Why not Paul Dianno instead of Blaze?

Diesel 11 said:
I first found Maiden a little over three years ago, so....

How does growing up with the band in the '80s make you a bigger fan of them? I'd think the biggest fans are the ones who love everything.
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Never said I was a bigger fan, I just know where you're coming from a little better now ...it's just a different perspective from being a fan during the 80's, then from someone who recently became a fan. Glad you're a fan!
 
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fredo96993 said:
If fans hate something it means they care at least.
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Hey, I just agree with the band for seeing the issue with Blaze and taking care of it... by getting Bruce back!
Whether you like the Blaze era or not...the 'fact' is Blaze era was hurting sales (albums & concerts) , the fans spoke, the band listened and got Bruce back.

I like what Bruce's ex-band said when they heard Maiden was offering the job to him.. (i am paraphrasing) "go Bruce, the world needs Iron Maiden". Hence even his ex-band recognized Maiden isn't really Maiden with Blaze! Even Di'Anno said "Bruce is the best Maiden singer" (from the History of Iron Maiden Early Days documentary).
 
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Because it would have been a terrible mistake.
I love the first two Di'Anno albums but that's it, the guy was no professional and they would have never been huge with him on vocals and no way they could have done the type of music they did with Bruce.

I don't agree that Blaze was a mistake, it's just that the shoes he had to replace were enormous and the fans didn't accept him. But he did a good job, much better than anything Paul Di'Anno could have done around that time.

With Paul the band would have been a joke by that time... things were just completely different and Paul couldn't have sung anything they were composing at that time. It would have been a major involution to bring Paul back.

Besides, they just don't talk to Paul anymore, the guy antagonized with almost anyone so there was no way they would call him back.
 
I think Bruce wanted to succeed with his solo career. He didn't, though he made great albums.

Maiden wanted to succeed with Blaze. They didn't, though they made great albums.

You need luck to succeed. World is full of great bands that nobody has heard of.

They made a compromise in the name of record sales and big concert venues. And that worked. Band is big again.

And I think Dianno was a great singer. He sang well with Maiden, but I guess the personalities didn't work. He was still good around 2005 when I saw him.
 
GhostSword said:
Whether you like the Blaze era or not...the 'fact' is Blaze era was hurting sales (albums & concerts) , the fans spoke, the band listened and got Bruce back.
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Based on the way I've been able to piece it together over the years, Blaze was out regardless of whether or not Bruce was coming back. Bruce coming back was a function of him being more available and feeling like it was a step he could make at the time. So if Bruce had turned down the offer from Rod & Steve, we still would have gotten a new vocalist.
 
LooseCannon said:
Based on the way I've been able to piece it together over the years, Blaze was out regardless of whether or not Bruce was coming back. Bruce coming back was a function of him being more available and feeling like it was a step he could make at the time. So if Bruce had turned down the offer from Rod & Steve, we still would have gotten a new vocalist.
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That’s how I’ve always understood the situation. It wasn’t like the band purposely got Bruce back so they could sell more records and play bigger venues. I was always under the impression that Blaze was out and the band was gonna go and find another vocalist.

it was rod who first floated the idea and from what I remember some of the band, particularly Steve were very much against the idea and needed a lot of persuading. When eventually it was agreed I would wager that from the bands point of view it was on a purely musical and creative point that they got Bruce back. They were already wealthy people.

Now from Rods point of view I have no doubt he saw pounds signs flashing in front of his eyes :D
 
Bruce even said he'd only come back with Adrian, which he expected to be a non-starter, but it seemed to work out okay since.
 
LooseCannon said:
Bruce even said he'd only come back with Adrian, which he expected to be a non-starter, but it seemed to work out okay since.
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That's not really how he put it in his autobiography, and it doesn't really gel well with what we've learned from other (official and unofficial) sources. Adrian coming back more seemed like a thing both parties felt obligated to push for, for different reasons.
 
Ruflux said:
That's not really how he put it in his autobiography, and it doesn't really gel well with what we've learned from other (official and unofficial) sources. Adrian coming back more seemed like a thing both parties felt obligated to push for, for different reasons.
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Yeah I don’t remember Bruce ever saying he’d only come back if Adrian did. Of course I’m no authority on the band but being a fan of maiden from before Bruce left this doesn’t sit with all the magazine articles, books and dvds and countless other sources I’ve read over the years.
 
Regearding H. If Roy Z is to believe, Paddy and him got Bruce very drunk and convinced him to rejoin Maiden and to take H back with him. That leads me to believe that the offer came from Maiden camp (firstly only for Bruce) and he hesitated. It's possible that they would take H back regardless, but from Z's drunken FB postings, it seems otherwise.

From the book and other sources, I think this was the timelapse.

-Poorer and poorer sales of Virtual XI tour and album.
-Nicko storms into Rod's office with live recordings and tells the managment and the band that Blaze isn't gonna cut it anymore.
-Rod suggests Bruce to Steve and Steve isn't really sure, but after some convincing he gives Rod the green light to send the "job proposal" to Bruce.
-Bruce doesn't want to ditch his solo career and despite that his own band (Eddie Casillas in particular) want him to rejoin he decides to turn it down.
-Paddy and Roy Z decide to get Bruce drunk and convince him to rejoin. They also convince him that he must insist to take H back with him.
-Bruce sends his demands back to Maiden camp.
-The meeting is arranged in Brighton.

Everything else is history.

It's also possible that Maiden wanted H back anyway, but wanted to convince the harder party (Bruce) first.
 
I believe they were definitely interested in getting Adrian back too, since not only would that be a return to the classic lineup, the man wrote and co-wrote some of Maiden's most well-known songs and I would imagine the Maiden camp would've been interested in tapping to that creative energy again.

Steve said he always wanted three guitarists, and this was his chance to make that happen, although I'm not so sure that was the starting position. I feel like it took a moment before they reached that point, but once they did it was obvious that's what they had to do.

What I'd like to know is Janick's position in all this. According to various sources, Steve did assure him he was keeping his spot no matter what happened and that he supported the effort to get Bruce back, but was it really that simple? Was Janick always gonna stay on? Did the Maiden camp ever consider the option of him being replaced with Adrian? It's an interesting subject to speculate upon since we'll likely never hear any official word on the behind the scenes side of things, just the PR friendly version.
 
In regards to Janick I’m pretty sure he was always going to stay and him leaving was never up for debate.

I remember reading somewhere an interview with Adrian where he stayed his return was only ever meant to be for one tour! That’s why I’m pretty sure that it wasn’t a condition of Bruce returning that Adrian also came back.

I can’t link a source but I’m positive in the interview Adrian said him coming back was for a big tour and after the tour finished he was then offered the chance to stay and it was all working out really well so he stayed. I’ll try and see if I can find that interview.
 
To Rod and Steve: we need a new «History pt 4» video, so you’ll give us some answers how the reunion came along :D
 
Dianno was never going to be an option to replace Bruce in 93/94. It would mean Maiden looking back instead of forward. Also the reasons he left the band in the first place would still be around.
Bruce and H came back because it suited everyone involved. And everything worked out perfectly in the end.
 
Ruflux said:
I believe they were definitely interested in getting Adrian back too, since not only would that be a return to the classic lineup, the man wrote and co-wrote some of Maiden's most well-known songs and I would imagine the Maiden camp would've been interested in tapping to that creative energy again.

Steve said he always wanted three guitarists, and this was his chance to make that happen, although I'm not so sure that was the starting position. I feel like it took a moment before they reached that point, but once they did it was obvious that's what they had to do.

What I'd like to know is Janick's position in all this. According to various sources, Steve did assure him he was keeping his spot no matter what happened and that he supported the effort to get Bruce back, but was it really that simple? Was Janick always gonna stay on? Did the Maiden camp ever consider the option of him being replaced with Adrian? It's an interesting subject to speculate upon since we'll likely never hear any official word on the behind the scenes side of things, just the PR friendly version.
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Apparently Janick offered to leave the band, assuming this was a case of bringing the classic 80s line-up together, to which the response of Steve was "No". Adrian allegedly also agonised about re-joining, thinking that would mean Jan being kicked out of the band.
 
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