Bullshit. He was the right man for X-Factor, and he was the right man for Virtual XI. Live - Harris made a mistake with leaving songs as they were. Listening to Blaze singing the Trooper is a pain. It doesn't sound right, his voice is strained and you can clearly hear that he's having a battle with the song. Trooper was never the staple, it hasn't been played for the better part of the '80s. Change it with a song that isn't in E. For instance, Flight Of Icarus, in F#, Blaze could sing it with his lower register. He did a really good job on Afraid To Shoot Strangers. Drop Hallowed to D. Find out which well-known songs (and face it, there's at least 2 well known songs in general rock community from every IM album) can he perform in original intonation. Staples that have to be there - HBTN/IM, drop 'em down.
But no, Harris was determined to play the songs as they were, because he was afraid that it's going to change the Maiden sound. Ok, drowning down HBTN somewhat kills one of the song's elements...but singing strained and off-key kills it way more.
And Blaze wasn't dumped from Maiden. He couldn't cope with touring. They started canceling dates because of his proneness to allergy, etc.
That's got nothing to do with his live performances of older Maiden material. Half of U.S. leg of VXI tour was canceled. Two out of seven South America dates, too.
Right before the beginning of European tour (after that numerous U.S. cancellations), band and Blaze decided it's a no go. His live performances were bad and he couldn't keep touring. Iron Maiden, being a live band at first place...
With EHT already planned, Bruce heard that Blaze is essentially out at end of VXI tour, and said that he'd like him and Adrian to rejoin the guys for EHT.
With the massive energy on stage, brilliant live performances, and the whole atmosphere around the new lineup (especially the chemistry between three axes), they decided to record an album. The rest is history.