RUN FOR YOUR LIVES 2026

CA Bryers said:
I honestly think Blaze, even after years of touring with Wolfsbane, was still so green when it came to his voice he didn't know any better at the time that they should have tuned down. He still says to this day he learned so much about his voice from working with Steve.

Having read At the End of the Day a long time ago, I recall him saying something along the lines of the subject of tuning down never coming up during auditions or rehearsals, but I've never read or heard about him blaming Steve for anything. It's always the opposite. If there's an article or a quote in the book I've forgotten that states otherwise, I'd like to see it.
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Downtuning just wasn't on the level it is now in 1995.

Yeah I was being facetious saying "he" was blaming Steve, it's fans who blame Steve for everything that do that. I also wasn't entirely being serious, which I thought would have been made clear by saying BALZE!!11
 
srfc said:
Downtuning just wasn't on the level it is now in 1995.

Yeah I was being facetious saying "he" was blaming Steve, it's fans who blame Steve for everything that do that. I also wasn't entirely being serious, which I thought would have been made clear by saying BALZE!!11
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I dont know how would sound the songs downtuned. If blaze with his solo band downtuned rhe songs,some of them sounded amateur,but i thought it was because the equipement
 
srfc said:
Downtuning just wasn't on the level it is now in 1995.
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Kinda true, yeah. As time went on tunings got lower and lower. In the early-to-mid 90s going down a half step was popular, even power metal bands like Blind Guardian or Iced Earth did that. Some of the heavier bands went a whole step to D standard. Then the early 2000s blew out the bottom and bands started going pretty low.

dickinson1978 said:
I dont know how would sound the songs downtuned. If blaze with his solo band downtuned rhe songs,some of them sounded amateur,but i thought it was because the equipement
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It depends on how low they go. If it's 2 whole steps or more, obviously it's going to be a huge change. A half step or one whole step though? No one would bat an eye. To illustrate this, compare Lord Of The Flies on the album with the live version from Death On The Road. The album version is in F# minor, the live version with Bruce a whole step lower in E minor. So in the most ironic fashion, the one time where Maiden decided to play a song in a lower key than on the studio was Bruce singing a Blaze song. Can't make that up lol
 
Vaenyr said:
Kinda true, yeah. As time went on tunings got lower and lower. In the early-to-mid 90s going down a half step was popular, even power metal bands like Blind Guardian or Iced Earth did that. Some of the heavier bands went a whole step to D standard. Then the early 2000s blew out the bottom and bands started going pretty low.
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I'm pretty sure Metallica played in Eb on their albums from Load to Death Magnetic didn't they? I know St Anger was in drop C for the most part.
 
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srfc said:
Downtuning just wasn't on the level it is now in 1995.

Yeah I was being facetious saying "he" was blaming Steve, it's fans who blame Steve for everything that do that. I also wasn't entirely being serious, which I thought would have been made clear by saying BALZE!!11
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Nah, downtuning was all the rage in metal circa 1995, aside from Dio, Metallica, Danzig etc.playing in Eb, by 1995 Type O Negative, Pantera, Sepultura, Fear Factory etc. were all the rage and these bands played D and lower.
 
ProwlerInTheRueMorgue said:
Nah, downtuning was all the rage in metal circa 1995, aside from Dio, Metallica, Danzig etc.playing in Eb, by 1995 Type O Negative, Pantera, Sepultura, Fear Factory etc. were all the rage and these bands played D and lower.
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Bands definitely down tuned, I'm not disputing that. As well as the bands you and @BludBrutha mentioned, Thin Lizzy in the 70's and GNR in the 80s were in d#, bands who would definitely have been on Maiden's radar. 1995 is definitely where it was becoming the norm, to the point of today where bands in standard tuning are the exception. But it wasn't at that level then.
 
I think even if they did downtune for Blaze, things would have gone the same anyway. Blaze wouldn't necessarily be any more widely well received or accepted. The X Factor and Virtual XI would be more popular or less disliked in general.

Judas Priest downtuned for Tim "Ripper" Owens. There's a live version of The Sentinel with him that I really like. Maybe their downswing and upswing wasn't as dramatic as Iron Maiden's was, but there was still one.
 
Abas said:
I think even if they did downtune for Blaze, things would have gone the same anyway. Blaze wouldn't necessarily be any more widely well received or accepted. The X Factor and Virtual XI would be more popular or less disliked in general.

Judas Priest downtuned for Tim "Ripper" Owens. There's a live version of The Sentinel with him that I really like. Maybe their downswing and upswing wasn't as dramatic as Iron Maiden's was, but there was still one.
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They went to D because they wanted to sound heavier. He sang in standard tuning with the Priest coverband he was in during the first half of the 90s and sings comfortably in Eb with KK's Priest.

Not the point you were making, but I'd like to clarify that, being a Ripper fan and all. :D
 
I do think what would've followed had Maiden followed the trends a little and downtuned to Eb for example in the 90s. Would they have gone straight back to E once Bruce was back in the band, or stuck with the lower tuning because he would've likely been okay with it at that time, coming hot from the heels of his solo career? Would they have gone the Metallica route and started recording in E while playing a half step lower live?
 
Abas said:
I think even if they did downtune for Blaze, things would have gone the same anyway. Blaze wouldn't necessarily be any more widely well received or accepted. The X Factor and Virtual XI would be more popular or less disliked in general.

Judas Priest downtuned for Tim "Ripper" Owens. There's a live version of The Sentinel with him that I really like. Maybe their downswing and upswing wasn't as dramatic as Iron Maiden's was, but there was still one.
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He would have done better live though.
 
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