The Night That Will Not Die

Blaze Bayley will always be best known among the metal masses as the gentleman who accepted the daunting task of replacing Bruce Dickinson in Iron Maiden (and holding down the position from 1994 through 1999). But after his exit from Maiden (so that ol' Bruce could return once more), Bayley continued on his musical path — but as a solo artist. And in 2009, the live set Night That Will Not Die was issued. Throughout the double-disc set, you'll hear why Maiden selected Mr. Bayley as their singer in the first place — because his vocal styling certainly has more than a bit in common with his Maiden predecessor, as evidenced by such tracks as "Blackmailer." And to please Maiden fans, several renditions of tracks from this aforementioned era are included here, including "Futureal" and "Lord of the Flies," as well as tunes that would have fit perfectly on a Bayley-era Maiden release (e.g., "Stare at the Sun"). Bayley's solo material proves to be a bit more crunchy and of the "straightforward metal" variety (e.g., "Crack in the System"), and there's even a surprising speed metal-esque tune, the album-closing "Robot." Blaze Bayley was a logical choice as Iron Maiden's singer, and Night That Will Not Die proves that he continues to be a worthy metal frontman to this very day.