Style: hard rock
Label: self-released
Year: 2014
Home: n/a
Members: Blaze Bayley ~ vocals
Rick Plester ~ guitar
John Moyer ~ bass
James Kottak, A.J. Pero ~ drums
First, its nice to hear an actual live album where I can hear every instrument & I know its actually live. The audience sounds are minimal, but when Blaze Bayley's voice cracks trying to hit a note in "Voices From The Past" there's a subtle pleasure that follows. The history of live albums is a history of partially live & lots of overdubs, so a real live album is a nice change of pace. It also shows the musician willing to show warts & all. That minor point being said, this outing goes under the name the Foundry, but I have a hard time seeing this as anything but Blaze's latest live band. I just add it to the list of names he's used, including his own, the Blaze Bayley Band & BLAZE. The prominence of Iron Maiden & his solo songs leads me to make this deduction. Plus, the fact it started as a Blaze tour where he was offered a strong all-star backing band, versus forming or joining a band to tour with. The clincher evidence is that the Foundry has a changing membership often based on what country Blaze is touring. It has included guitarists Rick Plester & M.G. Jones, bassists John Moyer & Matt MacLean, drummers Bobby Jarzombek, A.J. Pero, James Kottack & Bill League. All these folks were missing for a Mexico tour where Blaze was backed up by the metal band Overfire, while for 2 Canadian tours he was backed up Insurgent Inc & Maiden Quebec. If he had gone to other countries & brought at least one guy with him I might be more tempted to say this is an actual band. While it doesn't have any studio albums to give it the status of a Nine Inch Nails or Whitesnake, which is essentially one guy & hired hands rotating through. I’m guessing his humbleness led to wanting to call this a band to bring recognition to the excellent musicians he has with him, though its all cover tunes so we don't really get to hear what these guys can do together. Given this outing includes Blaze, famous for his time in Iron Maiden, plus Disturbed's bassist, drummers from the Scorpions & Twisted Sister, & a guitarist from Black Symphony & Blaze's solo group. If Blaze really wanted to make this less about him & more about a band, then there's one thing he could do without going into the studio: play more songs by the other members. Of the 16 songs 5 are solo cuts, 6 are from his gig with Iron Maiden, 2 are from his pre-Maiden band Wolfsbane. What's left is a Twisted Sister cover, representing Twisted drummer A.J. Pero who also gets a drum solo, & a Judas Priest cover, though no one was involved with Priest. Why not do a Disturbed song? That would be perfect in the set-list. Or the Scorpions? Or, more by Twisted? Instead of Priest's "Breaking The Law" they could have done one of the other bands. Likely everyone knew the chords to that song, so they did it, as its a standard cover bands rock out to ... I speak from experience. Speaking of which, keep it in the rehearsal studio. Its all about the hook, but doesn't give any musician much to chew on. Blaze tries hard to sing it with some distinction, but it ends the album on a weak note. Imagine ending on "Rock You Like A Hurricane" by the Scorpions instead. That would be a showstopper & make this more like a band. Membership & music choices aside, this is actually a really good live album. I don't know Blaze's solo stuff & only his second Maiden album, & had not heard of Wolfsbane before this, so I likely am not the right audience. Even so, it was a great listen. Blaze sings wonderfully & really is more than a typical screamer like so many of his peers. One can hear little nuances in his singing to round out the lyrics. I like the way he sings. He has way of phrasing that’s like he’s swallowing each word. I mean, pronouncing & trying to hit notes & give each word feeling, which so many don't do. I think the work Blaze did with Maiden was not his best. I believe they gave him weak material to work with & its not suited to his tone or style of singing. I think he gets lost in the songs. Yet, here he shines the way I felt he should have back in the day. With one guitar the songs are stripped back. They feel like Maiden, but don't sound like Maiden. Its like a band inspired by, but not imitating Maiden. The songs give him room to breathe & aren't rushing along the speed metal corridor while he's jogging. He fills the air & is not swallowed by the music. A few particular notes. Wolfsbane's "(Tough As) Steel" has a blistering finger shredding solo lasting 3.5 minutes that moves through grooving & soloing in a wonderful way that is so much better than just endless notes. The songs "The Brave", "The Launch" & "Voices From The Past" are all worth a listen. As for what Maiden songs, for Maiden fans, he does "Lord Of The Flies," "Futureal," "The Clansman," "Man On The Edge," "Wasted Years" & "The Trooper." "Wasted Years" is a highlight as Blaze really stretches for some tough notes, but makes up for any weakness by keeping them ringing long. "Futureal" I've often felt would be great live. To me it limped along & went too long in the studio. Here the song is driving the way I wanted it to when I first heard it. It has the energy that was missing in the original recording. This album was handed out only at shows, but is worth finding & one hopes he'll make it more public.
No comments:
Post a Comment