BludBrutha
Educated Fool
Interesting scenario : Bruce and Adrian come back for ‘99 Ed Huntour but the egos clash and Bruce bails after one tour. What do they do then? Bring Blaze back?
Who was auditioned to replace Blaze?
- Thread starter Meliegree
- Start date
For what it's worth, I think two things need to be distinguished here: Blaze's musical fit with Maiden as they were at the time, and his fit with the band as an established recording and touring entity. In the former department, Blaze was a better fit than Team Bruce likes to admit. Music-wise, Fear of the Dark isn't all that different from TXF in many places, and most of the songs required Bruce to sing very differently from what he had done previously. We like to associate the vocals with a "raspy" style Bruce was doing at the time, but in truth, it's especially the many slow, quiet sections on which Bruce really sounds nothing like he ever did before (for better or worse), i.e. the start of FOTD, ATSS, Childhood's End, and this is where Bruce sounds pretty similar to Blaze on TXF. So Blaze was a good fit for the musical direction Maiden were taking at the time.
On the other hand, Blaze wasn't up for touring with Maiden. He was highly inconsistent on stage, beyond the usual "good nights - bad nights" thing, he kept messing up the lyrics, and two consecutive North American tours ended up largely being cancelled because of his health issues. The good nights on both tours show that in principle, he had it in him to front Maiden, but a band can't leave it up to a gamble if they're having a good show or a bad show. This isn't necessarily all his fault - he hadn't grown together with the band but came from the outside having to adapt to how Maiden were doing things rather than have a say in how things were to be done. It was an impossible task for him to keep up with Maiden as a live band, but it does mean he didn't fit.
They probably drew up contracts and had lawyers involved to ensure that something like this wouldn't happen.
TheTalisman
Ancient Mariner
Search for a completely new singer. That's what Steve thought they would do at first, when Blaze struggled on tour, according to the Run to the Hills biography. Originally he didn't think that Bruce would return.
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Iron Lurker
Ancient Mariner
Maybe for a lot of fans who say "he just didn't fit Maiden" they were politely saying "he sucked"...
We all know that, and we wished those people would cut the politeness so there's no illusion that there's a debate to be had there and we could all just go our way.
____no5
Free Man
Great take.
Haven’t thought of heard that before but makes a great deal of sense. A classic good Perun post where he lays something completely original and breakthrough yet still convincing.
BludBrutha
Educated Fool
Bruce channelling the young thrash bands vocally on NP and FOTD makes them almost unlistenable for me. What’s that b side where he’s calling a mock horse race and he’s saying something like “Metallica is coming up the rear” etc … it reminds me of that. Desperation to try to appear hip and relevant. Also how they started wearing leathers and looking mean in band photos, it’s cringe.
Christopher Baines
Educated Fool
Just keeping up with the trends of the time. I liked the way he sang on FOTD tbh. Also better than the spandex of a the 80's
efekåseo_suomi
Ancient Mariner
Warrant did a reunion tour with Jane Lane in 2008 but quickly replaced him with a new singer instead of going back to Jamie St James. Something along those lines, if anything. Just like with Blaze, James didnt work anyway.
TheMercenary
Ancient Mariner
It was confirmed by Rod Smallwood in 1999. Bruce was not the first choice for Steve and the band after Blaze has been fired. They thought about other singers like Edu Falaschi, Andre Matos or Michael Kiske before Bruce came back in the top of the list.
chaosapiant
Ancient Marinade
Where is this coming from? To my knowledge, Steve never once considered anyone outside of England as a potential singer for Maiden.
GhostofCain
Ancient Mariner
Doogie White is Scottish.
Steve never considered anyone not British as singer for Maiden, regardless of the rumours that were floating around back in the day.
Black Bart
Ancient Mariner
Hadn't James LaBrie (Canada) been approached, at least by Rod?Doogie White is Scottish.
Steve never considered anyone not British as singer for Maiden, regardless of the rumours that were floating around back in the day.
Jer
A window to the west, a blazing star above
Like Bruce and Nicko replacing Paul and Clive...?
...because there was a long wait, and the new albums kinda sucked and didn't play to Ripper's strengths. If they'd released something similar in quality to Painkiller in 1992-1993 with Ripper at the helm, I think it would have been a very different story.
Some, sure. But the last two Toddsrÿche albums are the best things they've done since Promised Land, so the people who are still paying attention to the band probably aren't so keen on that idea. I sure as shit don't want "Wot We Do II"...
Part of the problem is the braindead music press. Literally every interview with a band that's had a lineup change since their "classic" line-up includes the question of when they're going to get back together with their ex-members. Can you imagine how divorced people would react if every time you talked to them you asked when they're getting back together with their ex-spouse? You would be seen as idiotic and inconceivably rude for doing so, and yet it's standard practice with these interviews, and that always keeps the question open in the readers' minds. It's pathetic, IMO.
TheMercenary
Ancient Mariner
From serious french journalists that worked for biggest metal magazines in France.
chaosapiant
Ancient Marinade
Yea, pretty sure that was all rumors. Especially regarding Matos and Kiske.
efekåseo_suomi
Ancient Mariner
To my knowledge the reunion was basically a done deal by mid november 1998 while Maiden was playing Japan. At this point Janick and Nico was also told. Dave probably knew early on. After that Steve went home, met with Bruce in late november and then went to South America to finish off VXI tour. Steve didn't even meet with other singers, so Bruce was definitely the first alternative. When it became clear that Adrian would rejoin too, Janick apparently offered to leave the band, but told he was going to stay as part of a three guitar lineup. From Maiden Revelations:
"At some point in November 1998, after the European leg of the tour and before Maiden’s shows in Japan that month, Harris would decide that it couldn’t hurt to meet with Dickinson to talk about a possible reunion of forces. McBrain recalls the moment when Smallwood told him that there would be a band meeting with Bruce when they came back home: 'I was sitting in a sake bar in Roppongi, Japan, with Rod and Janick. And Rod turned round and told me that Adrian was coming back with Bruce and asked what did I think about it."
They also speculate on when Bruce and Steve met: "An educated guess would be that the meeting was set for late November, ahead of Dickinson’s British tour and Maiden’s visit to South America, possibly Sunday 29 November 1998."
MAIDEN HISTORY: The New World, 1999-2004
When 1999 began, Iron Maiden had decided to fire singer Blaze Bayley and reunite with Bruce Dickinson. This was one of the most important turns in the band’s history. The major question is ho…
maidenrevelations.com
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maideneer10
Educated Fool
Essentially I believe that Blaze was always in the frame to be the likely candidate to replace Bruce.
Having toured with Maiden (with Wolfsbane) previously he got on really well with the band I think Steve in particular liked his attitude and also because he was that bit younger and had tons of energy.
Also the fact that Blaze has this dark energy and soul and because of what Steve was going through at the time this made sense for them to get together.
I remember buying the Man on the Edge CDs and Vinyl when they were released and hearing the difference between Blaze and Bruce's voices was quite jarring however I persevered and eventually got used to the "new" Maiden. I suppose I stuck with them as they had always stuck by the fans and never gave in.
The song I struggled with the most in that early release plethora of songs was The Edge of Darkness. It was just so bloody dark and brooding.
Little did I know what was to come was even darker. Great album to listen to though if your in a bad mood.
Everything worked out in the end though as we ended up with two "Classic" metal albums i.e. Brave New World and Silicon Messiah.
Having toured with Maiden (with Wolfsbane) previously he got on really well with the band I think Steve in particular liked his attitude and also because he was that bit younger and had tons of energy.
Also the fact that Blaze has this dark energy and soul and because of what Steve was going through at the time this made sense for them to get together.
I remember buying the Man on the Edge CDs and Vinyl when they were released and hearing the difference between Blaze and Bruce's voices was quite jarring however I persevered and eventually got used to the "new" Maiden. I suppose I stuck with them as they had always stuck by the fans and never gave in.
The song I struggled with the most in that early release plethora of songs was The Edge of Darkness. It was just so bloody dark and brooding.
Little did I know what was to come was even darker. Great album to listen to though if your in a bad mood.
Everything worked out in the end though as we ended up with two "Classic" metal albums i.e. Brave New World and Silicon Messiah.
efekåseo_suomi
Ancient Mariner
Yepp. Right place right time. Blaze first declined the offer, he probably thought Wolfsbane had a change. With Maiden he made a wise carrier decision at the time.
