General fan vibe during the Blaze days

srfc said:
Not speculation from me, it was put about by unnamed media sources as far as I can remember. Again I stand to be corrected, but my memory was that Janick and Nicko were alleged to have stormed off. And it was more to to do with things like not knowing lyrics as much as bad singing.
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This is kinda interesting because I've always had this impression Nicko was the "sane man" in the whole Blaze issue, i.e. he agreed with the popular impression that Bruce was awful on his last tour in '93, and was happy to have Blaze as a replacement. But at the same time as the various limitations and problems with Blaze's live performances arose, he was very much willing to push for Steve to replace him.

Meanwhile Janick was relatively loyal to Bruce, which makes sense considering they're friends and Bruce is the one who got him the Maiden gig, and I somehow get this feeling this is part of the reason why he's cited as pushing for Blaze to get the boot. It was necessary in retrospect, but I think Janick in particular was more personally motivated than anyone else in the band. I just get this feeling Janick (being called the diplomat by other band members) would rather stay out of the whole issue than be caught in the middle, but I think the possibility of Bruce returning motivated him to join the cause.

Note that this is just my theory based on what I've read and it's kinda off-topicy but I felt like saying my piece, because it was such a strange time for the band overall.
 
Zare said:
Two references on the VXI tour wiki article

"Allergies Postpone Iron Maiden Shows". VH1. 1998-07-17. Retrieved 2012-02-16.
"Singer Rejoins Iron Maiden". VH1. 1998-02-10. Retrieved 2012-02-16.

Of course that 20 year old VH1 site is down, archive.org is down due to maintenance currently, these look interesting, especially the date on the singer rejoins Maiden one.
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There is also Wayback Machine (http://web.archive.org/) but I can't seem to find these pages. :(
 
jazz from hell said:
I don't think Smallwood secretely organized Bruce's return behind Steve's back.
However, I'm quite convinced that Steve didn't want Bruce back but had to give in to the pressure of the other guys -- and Dave might have had a role there as well.
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Steve and Bruce have always had a bit of a weird 'vibe' between them, but it did look like Steve was dragged kicking and screaming into the reunion. I think business realities and legacy came into play for him.
 
soundwave said:
Steve and Bruce have always had a bit of a weird 'vibe' between them
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I remember reading in a French magazine -in the years 94-96- that Bruce said he would "nod hello to Steve in the street, in remembrance of the good old days, but that he wouldn't cross the streets and shake hands". By 1998, he had grown into a more welcoming attitude ;) .
 
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Zare said:
"Singer Rejoins Iron Maiden". VH1. 1998-02-10. Retrieved 2012-02-16.

Of course that 20 year old VH1 site is down, archive.org is down due to maintenance currently, these look interesting, especially the date on the singer rejoins Maiden one.
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The date of that is incorrect. The return of Bruce and Adrian was announced on 10th February 1999. :)
 
Zare said:
Maiden passed on rights to their worldwide royalties for complete back catalogue in 1998, for a fee of 25M$, until 2015, to Sony AFAIR. I don't see what that's got to do with future endeavors and line-up. Like I said, Blaze probably got his golden handshake from this bag of gold.
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Agreed! I remember Bruce saying in 2000 that he had no need to rejoin the band as he had received a significant amount of money in 1998 as a result of that deal regarding royalties, but that he wanted to in order to be the best metal band in the world again.
 
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It was a new york investment banker named David Pullman that did the deal with Andy Taylor. I can't find anything about Sony. The deal was announced in the media in early 1999 nearly at the same time as Bruce and Adrian'returned.
Anyway read between the lines:
Andy Taylor, chief executive of Sanctuary, the management and intellectual property company that did the deal for Iron Maiden, says there are two key requirements for doing a "Bowie Bond": Firstly, a reliable and predictable income stream from a well-copyrighted piece of intellectual property; and secondly, a good track record.
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On the other hand, Mr Taylor says, the Spice Girls wouldn't be suitable for a bond. "Because, however popular they are at the moment, they haven't got a long track record, in relative terms. A lesser artist, who has been selling records in smaller numbers but regularly over 20 to 30 years, would be ideal."
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Mr Taylor, who has managed Iron Maiden (greatest hit: Bring Your Daughter to the Slaughter) since founding Sanctuary in 1979, happily admits he got the idea for the bond from Mr Pullman, an ebullient, fast-talking Wall Street investment banker. Mr Pullman approached Mr Taylor last year after hearing talk in the gossipy entertainment industry that the British rockers wanted to cash in on their back catalogue.
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Mr Taylor says there is one more vital ingredient: the artist concerned must have some overriding need for cash in hand. "They may need it for something personal, such as a divorce settlement, or a business venture, or perhaps they want to buy back part of their catalogue."
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http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/focus-stars-mine-gold-from-rock-of-wages-1100346.html

I wouldn't be surprised if they were offered more money with Bruce back in the band, presenting a contract to tour and record new music = more sales of the albums the back catalogue at the same time.
 
GhostofCain said:
The date of that is incorrect. The return of Bruce and Adrian was announced on 10th February 1999. :)
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retrieved on such and such a date just means that the person who put the info on wikipedia did so on that date, i.e. the material was accessible on the web on that date not that it was published on that date.
 
srfc said:
retrieved on such and such a date just means that the person who put the info on wikipedia did so on that date, i.e. the material was accessible on the web on that date not that it was published on that date.
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I know, but the date that the original poster wrote was one from 1998. I was just merely stating the date when the reunion was officially announced: 10th February 1999 (I remember it really well as I had been waiting for this to happen for quite some time!).
 
fekso said:
It's hard to image the decline in popularity they had in the 90's. Especially in Sweden where they still did big shows in 1998.
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Each consecutive concert I saw Maiden play with Blaze had a smaller audience. By the end, they weren't just playing small theatres, they were playing half empty small theatres. If there were more than 1,000 people at the Wolverhampton date on the VXI tour, I'd be surprised.
 
And now I'm thinking about it. And watching a VXI show.

My memories of the time are that almsot immediately, right from Man on the Edge, the repetitive nature, and poor lyrics, of Blaze era material became a problem - something you'd joke about with friends, and would tire of when you listen. It was good to have the band back, and they did feel accessible to fans, but there was alway something off about the situation. Too much of the material just dragged on and on, and too many of the better moments were pale immitations of what had gone before (I can enjoy a listen to Edge of Darkness from time to time, but it's a copy of a copy of a Maiden song). Some sense of relief that the energy hinted at coming back with VXI.

Think I took in four Blaze shows - at at least 2 I had a genuinely good time. There was still the sense of Maiden bonhomie, a crowd that would come alive for FotD and bloody Wrathchild, chanting out onto the streets afterwards in London. But also parts that really did bore the fuck out of you - the slower numbers on the X Factour particularly. Looking back at bootlegs these days, it really is shocking how poor Blaze's performances are at times - he could sometimes handle his own material, but on almost every other track, he has next to no range, strains for notes so often, has real problems with pitch. It was definitely the energy of live performance that pulled them through (with songs played fast live), rather than the quality. I have a strong memory of Nicko pulling in the performances that made buying the ticket worthwhile. Nicko consistently gets better with time.

And it felt sad seeing the crowds so small.
 
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The tempos they were doing The Evil That Men Do and The Trooper at (among many other songs) were completely insane in 95/96 from the bootlegs I've seen. I dunno what motivated that, I guess it might've been simply the fact that the two people who had any say over the tempos and any reason to prefer lower tempos were out of the band at that point, but in a way I do think it might've been semiconscious overcompensation for the honestly weak vocal delivery. Of course playing everything too fast just makes that part worse, but maybe the thought was that if the old songs go by fast enough people won't notice as much.
 
The speed of the songs probably had a bit to do with two things

1) a lot less elaborate stage sets and stages
2) that was really the metal trend at the time, play fast ... not just Maiden, but bands like Judas Priest did the same around then

I think #2 was the primary reason
 
Don't think that Maiden played with bigger tempo differences than in 1980s. Also not only Blaze but Janick's performances, at least judging by the bootlegs, were "too much". He'd slaughter things like 2MTM riff and he was far beyond sloppy. OTOH Steve, Dave and Nicko were great.
 
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I started listening to Maiden in 1982, I was a huge fan of the Dianno & Dickinson days, but when Bruce left, I bought X-Factor and it caused me to stop listening to Maiden for ...well until after 2005 when I found out Bruce returned. I wished I paid more attention because BNW would have been a great tour to see.

Blaze just ruined Maiden for me! (record sales say I'm not alone). I do own the 2 albums of his, but combined there is like 2 or 3 good songs on them. Maybe if you just remove the vocals/stupid lyrics on the rest of the songs, the music is probably fantastic (example of the worst song is: the Angel and the Gambler...yuck! SO repetitive)....Don't you think I'm a saviour, Don't you think I could save you, Don't you think I could save Your life, Don't you think I'm a saviour, Don't you think I could save you, Don't you think I could save Your life, Don't you think I'm a saviour, Don't you think I could save you, Don't you think I could save Your life, Don't you think I'm a saviour, Don't you think I could save you, Don't you think I could save Your life,Don't you think I'm a saviour, Don't you think I could save you, Don't you think I could save Your life....arghhh!
 
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