Well, with this message, let's see if I bring some more light on the 1993 auditions.
Auditioned:
Blaze Bayley (Wolfsbane)
Russ North, (Cloven Hoof)
Doogie White (La Paz, Pink Cream 69, Midnight Blue)
Steve Grimmett (Grim Reaper)
Glynn Morgan (Mindfeed, Threshold)
Damian Wilson (Landmarq, Threshold)
Andre Matos (Angra)
Not auditioned or in doubt:
Tim Lachman (Eleventh Hour)
James LaBrie (Dream Theater)
Olav Solli (21 Guns, Psycho Motel)
Marco Hietala (Tarot, Nightwish)
Edu Falaschi (Symbols, Angra)
Tony O'Hora (Praying Mantis)
* Blaze started with the approval of Harris from minute 0. He always supported Blaze since the days in Wolfsbane. In an interview I read that he was always the number one candidate but still wanted to try more people. If he was elected, it would be for merit.
The point is, I am one of those who thinks Blaze certainly did a great job. He contributed everything he could contribute, which was not little, both in interpretation and composition. I firmly believe that if Blaze was not right, the culprit was none other than Steve, not Blaze.
I wish I could hear that supposed studio recording they made in Barnyard, Essex, with the repertoire for the audition. I am convinced that he did well to surprise the band. The same after, on tour, with the problems that Blaze had with alcohol and how little he took care of his voice ... he went deflating.
However, I firmly believe that surely, what they were not looking for was someone who sounded like Bruce Dickinson. Intelligent play if you do not want to give credits to the outgoing vocalist and that he grew up feeling necessary and that he left the group broken, but not very coherent if you later think that he will be able to interpret the previous and composed themes for him in the way they were written. The spark of criticism will end up burning, for better or worse. These are things to think about coldly and there, I think Steve, out of pride, out of spite, for not giving in to Dickinson, was wrong.
He looked for someone very valid, talented, with a lot of voice, but too opposed to what we all knew of this most glorious stage of the band.
If he wanted to succeed and not lose an iota of that glory, his duty was to take a vocalist with his own personality but who could more than sing those of Dickinson.
It is clear that in the first 90s and 2000s, very good singers have emerged, very prepared and with voice ranges as wide as Bruce's without being like Bruce.
They needed someone left over voice and resources. And for that ... you also had to cross the walls of the United Kingdom Mr. Harris.
* Doogie White. The great missed opportunity. It was in second place, with the helplessness of being surpassed by Blaze ... For me, perhaps he was the candidate who could contribute most to the group without excessively changing the essence of the voice.
* Another who could take the prize was none other than Russ North. A voice with a very characteristic timbre, capable of high notes, with strength, hook and glue ... maybe a little fashion and touching a Glam / A.O.R style. but that would have fit well. Perhaps his bad image and his reputation as a drinker took him away from that opportunity.
* Steve Grimmet was a vocalist who liked Rob a lot but not Harris for having a very old school voice ... yet he was close to the final positions.
* I am in doubt if James LaBrie came to test, if it is true that he was considered for the position. Recall that Harris loved Images & Words and that Bruce Dickinson revered them for the good sound of his records, he even said that Fear Of The Dark, compared to Images, sounded like a demo and that he liked the production and interpretation of James's voice. Steve might remember those words from Bruce and would like to replace him with James?
* Edu Falaschi sent his demo but failed to audition with the band.
* There were two vocalists that Steve liked very much ... one named Damian Wilson and another Glynn Morgan. Casualties of life, Glynn replaced Damian in Threshold ... and Damian ended up riding Maiden United ... that acoustic project that revisits Maiden songs under another musical prism.
* It was commented in a Judas Priest forum, that Tim Owens also sent some demos with covers and his work with Winter's Bane ... but, I personally doubt it.
* Another candidate who sent a demo ... and, was from Norway, was Olav Solli. He had a somewhat peculiar voice but that Harris didn't quite convince him for Iron Maiden. Instead, what Steve did is to recommend Adrian Smith for what would be after Psycho Motel. This is the boy from Scandinavia that was referred to and not Marco Hietala (which is true that he also sent his demos).
Marco can be heard in the Slave To The Power Tribute with Conquest performing bass and vocals along with Peter James Goodman The Evil That Men Do. And, it is clear that for Maiden it was not a very consistent voice.
* Another of the young vocalists who appeared was Tim Lachman (Patrick's brother, Halford guitarist), his timbre so similar to Bruce made him the perfect candidate and the least suitable at the same time. Replace Bruce with a clone? I already mentioned it above ... pride plays bad passes. I wouldn't have doubted it but I'm not Steve.
Another detail, its origin, United States.
In an interview conducted by the journalist Jerry Ewing for Metal Hammer, from the time of X Factor, Steve goes on to say that at the auditions a boy appeared who sounded so similar to Bruce that they thought he was an imitator. Hopefully one day we can know who that singer was. Maybe my suspicions are directed at Tim Lachman ... judging by his version of Alexander The Great in the Slave To The Power Tribute. Or maybe he meant André Matos. Who knows? There I realized how bad a journalist can be then, Jerry Ewing went directly to another question without further investigation.
* A fact not 100% confirmed (some of his friends say that if he auditioned) is Tony O'Hora's candidacy of Praying Mantis ... a versatile but perhaps very American voice in many aspects.
* Kiske never auditioned. Nor was Di'Anno considered to return to the band.
* Ralf Scheepers, never sent a demo claiming an audition. Something I read and what I gave my total disapproval.
* On occasion I have read rumors that Tobias Sammet (who at the time of Vain Glory Opera ... sounded very much like Bruce's voice in Accident of Birth), sent his demos and was not chosen because of his resemblance and such .. Totally false this. At that time, Tobi would have only 15 or 16 years ... we would go back to before the time of the Children of Steel (December 1994) and Evil Minded demos (before December 1994) and, honestly, neither Tobi in that Time had the voice it has today (listen to the demos), nor Iron Maiden would put a child in front of the band (the Kiske and Helloween thing only happens once in a lifetime and, blessed 17 years of Kiske) and traveling with their parents. An absurd hoax to the mind of those who invented it and posted it in a forum.
* Joey Belladonna was never an option for the band and neither sent nor auditioned.
Well, I hope I have clarified some doubts and informed truthfully. Many of this news you would know, others not. I've searched a lot and I've got the right sources of information on the right people. By sending emails to the people involved and starting directly from three sources of information: Blaze, White and Grimmet and a member of Iron Maiden that I will not reveal (and it's not Steve Harris, ha ha). From there, it was spinning information and contrasting.
I remember there were more names, but I got lost in if it really was just a rumor or if he got to audition. Send, surely we sent demos many well-known singers and we will never know because Steve those things never count ... for him they are not relevant.
Greetings and Up the Irons!
