Blaze Bayley
The Man Who Would Not Die

If one word could be used to describe Bayley Alexander Cook, known as Blaze Bayley, it would be "tenacity". I don't think I've ever seen someone with such strength, such determination in pursuing their goals. Others that come to mind right now are Tony Iommi when he had to face continuous defections both from musicians and the public in the 1980s, or Gary Holt, who, despite trends, revivals, and singers leaving in the middle of a tour, always ignored everything and kept moving forward with his Exodus.

You're thirty, you've been singing in a decent band for a few years but one that will never give you worldwide fame (the Wolfsbane), and after an endless series of auditions, the best news of your life arrives: you are the new singer of Iron Maiden. But what should have been a triumph becomes almost a calvary: the albums don't sell, you don't get along with the rest of the band, you're always treated like the newcomer, and the fans don't really tolerate you. And they make it quite clear. Moreover, you're considered the one who ruined the greatest heavy band in the world. Is that enough? At this point, what do you do after they've given you the boot? You stop, think, realize it might not be entirely your fault if things didn't go well, and start over. Slowly. Bit by bit, you surround yourself with trusted people, your eternal girlfriend-manager Debbie is always by your side, and you start again. Credibility zero. Trust zero. An uphill struggle like few others. But the fact is, you make it. A modest but loyal following, and the press, which is never good to have against you, finally recognizes your merits.

But since things can never go well for too long, after a few years and a handful of albums (none of which sold astronomical figures), the very band you put together with so much care, piece by piece, musician by musician... deserts you. You hire some session musicians to finish the scheduled concerts, attempt to rebuild a half-decent lineup, and then stop once again. You realize it's time to wait. And you wait until 2007, when you're invited to a festival in Poland and realize there might still be someone who appreciates you. At that point, for the umpteenth time, you seek out trustworthy people again, capable people, work hard, and the result of so many frustrations and dissatisfactions takes the form of this "The Man Who Would Not Die". "The Man Who Will Not Die": a declaration of intent. And naturally, this time too, you do the only thing you know how to do: sing and write songs. Because in the end, "The Man..." is truly a well-made CD, with solid tracks that will surely shine live, played by a lineup that's harmonious enough.

Despite the name change, the style of the band doesn't differ much from what was done in the past with the Blaze, and evidently, the decision not to present themselves with the old brand is simply due to Bayley's desire to make a clean slate of what was done before. Different name, same quality. The songs are heavy, well-crafted, and truly nothing seems left to chance. What infuriates is that Blaze has produced much better material in recent years compared to what was recorded with Maiden (I don't even consider Wolfsbane because he was too young, and today only a few fans remember them), but evidently, no one noticed. Without having to dig into Blaze's old repertoire, just listen to tracks like "The Man Who Would Not Die", "Samurai", or "At The End Of The Day" to realize that you're dealing with a first-class band, which frankly deserves much more significant stages than those they usually play on. A piece like "Waiting For My Life To Begin" is much better than most of the material recorded in the '90s and would stand out on any recent Maiden album, which are evidently too focused on challenging themselves to record longer and longer albums, often lacking bite.

So, where's the problem? That the average metalhead gives too much importance to the name on the cover and not to the actual quality of the music? Possible, otherwise it doesn't explain how a band like Exodus (just to get back to the previous discussion) is eternally considered second-rate while Metallica continues to fill arenas despite having massacred their credibility over the last fifteen years with truly embarrassing albums. But in the end, does anyone believe that all these discussions could undermine Mr. Bayley's tenacity? Given the results, it seems not.

Lineup:

Blaze Bayley: vocals
Nicolas Bermudez: guitar
Jay Walsh: guitar
David Bermudez: bass
Lawrence Paterson: drums

Setlist:

1. The Man Who Would Not Die
2. Blackmailer
3. Smile Back At Death
4. While You Were Gone
5. Samurai
6. A Crack In The System
7. Robot
8. At The End Of The Day
9. Waiting For My Life To Begin
10. Voices From The Past
11. The Truth Is Gone
12. Serpent Hearted Man