Everyone has got one or two characteristics which differentiate themselves in this world. I think one of my many characteristics that do it to me is my absolute love and support to underrated or undervalued people in the world!
I’m not terrified but truly proud to scream it out that Blaze Bayley — the erstwhile singer of legendary heavy metal band Iron Maiden — is one of those people. You’ll understand why he’s been like that — particularly from his post-Maiden era onwards — when you hear about his story which is full of devoutness and struggle.
Blaze, for those who’re not familiar with, was a cool underground hard-rocker during his mid-20s in a pretty modest but soundwise kickass band called Wolfsbane. This youngster with deep voice and without any professional background of vocal that is quite common in heavy metal world was ambitious enough to break his shell by performing screeching screams in some of his songs. Manhunt, Shakin’, I Like It Hot and All or Nothing were his and his band’s early works that introduced this bugle-like catchy bass voice to the rock and heavy metal world.
After his third album in 1994, he was under the impression that he needs something which is not left that underground and which will bring some more seriousness and stiffness to his concept of music. It would be nothing but a heavy metal giant like Iron Maiden for him.
Before broaching that era of him, I’d better first remind that many stupid Maiden fans consider Blaze’s becoming a member as a stupidity or lack of foresight of Steve Harris, just because he wasn’t such a metal legend like Rob Halford or Ronnie James Dio. Having fought back these ridiculous populist people in the past enough, all I can say here as a short respond against anti-Blazer losers is a very gentle “fuck you”…
Iron Maiden’s including Blaze Bayley as the successor of Bruce Dickinson when he left the band was extremely criticised for many reasons which I will not detail here. But in general people in that year thought that this band, after bidding farewell to a legendary vocal, deserves another legendary one… Who the hell knows that two-bit hard rocker whose style and sound will ruin Iron Maiden!
That stupid thought did not only fizzle out when the music market saw Blaze’s first performance with The X Factor album, as well as the true Iron Maiden fans saw his dedication to his band.
What the idiot anti-Blazers didn’t understand was, Blaze, as a modest and lesser known singer, helped Iron Maiden keep its concept as it is… If there was a Dio or Halford in the band, they would’ve been nothing more than one-two album pump ups who will change the band’s entire form into their way of singing and turn Iron Maiden into another Black Sabbath in interregnum.
Amid all of these useless discussions, Blaze built a great career in such a wonderful band leading two epic albums and even writing songs for a third album which were all included in the band’s new album in 2000 after Bruce Dickinson’s comeback.
As one can see, Blaze’s years in Iron Maiden weren’t as bright enough as expected although it changed his style completely and turned him into an entire heavy metal man. Indeed, aside from his success there, that change of concept was the bottom line! From now on, no one from popular market in disguise of rock could dare to approach Blaze, because Maiden taught him to have a cause on music! This would of course cost Blaze a lot in his career after Iron Maiden.
After leaving the band, Blaze did not prefer to be a possible outsider of another legendary band, hence he preferred to rise up from his ashes and started his solo career with the band called Blaze.
For choosing the hard way to stand alone and not introducing himself as an ex-Iron Maiden singer in his latter productions, it did not take long for Blaze to shrink and finally go near financial bankrupt by late 2004.
From 2000 to 2004, he produced very powerful and tough albums which might have been spoken through heavy metal world if these were out from an adolescent Swedish band supported by a posh production company. Unfortunately having left a legendary band as an unwanted guy, bad choice of production and advertising and some other reasons marked a lower career for Blaze although his sound was heavy as hell.
As I recall from his past interviews, after Blood & Belief album in 2004 and his failure in selling, he financially reduced to being a worker in one of his loyal fan’s car dealer in the UK in order to make some money to record another album. Can you imagine the fact that from a very renowned heavy metal band’s frontman, he turned into a car dealer worker!
After three years of a bitter hiatus in music and heavily alcoholic times, he finally saw the light through a woman with ho he will marry and hire as his manager for further arrangements.
Blaze was sort of reborn after his marriage with his lovely wife Debbie. With his wife’s support, getting sobered up, emerging with a cooler style with planted hair and a bit slimmer body, Blaze could record one live and one best of album which helped him quite a lot go to the studio for a new album. But his happiness with Debbie couldn’t last longer… While recording his new studio album after 4 years, his wife suffered heavily from brain haemorrhage and passed away during the surgery on 6th of July 2008. May God rest her lovely soul…
Blaze had realised that tough times will not leave him alone that easily. But the life didn’t know that his belief in heavy metal was much tougher than itself! So Blaze just stood up from where he was knocked down, bandaged his deep wounds in his heart, got ready once more to fight and for the lovely memory of his late wife, he decided to carry on!
Since he decided to carry on and push forward his career, he filled his years with 5 more studio albums and countless world tours — some of which were acoustic ones played with Belgium guitarist Thomas Zwijsen. Many of his lyrical themes pertained his struggle for life, music and his harsh response to the losers who thought Blaze Bayley is over!
I myself followed his tough but proud journey along the years and did my best to support his works thus far. What I found in Blaze’s struggle was indeed my strife with banality, ordinariness and lack of aesthetics trying to encircle my environment! Since I was 7, heavy metal constituted a highly reinforced trench that these assholes could never break through. Therefore, my love and support for Blaze have given me such a great motivation to wage my multifaceted battle… Each time I was attempted to be conquered by those fears, Blaze’s words in songs like One More Step, Will To Win, Blood And Belief, Meant To Be helped me a lot to get up and push one more time and eventually save myself once more!
As he was in my life for decades and spiritually gave me tremendous support so far, for many years I made up my mind that I have to meet that guy somewhere and somehow!
For around one and half year, I had such a great experience to live and study in the UK which particularly meant more headbanging in the metal shows. So I thought when Blaze will most probably tour the world again and more likely drop by somewhere in the UK, I will see that guy after a show and will kiss his hand out of respect. I watched him in Cardiff, Manchester and in Oxford where I resided during my time in Britain. But my times and schedule during the time of the three shows were extremely busy that I really could have NO fucking time to wait at the front of any backstage or at the venue entrance-exit or whatever to stop him for a few seconds and finally meet in person! And finally I happened not to see this bald-headed man with Medieval judge-like sideburns and giant belly in my entire fucking time in the UK!
Well, as the tradition I was exposed and the belief I was injected during my upbringing suggests, I call this bad luck of mine as fate or kismet. Namely if I couldn’t see Blaze in the UK, I’d better be sure that there’s absolutely a wisdom behind that — nevertheless I still couldn’t find that it is…
Really I rued a lot for not being available to see Blaze Bayley and comforted myself by remembering these two magic words at the same time… But ticking that task in my bucket list was still undone and I didn’t know how to make it in the future! Cos I started working in an ordinary office job — and am still in it now — after coming back to Turkey and my chance to go abroad for a Blaze Bayley show in a near future was in total uncertainty owing to my schedule here in Ankara.
But then what… I have seen its announcement from my Swedish friend Kristian that Blaze is finally coming to Turkey to make three shows in a row in İstanbul, İzmir and Ankara…. What the heck! This time I said I should — if necessary — bring my sleeping bag and spend the night at the venue to meet Blaze and I am not to care what it would take for my job tomorrow!
So I could finally prepared myself for the great day and attended the show in Ankara with around hundred of Blaze fans along. After the show, I was one of the first guys at the meet and greet queue. I should say I wasn’t really quite excited to see him there — maybe my job’s stress took it off of me — but the point is I could finally get close to one of my childhood heroes and finally paid my reverence to him!
When I kissed his hand after taking signature and photo, the people around me stared at us in a bit astonished manner because we don’t really kiss the hands of foreigners in Turkish tradition. But I didn’t give any damn to it, cos he was one of my lifetime mentors and I always regarded him as someone who taught me a lot about life and death! So he deserves more than a touch of two lips on a hand… But that was all I could give to his honourable struggle for heavy metal!
