STEVE HARRIS Defends BLAZE BAYLEY Era Of IRON MAIDEN: 'He Helped Keep The Band Alive For That Period'

In a new interview with Andrew McKaysmith of the "Scars And Guitars" podcast, IRON MAIDEN bassist Steve Harris was asked if he and his bandmates thought about "tuning down half a step or even a step" during the Blaze Bayley era of the band to accommodate Bayley's baritone voice which was in stark contrast to Bruce Dickinson's higher range. Steve responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Um, not really, no. Maybe on some things, in retrospect, we could have done. But no, we didn't really think about it. It wasn't, really, till we got out and played live that we realized there was a couple of things… The weird thing is that [Blaze] was really confident when we were rehearsing. And then a couple of times on a couple of songs, then we get out live and there was maybe an issue or two here and there, but in general, he handled it really well. But it is what it is. I suppose in retrospect you can do all kinds of things, but Blaze, he helped keep the band alive for that period. So we owe him a lot."

Bayley joined IRON MAIDEN in 1994 after the departure of Dickinson. He appeared on two MAIDEN albums, 1995's "The X Factor" and 1998's "Virtual XI", both of which sold considerably less than the band's prior releases and were their lowest-charting titles in their home country of United Kingdom since 1981's "Killers".

In a 2018 interview with FOZZY frontman Chris Jericho's "Talk Is Jericho" podcast, Harris said about "The X Factor": "I really like that album. It's very personal to me. I remember saying at the time that those albums that we did with Blaze, that people would in the future come to appreciate them a lot more later on. And they are — they are starting to do that now. They definitely are appreciating them a lot more now. They were bloody good albums, in my opinion. It was just a point in time where, whatever we were going through at the time, I think it brought out some really good stuff.

"I really like that album, and that era as well," he continued. "We were fighting — everyone was kind of fighting at the time, because everyone thought metal was going down and all this. And it was, to a certain degree — but it makes you fight, makes you change and fight harder. I like that. There's an element to it, a fire in it, that's very important. It's an important part of our career. Every career has highs and lows and ups and downs, whether Bruce is in the band or not, and it is what it is. You just ride the waves, really. At the moment, we're on the crest of a wave, which is fantastic. You take it all day long, but you never know what's around the corner, really."

In August 2019, Harris spoke to SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" about MAIDEN's then-setlist, which included two Blaze Bayley-era songs. Asked why was it important to the band to still play those songs even though Dickinson had been back in the band for so many years, Harris responded: "We're doing 'The Clansman', which is from 'Virtual XI' [album], and we're doing 'Sign Of The Cross', which is from '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."

Dickinson told the "Rock Talk With Mitch Lafon" podcast that he never had any issues singing the Bayley-era MAIDEN material. "Life's too short to go around chucking your ego around like that — it's childish, it's stupid," he explained. "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."