help please on a Maiden question - Re Blaze

[Stu]

Hey guys


I have been given a video of Maiden live in Italy ( TV quality, awesome) with Blaze during the Virtual tour and I am a little confused.....
Can someone please tell me what the fuck they were thinking by hiring him?......

Now, I love blazes voice in his solo stuff... but for pete's sake -

The guy could NOT sing anything by Bruce and looks like a school kid pissing his pants in public... (not that I have seen that... but you get the gist)

Was is just the friendship aspect? - he was shit for maiden. Sorry for those that liked him but i think they were all smashed when they hired him -

Terrible...

 

[TinMan666]

do we have to go through all this again? it's not 1999 anymore.

 

[Stu]

do we have to go through all this again? it's not 1999 anymore.

have I hit a nerve?

Just a question Pal.
I was more interested in knowing if someone knew something about why he was actually hired - I am no Maiden expert.

 

[Mark]

He was hired because at the time he was in Wolfsbane, he was one of the best heavy rock vocalists in the country, especially his stage presence (climbing all over the stage, calling the audience cunts - you get me drift ). Wolfsbane had toured with Maiden, so they knew each other, and I'm sure that helped.

I think once he got into Maiden, his performances *on record* were great; touring, maybe not so. I just don't think he was up to the length of the tours and shows.

I've seen him once with Blaze, and he puts his all into a gig. Just a pity about his dancing gorilla style of stage presence now.

 

[dreamwatch]

Wolfsbane

uke:

he was one of the best heavy rock vocalists in the country

No.

 

[Winmar]

Good to see you're able to disagree on things.

 

[Mark]

 

[spawn]

Bruces stuff was too high for him, they should have changed the key of the songs or maybe tuned down half a step or something

 

[dreamwatch]

Or maybe not hired him.

 

[spawn]

Hey look, im down with Blaze baby.

Having said that, he should have passed go and went straight to Blaze, but then, there would be no Blaze had he not been in Iron Maiden, so I dont mind if he was no good in Maiden for a few years, that Harris bloke needed to be taken down a notch anyway.

 

[Stu]

He was hired because at the time he was in Wolfsbane, he was one of the best heavy rock vocalists in the country, especially his stage presence (climbing all over the stage, calling the audience cunts - you get me drift ). Wolfsbane had toured with Maiden, so they knew each other, and I'm sure that helped.

I think once he got into Maiden, his performances *on record* were great; touring, maybe not so. I just don't think he was up to the length of the tours and shows.

I've seen him once with Blaze, and he puts his all into a gig. Just a pity about his dancing gorilla style of stage presence now.

Thanks Mark - Cheers,.

 

[Spiff]

Blaze was the first person I thought of as a replacement for Bruce, funnily enough. Not sure why, because I agree that he didn't suit the band, but it did let them go in a different direction with darker material and the like. Unfortunately, it also coincided with Steve deciding to start producing the albums, and it also meant that there was one more yes-man in the band after Bruce and Adrian had both left - that's a recipe for disaster.

Blaze was a great rock singer, but it is such a shame that he's lost all the fun he had in Wolfsbane and become just another boring metal singer. His stuff with Blaze is tops, but where's the fun factor? He sounds dead boring on As Live as it Gets, with some panto-esque elements which just make me cringe:

Blaze: "Steve over there thinks that he's louder than you!"
Crowd: (lenthy pause) "Boo!"

 

[Mark]

Yeah, those lenthy pauses suck.

 

[Spiff]

*nod*

 

[Wrathchild]

Who else was in line for the job apart from Blaze and Doogie White?

W

 

[Sydo]

I've never heard or seen a whole Maiden gig with Blaze.

I think The X Factor suited his voice perfectly, but Virtual XI was a shocker in every way imaginable.

 

[Spiff]

Wrathy, I heard (but can't verify - stupid Internet hearsay!) that Andre Matos (Shaman, ex-Angra) and James Labrie (Dream Theater) both auditioned, but they went with a Britisher. No idea if it's true, but I have my doubts.

 

[Mark]

I would have thought Labrie wouldn't have... considering DT were doing more interesting things than Maiden. I can imagine Matos trying tho.

 

[Spiff]

Yeah, that's why I have my doubts.

 

[The Amazer]

I like Blaze's voice.

I actually prefer the tone of it to Bruce's.

Bruce is much more talented though, that's pretty obvious.