Blaze vs. Bruce

macunaima

Trooper
[span style=\'font-size:8pt;line-height:100%\']To see the beginning of this conversation, go [a href=\'http://forum.maidenfans.com/index.php?act=ST&f=38&t=4262&st=30#entry126264\' target=\'_blank\']here.[/a] .[/span]


[!--QuoteBegin-SinisterMinisterX+Jan 2 2006, 11:22 PM--][div class=\'quotetop\']QUOTE(SinisterMinisterX @ Jan 2 2006, 11:22 PM)[/div][div class=\'quotemain\'][!--QuoteEBegin--]Just out of curiosity, are you comparing their work solely in Iron Maiden, or are you also taking their solo careers into account?
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I'm thinking of both. Regarding their Maiden-era stuff, I think there is no contest. 2am is pretty good; Man on the edge is alright, but I have a hard time listening to any of the other Blaze-Maiden songs. On the other hand, Revelations and Powerslave should be on anyone's top-10 Maiden songs. Flight of Icarus, 2 minutes to midnight should be on anyone's top-20. His production dropped off after that and, of course, his early solo-stuff was pretty weak. But by the late 90s he rediscovered his groove and turned out two fantastic albums that I think are almost as good as anything he ever did with Maiden.

I've haven't heard everything Blaze did before and after Maiden. Some of what I've heard is pretty good -- better than anything of the stuff he wrote with Maiden. Stare at the sun, I agree, is a great song. But I haven't found most of the other stuff on Silicon Messiah very compelling.


[!--QuoteBegin-SinisterMinisterX+Jan 2 2006, 11:22 PM--][div class=\'quotetop\']QUOTE(SinisterMinisterX @ Jan 2 2006, 11:22 PM)[/div][div class=\'quotemain\'][!--QuoteEBegin--]Here's my opinon:

"Bruce has a better voice"
Their voices are quite different. It's like comparing apples and oranges. That doesn't mean you can't have a favorite (I prefer oranges), but comparisons can't tell the whole story. I also prefer Bruce's voice, but I think Blaze is great too.
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What's wrong with comparing apples to oranges?! Apples are tart and sour; Oranges are sweet and juicy. [!--emo&:lol:--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/lol[1].gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'lol[1].gif\' /][!--endemo--] Of course, if you're making pie, oranges will suck. So if the point of the analogy is that their voices are good for different things or styles, then I might agree. But the reason I prefer Bruce's voice and singing style is, I guess, that Blaze sounds like he's struggling too hard. With Bruce the sound just rushes out of his pipes -- as if all he had to do was open his mouth and the sounds came rushing out. Blaze sounds like he has to try, has to force the sound out of him. Of course this is just a matter of taste, but I'm turned off by that.




[!--QuoteBegin-SinisterMinisterX+Jan 2 2006, 11:22 PM--][div class=\'quotetop\']QUOTE(SinisterMinisterX @ Jan 2 2006, 11:22 PM)[/div][div class=\'quotemain\'][!--QuoteEBegin--][span style=\'font-size:8pt;line-height:100%\'] I hope you don't mind if I call you mac.[/span]
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[span style=\'font-size:8pt;line-height:100%\']I don't mind.[/span]
 
Now first of all this thread inspired me to eat an orange. Thanks [!--emo&:)--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/smile.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'smile.gif\' /][!--endemo--]

Now, onto my opinion on this matter.

Comparing Bruce and Blaze is an obvious matter, since they were/are both singers of Iron Maiden. However, I think you should be reasonable in your comparison. I don't think you can compare The X Factor to SSOASS- both are vastly different albums with distinct qualities. Of course, you can like one better than the other. The type of music, the individual songs, or maybe just that undefinable something may appeal to you more on the one album. But comparing them? Maybe individual parts. You can compare the guitar solos and see if the solos on one album are more suited to the individual songs than on the other, or you can compare the quality of songwriting- but comparing the two albums as a whole will get you nowhere.

You can't compare Blaze on 2 AM to Bruce on Only The Good Die Young. I think the reasons are obvious; if the songs (or at least the vocal lines) were similar to each other, it would be a different story. What you can do without problem is compare Blaze on Sign Of The Cross to Bruce on Sign Of The Cross; Bruce on The Trooper to Blaze on The Trooper.

Here is where I can say when I like Bruce over Blaze and vice versa. Blaze does -with some exceptions- a bad job on Bruce's tracks, mostly because their voices are so different that Blaze can't reach Bruce's notes. Blaze on The Trooper doesn't sound very good to me. He performs The Evil That Men Do and Fear Of The Dark decently; only Afraid To Shoot Strangers sticks out as a song of which I really prefer Blaze's version to Bruces. Likewise, I don't like Bruce on most of Blaze's tracks. I think he does a terrible job on Lord Of The Flies and Man On The Edge; his work on The Clansman and Sign Of The Cross is somewhat bearable but nowhere near Blaze's vocals.

Now, as for the solo work, I've got an obvious preference: Blaze. This is not to discredit Bruce. Accident Of Birth and The Chemical Wedding are two outstanding albums, and Balls To Picasso and Tyranny Of Souls are decent works too, I like to listen to them once in a while. As for Blaze, all of the albums are breathtaking. I really have difficulties finding words for how much I love them.

As for who I prefer in Maiden, it's hard. The X Factor is my favourite album; it is in my opinion the only Maiden album without any sort of flaw in it. However, Seventh Son is a very close second. I probably prefer Bruce both because he has done much more with Maiden and indeed because I think his voice has more facets than Blaze's. However, I think Blaze is a brilliant singer, and I love hearing his voice.

This is all my personal opinion, I do not intend to push it onto somebody else, and I know that nobody will totally agree with me; there are as many opinions as people.
 
Haven't read a damn word. I am, however, moving this thread to Maiden Chat, where it properly belongs.
 
[!--QuoteBegin-LooseCannon+Jan 3 2006, 05:03 PM--][div class=\'quotetop\']QUOTE(LooseCannon @ Jan 3 2006, 05:03 PM)[/div][div class=\'quotemain\'][!--QuoteEBegin--]Haven't read a damn word.  I am, however, moving this thread to Maiden Chat, where it properly belongs.
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Hehe I like this comment. [!--emo&:)--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/smile.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'smile.gif\' /][!--endemo--]


Anyway, I'll comment on the live performances of both men in Maiden.

Blaze did a crap job of most Bruce era songs except for Fear of the Dark and Wrathchild.

Bruce did a way better job on Blaze-era songs. I even like his live versions of MOTE, Futureal, The Clansman and SOTC better than Blaze's live performances. Simply because Bruce does not sing offkey so often as Blaze did.

This simple fact (singing less offkey) is one of the not unimportant reasons, that makes Bruce a better singer in all live-situations.

However, Blaze has improved a lot, and now he does a better job than during is Maiden period, both live and in studio.
 
Personally, I think that Blaze did a great job on songs like Afriad to Shoot Strangers, Wrathchild, and Iron Maiden.

I think he did a half decent job on songs like The Clairvoyant, The Evil That Men Do and Fear Of The Dark, but a terrible job on The Trooper and The Number Of The Beast.

As for Bruce, I like his performance on Sign Of The Cross and The Clansman, but I think his versions of Man On The Edge, Futureal and most noteably Lord Of The Flies were disappointing.

I think Blaze and Bruce are equally great in their own ways and if anyone thinks that Blaze is terrible at live performances, listen to "As Live As It Gets" or "Massive Noise Injection".
 
[!--QuoteBegin-Liberation+Jan 4 2006, 06:25 PM--][div class=\'quotetop\']QUOTE(Liberation @ Jan 4 2006, 06:25 PM)[/div][div class=\'quotemain\'][!--QuoteEBegin--]I think Blaze and Bruce are equally great in their own ways and if anyone thinks that Blaze is terrible at live performances, listen to "As Live As It Gets" or "Massive Noise Injection".
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Blaze may be a great singer live (with his own material mostly) but the presence he has on stage is miniscule. From the videos I have seen Blaze stands in the one place for the performance of a song. He makes little effort to interact with the crowd and seems to be lost in a world of his own. this is why Bruce is a better live performer, he (comically) runs around the stage striking poses with other band members and gets the crowd going much better.

IMO, even though Bruce is a better performer live, I prefer Blaze's style of singing. It's down to each individual I suppose but if I had to choose what gig I was going to, a bruce gig would be my preference as the atmosphere would be better. [!--emo&-_---][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/sleep.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'sleep.gif\' /][!--endemo--]
 
[!--QuoteBegin-Liberation+Jan 4 2006, 06:25 PM--][div class=\'quotetop\']QUOTE(Liberation @ Jan 4 2006, 06:25 PM)[/div][div class=\'quotemain\'][!--QuoteEBegin--]I think Blaze and Bruce are equally great in their own ways and if anyone thinks that Blaze is terrible at live performances, listen to "As Live As It Gets"
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I heard it and he is very good on it. But most of these songs fit his voice better than the 1980-1992 Maiden material.

So now he is good in live performances, when he sings Blaze songs. He wasn't when he was in Maiden.
 
[!--QuoteBegin-Forostar+Jan 4 2006, 02:22 PM--][div class=\'quotetop\']QUOTE(Forostar @ Jan 4 2006, 02:22 PM)[/div][div class=\'quotemain\'][!--QuoteEBegin--]I heard it and he is very good on it. But most of these songs fit his voice better than the 1980-1992 Maiden material.

So now he is good in live performances, when he sings Blaze songs. He wasn't when he was in Maiden.
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Keep in mind that Blaze was in Wolfsbane before Maiden and his live performances then were good, he was good in his Maiden days while doing songs from TXF and VXI, its just because when you hear a song you try to sing the same way the original singer does, so Blaze tried to sing higher than his possible range for alot of Bruce songs.
 
[!--QuoteBegin-Conor+Jan 4 2006, 08:40 PM--][div class=\'quotetop\']QUOTE(Conor @ Jan 4 2006, 08:40 PM)[/div][div class=\'quotemain\'][!--QuoteEBegin--]Blaze may be a great singer live (with his own material mostly) but the presence he has on stage is miniscule.  From the videos I have seen Blaze stands in the one place for the performance of a song.  He makes little effort to interact with the crowd and seems to be lost in a world of his own.  this is why Bruce is a better live performer, he (comically) runs around the stage striking poses with other band members and gets the crowd going much better.

IMO, even though Bruce is a better performer live, I prefer Blaze's style of singing.  It's down to each individual I suppose but if I had to choose what gig I was going to, a bruce gig would be my preference as the atmosphere would be better. [!--emo&-_---][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/sleep.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'sleep.gif\' /][!--endemo--]
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Blaze might have been a bit boring during his Maiden years, but go check out some of the live clips @ [a href=\'http://www.blazefans.com/\' target=\'_blank\']http://www.blazefans.com/[/a], if anyone knows how to interact with a crowd, it's Blaze! He has great rants, and during the songs you'll see him running all over the place, climbing whatever parts of the set he can scale and all sorts of crazy whatnot!

No denying Bruce's enthusiasm and energy during live shows, but judging from the clips I've seen, Blaze gives him fair competition, especially given the comperatively smaller venues he plays.

As for the topic up for discussion, it's pretty easy, really: Bruce for Bruce songs, Blaze for Blaze songs. Bruce is better live (and I'm only talking Maiden here), not in small part because most of the material played live was written for him to sing.
 
I am going slightly off-topic here.

[!--QuoteBegin-$yk0_H+Jan 6 2006, 01:22 AM--][div class=\'quotetop\']QUOTE($yk0_H @ Jan 6 2006, 01:22 AM)[/div][div class=\'quotemain\'][!--QuoteEBegin--]Bruce is better live (and I'm only talking Maiden here), not in small part because most of the material played live was written for him to sing.

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Yes and no. Of course Maiden's material was written for him, but it's not as simple and easy for Bruce as it seems. We all know of the interesting Steve-Bruce discussion about Rainmaker.

Steve:
"Rainmaker" is from Dave and me. He had the original idea and I recorded it and arranged it a bit differently. I also wrote the Melody and the Vocal lines. I had to order Bruce that he sings the exact words I had in mind. Otherwise it happens that he sings the end of a text different than the given melody line because the words do not allow to sing it differently. That's why I rigurously controlled that Bruce sings exactly the words I have intended. Bruce does not like it at all when I give him such orders *laughing*. But we had a very interesting chat about this issue, when I explained to him that, when I compose, the melody has first priority. The lyrics are important too, but at the end they have to fit the melody and not the other way around. This is why I sometimes get rid of a word when I feel that it does not fit and exchange it with another one. This is called a compromise in favor of the melody. Bruce however said that he would never do a compromise with the lyrics, every word is important - but with "Rainmaker" I could convince him at the end. I mean, when you hear the song for the first time, you do usually not recognize the lyrics yet, you remember best the melody not the words. In many countries we have a language barrier, where the fans do not understand all the lyrics. Was interesting to have a change of opinion. I am really happy that I could convince Bruce with this song, because "Rainmaker" has a very strong melody.
 
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