The singer Bruce Dickinson first joined Iron Maiden in 1981, replacing the band’s first recording frontman Paul Di’Anno after he was fired. After millions of successful records sold worldwide, Dickinson decided to leave the band in 1993 and his replacement was Blaze Bayley, who was part of the group from 1994 to 1999, when Bruce returned.
With the band Blaze recorded two studio albums “The X Factor” (1995) and “Virtual XI” (1998), which is loved by many fans of the band. During the past two decades he’s been back in Iron Maiden, Bruce kept singing of course, his songs, the classic tracks they did with Paul Di’Anno and also a few songs from the Blaze Bayley era. In an interview with Chris Jericho, he talked about those tracks.
Bruce Dickinson talks about Maiden songs from Blaze Bayley era
“(It’s not that) I didn’t have any interest in listening. I was just too busy doing my own stuff (When I was out of the band). So, it was kind of peripheral awareness, but in a way I was just, like, ‘This is none of my business. I’m not in the band anymore.’ And I wished Blaze well, ’cause when he joined the band, I thought, ‘Wow.’ ‘Cause his voice is very different to mine. I loved what he was doing in Wolfsbane. And I thought, ‘Well, this is… I hope it works out the right way.’ And sadly it didn’t. But I love Blaze. I think he’s a great character. There’s not a malicious bone in his body. He’s a great guy.”
“You know what? I actually can’t remember. But when I heard it, I was just, like, ‘Well, I think I could put some blood on the walls with that.’ To be honest with you, not all of the songs that they did with Blaze, I think, would necessarily suit my voice. Because some of the songs they wrote for Blaze are not really in my range — they’re a little bit low.”
“Whilst Blaze would sing a particular tune with a lot of power, ’cause it was in his range, I would frankly struggle to make that tune sound as effective as Blaze, ’cause it’s a little bit below where all the horsepower kicks in with my voice,” Bruce Dickinson said (Transcribed by Blabbermouth).
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