakest - there's something about that I don't quite like. As a whole it's still a good song, with some especially nice melodies throughout and a great solo, but it doesn't do that much for me.

A lot of really strong guitar work throughout, and some nice harmonies in the chorus.

Calling You Home takes a good 2 minutes to really develop and I feel it is very weak, safe to say it's my least favorite song on the album.

Votes:

Spoiler

10 - 1
9 - 2
8 - 2
7 - 2
6 - 1
5 - 0
4 - 0
3 - 0
2 - 0
1 - 0

Overall:

Spoiler

12. Calling You Home
13. Silicon Messiah
14. The Tenth Dimension
15. Leap Of Faith
16. Watching The Night Sky
17. Infinite Entanglement
18. Endure And Survive
19. Speed Of Light
20. Dark Energy 256
21. Time To Dare
22. Eating Lies
23. Ten Seconds
24. Comfortable In Darkness
25. The Truth Revealed
26. Regret
27. The Brave
28. Blood
29. What Will Come
30. Already Won
31. Samurai
32. A Work Of Anger
33. Voices From The Past
34. City Of Bones
35. Independence
36. The Man Who Would Not Die
37. Life And Death
38. Alive
39. Identity
40. Stranger To The Light
41. Life Goes On
42. The World Is Turning The Wrong Way
43. While You Were Gone
44. Tearing Yourself To Pieces
45. Will To Win
46. Smile Back At Death
47. Prayers Of Light
48. At The End Of The Day
49. God Of Speed
50. Solar Wind
51. 18 Days
52. Evolution
53. The Hunger
54. Kill And Destroy
55. Letting Go Of The World
56. 1633
57. Human
58. The Trace Of Things That Have No Words
59. Dawn Of The Dead Son
60. Redeemer
61. Immortal One
62. Human Eyes
63. The First True Sign
64. The Dark Side Of Black
65. Stars Are Burning
66. Madness And Sorrow
67. Waiting For My Life To Begin
68. The Launch
69. Fight Back
70. End Dream
71. Robot
72. Remember
73. Reach For The Horizon
74. Destroyer
75. The Day I Fell To Earth
76. Nothing Will Stop Me
77. Land Of The Blind
78. Faceless
79. Serpent Hearted Man
80. Stealing Time
81. Are You Here
82. Living Someone Else's Life
83. The Dreams Of William Black
84. Blackmailer
85. Russian Holiday
86. Crack In The System
87. The Path & The Way
88. Hollow Head
89. Difficult
90. The Rainbow Fades To Black
91. Motherfuckers R Us
92. Beginning
93. Hatred
94. Dimebag
95. Fate
96. The Truth Is One
97. Forgotten Future
98. Eating Children
99. Fighter
100. Shall We Begin
101. One More Step
102. Judge Me
103. The Black Country
104. The King Of Metal

Albums:

Spoiler

Silicon Messiah 7/10
Tenth Dimension 11/12
Blood & Belief 8/10
Promise And Terror 10/11
Infinite Entanglement 11/12
Endure And Survive 8/10
The Redemption Of William Black 10/11
#8: The Man Who Would Not Die 12/12 (6.61/10 avg.)
Bonus tracks 6/6 (5.65/10 avg.)
#9: The King of Metal 10/10 (4.91/10 avg.)

 

[Diesel 11]

11. Blood And Belief
Average Score: 8.00/10
Blood & Belief 9/10

The title track to Blaze's third solo outing leaves us now just in front of the official Top 10. We've finally made it! It's also our final tie in the countdown, as it and "Calling You Home" both got an 8/10 score, but this had a couple more 10 votes. There are no more ties left, thank god. It's a solid song, not crazy about it, but others seem to have disagreed. Now we're just a step away from the ten best Blaze solo songs as voted by you....

Comments:

Everybody, check these phenomenal riffs from Blood and Belief. And the chorus is outstanding. In other words: It shouldn't be the next one to go. Not yet.

Good title track. The riff is one of the heaviest things in Blaze's entire discography, it's pretty much outright thrash. The verses aren't the best but the chorus is pretty good and I do like the softer bits.

Blaze continues the tradition of placing the title track as the third proper song of the album. I'm not too sure about the clean parts in this one, but the main riff hits you like a truck and the chorus is absolutely HUGE. I'm also in love with the harmonized melody before the solos.

A couple of brilliant moments here, but the verse and pre-chorus are mediocre to bad.

Holy fuck this song kicks ass!

Votes:

Spoiler

10 - 3
9 - 2
8 - 1
7 - 2
6 - 0
5 - 2
4 - 0
3 - 0
2 - 0
1 - 0

Overall:

Spoiler

11. Blood And Belief
12. Calling You Home
13. Silicon Messiah
14. The Tenth Dimension
15. Leap Of Faith
16. Watching The Night Sky
17. Infinite Entanglement
18. Endure And Survive
19. Speed Of Light
20. Dark Energy 256
21. Time To Dare
22. Eating Lies
23. Ten Seconds
24. Comfortable In Darkness
25. The Truth Revealed
26. Regret
27. The Brave
28. Blood
29. What Will Come
30. Already Won
31. Samurai
32. A Work Of Anger
33. Voices From The Past
34. City Of Bones
35. Independence
36. The Man Who Would Not Die
37. Life And Death
38. Alive
39. Identity
40. Stranger To The Light
41. Life Goes On
42. The World Is Turning The Wrong Way
43. While You Were Gone
44. Tearing Yourself To Pieces
45. Will To Win
46. Smile Back At Death
47. Prayers Of Light
48. At The End Of The Day
49. God Of Speed
50. Solar Wind
51. 18 Days
52. Evolution
53. The Hunger
54. Kill And Destroy
55. Letting Go Of The World
56. 1633
57. Human
58. The Trace Of Things That Have No Words
59. Dawn Of The Dead Son
60. Redeemer
61. Immortal One
62. Human Eyes
63. The First True Sign
64. The Dark Side Of Black
65. Stars Are Burning
66. Madness And Sorrow
67. Waiting For My Life To Begin
68. The Launch
69. Fight Back
70. End Dream
71. Robot
72. Remember
73. Reach For The Horizon
74. Destroyer
75. The Day I Fell To Earth
76. Nothing Will Stop Me
77. Land Of The Blind
78. Faceless
79. Serpent Hearted Man
80. Stealing Time
81. Are You Here
82. Living Someone Else's Life
83. The Dreams Of William Black
84. Blackmailer
85. Russian Holiday
86. Crack In The System
87. The Path & The Way
88. Hollow Head
89. Difficult
90. The Rainbow Fades To Black
91. Motherfuckers R Us
92. Beginning
93. Hatred
94. Dimebag
95. Fate
96. The Truth Is One
97. Forgotten Future
98. Eating Children
99. Fighter
100. Shall We Begin
101. One More Step
102. Judge Me
103. The Black Country
104. The King Of Metal

Albums:

Spoiler

Silicon Messiah 7/10
Tenth Dimension 11/12
Blood & Belief 9/10
Promise And Terror 10/11
Infinite Entanglement 11/12
Endure And Survive 8/10
The Redemption Of William Black 10/11
#8: The Man Who Would Not Die 12/12 (6.61/10 avg.)
Bonus tracks 6/6 (5.65/10 avg.)
#9: The King of Metal 10/10 (4.91/10 avg.)

 

[Diesel 11]

Well ladies and gentlemen, after much wasted time on my part, we've finally reached the Top 10.

Silicon Messiah manages to scrape in with a record three songs: it's jaw-dropping opener, "Ghost In The Machine", the fan favorite "Born As A Stranger", and the eternal classic "Stare At The Sun". Its two successors each have a song in there, the emotional ballads "Meant To Be" and "Soundtrack Of My Life". Promise And Terror also gives us an emotional number in the form of "Surrounded By Sadness", and the trilogy has another four songs in the countdown - the rockers "A Thousand Years" and "Escape Velocity", and the closing epics "Together We Can Move The Sun" and "Eagle Spirit". The Man Who Would Not Die and The King Of Metal are the only two albums missing out from the Top 10.

So, what'll the final list look like folks? I hope to update over the next week, but I'll be out of town so it may not work out as I'd like. Still, we're almost there, and I have every intention of finally seeing us out and closing up this MaidenFans chapter for good. Thanks for keeping up with this... I'll see you on the other side of #1.

 

[Jer]

Hmm. From where I sit only 2 of these songs belong in the top 10 — “Meant To Be” and “Escape Velocity”.

Although I think they’re overrated here, I understand why “Ghost In The Machine”, “Born As A Stranger”, and “Together We Can Move The Sun” made the cut.

“Eagle Spirit”, “Stare At The Sun”, and “Soundtrack Of My Life” are alright, but I don’t get why they’re up here.

“Surrounded By Sadness” is meh, and “A Thousand Years” has absolutely no business being anywhere near the top 10. I mean, WTF, people? I don’t get that last one at all.

 

[Shmoolikipod]

Hoping for:
#1 Meant to Be
#2 Soundtrack
#3 Ghost
#4 Stare
#5 TWCMTS
#6 Stranger
#7 Sadness
#8 Eagle
#9 Escape Velocity
#10 A Thousand Years
What are the bottom two doing here?!?! They're nothing special.

Other 2 songs that would make sense being here would be
1. The Tenth Dimension
2. Time to Dare/While You Were Gone/Voices from the Past/Infinite Entanglement/Regret/any of the songs in the Promise and Terror suite
But somehow it's a lame rocker, I want to see the votes it got

 

[Diesel 11]

10. Soundtrack Of My Life
Average Score: 8.09/10
Blood & Belief 10/10

What a great way to close an album. "Soundtrack Of My Life" is an emotional roller coaster from the Blazemeister and helps erase the disastrous "The Path & The Way" from memory. It's the highest-ranking song from Blood & Belief in our countdown and certainly a worthy component of our Top 10. Enough fans pulled together to bring it this far and it certainly deserves that. It's a great song.

Comments:

Masterpiece.

What a great album closer it is.

My one complaint is that it's too short! I'd have loved for it to be a full-on epic.

The album ends on a high note with this tune - incredibly heartfelt and haunting, with some powerful, mournful singing by Blaze. I feel like it should've been longer and maybe have had an extended instrumental part to truly be a masterpiece, though.

Blaze sounds pretty good on the verse [but] the chorus is underwhelming.

Great song. Not quite incredible, but it's close. I'd rank it as the 3rd best song on the album, behind the title track and Alive.

Votes:

Spoiler

10 - 3
9 - 3
8 - 2
7 - 1
6 - 0
5 - 1
4 - 1
3 - 0
2 - 0
1 - 0

#4: Blood & Belief
Average Score: 7.16/10

At this point in the countdown, the album rankings no longer correlate with where their songs stop appearing in the list. As such, we're gonna have to go out of order now (for my peace of mind, at any rate), but luckily the highest-ranking song is from the highest-ranking album, so that'll be all right. Until then, we're gonna be jumping around, and right now we've gone from #9 to #8 to... #4 - Blood & Belief, the final offering from the original BLAZE band.

This was a more inconsistent release in comparison to Silicon Messiah and Tenth Dimension, and I can't say that I'm a fan of much of it. Some songs are great - like "Ten Seconds" and "Soundtrack Of My Life" - but there are a few more inane ones, like "Hollow Head", and the travesty that is "The Path & The Way". Still, it's received quite a bit of love from its fans, who have praised the riffs here and Blaze's overall performance. It's certainly a solid release as a whole and is, as far as consensuses go, one of the better albums from our dude.

Comments:

The first three Blaze albums smokes everything anybody else has done outside of Maiden. Chemical Wedding might rival them. Might.

I wouldn't call Blood and Belief a masterpiece, but it's a very good album.

Lyrically, it's interesting, but musically...

There is nothing wrong with Blood and Belief at all musically, I even think that it is stronger than Tenth Dimension. My opinion is that it is an album which has potential to grow a lot if you give it a real chance.

I'd say Blood and Belief contains his best vocal performance of all records he ever sang on. And the sound of the album and most of the songs are excellent. One but best Blaze album, at times even the best. Hardly anyone talks about it. Very weird. Maybe it's overlooked out here.

Just checked Blood & Belief, really liked it. I agree, its some of his best vocal work ever and decent tunes to boot. Some parts remind me of some of Bruces chuggy, riffy moments. No bad thing.

I rate Blood and Belief a notch lower than the first two albums because it's dark and downbeat. It's not as punchy as its predecessors.

I gave blood and belief a few spins this week after reading this thread. It's a quality album and I agree that it's probably the best vocal performance of Blazes career.

I know that a lot of people think this is one of Blaze's finest works, but I am not one of them. It's a bit too inconsistent for that.

Disappointing album for the most part. A shame as the first two albums from BLAZE were pretty good.

I like Blood and Belief quite a bit.

Blood and Belief is the last album from the BLAZE-era, and with only half of the previous band still intact at this point, it was bound to fall apart eventually. You can definitely tell Blaze himself were facing some personal issues at the time - gone are the sci-fi futuristic tales, instead replaced by lyrics that reflect hard-fought personal struggles. All in all I don't find it as good as the first two album, especially due to its second half being a lot weaker than the first half.

I guess this was the end of the road for the "Blaze" incarnation of the band. They started off with a lot of blatant cribbing/homage on Silicon Messiah, but gradually developed more of their own sound. I think if they'd focused more on the thrashy riffs and thick harmonized rhythm guitars rather than the more nu-metal stylings they would have had better and more consistent results; but they still managed to crank out several good songs and a few great ones.

Overall:

Spoiler

10. Soundtrack Of My Life
11. Blood And Belief
12. Calling You Home
13. Silicon Messiah
14. The Tenth Dimension
15. Leap Of Faith
16. Watching The Night Sky
17. Infinite Entanglement
18. Endure And Survive
19. Speed Of Light
20. Dark Energy 256
21. Time To Dare
22. Eating Lies
23. Ten Seconds
24. Comfortable In Darkness
25. The Truth Revealed
26. Regret
27. The Brave
28. Blood
29. What Will Come
30. Already Won
31. Samurai
32. A Work Of Anger
33. Voices From The Past
34. City Of Bones
35. Independence
36. The Man Who Would Not Die
37. Life And Death
38. Alive
39. Identity
40. Stranger To The Light
41. Life Goes On
42. The World Is Turning The Wrong Way
43. While You Were Gone
44. Tearing Yourself To Pieces
45. Will To Win
46. Smile Back At Death
47. Prayers Of Light
48. At The End Of The Day
49. God Of Speed
50. Solar Wind
51. 18 Days
52. Evolution
53. The Hunger
54. Kill And Destroy
55. Letting Go Of The World
56. 1633
57. Human
58. The Trace Of Things That Have No Words
59. Dawn Of The Dead Son
60. Redeemer
61. Immortal One
62. Human Eyes
63. The First True Sign
64. The Dark Side Of Black
65. Stars Are Burning
66. Madness And Sorrow
67. Waiting For My Life To Begin
68. The Launch
69. Fight Back
70. End Dream
71. Robot
72. Remember
73. Reach For The Horizon
74. Destroyer
75. The Day I Fell To Earth
76. Nothing Will Stop Me
77. Land Of The Blind
78. Faceless
79. Serpent Hearted Man
80. Stealing Time
81. Are You Here
82. Living Someone Else's Life
83. The Dreams Of William Black
84. Blackmailer
85. Russian Holiday
86. Crack In The System
87. The Path & The Way
88. Hollow Head
89. Difficult
90. The Rainbow Fades To Black
91. Motherfuckers R Us
92. Beginning
93. Hatred
94. Dimebag
95. Fate
96. The Truth Is One
97. Forgotten Future
98. Eating Children
99. Fighter
100. Shall We Begin
101. One More Step
102. Judge Me
103. The Black Country
104. The King Of Metal

Albums:

Spoiler

Silicon Messiah 7/10
Tenth Dimension 11/12
Promise And Terror 10/11
Infinite Entanglement 11/12
Endure And Survive 8/10
The Redemption Of William Black 10/11
#4: Blood & Belief 10/10 (7.16/10 avg.)
#8: The Man Who Would Not Die 12/12 (6.61/10 avg.)
Bonus tracks 6/6 (5.65/10 avg.)
#9: The King of Metal 10/10 (4.91/10 avg.)

 

[Diesel 11]

9. Surrounded By Sadness
Average Score: 8.22/10
Promise And Terror 11/11

Next album to fall: Promise And Terror, as the heartfelt, emotional yet unassuming number "Surrounded By Sadness" makes a worthy entry into our top 10. It's an absolutely beautiful song. With the death of Blaze's wife having thrown a wrench in the man's life, this song starts off the album's "tragedy suite" and is a mournful tribute to the woman he loved. Three voters hovered around 5 and 6, but the other six gave it a 9 or a 10. It's certainly a wonderful song. Absolutely excellent.

Comments:

'Surrounded By Sadness' is easily my favourite song from the 'Promise & Terror' album.

Very good.

Fuckin' nailed it. The acoustic first half is superb, and the song only gets better when the electricity hits the scene. Blaze is singing his heart out, and it succeeds beautifully.

I have never heard anything as heartfelt, I'm still getting the chills everytime I listen to it.

Powerful stuff.

Meh.

Votes:

Spoiler

10 - 4
9 - 2
8 - 0
7 - 0
6 - 1
5 - 2
4 - 0
3 - 0
2 - 0
1 - 0

#3: Promise And Terror
Average Score: 7.23/10

The better loved of Blaze's two albums with the Bermudez brothers is the next one to leave the list, but lo and behold, we're actually following right on from the last album, Blood & Belief, as Promise And Terror is the third greatest Blaze album, based on song averages. It's a heavy record, a dark record, and a very personal record, as Blaze opens himself up and pumps his heart into the music. It was written in response to storms he had personally faced in life and it's quite telling, and has become a bit of a fan favorite for him.

The death of Blaze's wife impacted the sound the most out of everything else that had happened. The Man Who Would Not Die was already a dark record, but this one went above and beyond in that category and is possibly the darkest, most personal moment in Blaze's entire career, which is saying something. The "personal tragedy suite" - the album's last four songs - is one that stands out the most, in particular the emotional "Surrounded In Sadness". Yet we also get a fantastic opener in the form of "Watching The Night Sky", and Blaze delves into other interests with "God Of Speed", written about racing, and the Galileo-inspired "1633". As a whole, it's a monumental affair and certainly one of the dude's strongest albums. From now on, we'll be comfortable in darkness.

Comments:

I've been listening to Promise and Terror lately, and for the most part I'm seriously impressed. It sounds a bit like The Man Who Would Not Die, but with more thought put into the riffing and melody.

I wasn't too impressed with Promise and Terror first, especially as it was the third in a series of three new albums (all within a month or so) from bands that I really like, and they all somewhat disappointed me. Since then, Blaze's one has really grown on me, the other two not so much. Even the ones I didn't like much at first are now enjoyable. City of Bones is easily the best song on the album, terrific live, and one of, if not the, best Blaze songs.

I think it's a solid album. At first I was slightly dissapointed, but in time i've realized i just had too high expectations, it's really a great album, not as big for me as the last one, but still pretty solid. And the slower songs in the end are just awesome, I always thought the darker and slower tnhings were blaze's real strenth =)

Still no Silicon Messiah, but just awesome.

Promise and Terror had its moments (mostly City of Bones), but they were nowhere near the standards Blaze once set himself.

A pretty good album.

I listened to Promise and Terror earlier today, and once again I was struck by how incredibly good it is. An album which I would place up there with my favourites.

Didn't grab me at all.

My favorite Blaze Bayley album is easily Promise And Terror. The suite telling the tale of him going through his wife's passing is one of the most incredible things these ears have ever heard.

Whereas The Man Who Would Not Die is dark but that darkness makes it bleary, Promises and Terror uses the darkness to invoke feelings of loss, betrayal, personal tragedy. TMWWND is Blaze going back to work to move past; P&T is him letting the sadness flow over him and giving him time to accept what happened.

A step down from the previous album. Quite repetitive in places.

A definite high note for me.

Once again the band is the star of the show, while Blaze manages to dull their great music with chronic phrasing and voice control problems, and an apparent inability to craft consistently compelling vocal melodies. He has his moments, of course, but it's rare for him to be able to put it all together in the same song.

Overall:

Spoiler

9. Surrounded By Sadness
10. Soundtrack Of My Life
11. Blood And Belief
12. Calling You Home
13. Silicon Messiah
14. The Tenth Dimension
15. Leap Of Faith
16. Watching The Night Sky
17. Infinite Entanglement
18. Endure And Survive
19. Speed Of Light
20. Dark Energy 256
21. Time To Dare
22. Eating Lies
23. Ten Seconds
24. Comfortable In Darkness
25. The Truth Revealed
26. Regret
27. The Brave
28. Blood
29. What Will Come
30. Already Won
31. Samurai
32. A Work Of Anger
33. Voices From The Past
34. City Of Bones
35. Independence
36. The Man Who Would Not Die
37. Life And Death
38. Alive
39. Identity
40. Stranger To The Light
41. Life Goes On
42. The World Is Turning The Wrong Way
43. While You Were Gone
44. Tearing Yourself To Pieces
45. Will To Win
46. Smile Back At Death
47. Prayers Of Light
48. At The End Of The Day
49. God Of Speed
50. Solar Wind
51. 18 Days
52. Evolution
53. The Hunger
54. Kill And Destroy
55. Letting Go Of The World
56. 1633
57. Human
58. The Trace Of Things That Have No Words
59. Dawn Of The Dead Son
60. Redeemer
61. Immortal One
62. Human Eyes
63. The First True Sign
64. The Dark Side Of Black
65. Stars Are Burning
66. Madness And Sorrow
67. Waiting For My Life To Begin
68. The Launch
69. Fight Back
70. End Dream
71. Robot
72. Remember
73. Reach For The Horizon
74. Destroyer
75. The Day I Fell To Earth
76. Nothing Will Stop Me
77. Land Of The Blind
78. Faceless
79. Serpent Hearted Man
80. Stealing Time
81. Are You Here
82. Living Someone Else's Life
83. The Dreams Of William Black
84. Blackmailer
85. Russian Holiday
86. Crack In The System
87. The Path & The Way
88. Hollow Head
89. Difficult
90. The Rainbow Fades To Black
91. Motherfuckers R Us
92. Beginning
93. Hatred
94. Dimebag
95. Fate
96. The Truth Is One
97. Forgotten Future
98. Eating Children
99. Fighter
100. Shall We Begin
101. One More Step
102. Judge Me
103. The Black Country
104. The King Of Metal

Albums:

Spoiler

Silicon Messiah 7/10
Tenth Dimension 11/12
Infinite Entanglement 11/12
Endure And Survive 8/10
The Redemption Of William Black 10/11
#3: Promise And Terror 11/10 (7.23/10 avg.)
#4: Blood & Belief 10/10 (7.16/10 avg.)
#8: The Man Who Would Not Die 12/12 (6.61/10 avg.)
Bonus tracks 6/6 (5.65/10 avg.)
#9: The King of Metal 10/10 (4.91/10 avg.)

 

[Jer]

9. Surrounded By Sadness

Ba-AD-ness SU-rou-ou-OU-ound-ing ME...

This is an extremely thin 9 between 10 and 8.

 

[Diesel 11]

8. Born As A Stranger
Average Score: 8.23/10
Silicon Messiah 8/10

"Born As A Stranger" has always been one of Blaze's most popular songs, a live staple and a fan favorite. Some may criticize it for the repackaging of "Man On The Edge", but it took that sort of idea, beefed it up, and created an anthemic monster that has rightly been inducted into our Top 10. Some low votes could not defeat its fans, and it worthily takes the number 8 placement in our countdown.

Comments:

Born as a Stranger actually kinda reminds me of Cemetery Gates by Pantera for some reason? Even though the songs are totally, TOTALLY different...

Born as a Stranger is my favourite. IMO it can't get much better than this.

Nooooooooo! Stranger is Blaze's second best song, you brutes!

Born As a Stranger shouldn't even be in the top ten. So many better SM songs to choose from.

Stranger is going!

Born As A Stranger isn't that epic.

For once the lyrics are the weak point of this particular tune, but the music more than makes up for it. Great riff and amazing solos!

"Born as a Stranger" opens with a chugging riff that pummels right into a smackdown of metal. This is actually one of the most Maiden-esque songs on the album, and could probably fit in well on The X Factor. Unlike Blaze Maiden, however, "Born as a Stranger" has more power than they ever had (which isn't to say that I like it more because I don't, but it's quite obvious if you listen to it that you'd agree with me). A soaring performance from Blaze leads this metal monster and the chorus is one of his absolute best.

This had some of the raw materials to be a great song, but blatant rehashing and performance issues got in the way.

... WTF is this?

I'm not a fan of the verses, or really the vocals as a whole on this one. The music is good though, and the solos are solid.

Votes:

Spoiler

10 - 3
9 - 4
8 - 4
7 - 0
6 - 1
5 - 0
4 - 0
3 - 1
2 - 0
1 - 0

Overall:

Spoiler

8. Born As A Stranger
9. Surrounded By Sadness
10. Soundtrack Of My Life
11. Blood And Belief
12. Calling You Home
13. Silicon Messiah
14. The Tenth Dimension
15. Leap Of Faith
16. Watching The Night Sky
17. Infinite Entanglement
18. Endure And Survive
19. Speed Of Light
20. Dark Energy 256
21. Time To Dare
22. Eating Lies
23. Ten Seconds
24. Comfortable In Darkness
25. The Truth Revealed
26. Regret
27. The Brave
28. Blood
29. What Will Come
30. Already Won
31. Samurai
32. A Work Of Anger
33. Voices From The Past
34. City Of Bones
35. Independence
36. The Man Who Would Not Die
37. Life And Death
38. Alive
39. Identity
40. Stranger To The Light
41. Life Goes On
42. The World Is Turning The Wrong Way
43. While You Were Gone
44. Tearing Yourself To Pieces
45. Will To Win
46. Smile Back At Death
47. Prayers Of Light
48. At The End Of The Day
49. God Of Speed
50. Solar Wind
51. 18 Days
52. Evolution
53. The Hunger
54. Kill And Destroy
55. Letting Go Of The World
56. 1633
57. Human
58. The Trace Of Things That Have No Words
59. Dawn Of The Dead Son
60. Redeemer
61. Immortal One
62. Human Eyes
63. The First True Sign
64. The Dark Side Of Black
65. Stars Are Burning
66. Madness And Sorrow
67. Waiting For My Life To Begin
68. The Launch
69. Fight Back
70. End Dream
71. Robot
72. Remember
73. Reach For The Horizon
74. Destroyer
75. The Day I Fell To Earth
76. Nothing Will Stop Me
77. Land Of The Blind
78. Faceless
79. Serpent Hearted Man
80. Stealing Time
81. Are You Here
82. Living Someone Else's Life
83. The Dreams Of William Black
84. Blackmailer
85. Russian Holiday
86. Crack In The System
87. The Path & The Way
88. Hollow Head
89. Difficult
90. The Rainbow Fades To Black
91. Motherfuckers R Us
92. Beginning
93. Hatred
94. Dimebag
95. Fate
96. The Truth Is One
97. Forgotten Future
98. Eating Children
99. Fighter
100. Shall We Begin
101. One More Step
102. Judge Me
103. The Black Country
104. The King Of Metal

Albums:

Spoiler

Silicon Messiah 8/10
Tenth Dimension 11/12
Infinite Entanglement 11/12
Endure And Survive 8/10
The Redemption Of William Black 10/11
#3: Promise And Terror 11/10 (7.23/10 avg.)
#4: Blood & Belief 10/10 (7.16/10 avg.)
#8: The Man Who Would Not Die 12/12 (6.61/10 avg.)
Bonus tracks 6/6 (5.65/10 avg.)
#9: The King of Metal 10/10 (4.91/10 avg.)

 

[Forostar]

Cool. I honestly thought that -by looking at this thread- this song would not make the top 10. Thank you, secret voters!

 

[Diesel 11]

7. Ghost In The Machine
Average Score: 8.33/10
Silicon Messiah 9/10

Just beating "Born As A Stranger" by a .1 difference is Silicon Messiah's runner-up highlight. As the album's opening track, "Ghost In The Machine" announced to a world of listeners - people who were either sad to see Blaze leave Maiden and on board to follow his solo career, interested to find out what he would do on his own, or ready to gripe about his shoddy work, given their experience with recent Maiden music - that this was an entirely new style of music. The production was better, the guitars were heavier, and Blaze was putting his back into belting out those vocals. For many, it was a once-in-a-lifetime sort of track that proved that Blaze Bayley wasn't quite as bad as they had all thought. As a side note, I gave this one a 9 when we voted, but for fuck's sake, it would be an easy 10 for me now, one of my all-time favorite Blaze tracks. So awesome.

Comments:

Preferring Ghost in the Machine over Born as a Stranger is like preferring The Number of the Beast over Hallowed, Phantom, Rime or another immensely popular Maiden epic.

Ghost In The Machine is kinda overrated.

Ghost is another solid song.

I remember the first time listening to this and not being impressed at all, but boy, has it grown on me. Heavy as fuck, great chorus, and I know the lyrical theme of most of the album isn't for everyone, but I find it fascinating. Fantastic song.

Right off the bat, Silicon Messiah blinds you with the insane heaviness of the album. Anyone expecting something like The X Factor or Virtual XI need to prepare themselves because this is top notch production and some really heavy heavy metal. The riff is fantastic, and the song is the definition of a banger.

I will say that Blaze actually sounds really good on most of this track -- kudos to the producer. Unfortunately, most of the song is "meh", and a catchy but derivative chorus can't save it.

First Blaze solo song I've ever heard. It actually played an enormous part in my early Maiden childhood years, I used to listen to this song (actually, this album, though I listened to this song more than the others) all the time. However, as the years went by, I got as close as to forget it even existed. I just erased it from my mind, for some reason. It wasn't until recently (last year, I think) that I rediscovered it, and boy, has it aged well! It sounds even better now than it did back when I was little. Gorgeous performances, fantastic solos, ominous melodies to fit the haunting lyrics, and a subject matter that remains relevant nearly 20 years after.

Great way to start the album, and Blaze's solo career as a whole. The great production is immediately noticeable. Pretty awesome song all the way around.

Votes:

Spoiler

10 - 4
9 - 4
8 - 1
7 - 1
6 - 0
5 - 1
4 - 1
3 - 0
2 - 0
1 - 0

Overall:

Spoiler

7. Ghost In The Machine
8. Born As A Stranger
9. Surrounded By Sadness
10. Soundtrack Of My Life
11. Blood And Belief
12. Calling You Home
13. Silicon Messiah
14. The Tenth Dimension
15. Leap Of Faith
16. Watching The Night Sky
17. Infinite Entanglement
18. Endure And Survive
19. Speed Of Light
20. Dark Energy 256
21. Time To Dare
22. Eating Lies
23. Ten Seconds
24. Comfortable In Darkness
25. The Truth Revealed
26. Regret
27. The Brave
28. Blood
29. What Will Come
30. Already Won
31. Samurai
32. A Work Of Anger
33. Voices From The Past
34. City Of Bones
35. Independence
36. The Man Who Would Not Die
37. Life And Death
38. Alive
39. Identity
40. Stranger To The Light
41. Life Goes On
42. The World Is Turning The Wrong Way
43. While You Were Gone
44. Tearing Yourself To Pieces
45. Will To Win
46. Smile Back At Death
47. Prayers Of Light
48. At The End Of The Day
49. God Of Speed
50. Solar Wind
51. 18 Days
52. Evolution
53. The Hunger
54. Kill And Destroy
55. Letting Go Of The World
56. 1633
57. Human
58. The Trace Of Things That Have No Words
59. Dawn Of The Dead Son
60. Redeemer
61. Immortal One
62. Human Eyes
63. The First True Sign
64. The Dark Side Of Black
65. Stars Are Burning
66. Madness And Sorrow
67. Waiting For My Life To Begin
68. The Launch
69. Fight Back
70. End Dream
71. Robot
72. Remember
73. Reach For The Horizon
74. Destroyer
75. The Day I Fell To Earth
76. Nothing Will Stop Me
77. Land Of The Blind
78. Faceless
79. Serpent Hearted Man
80. Stealing Time
81. Are You Here
82. Living Someone Else's Life
83. The Dreams Of William Black
84. Blackmailer
85. Russian Holiday
86. Crack In The System
87. The Path & The Way
88. Hollow Head
89. Difficult
90. The Rainbow Fades To Black
91. Motherfuckers R Us
92. Beginning
93. Hatred
94. Dimebag
95. Fate
96. The Truth Is One
97. Forgotten Future
98. Eating Children
99. Fighter
100. Shall We Begin
101. One More Step
102. Judge Me
103. The Black Country
104. The King Of Metal

Albums:

Spoiler

Silicon Messiah 9/10
Tenth Dimension 11/12
Infinite Entanglement 11/12
Endure And Survive 8/10
The Redemption Of William Black 10/11
#3: Promise And Terror 11/10 (7.23/10 avg.)
#4: Blood & Belief 10/10 (7.16/10 avg.)
#8: The Man Who Would Not Die 12/12 (6.61/10 avg.)
Bonus tracks 6/6 (5.65/10 avg.)
#9: The King of Metal 10/10 (4.91/10 avg.)

 

[rideon77]

Stare At The Sun will probably win

 

[rideon77]

Very nice To see Eagle Spirit in the top 6