Search - Blaze :: Silicon Messiah

On Par With The Best Iron Maiden Albums

Stephen B. O'Blenis | Nova Scotia, Canada | 07/09/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A concept album about the quest to attain immortality and massive power by downloading conciousness into a comuter and save the world, becoming its 'Silicon Messiah', and the horrible turns of events that follow, this first solo album by Blaze Bayley - vocalist for Iron Maiden's "X Factor" and "Virtual XI" albums - is a masterpiece from the first track to the last, rivalling anything Iron Maiden's ever done with any of their vocalists.



Personally I think Blaze's work with Maiden is vastly underrated, although I've noticed that even those who hated the above albums seemed impressed by "Silicon Messiah" and the subsequent albums, and it's not hard to see why. This is a disc that should go over well with all of heavy metal fandom, not just certain subgenres of it, because it's not an album that neatly falls into one category (power metal, thrash, death metal, whatever) and stays there. Blaze and band - Steve Wray and John Slater on Guitars, Jeff Singer on drums and Rob Naylor on bass, who succeeds in a particularly hard slot by having to live up to the legacy of Maiden's Steve Harris, considered by many the greatest bassist in metal history, are all incredible musicians, dare I say on level with Blaze's previous bandmates in the immortal Maiden? - seem to have drawn from influences all over the map - Helloween-style power metal, early seventies metal/proto-metal, stoner rock, classic 80s metal when all the top bands (Maiden, Judas Priest, Accept, etc.) shared traits but were so wonderfully distinct from one another, even influences as far out as industrial music and King Diamond can be heard, blended into a fresh, unique concoction.



Although this is a concept album, the songs can be taken as individual entries just as easily - the inspirational "The Launch" and "The Brave", the all-too-real-life "Evolution" - with its chillingly devastating outro effects, whose meaning can be interpreted by each individual listener; myself I'm thinking of a terrifying progression of the song material of Skyclad's "The Disenchanted Forest" (off the "Folkemon" CD) in the possibly not too distant future; the aptly named "The Hunger" with immense, march-like drumming; everything's great.



It's worth noting that although the band goes by Blaze's name, all the musicians had plentiful input on the songwriting and are given ample time to shine on the tracks themselves; this is truly a band effort, not really a solo album with backup players. I hope that this new domestic release has the same liner booklet as the Import version I got a few years ago; it goes along great with the whole album story.



Indispensable album; recommended for All metal fans.



"

Great formula

Daniel J. Wiedecker | San Diego, CA United States | 09/12/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I am not a huge fan of Iron Maiden, though I loved the very early work; so I cannot give a very strong opinion of Blaze in Maiden. To me, his work with Maiden sounded bland and without energy, but Maiden's work has never really appealed to me, too much repetition. This work, however, shows that maybe Blaze was a bit held down by the Steve Harris formula of Maiden. Though Blaze's voice is not in the same multi-octive singing category as Bruce Dickenson or Rob Halford, the songwriting and music are amazingly stellar, and far superior to to either Maiden or Judas Priest. This music has its roots in NWOBHM, with some power metal influences, the twin axe work sounds of Judas Priest, and the speed of the aforementioned with the occasional brooding evil grind of Saxon. You can also feel some of the more modern American influences in the music with the rhythm "heaviness" and modern subject matter of the writing. I really dig this music, and am ordering the three newer releases of Blaze, as they have all received great acclamation from the fanbase at Amazon. This IS heavy metal, guys. It mixes the best across the boundaries of styles, but don't take MY word for it; LISTEN!"

Blaze has chosen his path...

ScorpionSting | Oss, The Netherlands | 06/13/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"...and it's silicon!!! This first solo album by Blaze Bayley is phenomenal. It's a solid, melodic and, above all, heavy album. I do not know anyone who would have foreseen such a great album as this, made by B L A Z E!!! Let's start with the opener, one of the best openers of all time, very heavy and it contain's a nice chorus. Evolution, Silicon Messiah, Identity and Reach Out For The Horizon are all songs with well made melodies, heavy used guitars and brilliant vocals!! Blaze sings magnificent on this album. Born As A Stranger is my favorite track on the album, it's a fast & heavy song, The Brave and The Launch are also adrenaline pumping tracks. The Hunger is a slow metal song, which sounds very good too, it's the least song on the album, but it still is great. The album-closer is a classic too, it's not a very fast song, but faster then average for sure, it's heavy, and a beautiful melody it has!

You see how I think about this Messiah...

Great album by B L A Z E !!!!!

Keep On Rocking!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!\m/"