Whoaa, I wasn't here a bit and what a rush, everybody posting and so... [!--emo&
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Anyway, here are my opinions.
Live albums: I only have Live after death and Rock in Rio, I've heard tracks off the other ones, but not heard the full albums. Yes they play some songs faster and Bruce sounds awful on some songs on Live after death, but I really like these albums a lot. They really show up the potential Maiden has. And also, they have a better sound than the studio albums.
Blaze Bayley - Saviour of Iron Maiden: in some ways, he
is the savior of Maiden. I agree with the one who said that Blaze brought fresh life into a dying band. I also must say that i really like him; he doesn't have a huge range like Bruce, but he has power and emotion in his voice. There are a lot of songs which he did a great job, like Iron Maiden, Wrathchild, Heaven can wait, Fear of the dark, and he improved Afraid to shoot strangers. But it's also true that he didn't gave a well job on number of the beast, The evil that men do, 2 minutes to midnight and the Trooper. However, the only Blaze-era song that Bruce sang well was The clansman. The others sound awful.
The Evolution of Iron Maiden and where can they go next: very interesting topic. We all know how Maiden's songwriting changed, from the early punkish-hard rockish sound to the classic heavy metal style of the 80's, the progressive albums (Somewhere in time, 7th son), the more raw and rather hard rock No prayer and Fearof the Dark. The opinions about the Blaze albums are different. As for the X factor, I think it's Maiden's best since 7th son, altough Dance of death is close, but Dod has some songs which aren't in the same leage as the others. And listen well: I think the X Factor has a huge influence on the reunion albums. Without the X factor we wouldn't have songs like Brave new world, Blood brothers, Dream of mirrors, No more lies, Dance of death and Age of innocence. The X factor is very progressive, and a very dark sounding album, so it takes quite a feww listens to absorve it. The beauty of this album is it's consitency and the fact that it extends Maiden's music without changing their style so much like other bands did. In 1995 the X factor sounded very fresh, and it was a significant moment in Maiden's musical evolution. However, Virtual XI was a big letdown. It had great songs, but it wasn't such a great album. The reunion albums hadn't done much new for Maiden, but what they did was necesarry. I'm speaking of taking back the shorter and more in your face tracks and let the progressive ones become more progressive. So the reunion albums integrate the elements of the old and new Maiden, with a bit of innovating (like Pashendale, Face in the sand). (I think Brave new world and Dance of death are ideal ways to introduce Maiden to knew fans.) Of course, this has a lot to do with Adrian's and Bruce's return. The reunion gave a fresh air to the band like when Blaze entered them. I'm really excited about the next album.
Best wishes,
"Seventh Son of a Seventh Son"
--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/biggrin.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'biggrin.gif\' /][!--endemo--] and like the guy's name thing said (forgot his/her name but you'll know who you are) "Bruce Is God, Blaze Is The Messiah!" But he wasnt just a Messiah, he is a honored and accepted member of the band, at least in my opinion.