BLAZE „As Live As It Gets”

Blaze Bayley continues his metal legacy after leaving Iron Maiden with this live release and third Blaze (the band) album overall. He has assembled more than a solid unit with Steve Wray and John Slater (Guitar), Rob Naylor (Bass) and Jeff Singer (Drums). This 2-CD set is a fairly good representation of his solo material and it even dates back to his pre-Maiden Wolfsbane days (1989 – 1993). Personally I'm unfamiliar with Wolfsbane other than a mention in a heavy metal book that I own which actually raves “Alongside the Cult and Diamond Head, Wolfsbane are among the UK's finest Heavy Metal Bands”. The quote comes from The Best of Metal, The Essential CD Guide from 1993 written by Paul Elliott & John Hotten. The song 'Steel', which is included here, originally appeared on the Wolfsbane mini-CD All Hell's Breakin' Loose Down At Little Cathy Wilson's Place, the aforementioned book mentions the song 'Steel' as “full-tilt metal, as heavy as Metallica” and that statement clearly is a great compliment for any metal vocalist/band!

After Wolfsbane, Blaze replaced Bruce Dickinson in Iron Maiden (as everyone knows) for the X-Factor (1995), the 1996 Best Of The Beast compilation plus Virtual XI (1998). I personally think Blaze gets bashed far too much from some Maiden fans regarding his stint with the band and the albums can't be that bad, especially if Iron Maiden still plays songs off the releases in concert. Look at the Iron Maiden Rock in Rio (2002) CD and you will find 'Sign Of The Cross' and 'The Clansman' from the Bayley years. Here, on this live CD, Blaze performs some of my favorite songs from his Maiden years including 'Two Worlds Collide' and 'Futureal' from Virtual XI, 'Sign Of The Cross' from The X-Factor, and 'Virus' which was previously an exclusive studio-track from Best Of The Beast.

With the exception of a Led Zeppelin cover of ‘Dazed & Confused' the rest of the material is pulled from Bayley's current project – the recordings Silicon Messiah (2000) and The Tenth Dimension (2002) – and that is where the true focus should be as these studio releases are highly professional. Live, Blaze never misses a vocal note and every member of his band is equally as strong. After hearing this CD one could actually dream of seeing Blaze open for Iron Maiden, I wonder if that could possibly ever happen? But regardless, Blaze fans, Maiden fans, metal enthusiasts, this is an exemplary recording worthy of your attention, and if you haven't heard one (or more) studio CDs from Blaze's current project those are deserving also.

note: 7.5 of 10

Tracklist

CD One
1. Speed Of Light
2. Two Worlds Collide
3. Steel
4. Kill And Destroy
5. End Dream
6. Stare At The Sun
7. Land Of The Blind
8. Silicon Messiah
9. Dazed And Confused

CD Two
1. Virus
2. The Brave
3. Stranger To The Light
4. Identity
5. Sign Of The Cross
6. Futureal
7. Ghost In The Machine
8. Born As A Stranger
9. Tenth Dimension