Blaze Bayley (band)

Infobox musical artist
Name = Blaze Bayley


Img_capt =
Img_size =
Background = group_or_band
Alias = Blaze
Origin = England
Genre = Heavy metal
Alternative metal
Industrial metal
Years_active = 1999 – present
Label = SPV
URL = [http://www.planetblaze.com/ www.planetblaze.com]
Current_members = Blaze Bayley
Nick Bermudez
Jay Walsh
David Bermudez
Lawrence Paterson
Past_members = Jeff Singer
Rob Naylor
John Slater
Steve Wray
Oliver Palotai
Luca Princiotta
Christian Ammann
Daniel Schild
Rico Banderra
Rich Newport

Blaze Bayley (Formerly known as Blaze) is a British heavy metal band formed in 1999 by former Wolfsbane and Iron Maiden vocalist Blaze Bayley.The band has released 4 studio albums and 2 live albums, their latest being "The Man Who Would Not Die".

History

Blaze were formed in 1999 following vocalist Blaze Bayley's departure from Iron Maiden. Bayley recrutied Rob Naylor, Jeff Singer, Steve Wray and John Slater, and signed a deal with the Germany label SPV Records, releasing three albums with this lineup, the band toured extensively as headliners and in support of power metal bands such as Helloween and Savatage. After recording their first live album, As Live as it Gets, drummer Jeff Singer announced he was leaving the band. Three months later bassist Rob Naylor followed. Session drummer Phil Greenhouse and bassist Wayne Banks were hired for the rest of the tour until permanent replacements could be found. Jason Banks (guitar) was drafted in for a few shows at the end of the year to cover for John Slater (guitar).

At the end of 2003 the band began writing for their third studio album, Blood & Belief. Phil Greenhouse was replaced on drums by Jason Bowld (recording) and Dave Knight (touring). The band began to tour with the Blood & Belief album but were set back again by the news John Slater could not perform a large section of the tour. Despite rejoining the band later in the year Slater eventually left Blaze in September with Steve Wray to form Rise To Addiction. Bassist Wayne Banks and drummer Dave Knight left the band to join the Robin Gibb band in September 2004.

The band performed a number of shows in 2004 and 2005 with the lineup of Blaze, Oliver Palotai, Luca Princiotta, Nick Douglas and Dani Loeble. The two guitarists were eventually kept on as full members. The band's lineup shifted once again when drummer Dani Loeble quit to join Helloween early in 2005, and Nick Douglas returned to Doro. The two were replaced by unknown German musicians Daniel Schild (Drums) and Christian Ammann (Bass), who began to work on a new studio album for release in 2007, but in January that year it was announced the entire line-up parted ways with Bayley. Following the lineup change, Bayley opted to rename the band Blaze Bayley.

In November 2007 Blaze Bayley announced that guitarist Rich Newport had left the band to pursue a career as a guitar teacher, and Jay Walsh would replace him onstage for the remainder of the tour. Bayley also announced the addition of drummer Lawrence Paterson, formerly of British metal band Chokehold. In July 2008 Blaze Bayley released their latest album "The Man Who Would Not Die".

Lineups

Current line-up (November 2007-present)

* Blaze Bayley - lead vocals (March 1999-present)
* Nick Bermudez - guitars (March 2007-present)
* Jay Walsh - guitars (November 2007-present)
* David Bermudez - bass (March 2007-present)
* Lawrence Paterson - drums (November 2007-present)

Original, "classic" line-up (March 1999-January 2003)

* Blaze Bayley - lead vocals (March 1999-present)
* Steve Wray - guitars (March 1999-September 2004)
* John Slater - guitars (March 1999-September 2004)
* Rob Naylor - bass (March 1999-April 2003)
* Jeff Singer - drums (March 1999-January 2003)

Lead Vocals

* Blaze Bayley - lead vocals (March 1999-present)

Guitars

* Steve Wray and John Slater (March 1999-September 2003)
* Steve Wray and Jason Banks (October 2003-January 2004)
* Luca Princiotta and Oliver Palotai (October 2004-January 2007)
* Nick Bermudez and Rich Newport (March-November 2007)
* Nick Bermudez and Jay Walsh (November 2007-present)

Bass

* Rob Naylor (March 1999-April 2003)
* Wayne Banks (April 2003-September 2004) - touring/session musician
* Jason Banks (June 28 2003) - touring/session musician
* Nick Douglas (October 2004-December 2005) - touring musician
* Christian Ammann (December 2005-January 2007)
* David Bermudez (March 2007-present)

Drums

* Jeff Singer (March 1999-January 2003)
* Phil Greenhouse (January-December 2003) - touring musician
* Jason Bowld (January-September 2004) - session musician
* Dave Knight (December 2003-September 2004) touring musician
* Daniel Löble (October 2004-December 2005) - touring musician
* Daniel Schild (December 2005-January 2007)
* Rico Banderra (March-May 2007)
* Lawrence Paterson (November 2007-present)

Discography

tudio albums

* "Silicon Messiah" (2000)
* "Tenth Dimension" (2002)
* "Blood and Belief" (2004)
* "The Man Who Would Not Die" (2008)

Compilations

* "Best of" (2008)

ingles

* "Robot" (2008)

Live albums

* "As Live As It Gets" (2003)
*"Alive in Poland" (2007)

DVDs

* "Alive in Poland" (2007)

Notes

Best of and Robot are available only through Planetblaze. Robot is more of a compilation than a single due to the large number of bonus tracks included.

Promotional videos were released for the Blood and Belief song Hollow Head and the Silicon Messiah song Ghost in the Machine, but originally these were only made available to fan club members. Later the video of Silicon Messiah was put on to the second disc of Tentht Dimension (Limited Edition) along with an EPK titled Inside the Tenth Dimension. The video of Hollow Head was only made available to everyone in 2007 and can be found on the Alive in Polad DVD under the "Extras" menu.

External links

* [http://www.planetblaze.com/ Official homepage]
* [http://www.myspace.com/blazebayley Blaze Bayley Official MySpace]