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.”
I’m just a lucky guy who has chosen metal to live with for a long time. Metal changed my life for good. It made me more confident and stronger. Metalheads are naturally far away from the mass mediocrity and don’t accept impostures from anybody else. Metal is more than music, it’s a life changing oportunity!