To give my speculations about the two prevailing mysteries:
I think Maiden didn't tune down for Blaze because they didn't realise this was necessary. I'm not a musician, so I feel awkward talking about this, but wouldn't that essentially mean they have to re-arrange and re-learn all those songs? Maybe they shied away from the effort and thought Blaze would adapt. Perhaps they felt it was sufficient to leave out numbers such as Run to the Hills or Aces High that they knew Blaze wouldn't be able to sing. Blaze himself probably didn't complain, so they (Steve?) didn't know what they were doing to him. I really think that Steve felt loyal to Blaze and stuck to him until the end, and I guess the story of Nicko playing him soundboard recordings makes sense.. there were indeed a few nights on the VXI tour that Blaze was less than stellar on. I maintain that he did his job fine most of the time (just listen to the Madrid bootleg!), but I guess he wasn't up to the standards Maiden would expect. I've always thought that Blaze simply didn't have what it took to get through a full-fletched Maiden tour. The fact that they had to cancel several weeks worth of gigs in America two tours in a row because he was faltering is, quite honestly, a legit reason to fire him, at least for a band that always put such strong emphasis on touring. You all know I love Blaze, but I've always understood why they had to let him go.
The mystery concerning the parallel release of Silicon Messiah and Brave New World may never be solved because maybe, there isn't even a proper reason for it. A record company as big as Sanctuary may have all kinds of trouble coordinating releases, and it's possible there was no other option. Of course, you could imagine it feeling awkward for Rod to promote and market a record by the guy he just fired, so he just tried to do away with it... but then, why sign him in the first place? Nevertheless, I don't look for a conspiracy here, I just think it was terrible timing. Obviously, Maiden had all kinds of priority, so concerns for Blaze's success may simply not have occurred to the management. In other words - Sanctuary just didn't care.
I think Maiden didn't tune down for Blaze because they didn't realise this was necessary. I'm not a musician, so I feel awkward talking about this, but wouldn't that essentially mean they have to re-arrange and re-learn all those songs? Maybe they shied away from the effort and thought Blaze would adapt. Perhaps they felt it was sufficient to leave out numbers such as Run to the Hills or Aces High that they knew Blaze wouldn't be able to sing. Blaze himself probably didn't complain, so they (Steve?) didn't know what they were doing to him. I really think that Steve felt loyal to Blaze and stuck to him until the end, and I guess the story of Nicko playing him soundboard recordings makes sense.. there were indeed a few nights on the VXI tour that Blaze was less than stellar on. I maintain that he did his job fine most of the time (just listen to the Madrid bootleg!), but I guess he wasn't up to the standards Maiden would expect. I've always thought that Blaze simply didn't have what it took to get through a full-fletched Maiden tour. The fact that they had to cancel several weeks worth of gigs in America two tours in a row because he was faltering is, quite honestly, a legit reason to fire him, at least for a band that always put such strong emphasis on touring. You all know I love Blaze, but I've always understood why they had to let him go.
The mystery concerning the parallel release of Silicon Messiah and Brave New World may never be solved because maybe, there isn't even a proper reason for it. A record company as big as Sanctuary may have all kinds of trouble coordinating releases, and it's possible there was no other option. Of course, you could imagine it feeling awkward for Rod to promote and market a record by the guy he just fired, so he just tried to do away with it... but then, why sign him in the first place? Nevertheless, I don't look for a conspiracy here, I just think it was terrible timing. Obviously, Maiden had all kinds of priority, so concerns for Blaze's success may simply not have occurred to the management. In other words - Sanctuary just didn't care.