British heavy metal singer Blaze Bayleywho faced IRON MAIDEN over 20 years ago, spoke to Metal Pilgrim about how the rise of grunge in the early 1990s forced most hard rock bands out of radio and MTV, with album and tour sales plummeting. Addressing the cyclical nature of trends, he said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “For some of them, the metal never went away. And we didn’t want grunge. I think a lot of the journalists said [about grunge]’This is the next big thing.’
“When I was in LOUPSBANE, we are carefree guys, trying to be positive and enjoy life. Grunge is coming, they’re all looking at their shoes, they’re unhappy, they’re suicidal — the opposite of LOUPSBANEand the opposite of a lot of bands at the time.
“People who really loved this music kept going,” he continued. “There’s something about it. And grunge had its place, but it didn’t last – those bands didn’t really last. I think it’s a difference in values.
“Metal doesn’t really get big. It comes out slow and we refuse to let metal go. And when you see metal live and you see a band that believes and plays well, it’s irresistible. That’s the music from the devil – we know this because it’s completely irresistible and you’d do anything to hear more.
“Metal is something that grabs you in a certain way,” Flambé added. “It transcends fashion. If things go wrong… Well, I’ve been unpopular and unfashionable for most of my 35 years, but I’m still going. So I try not to be popular and not be trendy, and then my music, my brand of metal will continue. And once in a while, every 10 years, there’ll be a little bump where people go, ‘Oh, Blaze Bayley,’ and then I’ll be where I was before.
“The most important thing, man, is that it comes from the heart. There’s something about the metal that absorbs me, transforms me [and] takes me out of the normal world and away from everyday problems.
“When it’s great, to me, when it’s done well by masters, then metal is absolutely the best music. When it’s done badly by people who just take all the shots and do nothing original, it’s the worst music. And that’s the curse we have in heavy metal – it can be the best and it can be the worst, and sometimes it can be on the same album.”
The 58 year old man Bayleyborn in Birmingham, recorded two studio albums with IRON MAIDEN – the above “The X Factor” and “Virtual Eleventh” – before Bruce Dickinson returned to the group. the YOUNG LADY the albums it appeared on sold considerably less than the band’s previous releases and were their lowest charting charts in the band’s home country since 1981 “Killers”.
Since his departure IRON MAIDEN in 1999, Bayley has released a number of albums, including several under the name FLAMBATE and more than a handful under his own name. He also appeared on 2012 “Wolfsbane Saves the World”the first album of new material from LOUPSBANE since the band’s self-titled effort in 1994.
Flambéthe last solo album of, “The War Within Me”was released in April 2021. All songs were written and produced by Flambé and guitarist Christopher Appleton.
To comment on a
BLABBERMOUTH.NET
story or review, you must be logged into an active personal account on Facebook. Once logged in, you can comment. User comments or posts do not reflect the views of
BLABBERMOUTH.NET
and
BLABBERMOUTH.NET
does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of user comments. To report spam or any comments that are abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic, or threatening, or anything that may violate applicable laws, use the “Report to Facebook” and “Mark as Spam” links that appear next to comments. themselves. To do this, click the down arrow in the upper right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you hover over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also email blabbermouthinbox (@)gmail.com with relevant details.
BLABBERMOUTH.NET
reserves the right to “hide” comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to “ban” users who violate the Terms of Service of the site. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and the user’s Facebook friends. If a new comment is posted by a “banned” user or contains a blacklisted word, that comment will automatically have limited visibility (the “banned” user’s comments will only be visible to the user and their Facebook friends).
