BRUCE DICKINSON Didn't Pay Much Attention To IRON MAIDEN During BLAZE BAYLEY Era: 'I Was Too Busy Doing My Own Stuff'

In a new interview with the "Talk Is Jericho" podcast, hosted by FOZZY frontman and wrestling superstar Chris Jericho, IRON MAIDEN singer Bruce Dickinson discussed MAIDEN's musical output during his time away from the band. Dickinson exited MAIDEN back in 1993, paving the way for the group's Blaze Bayley era and a string of four solo albums from Bruce. Bayley fronted IRON MAIDEN from 1994 until 1999. The two MAIDEN albums he appeared on, "The X Factor" and "Virtual XI", sold considerably less than the band's prior releases and were their lowest-charting titles in the group's home country since 1981's "Killers". Asked if he paid attention to what MAIDEN was doing while he was out of the band, Dickinson said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "No. [It's not that] I didn't have any interest in listening [to MAIDEN's Blaze-era albums]. I was just too busy doing my own stuff. 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."

Asked if it was his or bassist Steve Harris's idea for MAIDEN to perform the Blaze-era songs "The Clansman" and "Sign Of The Cross" upon Dickinson's return to the band, Bruce said: "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."

Back in 2018, Dickinson was asked by the "Rock Talk With Mitch Lafon" podcast why he agreed to perform some of the Bayley-era IRON MAIDEN material upon his return to the band in 1999. Dickinson said: "Well, you know, life's too short to go around chucking your ego around like that — it's childish, it's stupid. And, actually, some of those songs kind of worked [with my voice], some of them didn't, but you know what? They were all songs which a lot of IRON MAIDEN fans bought, and some of them, in particular 'The Clansman' and 'Sign Of The Cross', I think we really nailed those songs and I thought it was great material. Blaze's voice, obviously, was quite different than mine — it was a slightly lower register — and, actually, I wasn't complaining, 'cause I could use this kind of lower baritone tone and get quite kind of robust on it all. And I really enjoyed singing those songs."

Dickinson went on to say that he "had the utmost respect for Blaze, because he stepped into a situation that was extremely difficult for him. Because, manifestly, his voice was so different to mine and yet he had to try and sing some of those [older IRON MAIDEN] songs. He was in a difficult place. And he was a very, very nice guy, and still is a very nice guy, and I have a huge amount of respect for him."

Dickinson told the "Do You Know Jack?" radio show that he "was surprised" Blaze was chosen to replace him in IRON MAIDEN. "I was delighted for Blaze, but there was a whole bunch of other really good singers out there," he said. "I thought 'Wow, they could have picked somebody with a voice that could do what my voice did.' But they picked Blaze. Obviously, they picked somebody different, but that came with its own set of challenges. I just wondered whether anybody in the management was really giving anybody any serious words of truth on how hard this could be. "

In August 2019, Harris was asked by SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" why was it important for MAIDEN to still play Bayley-era songs even though Dickinson had been back in the band for so many years. Harris responded: "We're doing 'The Clansman', which is from [1998's] 'Virtual XI' [album], and we're doing 'Sign Of The Cross', which is from [1995's] 'The X Factor'. We've done 'em before, anyway, with Bruce; he really likes those songs, so he was really happy to do 'em. And I'm not gonna complain, 'cause I'm happy with doing 'em songs. But I think it just mixes the set up a bit. I know that those albums are not as well known as some of the other albums, especially over here [in the U.S.], but they're really good songs, and live, I think, they come into their own. So, yeah, it makes for an interesting set."

Pressed about whether he still stands behind the material that MAIDEN wrote and recorded while Bayley was in the band, Harris said: "Oh, definitely. I said at the time that I thought a lot of people would, in the future, get into those albums a lot more and maybe understand 'em a bit more and give 'em more of a chance. And that's what's happening — loads of people are really enjoying those albums more now. I think there's some really, really good songs on both those albums, and they stand out to me as most of our other albums. But it's like anything — I think you need to hear the stuff a few times, and I think a lot of people couldn't get past the fact that we had a different singer, and it was one of those things. But it was well received more in the rest of the world, really; the U.S. was a little bit more awkward. But I think a lot more people are finding that they're giving it a second chance, if you like, and actually really enjoying 'em."

Less than two years ago, Blaze spoke to Tony Webster of "The Metal Command" about some fans' initial reluctance to embrace his era of MAIDEN. When Webster noted that Blaze's solo work over the last two decades has gone a long way toward "changing the narrative" of his time with MAIDEN, Bayley said: "Yeah, I think you're right, Tony. I'm hearing this a lot. People look back and they go… Some fans go, 'Of course I've got every IRON MAIDEN album, but the ones I haven't listened to are [Blaze-era albums] 'The X Factor' and 'Virtual XI'. And now that's all I can listen to that I haven't listened to a hundred times. I have to listen to those. And it's exactly what you say to me.

"'The X Factor''s got some incredible music on it, but the sound of it is so dark, and the way it was produced, it's not accessible like some of the other MAIDEN albums," Blaze explained. "You've gotta live with that for quite a few spins until you're tuned into what things are doing. Then you can get to the music. I think that was maybe a problem with it at the time. It's so dark and the sounds of things were quite different to what came before. People who did live with it, managed to find it. And it's different cultures as well, different countries. In Sweden and Spain, those albums, people loved them as much as every other [MAIDEN] album. But in other places, people didn't. It's a different thing."

Photo credit: John McMurtrie