The Blaze Era

[Nekroliun]

So wut happened to the band that made blaze come? Did bruce get sick or wut. Ofc i can google it but i figured my *friends* in the iron maiden legacy forums should know so here i am. WHY DID BLAZE COME? I dont despise that time thou. I actually enjoy Virtual XI, its lime my 7th most fav album, but ye the X Factor is shit. AND the angel and the gambler isnt a bad song

[Dutch]

lol Bruce wanted to focus on his solo career, and blaze came first in an x factor style audition, lol

[Nekroliun]

I heard blaze was horrible cuz the band forced him to sing in a way he wasnt familiar with or something like that.

[Watchman]

I think X-Factor is a very good Album. The songwriting and the dark atmosphere is brilliant. But I don't like the voice of Blaze.

[BillLion]

Iron Maiden is like many other great bands -they are greater than the sum of their parts. They work great TOGETHER! All of their solo projects are good or goodish, but pale in comparison to a proper Maiden record. So the years away for Bruce and Adrian probably helped them see that.

I personally dislike almost all of the Blaze stuff. Yes, it wasn't fair to him because a lot of stuff was outside his range and he was always compared to one of if not THE greatest frontmen in metal. I would not envy anyone doing that. To make it worse, the 90s era was a hard decade for metal (at least here in the US) because the rise of grunge basically took headline metal bands and put them back in nightclubs or killed them altogether.

Whether you like Blaze or not, we owe him a great debt of gratitude for helping to keep the band alive during difficult times. That set things up for the amazing years we now enjoy in the "reunion era" since Bruce and Adrian returned and restored Maiden to glory.

BTW: I checked in on Blaze just last week to see what he was up to and this monstrosity reminded me why I dislike his work so much: https://youtu.be/CCXpqkK8i1Y?list=PL...9DfYshBPEeYF6L

[Nekroliun]

I think some of the songs in the blaze era were good, take futureal for example dat shit is amazing or the clansman, or the angel and the gambler.... Yes i like that song. (Im expecting someone to shank me in my sleep tonight)

[Vaseodin]

I love x factor. It was different and arguably not "Maiden", but a lot happened during that time. Steve's dad died, causing him to become very depressed and question his faith (reason for songs like "look for the truth" , "judgement of heaven" and "the unbeliever"). Plus, Bruce didn't want to be in the band anymore... They were dark times for Maiden.

I saw them on the xfacrot tour at a small club in ft lauderdale. It fit about 2000 people, and it wasn't even sold out. Blaze forgot the lyrics to the trooper in the middle of the song and tried to blame it on a faulty mic. It felt like I wasn't watching Maiden.

But the album itself was great in my opinion. Them virtual Xi came out and I hated it. I think a few songs on that album had potential but were poorly produced. The poor reception of that album along with Blaze's terrible stage presence made the band have to reevaluate him. Luckily Bruce returned.

Overall, I think if you understand the band's history during xfactor years you may appreciate the dark tones of the album a little bit more. Virtual Xi, well, not so much.

[BillLion]

I think some of the songs in the blaze era were good, take futureal for example dat shit is amazing or the clansman, or the angel and the gambler.... Yes i like that song. (Im expecting someone to shank me in my sleep tonight)

No judgments for opinions and personal tastes, brother!

[BillLion]

I love x factor. It was different and arguably not "Maiden", but a lot happened during that time. Steve's dad died, causing him to become very depressed and question his faith (reason for songs like "look for the truth" , "judgement of heaven" and "the unbeliever"). Plus, Bruce didn't want to be in the band anymore... They were dark times for Maiden.

I saw them on the xfacrot tour at a small club in ft lauderdale. It fit about 2000 people, and it wasn't even sold out. Blaze forgot the lyrics to the trooper in the middle of the song and tried to blame it on a faulty mic. It felt like I wasn't watching Maiden.

But the album itself was great in my opinion. Them virtual Xi came out and I hated it. I think a few songs on that album had potential but were poorly produced. The poor reception of that album along with Blaze's terrible stage presence made the band have to reevaluate him. Luckily Bruce returned.

Overall, I think if you understand the band's history during xfactor years you may appreciate the dark tones of the album a little bit more. Virtual Xi, well, not so much.

That's helpful for perspective. On the other hand, I saw them in Ft. Lauderdale opening night at a sold out arena on the opening night of the Book of Souls tour and they were amazing!

[The Educated fool]

No judgments for opinions and personal tastes, brother!

Exactly, Nekro... to each, their own Irons!