Recently Iron Maiden’s bassist Steve Harris said that he liked very much Blaze Bayley’s albums with Iron Maiden – 1995’s “The X Factor” and 1998’s “Virtual XI.” In a conversation with Talking Maiden Podcast, Blaze responded:
“I’m very proud of them as well. It was a lot of work, and Steve and I worked very, very closely together. He taught me a lot about writing.
“Everything on [my solo album] ‘Infinite Entanglement’ and the way that it is – the arrangements that I’ve been able to do – it’s a huge reflection of the work that I did with Steve Harris.
“Everything that I learned on the ‘Silicon Messiah’ album, I knew when I made that album because of working with Maiden and the way that they arranged things and did things, I knew I wanted a certain sound, and more than that, I think Steve Harris gave me the belief in myself that I could actually make the ‘Silicon Messiah’ album and I could achieve that and that I could make a good album.
“Before that time, it always felt as if I’d written a good song, I’d had good luck. After Iron Maiden, if I want a good song, it’s a bit of inspiration and a lot of hard work, and it’s crafted…
“On ‘Infinite Entanglement,’ I think all of that confidence, all of those lessons, everything came together to really show what I’m capable of. I think it’s the confidence that Steve Harris gave me writing with him specifically, and learning how to find these other parts of my singing voice.”
