Review Summary: Blaze's first album after leaving Iron Maiden shows that, contrary to what many fans seem to think, he was not the problem. Rather, Silicon Messiah showcases his brilliant songwriting ability and his chillingly dark vocals.
Blaze's stint with Iron Maiden wasn't well received at all, and still gets a lot of hate. I personally think it doesn't deserve the hate, but we're not here to talk about Iron Maiden. We're here to talk about the incredible debut solo album Blaze Bayley released in 2000: Silicon Messiah.
As we all know, Blaze left Iron Maiden at the end of the Virtual XI world tour. Bruce and Adrian came back, Brave New World, yadda yadda yadda... (coincidentally, Silicon Messiah released exactly a week before Brave New World)
During all that, Blaze almost immediately started work on his first solo album, having gotten a band of his own together. The result was a dark, heavy, and furious album. His baritone vocals fit perfectly, as he didn't have to worry about his band refusing to tune down for him, because they're his band. In fact, the album's in Drop D IIRC.
It kicks off with a three song story arc about the titular character, a part man-part machine hybrid. Then the next four songs (Born as a Stranger through Identity) are seemingly unrelated to each other, but I could be wrong. The album ends with another three song story arc, this one about someone going to space to escape the end of the world. All the songs work as standalones, though, so you don't have to listen to the whole album just for one song.
Most of the songs are 4 or 5 minutes long, with only three being longer/shorter. The Launch is the shortest song on the album, clocking in at just 2:53. The Hunger is just over 7 minutes, whilst the closer, Stare at the Sun, is an epic and clocks in at 7:49. All in all, there are no overlong songs and the album as a whole is just over 53 minutes long, so it's a relatively short listen.
Overall, it's an amazing album that proves to the world that Blaze Bayley was not the reason for Iron Maiden's 'decline', and that on his own terms he can make music that's just as good as, if not better than, anything Maiden have ever put out. He had his band play at a tuning that suited him and produced his best ever vocals. This is how you kick off a solo career.
Favourite songs:
Stare at the Sun
Ghost in the Machine
Silicon Messiah
The Hunger
