Blaze Bayley of Iron Maiden
Interviewed Jan. 1999 by David Lee
With over twenty years on the metal scene you would think that a band that has given so much to the genre would get a little respect now and then. Unfortunately for the mighty MAIDEN respect has been in particularly short supply over the last half decade. Personal and stylistic changes would seem to be at the root of all the fuss and with the decline of the metal market place you might think that these guys would chuck it all in. Fortunately, nothing could be further from the truth.
“VIRTUAL 11″ has a revitalized MAIDEN returning to the formula that made them the metal legends that they are. Also back is the completely over the top stage production for MAIDEN’s first tour in nearly three years. Just short of the scale that was used in the “golden era” of metal, this thing is impressive, to say the least. The beast is far from dead. Blaze Bayley, the groups current vocalist, gave us a ring recently and spoke to us of all things MAIDEN. A genuine sense of pride and accomplishment seemed to pervade the conversation and understandably so. The man is fronting one of the all time great metal bands and has just released a collection of tunes that will most assuredly become MAIDEN classics. We could go on singing his and the groups accolades but lets hear it from Blaze himself.
