if you could send Steve back in time to correct ONE mistake in the entire Maiden history: what thing would you choose him to have changed?

Speculative question to those who would undo Blaze's appointment to the band:

Would you really do that if you could, given that it might (potentially and very likely) drastically change everything that happened afterwards..? :cool:

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I'd also want him to mix it up with the concert setlist more.
The usual culprits occur at most of the tours, would like to see more other songs.
Like perhaps make a rule that a song can't be played on three tours consecutively and that they need to play two songs (other than from a new release album) on a tour that they haven't played before
 
Speculative question to those who would undo Blaze's appointment to the band:

Would you really do that if you could, given that it might (potentially and very likely) drastically change everything that happened afterwards..? :cool:

I don't think it would change anything. No one was ever going to succeed in that job, so whoever they got in would have been an equal failure.
 
I don't think it would change anything. No one was ever going to succeed in that job, so whoever they got in would have been an equal failure.

That is a fair point. However, if the speculative alternative for Blaze would've been slightly more consistent on stage and got along with the guys at least as well as Blaze did, they might have done a bit more music together and talks with Bruce may not have happened quite as quickly under the radar as they did.

Of course, this is just pure speculation and you may very well be totally right. Maybe I'm just relying too much on the idea of a ripple effect caused by small details changing, where as they probably wouldn't affect the big picture at the slightest.
 
Something else that fits the lyrics. The second word in the title is what bothers me.
Perhaps. But at the time that just was a horrendous hire. Get a guy that can't sing your hits, your back catalogue. I have no idea what he was thinking on that one. Hard to respect him for that decision.

But on the other hand, Anthrax hired a great singer in John Bush, Judas Priest hired a great singer in Ripper Owens, Helloween hired a great singer in Andi Deris, Black Sabbath in Ronnie James Dio and they all reverted back to their top or original singers.
The move with Blaze was pretty bold and one that not many bands will do. I think Janick had said that the only mistake they made was to not downtune the instruments to help his singing. Anyway, I think Bruce's return was inevitable, although you can't be sure what would have happened if the vocalsit was different and the albums were successful. Also, do not forget that Bruce had a successful solo career, so in the end, every decision by Steve was right.
 
Make him use the original Maiden England art instead of the modernised "Trooper" concept for the reissue and tour. The song isn't even on Maiden England!

Yes!

This is the sort of nitpicking shit I'm here for.

Also, changing the ICONIC first album cover, and removing the grave digger from NPFTD sleeve. Rod probably more to blame for them, but Steve should have put his foot down.
 
Seriously, the ME88 cover bothers me far more than it reasonably should. Is it really only because they were beginning to promote their beer back then? That would be so... cheap.
 
Also, changing the ICONIC first album cover, and removing the grave digger from NPFTD sleeve. Rod probably more to blame for them, but Steve should have put his foot down.
I agree about the debut album cover (the one from the 1998 remaster is also good though). The change for NPFTD album cover was good imo, but the original one is more appropriate for the title.
 
Speculative question to those who would undo Blaze's appointment to the band:

Would you really do that if you could, given that it might (potentially and very likely) drastically change everything that happened afterwards..?

I think that Nicko shares your opinion:
Says Nicko: Well, at the time, he was the frontrunner... listen, don't get me wrong man, we listened to thousands of people. We had people sending in CDs and tapes and pictures and resumes and stuff. Now, as far as Michael Kiske... we really wanted to have more of an English singer. Geoff Tate was bounded about, and it was like, 'well, he's an American, this is an English rock band'. So there was a little bit of bias in that respect. We did two tours together. The thing here with Blaze is, there were nights when he sang his cotton socks off, and it was brilliant, and there were a lot of other nights where it wasn't so hot. But those two records, those tracks that we had on those, The X Factor and Virtual XI. And then, of course, we had that amazing promotion scheme around the football teams and stuff... Steve was in his glory! So, you know, yeah we did two great albums. Love him or hate him... you know what we were saying about the history Maiden? That was part and parcel and I don't think about it any other way."
 
Yes!

This is the sort of nitpicking shit I'm here for.

Also, changing the ICONIC first album cover, and removing the grave digger from NPFTD sleeve. Rod probably more to blame for them, but Steve should have put his foot down.
A little piece of me died when they changed the debut cover. I feel the twinge in my heart everytime I see it and I feel it right now just thinking about it.
 
Yeap, don't know Steve Harris has some strange ideas in mind. At the time they insisted that the singer must be British so many great singers were excluded.

Who knows what else. He's definitely a control freak so maybe after having Bruce for 11 years he wanted a lower key personality?
Really, quite often I can't understand him.

Hiring a guy that cannot sing your songs and you don't even bother to downtune your instruments in order to help him is beyond the realm of mortals.

Perhaps not only did he want a lower key personality singer but an off-key one too.
 
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Help me, guys. Trying to think what metal/hard rock bands replaced a legendary singer and enjoyed equal/greater success. Dio in Sabbath and Coverdale in Purple come to mind. I’m sure there’s more but not many. And probably from genres I don’t listen to, the replacement singer from Arch Enemy comes to mind.
 
Help me, guys. Trying to think what metal/hard rock bands replaced a legendary singer and enjoyed equal/greater success. Dio in Sabbath and Coverdale in Purple come to mind. I’m sure there’s more but not many. And probably from genres I don’t listen to, the replacement singer from Arch Enemy comes to mind.

AC/DC is the perfect example of a band replacing a legendary singer and go on to enjoy stratospheric success.
 
Trying to think what metal/hard rock bands replaced a legendary singer and enjoyed equal/greater success.
Genesis did very well after they replaced Peter Gabriel with Phil Collins. Helloween, too, with Michael Kiske replacing Kai Hansen. Nightwish have had three lead singers throughout their history, and have enjoyed success with all three.

Does King Crimson count?
 
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