Metal Mind Productions release a lot of live DVD's, and now English heavy metaller Blaze Bayley (ex-Wolfsbane, ex-Iron Maiden) gets his own. Recorded at Metalmania Festival (Katowice) on March 24th 2007, this is the second live release from the man, but the first one that comes with picture.

This set includes 15 songs from Blaze's whole career. 'Tough as Steel' is the sole Wolfsbane song, but there's 6 Iron Maiden songs! I'm cool with that, but there could have been only one or two Maiden songs and the rest placed with some fantastic Blaze songs, such as 'Stare at the Sun', 'Soundtrack of My Life' and 'Leap of Faith' for the starters. Okay, the Maiden songs were written by Blaze together with Steve Harris and are all fine compositions, but Blaze should trust to the power of his own songs. The Maiden songs are not straight covers, but more casual, and I have to say that 'Virus' is the best on this one and 'Look for the Truth' and Sign of the Cross' are also fine live songs. On the other hand, 'Two Worlds Collide' is fine piece on album (Maiden's 'Virtual XI' [1998]), but not so in the right environment here. The show is lengthy, maybe a bit too long. It takes a few songs for crowd to get into action, but the Maiden songs really do just that. Blaze's own songs he has picked here are mostly his faster, heavier material, but excellent 'Silicon Messiah' is also featured.

Blaze's performance is very good, his voice is in good shape and his rants are really metal indeed; his fans get praise, his old record company gets bashed etc. He's more talkative than your average frontman. He looks insane (he doesn't need his Eddie, believe me) and is full of energy. His band doesn't get much positive feedback from me, I'm afraid. First, the drummer... I mean drumming is the backbone of heavy metal music, but this 19 year old fella can't stay on time, he misses beats or gives them too early and let me fucking tell you, does some out-of-time double kick drum shit on Maiden's songs (even though generally he handles these songs better than Blaze's)! He gets a lot of bad glances from his band mates, and truly not without reason.There should have been a more experienced drummer in the band, this young man just tries too much, even though he hits drums like a real metal drummer should and not just fondle 'em with his sticks. The rest of the guys do their job properly, but this crap drumming destroys the feel for a big part and also seems to tame other guys, except Blaze himself as he's in the great havoc mode. So, after all the show isn't a total failure, but still partly a very enjoyable experience. I get truly mixed emotions while watching this.

And now, something about the technical quality of the DVD. Picture is sharp and there's a lot of camera angles and drives, the cutting is good. Sound-wise this is OK; the mix isn't very well balanced at all, for example drums are too loud. The venue's space can be heard. Menus are simple to navigate, and clear. As usually on MMP DVD's, this also includes interviews with Blaze and also with the band members. 'Hollow Head' video clip, photo galleries, biographies, discography, plus computer stuff (desktop images and weblinks) are good extra, especially the clip and the in-depth interview with the man himself autopsying his whole career in heavy metal. Mr. Bayley seems to be a very sincere man, talking about ups and downs, and his fondness for science fiction (maybe not "fiction" soon) is obvious.

I waited for this keenly. Blaze is a very good heavy metal vocalist and he's done some great music during his career. Now when I've watched through this a few times to really get under its skin, I have to say I'm disappointed. I got the cheaper DVD-only version, and I'm sure I would not spin the CD's of this gig. Only for die-hard Blaze fans, I'm sure all of 'em will like this to some extent at least.

Rating: 6+ (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
09/03/2007 20:01