Ranko
I'll shoot the gunner first!
From the official Maiden biography (formatting inserted by me):
Blaze kept an understandably low profile for many months after. "I didn't want to say anything unless I had something positive to say," he says now. "If all I'd got to say was, 'I'm not in Maiden any more,' it's a purely negative thing. But if I can say, 'I've got my own band and album,' that's something to talk about."He also admits now that his dismissal from the band came as more of a shock to him than Steve may have realised. Returning home at the end of the Virtual XI tour in time for Christmas 1998, Blaze insists that he was "quite positive, thinking about the next album. I'd written 'When Two Worlds Collide' with Davey and I was thinking we should try doing some more stuff together. Then we got through Christmas and I thought maybe, with it being the New Year, maybe everybody would get back into it again. Then, in January, I got called into the office for a meeting. I thought it was for a regular band meeting, but when I arrived everybody was already there. There was a bit of a weird vibe straight away. Then, as soon as I sat down, they told me."
How did he feel? "Oh, I was gutted to begin with, really upset, like anybody would feel when you're leaving something you've been a part of for a long time. Five years, two albums, and I'd always given 100 per cent in everything I did with them, from the writing to playing live, and I really enjoyed it. So no, it didn't feel good. But Rod said, 'The band wanna do something else, go in a different direction, carry on without you.' I asked if that meant Bruce was coming back, but they said nothing had been sorted out yet. I found out a week later. But it was better than hearing they were getting another unknown in. I felt like, 'OK, it's like a line-up thing, the classic line-up.' I mean, I still care about the band and, upset as I was, I thought, 'At least I know the band will carry on OK.' And I thought it was a really good move to have Adrian back as well."
He says it took "a couple of months to get over it. Everybody said it was nothing personal - they did it for the good of the whole band. What got me off my arse in the end was going through my notepad of lyrics and my Dictaphone tapes, where I keep all my little ideas for songs. I also got a lot of letters from fans saying they were gonna support me, which was an amazing boost. I started to flesh out ideas, and that's when I started seeing all the positive things I had taken out of Maiden. I'd seen what it takes to really make a band as successful as that. I'd learned from them how to stay focused. Before, I wasn't able to translate my ideas into the finished song, where with Steve that's something he's really good at, and I learned that from him. I learned a lot of things - how to be a better singer, a better writer, how to show leadership..."
Blaze kept an understandably low profile for many months after. "I didn't want to say anything unless I had something positive to say," he says now. "If all I'd got to say was, 'I'm not in Maiden any more,' it's a purely negative thing. But if I can say, 'I've got my own band and album,' that's something to talk about."He also admits now that his dismissal from the band came as more of a shock to him than Steve may have realised. Returning home at the end of the Virtual XI tour in time for Christmas 1998, Blaze insists that he was "quite positive, thinking about the next album. I'd written 'When Two Worlds Collide' with Davey and I was thinking we should try doing some more stuff together. Then we got through Christmas and I thought maybe, with it being the New Year, maybe everybody would get back into it again. Then, in January, I got called into the office for a meeting. I thought it was for a regular band meeting, but when I arrived everybody was already there. There was a bit of a weird vibe straight away. Then, as soon as I sat down, they told me."
How did he feel? "Oh, I was gutted to begin with, really upset, like anybody would feel when you're leaving something you've been a part of for a long time. Five years, two albums, and I'd always given 100 per cent in everything I did with them, from the writing to playing live, and I really enjoyed it. So no, it didn't feel good. But Rod said, 'The band wanna do something else, go in a different direction, carry on without you.' I asked if that meant Bruce was coming back, but they said nothing had been sorted out yet. I found out a week later. But it was better than hearing they were getting another unknown in. I felt like, 'OK, it's like a line-up thing, the classic line-up.' I mean, I still care about the band and, upset as I was, I thought, 'At least I know the band will carry on OK.' And I thought it was a really good move to have Adrian back as well."
He says it took "a couple of months to get over it. Everybody said it was nothing personal - they did it for the good of the whole band. What got me off my arse in the end was going through my notepad of lyrics and my Dictaphone tapes, where I keep all my little ideas for songs. I also got a lot of letters from fans saying they were gonna support me, which was an amazing boost. I started to flesh out ideas, and that's when I started seeing all the positive things I had taken out of Maiden. I'd seen what it takes to really make a band as successful as that. I'd learned from them how to stay focused. Before, I wasn't able to translate my ideas into the finished song, where with Steve that's something he's really good at, and I learned that from him. I learned a lot of things - how to be a better singer, a better writer, how to show leadership..."
Abd I apologise for my poor english. 
