Blaze answers OUR questions here - kzfaq.info/get/bejne/pK6Cp9lj1Z25ZZc.html Thanks everyone for submitting your questions!

Paul Dianno was great, Blaze was great, Bruce is great. Iron Maiden is great. They all made a unique era for Iron Maiden.

Please tell Blaze that his two albums with Iron Maiden are spectacular, and that his solo career is amazing. I love his music. Cheers from Argentina!

At first I didn't like X Factor but over time I started to notice and appreciate the details and style of the album. It is now one of my favorite albums. Blaze did a great job on a very dark record in The Beast's career.

When I come to think about it, Iron Maiden's "Blaze" era lasts to this day. Sign of the Cross actually showed us where Steve was taking the band - dark, cinematic, mid-tempo metal. It's not Blaze, Bruce, or Adrian's arrival/departure/return, Steve changed in the early 90s.

I met Blaze twice in person in 2014 and 2016 and he is along with Rob Halford and Sammy Hagar one of the kindest guys in the business. It was not only his fault both of their IM albums flopped back in the 90's. It was simply a symptom of that era. Grunge and pop ruled

Blaze Bayley did the vocals on one of Iron Maiden's best songs, "The Clansman," and he did an excellent job on that song.

It’s so simple: they just needed to detune their guitars to match his baritone voice. His solo material absolutely crushes, and if you’ve ever heard him cover maiden stuff in his range…it rips. Up the Irons Blaze ! Much love from NJ 💪🏾

Blaze's solo albums are phenomenal. He's really at his best when he does his own thing in his own style, whether it's Wolfsbane, Blaze band or his solo stuff.

if harris let him sing songs that actually suited his range, or adjusted some song keys (like they did for bruce so he could go high on lord of the flies), balze may have worked out.

Blaze is a genuine legend and good guy. He puts his heart and soul into his music for us to enjoy.

Blaze is such an icon, Bruce is literally irreplaceable & such an important part of Maiden, but Blaze had the courage to replace him and held it all with so much dignity and self-respect, I've never heard him say anything like: "oh, I'm obviously not as good as Bruce", it's actually so inspiring to see how comfortable he felt in this band. Also warms my heart to know that it must have been Steve & the rest of Maiden (and the fans!) that helped him feel that way. 👍

Let's face it, short of getting an established "legendary" vocalist to fill Bruce's spot (say Ronnie Dio, Ian Gillan, Graham Bonnet, etc) or perhaps even getting Paul back, pretty much anyone would have gotten shat upon by the fans.

In the 90s, Iron Maiden was completely out of step with what was current in hard rock/heavy metal. Nothing they could have released would have sold well. Now, a quarter century later, whether it was trendy or not at the time no longer matters. HIstory allows us to view those albums on their own without the influence of the successful albums other bands released in that era. In that regard, they stand up surprisingly well.

I think he is one of metals unsong heroes, his voice is a force of nature. The solo stuff is absolutely brilliant.

I remember I understood Iron Maiden when coming with him, and guessed they wanted someone relatively unknown and let the band name and the music do the rest... I knew who he was back then and got a little curious to what they would come up with, with "that nasal guy from Wolfsbane" - but releasing a home-made album with a new singer was not a very good idea, and they could have tailored more of the songs specifically for his voice and also dropped some "obligatory" songs in the live-set that he obviously wasn't the right guy to sing in front of a biased audience

I got into hard rock and metal exactly when Bruce left Maiden. I was discovering all of their music and was extremely into them. It was a very exciting time waiting for them to announce their new singer and the subsequent new album. So I kind of got stuck with Blaze hearing their music live for the first time. My first ever concert was a Maiden gig on the X-Factour and I was blown away. During the Blaze era I probably saw Maiden live around 10 times and I loved every show. I loved the football theme of Virtual XI as I was heavily into football in my late teens, and the Ed Hunter game was great as well being a gamer. So all the right things at the right time for me. Conclusion: Blaze was a big part of my Maiden experience and I loved every part of it, including Blaze!

This is my theory. When Bruce left, Maiden didn't wanna bring a guy who sound like or similar to Bruce because they wanna prove they can be Maiden without Bruce. The X Factor and Virtual XI are not bad albums, the problem with Blaze was when he started singing the classic songs.

X-Factor has always been one of my favourite albums and after he left Maiden, I followed Blaze's solo career and saw him several times live. He is definitely an amazing singer and front man and his dark-cyber-goth-punk style of metal remids me of Henry Rollins or Peter Steele.

He was perfect for that era!!! Especially X Factor, the album with war theme. He was great at describing the pain and the agony of war.

It's hard when your favorite band gets a new singer, but some of the best songs on those albums. The tones on the record are a little less crunchy and I think the live performances really do the songs more justice.

Blaze Bayley did an excellent job while being with Maiden and is a great singer. Sure, those are not my favourite albums, but neither are the ones since the return of Bruce, yet Maiden is still my favourite band and I am glad Blaze was part of it.

I saw Maiden on the No Prayer for the Dying tour and really got into Wolfsbane because of that. I subsequently saw Wolfsbane a couple of times after that. I was kinda bummed that things went pear shaped for them and a bit weirded out when Blaze joined Maiden. He's a great singer and front man, but they really should have changed the key for him as his range just isn't the same. The mid/late 90s was a shitty time for heavy metal in general. Most hugely established band really struggled. I think Blaze was made a scapegoat for things not going well. However, I think Maiden would still have struggled with Bruce. Taking an unknown singer with a more similar range to Bruce could have been a better move, but they did what they did. The albums are a little different, but they're still Iron Maiden and they're still great.

These albums are so good, I remember when I first heard them and couldn't stop listening to them. Now I'm learning Lightning Strikes Twice on bass! seems like such a down to earth dude, no wonder he was a part of iron maiden

I always thought Michael Kiske from Helloween would of been a great replacement for Bruce much like Ralf Scheepers of Gamma Ray (At the time) would of been a great replacement for Rob Halford in Judas Priest.

Clansman is one of my favorite Maiden song, Blaze did a great job on the albums. It was not his fault the album sales dropped imo

Love these bang up to date, contemporary vids.

The quality of this video is fantastic, well done sir 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

I don’t think that the failure in sales was really Blaze’s fault. But he is the easy scapegoat. Lost in the discussion of the changing singers, is that there was also the departure (a little earlier) of Adrian Smith. Adrian has always contributed great songs. His shorter, tighter songs often provide a great balance to the more grand, epic tunes that Steve favors (I am speaking in VERY broad strokes there)…it’s not that one or the other is better, but having more great songs from more great songwriters is one of the beautiful things about the great records in Iron Maiden’s catalog. In my opinion Virtual XI and X Factor are both in the bottom 1/4 of all Maiden records. Blaze’s voice (or rather the non-Bruce voice) is only a part of that…the songs just aren’t strong enough. A song like “The Angel and The Gambler”, had some potential to be great, but it just falls short, which makes it more disappointing. It’s like those two albums were Iron Maiden’s “awkward teenage years”, where they were making a transition… ironic since most of us fell in love with Iron Maiden during our awkward teenage years.

I am not a big fan of Virtual Xl but really like the X Factor. I saw them perform on the X Factor tour at a small venue in NJ. called Birchill Night Club and I have to say that it was an excellent performance. I think Blaze won over quite a few people that night. He and the band were on fire. You could really feel it in the air. There seemed to be way more energy in that performance then many of the other times I had seen them on previous tours. I remember driving to that show with some naysayers and leaving with some Blaze fans. They were definitely converted. Of course most people love Bruce but I will never forget what I experienced at that show.

I agree with you. I loved those albums when they came out, I love them now. Also super super love the Virus single. I think they are even better than one or two albums since then (looking at you Dance of Death). I miss hearing some of those great songs in Maiden's current live shows. Blaze has an incredible and powerful voice. I hope your videos help to get Blaze and his era's recordings their just due.

I would like to say a big thanks to Blaze. At the time of the x factor I whas already into maiden due to my older brothers, but it whas the first album I myself anticipated. And it didn't disappoint!! I remember so vividly putting my copy in the cd player...... throughout the next years I played it over and over. Then in 1998 I attended my first maiden gig in ahoy rotterdam! So bottom line, thanks for some of my greatest maiden memory. Kind regards

At first I wasn’t a Big Blaze Bayley fan until I saw that show from Chile!!!!! Him standing up for himself his Ground WON ME OVER!!!!!!\M/

*Want to ask Blaze anything? Post your questions in the comments here and don't miss the interview next week!*

To be fair, the two "Blaze" albums are quite underrated. On the No Prayer and Fear of the Dark albums, IM lost their inner cohesion. Those two records sounds to me more like a an exhausted, tired band, who had to do another album, but didn't really wan to. On the two Bayleys records they started to sound more like a band again. The songwriting is stronger and the performance more cohesive. Even Bayleys voice fits quite right into the "new" Maiden concept. The only downside is the production. The sound is muddy and the mixing a pain in the a..., especially on The X Factor. Looking back now, these two albums are not their worst efforts. It was a time, where they had to redefine themselves as a band and i think they did quite a good job. Thankfully Bruce came back, stronger then ever and with Adrian back again, they were able to start off again.

I absolutely love the "Angel and The Gambler" single with live versions of a few songs. It was absolutely awesome and sounded great. The studio versions however sounded muted, overproduced and lifeless. I actually prefer Blaze over Bruce (who is a great singer) but Paul DiAnno was the best Maiden singer.

When I first heard both albums I was completely turned off. I actually liked wolfsbane. Manhunt is a solid single. So, when hearing Blaze sounding like they took 1st takes of the vocals I was highly disappointed, but a few years after their release I took a deeper look at the albums (musically, lyrically) and I have to say it was far better than No Prayer. No Prayer is easily the weakest Maiden album from the 90's. But, I honestly love the Blaze albums. I wish they would have taken way more time with the recording and vocals, though.

I sometimes think that Maiden wanted a singer who didn't sound like Bruce to remain fresh in a changing metal scene, but realized that they had gone with a choice that didn't suit them so well. I've also wondered why they didn't play in a lower key as Blaze lacks the upper range that Bruce has (though Bruce has said that he wishes he had Blaze's low baritone range). To me it's more interesting to consider how Blaze's career went after Iron Maiden; he will always be associated with the band, negatively in the eyes of some, yet he has stuck it out. I love his work with classical guitarist Thomas Zwijsen and would love to ask him if more collaborations will be forthcoming. Their rendition of Como Estas Amigos with Anne Bakker brings me to tears every time.

I’ve only seen Maiden during the Blaze era. To this day that was one of the best show’s I’ve ever seen!!!

Saw the band with Blaze on the Xfactot and Virtual XI tours in Mexico City…those were great shows, so heavy! I wish to ask him if he remember those shows and have some stories to share about it. Thank you!

Blaze is a fantastic musician and a great person. I had the pleasure to see him with his band twice in Riga in a small basement club. What a blast of energy! It was clear that he is very fond of his fans and did everything he could to make us happy in those evenings. His vocals were strong and some of the Maiden songs that he did were very enjoyable.

Also, what do you think about the new camera position and the posters I finally put up?🤣

The band's tempo and mood change was definitely not my cup of tea, but it's probably what IM needed to redefine itself--essentially a reboot. He could not do the classics justice for sure, but I definitely enjoyed Dickinson's version of Sign of the Cross live when I saw them in 2019. I do appreciate his contribution to the band, although I can't listen to it for the most part. As part of a live set with the current crew along with the Wicker Man it gives the palette something interesting indeed.

Sad how many Maiden fans discount Blaze when the majority of them haven't heard a note of Wolfsbane. Finally decided to check out their music not too long ago, they're incredible and Blaze sounds great on them!

I have an special curiosity to hear the demos that the band had received from the all over the world singers

I’m a Tim Ripper Owens fan. He’s incredibly great live. Good video. I didn’t know about the Rick Rubin almost signing Blaze

I like Blaze, his voice and his personality. Iron Maiden did good to choose him, it's just unfortunate he had problems while touring. Both Blaze records could have benefited from some trimming but non the less, The X Factor is an excellent record while Virtual XI is also very good. A lot of strong moments there.

It was Love at first listen w Blaze. I thank Iron Maiden for bringing us Blaze. I badly wanted another Maiden album w Blaze. Thank you Blaze for bringing what u brought. I just wish Maiden let u bring more.

To be frank, Ive thought about this since I joined them in the chat when they introduced the new singer (gobs of text, it was virtually impossible to chat but what an awesome gesture, a very nice memory), then bought the long awaited album, and finally saw them in the last concert of the X-Factor tour (really cool sasquatch walking Eddie, and electric chair static Eddie)... With what Ive learned, I think he had a few issues. The Xfactor is a Top Heavy album. Past the 3rd song the whole album slows down considerably. Yes because of the dark subject matter, and usually Id be all for artistic expression but this made it harder for sections after those opening songs to stand out,,, it requires a very dedicated listen Bayley unfortunately had a hard time with allergies, which is harsh. Also he's a baritone, and it took him a considerable time to develop the range necessary and adjustments required for most of the back catalog. I remember they opened with Sign of the Cross, followed by Wratchild (perfectly sung) and then performed falling down... That part of the set was epic, but everything from there on suffered. His narrow range and shortness of breath meant only songs written for him would sound good and all of them lacked energy... Additionally, on a more technical level Bayley has a considerable number of issues: there a virtually no color changes, dynamics basically were low, mid or high with basically nothing in between and changes were mostly jerky. So he was rather monotonic, and narrow of range. This made stories have far less impact since there was no nuance, like he said after the dismissal he was looking for people who: ate, breathed and sh*t metal... So there were not that many external influences vocally (say blues, or soul, or jazz or bel canto, or anything other than metal and he was not as strong in that single category) Finally, when their second album came out, they made the mistake of promoting Futureal (the title track) and The Angel and the Gambler. Both of which had a consoderable amount of repetition... They had the Clansman which is perfect but no they went for those other two. His alergies improved and so did his range, but the damage was done he was still very monotonous (contrast against say Dio, Gillan, or even Cobain who have wide range of vocal approaches), everything was the powerful belt (which had been weak last tour) on mid to lower range... I think it was unfortunate. There are good songs but this was unhelpful for both bands. I mean Im faniliar with most of Paul Diannos catalog, even looked up Paul Mario Day, both amazing. But Bailey was not quite the fit, he had a lot to grow as an artist (and he was doing so in leaps and bounds, Wolfsbane is amazing). He could not tell a story, did not have a pitchwise range wide enough, an approach original enough, or a gimmick strong enough (like Dennis Wilcock) to cover this up. I think had he stayed in Wolfsbane for 5 years he could have pulled it off better, but this was not the right gig for him and everyone got burned. He did his best tho, I mean just like Dio filled in for Ozzy and had to contend with that pressure, so did Bayley but he needed to either have way more chops (kinda like Floor who isn't better than Tarja but isnt worse either and has monstrous range in character, approaches and even pitch) or have something radically different, versatile amd likely gimmicky enough to carry the weight of the entire band and then some to do it (a la Peter Gabriel in Genesis, where used costumes, or Paul Stainley with his makeup or Alice Cooper with theatrics or just have the see inspiring charisma of an Ozzy or Lennon... It was a very tough gig) Anyway, been thinking about this since those days and yup that is the problem. As great as he is, he had unrealistic expectations to meet and exceed and ended up competing with his weakneses using some of the least approachable parts of their bands catalog. Its a tough one... I mean if Paul had returned, he would have been cut to shreds, it was just way way too much to ask of anyone.

It was really hard for fans to see Blaze as a vocalist. He had very big shoes to fill. He did give everything he had on stage ( saw him in tour with Maiden) but the fans weren't ready for such a change.

Even though he is my third favorite Maiden vocalist, those two albums really grew on me. Yes, The Clansman and Sign of the Cross, but many of the other songs as well. He will never be Bruce Dickenson, but was never supposed to be. It was a perfect sound for the era.

Awesome breakdown and comparison with Priest!

I haven’t really heard the album’s but saw them on tour with him and they were great.

I think blaze did a good job on the x-factor, the album had a darker tone and fitted well with his voice...but I think the problem was, especially with virtual XI, that steve harris was still uncounsciously writting songs for bruce's voice. My opinion comes from the fact that when bruce sing the songs from these reccords live it get the explosive power of bruce's voice which blaze, even though he's a great singer, don't have. I even hated him back then but then he release the album ghost in the machine and it revealed to me the strenght of blaze's voice and I actually really like what he does on his own with a music more fitted to his type of voice it's really strong. And I also can't imagine the pressure he must've felt by falling into the pants of one of if not the greatest frontman of heavy metal virtually overnight and knowing that even though he is a good singer he don't have bruce's voice. And I agree that the band should've dropped the songs to help him live. It's only my modest opinion on the matter though I'm not claiming to possess the ultimate truth on the matter

I'd never heard Blaze's pre-Maiden work. I've only ever heard his Maiden and post-Maiden recordings. Hearing how high he could hit in his younger years sounds crazy knowing his later range.

I love Blaze's Maiden stuff, they are some of my favourite songs. If he ever had the chance, would he do a collaboration with the current Maiden setup, maybe as part of a goodbye/retirement tour? Also, would he have done anything differently about touring with Maiden? Maybe like putting his foot down with Steve a bit more about downtuning or not playing certain songs.

Saw Blaze with Wolfsbane way back in the day at a small venue called The Metronome in the UK. Cramped, thick with smoke and sweat, loud as hell, absolutely fantastic night!

Met Blaze twice in the span of a few years and he remembered me from the first time I met him. A very nice and genuine guy

Back in the day I didn’t really like the Blaze albums but I recently listened to both albums and they are very good. I did see Maiden in concert with Blaze and they kicked ass live.

I still think the only reason fans didn't like Blaze was because he wasn't Bruce. Meaning, no one would have been accepted.

Blaze took on an impossible job and did it well! I loved the x factor when it released because maiden was still maiden unlike how I felt when metallica released load. Maiden with Blaze survived the grunge apocalypse without compromising their sound and look at them now...Senjutsu rules and full respect still intact, once again unlike metallica. just my personal opinion. UP THE IRONS 🤘 Metal Pilgrim rules 🤘

I was a huge Wolfsbane fan at the time and Blaze was the first person I thought of as a replacement for Bruce, but didn’t think for a moment that it would actually happen.

You got it on the letter! Cheers!

I really wanted to know how the process of songwriting in Iron Maiden works and even the credits for songwriting.Thats my main question.

Saw them twice live with blaze, and I liked it, and some songs from that era I wish they would play them now, like don’t look to the eyes of a stranger, sign of the cross or angel and the gambler.

great info:)

Saw Wolfsbane originally brilliant band still have all the original demos & the self released single & everything they did after.

He was good on TXF But was he the right man for the job No Dio would have been epic

What about the songs he was working on after the Virtual XI, Is it going to be possible to hear him singing more Iron Maiden songs? Especially songs from The New era, like Dream of Mirrors or The Writing on The Wall?

Ask if Blaze is willing to do an album of cover songs from various bands? Some Kiss, Van Halen, maybe some Pantera, Dio, etc.

After seeing Blaze Bayley perform live, I can see why Iron Maiden chose him to front the band... He had a powerful vocal delivery and sounded great live. The problem was, Martin Birch, their longtime producer, was no longer on hand to incorporate a new singer into the band's sound. Steve Harris (and Nigel Green) produced 'X Factor' & were not able to do what Birch did w/ Bruce Dickinson on 'Number of the beast'. And of course, Bayley's vocals did not fit the classic Maiden songs live in concert. 'Virtual XI' was not Bayley's fault... Steve Harris just did not do a good job editing and organizing that record, trying to get back the old Maiden sound. But he still insists that those 2 records were his creative vision. In the end, it was the lack of fan enthusiasm that led to Blaze Bayley's sacking... Iron Maiden spent less than 1 year touring 'Virtual XI' cos they had no support or fanfare - purely a business decision I'm guessing...

Yes. Definitely yes. I will always be baffled that he was able to land THAT gig.

Soon after Blaze was recruited, I saw Iron Maiden in a small club in Pittsburgh called Metropol. I was doubtful about Blaze, but it may have been my favorite time seeing the band. I mean it was powerful.

Damn, late to the party. You came to the conclusion I had 2 minutes in. Blaze is good at what Blaze does, and the 90s were just a shit time for metal. He got out, shat on by fans, and continues to take it like a champ regardless. The man was good enough to get in Iron Maiden for his own talents - Bruce is just an impossible act to follow.

Blaze was perfect for the band during this time, and Steve Harris knew exactly what he was doing. He wanted someone unique from Paul or Bruce and he did just that. Plus he wanted someone not too recognized in the metal scene. Blaze also had the drive and ability to contribute ideas.

10:00 That shot is from Chile when he and other band members were livid at an audience member or two and he started ranting soon after. I've seen this clip being used before to demonstrate that Blaze was struggling but it's a biased sample. Other than that I really respect your work.

Which was his favourite tour? Not with a specific band, could be Wolfsbane, Maiden or his solo career, or one of each period

Prof the songs stand up to this day & the acoustic version show the brilliance of the materiel

buen trabajo buen video! Like

Man when he sang Sign Of the cross, man that song changed my life

How may instrumental tracks did they release with blaze bayley?

I love the two albums made with Blaze and I think that they are better than anything that they did with Kevin Shirley. Yes, live recordings show that the Bruce era songs were often hard for Blaze but songs like "The Clansman", "Como estais amigos" or "Lightning strikes twice" were great. When I listen to these albums I find that I never skip songs and unfortunately I cannot say the same of the "after-reunion" Maiden albums. People always compare Blaze to Bruce's 80's performances but let's stop for a minute and see what did both do after Bruce came back: On the 2012 Wolfsbane album Blaze's performance is great while on the late Maiden albums Bruce's voice often sounds like he is struggling with his old range and style.

Man on the edge is one of my favorite Iron Maiden songs . Great voice. Don't forget to give some attention to his own band next week.

I think Blaze made a mistake leaving Wolfsbane right when they were breaking out with the album on Rubin's Def American label. Nothing against the mighty Maiden, but Wolfsbane were pretty incredible in their own right and could have gone far.

A legend says that Blaze Bayley was born already with 40 Years Old, and did not age since

As much as I love Blaze, just the prospect of Kiske joining Maiden is amazing. What might have played a part was the fact that he was a lot younger than the guys in Maiden.

Great video. I was actually the third drummer!❤

I like the albums he is on. Him singing the old stuff was not always great tho. But he is solid in his own right and I would decently go see him live!

Maiden without Adrien, an then Bruce, they were a different band. Not bad, just different.

I remember picking up a magazine (I think it was Kerrang) that had an article about who the next singer for Maiden could be. Their odds-on favorite was Michael Kiske of Helloween fame. This may be the reason many thought that was happening, especially since both bands had the same management. Kiske said it couldn't happen because they were British and he was German, but that didn't stop him from calling and jokingly saying something like, "When do I start?" If they were looking for someone that sounded like Bruce, I don't think anyone else could have pulled it off better than Kiske. As for Blaze, I think he was great: X and XI are masterpieces and allowed Steve and company to extend their range as a band, not to mention Steve doing that first cool bass intro with an acoustic.

When released, of course I didn't like Maiden with Blaze. However these days i regularly put the two Blaze albums on. There's some very good songs on there.

No he was'nt. He was the worst possible choice at the time, specially considering he would have to sing Bruce Dickinson's era songs live and he simply was'nt up to the task. He was selected because he was a friend (Steve Harris knew him relatively well enough to trust him, due to Wolfsbane being the openers to Maiden on NPFTD tour). He was not selected due to his vocals capabilities. Big mistake and ,thank God, Steve corrected that mistake bringing back Bruce in 1999.

I only just found this video, but I really need to comment on it as I absolutely love the Blaze era of Maiden. Many people I know say that he's not much of a singer, and while that's not true, he did struggle sometimes. And not just when singing songs that were recorded with Bruce, where it was pretty obvious that he wouldn't quite make it as high as Bruce, because their voices pretty much couldn't be much further from each other. For example on The Clansman (and I gotta say I absolutely love that song) there are moments where you can hear that he's not quite hitting the right note. But honestly that's exactly what I love about the song. His voice is just legendary in a whole another way, I mean Bruce is Bruce, but Blaze just kinda adds to the atmosphere of songs such as The Clansman or say The Aftermath, as his voice is kinda "veiled" (if that's the right word) and just fits the idea of a villager singing about his settlement being stolen or a soldier wondering about the point of war and life. To put it simply - I gotta say it again that I love them both, but I feel like Bruce is more of a "professional" sounding guy and Blaze has a more "regular guy" sound. Now that's just my opinion, I am not any voice coach/specialist, I'm just a guy who loves music, plays guitar and drums and can sing a little bit sometimes. But this is how I always felt about this topic and I feel like without Blaze, the band's history would just miss one huge legendary part. And as someone here said, no matter if it's Paul, Bruce or Blaze, they all created a significant era of the band's history and each of the eras was special in it's own way, making the band probably the best band ever, at least for me. Up The Irons!

I don't like The X Factor or Virtual XI albums in totality, But...There are a few songs on each album which are amazing. And to be honest Blaze comes across as a very humble and erudite man in recent interviews and I really respect the fact he was genuinely caught between a rock and a hard place on these two albums. I don't think these albums deserve all the hate. Respect to Blaze. Great vid 👌

To me, Blaze was the PERFECT fill-in during that '95-'98 doldrum.

The problem Blaze had was trying to sing the old songs. He’s actually a fantastic vocalist, but he can’t do what Bruce can do. I love Paul’s songs, but Bruce takes it to a new level. Imagine trying to fill those shoes as Blaze! Blaze’s Maiden songs deserve more respect than they get, but the shoes were too big. Blaze’s solo stuff is actually really great. I don’t even mind some of Blaze’s live versions of Bruce’s songs; it’s not better, but it’s definitely a decent performance.

I got a trivia about the audition. Michael Kiske also sent them his tape, he admits that. I wonder what would have happened if Arry had taken him.

Instead of adding Blaze, they should have asked Paul D. To come back , that would of been Epic,

recuerdo estar acostado en la cama llorando porque dickinson se habia ido de la banda, esto fue en casa de mis tios habiamos ido de vacaciones a su provincia y nos quedamos a dormir alli con mi familia, al rato entran mis tios y me ven con los walkman puestos y llorando y escuchando maiden, a lo que ellos habran pensado que extrañaba mi casa o algo asi y se fueron de la habitacion jaja, tiempo despues me entere de que maiden volvia con nuevo vocalista y la emocion me embargo en grande, al escuchar "man on the edge" me encanto, estaba yo tan feliz de que maiden sacara nuevo disco y habian vuelto que la partida de dickinson habia quedado en segundo planp para mi,la doncella habia vuelto y eso era lo que mas me importaba, he disfrutado en grande de ese "x factor", para mi un gran disco porque me trae gratos recuerdos de aquella epoca, y ademas porque mostraba a un iron maiden mas oscuro, con nuevo sonido y una nueva perspectiva musical. realmente a mi me ha gustado en grande el trabajo de blaze y los demas en este disco.

Question for BLAZE: What do you do to combat how ones voice changes with time, because you sound great.