The Blaze Era

I think it does. I'm 18, and I discovered Maiden when I was 17, so I had the whole discography behind me to check out. I think this is good, because there are no feelings involved when I'm listening to them. So if the next album turns out to be the last one, atleast I got to join the hype for ONE Iron Maiden album  :ok: then
 
I'm in the same position as the above, I'm 17 and have been a fan of Maiden for 2-3 years.
I really want this feeling, opening a brand new Maiden album and listening to it for the very first time.
I just hope my expectations won't kill it for me.
 
Blaze era, early nineties era, both era's got their criticism. If I may give an advice:

I noticed that some forummers find it “popular” to slag off some of those albums, most notably: NPFTD and FOTD. Try not to listen too much to the negative comments of other users before you take the time to listen yourself well to those albums.

Who knows you might find all these nineties albums better than the average comments you’ll read here. Some albums might seem weaker at first compared to what you're used to from other Maiden albums, but later you might realize that there's still a bunch of strong songs. And a weaker Maiden album is still a strong metal album. That is: if Maiden is (one of your) favourite band(s).

Those were different era's, the sound was somewhat different. Maiden chose some different paths, Bruce (and Blaze) sounded different, but the band have always kept their own identity.

Just my 2 cents.
 
Maiden's my favorite band.
I agree that NPFTD and FOTD are better then 90% of the metal in the 90's, and that they are pretty good, but they are also pretty weak in Maiden standarts.
 
Taste differs but I find more weaker or less strong tracks on DOD & VXI than on NPFTD and on FOTD.

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Don't get me wrong: DOD has some beauties but their number is too small for me to say that this album is better than any of the other Maiden albums.
 
Forostar said:
Taste differs but I find more weaker or less strong tracks on DOD & VXI than on NPFTD and on FOTD.

More details here

Don't get me wrong: DOD has some beauties but their number is too small for me to say that this album is better than any of the other Maiden albums.
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It's all about Adrian. The 4 listed above (plus XF) are my 5 least favorite and what do 4 of them have in common? No Adrian. I do like IM, however, that one almost sounds like a different band. A very good band!
 
HallowedBeMyName said:
I want to know what you guys think of Blaze Bayley's time with Iron Maiden. What do you think of the albums they released during The Blaze Era?
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Quite honestly I was NOT impressed then and am still not now.  No offense to fans of the band during this era or to fans of Blaze himself.  (I've also listened to a bit of Wolfsbane since and don't really enjoy that either).  I really think that while the choice was a smart one on many levels for Maiden -- choosing someone vastly different from Dickinson and not pulling a Ripper Owens -- I just don't think it was the proper match.

As for the albums specifically, I enjoy a small number of songs from the two albums, but mostly from a musical or lyrical perspective over vocally.  In all honesty, I've yet to hear Bruce tackle a Bayley-era song live that he didn't improve upon.  As much as I'd never hope that the band would replace their history by re-releasing those albums with all-Dickinson vocals, I have to wager I'd enjoy the songs more if they did.  (They won't, so it's moot). 

That said there are a couple songs with Blaze I enjoy with his vocal contribution and one is the oft-forgotten Blood On The World's Hand, which to me is his best vocal effort on either album.  I also think Futureal is a fine enough effort.

Still to me fine songs like The Clansman, The Sign Of The Cross, and Lord Of The Flies all sound better under the vox of Bruce.  I'm not merely a Bruce homer either, to stem the question.  I very much love Paul's albums with Maiden and his voice is a big reason why.  But Blaze just didn't cut it for me.  I won't get into a debate about his abilities, but to me his register is just too low and generally unappealing.  Not a great dynamic there.  Not much range on those albums.

That's also not entirely Blaze's fault.  I also don't find many of the songs to be up to par either.  I think that even with Dickinson on vocals I'd probably consider The X Factor and Virtual XI to be then what I consider them to be now....Maiden's worst two studio albums.
Forostar said:
Blaze era, early nineties era, both era's got their criticism. If I may give an advice:

I noticed that some forummers find it “popular” to slag off some of those albums, most notably: NPFTD and FOTD. Try not to listen too much to the negative comments of other users before you take the time to listen yourself well to those albums.

Who knows you might find all these nineties albums better than the average comments you’ll read here. Some albums might seem weaker at first compared to what you're used to from other Maiden albums, but later you might realize that there's still a bunch of strong songs. And a weaker Maiden album is still a strong metal album. That is: if Maiden is (one of your) favourite band(s).

Those were different era's, the sound was somewhat different. Maiden chose some different paths, Bruce (and Blaze) sounded different, but the band have always kept their own identity.

Just my 2 cents.
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While this has not been so for me with the Bayley records a few tracks aside, it has been such with the 90s Dickinson records....neither of which I enjoyed much at the time, but have since come to appreciate.

Still, all things considered, they're my bottom four Maiden albums...even as my appreciation of them has ebbed and flowed upward.  Barring the release of a real stinker with the new one or perhaps any additonal beyond this, I doubt that will change. 
 
Out of curiosity, what do you like less about the songs (apart from Blaze's vocals)?

Do you prefer the music style/mood of TXF or rather VXI? Apart from a few moments, those albums are quite different, not?
 
Habberdasher said:
It's all about Adrian. The 4 listed above (plus XF) are my 5 least favorite and what do 4 of them have in common? No Adrian. I do like IM, however, that one almost sounds like a different band. A very good band!
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It might not be that simple for me, but I have to agree that it's likely no coincidence that beyond the opinion that Blaze is my least-favorite of the Maiden singers, the one thing that ALL FOUR albums have in common is the lack of Adrian Smith...(Hooks In You aside).

I've always considered Smith, along with Harris and Dickinson, to be an element of Maiden that you couldn't do without.  For my tastes that indeed appears to be the case. 
Forostar said:
Out of curiosity, what do you like less about the songs (apart from Blaze's vocals)?

Do you prefer the music style/mood of TXF or rather VXI? Apart from a few moments, those albums are quite different, not?
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They are, yes.  Between the two I prefer the darker direction (and overall songwriting) on The X Factor.  I've really never warmed to the songs on VXI, aside from Futureal and The Clansman.  I think that has as much to do with the songs themselves as it does Bayley's vocal efforts. 

It's difficult for me to think much beyond the vocals because I was really stunned at how much I've enjoyed the BB songs done live with Bruce.  More than I'd anticipated, honestly. To me it really infuses them with a dynamic that they're missing in the studio.  So it's easy for me to say "eh, the writing on VXI" on one hand...but perhaps if I heard more songs with Dickinson at the helm, I might feel differently.

But then again perhaps not.

That said, I do agree with you about Fear and Prayer.  I really didn't much like those albums either and I've changed tact, so anything is possible on the Bayley albums. 

Still something has to be the bottom end with every band, even if bottom is still relatively good compared to most artists.  For my tastes -- right now -- the BB albums represent the low point of Maiden on record.  Something has to, relatively speaking, and for me....it's HERE.
 
That's strange because Blaze has an obvious interesting perfomance in some songs.

It's totally different from Bruce and Paul, but he's not a bad singer.

The first three songs on the XF shows a far more interesting Maiden than the NPFD-FOD years.

I always wonder why Maiden's writing worsened on VXI.
 
Rotam said:
That's strange because Blaze has an obvious interesting perfomance in some songs.

It's totally different from Bruce and Paul, but he's not a bad singer.

The first three songs on the XF shows a far more interesting Maiden than the NPFD-FOD years.

I always wonder why Maiden's writing worsened on VXI.
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I guess "interesting" can take on a lot of forms.  He is indeed completely different from Paul and Bruce.  I give them full on credit for not hiring a "sound-alike."  I'm not sure who would've sounded better than Blaze to me -- as in "who else should they have hired??" -- but they get props from me for going in another direction from Bruce.  I really wish I'd enjoyed that choice more.  It was disappointing for me from Prayer-through-to-Brave New World.  I was pretty stoked, however, to hear The Wicker Man when it was rolled out for our consumption.  I felt colour return to my face.

In the end I think things shape up as they should and that fate is partly why Bruce and Adrian are solidly back with the band.  That was always the true and proper fit.  It was meant to be and it is so....and I hope that it will remain that way until the end, however soon or far off that is...
 
"who else should they have hired??"  - i have absolutely no idea.


I meant "interesting" in the sense that the XF is the most solid effort of Maiden in the period you just mention. Here is the part that i disagree with you, because in my opinion the XF musically and lyrically it's the most important Maiden album of the last 20 years, in my opinion. They reinvented themselves. I don´t think it was written in the stars Bruce and Adrian comeback, but since VXI was so disappointed, Steve probably realized they wouldn't go any further, and the tour itself was not that great with  Blaze problems, and the fact the fans disliked his voice.
But i think his voice sounds particulary great on some songs on XF. Even on the great "Virus" song.
 
I think the Blaze era is an important part of Maiden's history, and should be acknowledged as such. Obviously the band weren't quite as popular in those days, and that could be attributed to the decline in popularity for metal as a whole (and the rise of grunge).

The X-Factor is on a lot of peoples top 3 lists, and has some awesome, awesome songs on it, and also has a good blend of songs on it too, something which only about half of Maiden albums have. The Sign of the Cross was a perfect opener, and is easily the highlight of the album in my opinion. The melodies before and after the solos section contrast beautifully with the heavy riffs and gregoran chants early on, without being too jarring. I admit I prefer Bruce singing it, but Blaze does his job admirably to be quite honest. Lord of the Flies and Man on the Edge are great little rockers, but the latter isn't quite suited to Blaze's voice. For years the songs kinda blended into one from here on, and nothing really stands out, but X-Factor is an album which grows on you, and rewards you for putting the time to concentrate on it. It is a very intelligent album, and like Seventh Son, tell a fantastic story as a full album. Blaze's voice suits the dark tone of the album, but I don't think it was any better off for having Blaze over Bruce.

I think it is worth noting however that this was the first time Maiden took 3 years to release a new album. Supposedly TXF would have been released a little earlier if Blaze hadn't had that motorcycle injury. Perhaps without all that time off, TXF might not have been as good.

Virtual XI is probably my least favourite album, probably mainly because it sounds horrible, but otherwise all the ingredients are there for a good album. The opener is awesome, it has one roaring epic, it has both upbeat and downbeat moments, and a very nice little signoff at the end. My problem with the album as a whole is that the guitars sound thin, and the synth tracks are far too loud (and unneccesary) on tracks like The Angel and the Gambler and The Educated Fool. Speaking of Angel..., it is pretty much accepted that it is about 4 minutes too long, but the rock and roll style solos in the middle are pretty cool. Blaze was used differently on this album, he used a lot higher notes in places, and he struggles with it sometimes.

I have only seen/heard tidbits of live performances from that era, and they aren't great, but Maiden sounded horrible live on their 1992 tour, and even worse on their 1993 tours, so it's hardly Blaze's fault. He can't really do some of Bruce's songs, but Maiden should have worked around that; they should have brought back songs that aren't as vocally challenging, songs that we pine for these days like Phantom of the Opera.

These two albums are part of Maiden's legacy, and just as how you can hear the general sound of SiT blend into SSoaSS, you can hear how FotD blends into TXF, and how VXI blends into BNW, and therefore I find these albums just as important to the Maiden sound today as any other album.
 
Robbiedbee said:
These two albums are part of Maiden's legacy, and just as how you can hear the general sound of SiT blend into SSoaSS, you can hear how FotD blends into TXF, and how VXI blends into BNW, and therefore I find these albums just as important to the Maiden sound today as any other album.
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Good observation. The roots of TXF lay in songs like Fear of the Dark & Afraid To Shoot Strangers. The VXI-BNW connection I find harder to see, but I can make a comparison between the title track of Seventh Son and Mother Russia, style-wise (check the rhythms under the solos), and atmosphere (intro Mother Russia / calm midpiece 7th).
 
Well, I finally got brave enough to stop simply reading all the interesting stuff on this forum and actually join and participate a bit.

I joined mainly to comment on this thread (at least to start with).

It's funny that I've been a Maiden fan since about '83 when a buddy of mine gave me a cassette copy of Number of the Beast. (I'll never forget being at his house listening to the title track at vol.11 when a family of Jehovah's Witnesses stopped by to try and give him literature. As he opened the door, the chorus played, and they turned and left without saying a word.)

Anyway, I own every album and have listened to the D'Anno stuff like it's true Maiden material, but I've never given the Blaze stuff a chance. (I think I may have listened to Lord of the Flies once.)

It's just strange that I consider the D'Anno albums to be Maiden albums but have skipped even listening to TXF and VXI (even though I took the time to buy them) because somewhere a voice in my head screamed, "They're not true Maiden albums!"

Thanks to this forum (and the great comments in this thread), one of my missions for the next few days is to sit and actually "listen" to them from start to finish a few times.
 
I'm glad to hear you'll at least give them a chance.

For me, as I have said before, I came onto the scene in 2001, so very recently. Going back was an interesting experience. Certainly I feel the Blaze albums are different to the Bruce and Paul albums vocally, and even thematically, but they still have a lot of the signature Maiden work on them. As some people have said, if anything is missing, it's H, not Bruce.

Of course, without the Blaze years we'd have never gotten Accident of Birth and The Chemical Wedding, so you have to be thankful for that even if you think Blaze is the worst thing EVAR.
 
That's a really good point as well.  Even disliking those albums, one bit of good fortune were the Bruce records.  I'd certainly rank both AOB and TCW as better than any Maiden album in the 90s.

In the spirit of this thread, I listened again to The X Factor last night.  I have to confess there's just a part of me that can't get past his voice, no matter how hard I try.  I kept hearing these verses and choruses with Dickinson inflections...and what I was actually listening to was so monotone and sterile.  There's very little passion in his delivery to me.  There's drama...it sounds like he's speaking a lyrical part in a play, but there's no melodic conviction there.  

These also aren't the best collection of Maiden songs in the writing department either, however.  Lyrically they're pretty damn compelling, but I think that effort is largely wasted on often uninteresting compositions and certainly fall flat with Blaze's vanilla deliveries.  He has power, but very little about his voice is interesting to me.  It's a misuse of some really good wordsmithing.

I keep trying...
 
When I listen to TXF or VXI I totally don't think of Bruce, nor Adrian. I don't need to, I don't even want to compare with them. These albums were made without them, and that's it. I guess I had the urge to compare with Bruce in 1995 (not Adrian, since he was gone for a long time already) when TXF came out, but hey, we're 15 years further now.

I don't find anything wrong with the compositions on TXF. The average song is even better than Adrian's compositions on the Bruce albums.
 
For me what is missing in the Blaze years is the attitude and power in the vocal delivery. While Di'anno Maiden and Dickinson Maiden are different beasts, both singers share a cocky attitude and are true frontmen with the right amount of arrogance to lead the charge.

For me Blaze seems to fall back behind the band when he sings, maybe in deference to Steve or perhaps he was a bit intimidated or simply just trying to fill very big shoes. Maybe it was just the production/mix on the album. Either way, his delivery sounds weak, and this is coming from someone who eagerly bought Wolfsbane's first album when it was released and was genuinely intrigued when it was announced he was joining Maiden. Although after Bruce left, my first thought was Michael Kiske from Helloween, who not only sings like Bruce, but does some very Dickinsonian moves in concert.
 
Forostar said:
When I listen to TXF or VXI I totally don't think of Bruce, nor Adrian. I don't need to, I don't even want to compare with them. These albums were made without them, and that's it. I guess I had the urge to compare with Bruce in 1995 (not Adrian, since he was gone for a long time already) when TXF came out, but hey, we're 15 years further now.

I don't find anything wrong with the compositions on TXF. The average song is even better than Adrian's compositions on the Bruce albums.
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I'd think less of Bruce if Blaze had been both better and more interesting.  Worst thing that ever happened was hearing how much Bruce IMPROVED those songs live.
 
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