However the music was dressed there was no doubt Maiden was struggling to retain its status as the world's greatest heavy metal band. Steve Harris had been thinking for a while that it was time for a change and in the end the group decided it was best if they find a new singer. Blaze had always been the wrong choice in some people's eyes.
"To me Blaze couldn't sing, I hated the bloke," Neal Kay says. "And I heard him do an interview on radio in Lisbon. And he was talking such bullshit, I phoned Steve up and told him actually, I was so annoyed with what I heard. I said 'your fucking singer's mouthing off in Portugal about this that and the bloody other'. And I said to Steve, 'why did you take him on board?' And Steve said, 'well there was no one else English who could do the job'. And I said 'fuck me there are hundreds of yanks with voices like you wouldn't believe' - that was it. 'I'm not having a bleeding yank in the band!' he said, 'We're a British band'. And that's how it is. Even if the most talented man on God's earth comes outside of England he won't be joining Iron Maiden."
The split was amicable nevertheless and instead of feeling the victim of a conspiracy, Blaze took the news in good spirit. He still maintains his time in the band was magnificent and that both he and the whole of the Maiden entourage enjoyed their time together. It was a strange period for the group and they were lucky to escape a tough time for traditional metal with their dignity intact. "Basically, they wanted to do something different and that gave me the opportunity to put my own band together," Blaze says of the split. "The result of doing this was Silicon Messiah, the album I am most proud of out of all the albums I have done. I remain friends with everyone from Maiden. [...]
The period in which Blaze fronted Maiden was vital for both as it enabled them to see where they could go next. It was clearly going to be difficult for the union to remain for another five years and it seems now with hindsight, the decision to split was best for both parties. They didn't know it at the time but the Iron Maiden boys were about to be reunited with a very special singer.
"The first thing I said to Bruce was, 'why do you want to come back?' and the second thing was, 'How long are you staying for?' We didn't want him coming back to just do a one-off tour. We'd rather get someone else. And that's what we probably would have done if Bruce's attitude hadn't been right and we didn't believe that he was coming back for the long-term." So said Steve Harris regarding the suprising return of Bruce Dickinson to the ranks of Iron Maiden. [...] When things had finally hit a dead end with Blaze, there was only one man fans wanted to front Iron Maiden. Those fans, plus a large helping of the music press, began to ask Harris and co. questions about contemplating a Brucey return. Initially the answer was short and sharp, a veritable 'no'! why would he? Bruce had left of his own accord and was enjoying a resurgence in popularity with his seriously heavy set, The Chemical Wedding. From extreme metal magazines to hard rock press, Dickinson was for the first time in his solo career, being afforded the respect he craved and deserved. Finally he had established himself as a solo performer in his own right - no longer simply regarded as the ex-singer of Iron Maiden. Therefore it was ironic, to say the least, that his most successful record under his own moniker would see him reunite with Maiden.