Customer Reviews

Blood and Belief

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A good solid CD from Blaze. The music plays a supporting role to Blaze's voice as you would expect. There weren't any guitar solos that really grabbed me but all the music was well played and complimented the songs perfectly. To my ears some of the best tracks are "10 Seconds", "Will To Win", "Regret", "The Path and The Way". Great vocal melodies with that Blaze style that I love. I'll be listening to this CD many times over the years.

IF you enoy heavy metal or any kind of hard rock, this album is a sure hit. The EDITORIAL REVIEWS resumes it very well. It's strong, melodic, energetic. the songs will find your way into ypur own blood stream. It's amazing how a singer who traded water with Iron Maiden and was fired for give room o Bruce Dikinson's return was capable of assembling such fine guitarists and release three great studio albums in a row.

BLOOD AND BELIEF is strong, a punch in the stomach. His ten songs are near to perfection. Highly recommended.

Again Blaze Bayley & his band have delivered another fine metal album for us. Although not as good as his first post-Iron Maiden release "Silicon Messiah" (one of my all time favorite albums), this is still an album that I recommend highly.

It is heavy with some great guitar riffs, but it is still quite melodic. It is that melodic ingredient that many bands lose when they play heavy but not Blaze. The music really pumps and sounds better the louder you play it, but you can still sing along with it.

Although the band now has a different bass player and drummer than the previous Blaze albums, the two guitarists Steve Wray and John Slater remain, as does producer Andy Sneap. It is these guys (and Blaze Bayley himself of course) that defines the sound. Sneap seems to know how to get the best out of Bayley and does a great job of producing another high quality Blaze album.

As for the songs themselves:
The album starts off well, but I don't think that the first two tracks "Alive" and "Ten Seconds" are quite as good as opening tracks such as "Ghost In The Machine" or "Kill And Destroy" on earlier Blaze albums, because I don't think the choruses in these songs are as good. However they are still good songs, with great pumping guitar riffs that fans will love.

Track 3 "Blood And Belief" is one of the best tracks on the album because of the guitar riffs and solos, timing changes and a good chorus. It is just as good as anything on previous Blaze albums.

Track 4 "Life And Death" is another of the albums best tracks. Quite intense and heavy in parts, quieter in other parts, and another chorus to sing along to.

Track 5 "Tearing Yourself To Pieces" is equally as good as the previous 2 tracks, but is probably the most intense song on the album. For some reason it reminds me of the Metallica song "The Outlaw Torn" from their album "Load" in it's heaviness and intensity.

Track 6 "Hollow Head" is in my opinion the worst song on the album, and I always skip over it. The guitars sound good and some people will like it, but I don't. The chorus is poor, and the song just gets on my nerves.

Track 7 "Will To Win" is not a bad song which I would rate equally as good as tracks 1 and 2. It is similar in style to songs such as "The Launch" or "Leap Of Faith" from previous Blaze albums.

Track 8 "Regret" is another of the albums best. Again: quieter moments, heavy moments, and another killer chorus, equally as good as any of Blaze's best songs. I love it.

Track 9 "The Path & The Way" is the second worst song on the album, but it's not the rubbish that "Hollow Head" is. It's just nothing that great, an average song which doesn't do much for me.

Track 10 "Soundtrack Of My Life" is a good album closer, and another of the albums best songs. Again it starts off quiet and mellow before it builds and launches with more great guitar riffs.

So with 5 excellent songs, three pretty good songs, one that's just ok and one that's total cr#p, I reckon that makes a pretty good album.

As I stated earlier I don't think it's as good as "Silicon Messiah", but it is equally as good as "Tenth Dimension". It is dark and intense and the lyrics are more personal and introspective. However, I have found this album a little bit easier to listen to than "Tenth Dimension".

Some critics thought that Blaze didn't have much gas left in the tank, that the band was getting stale and wouldn't be around much longer. Blaze have proved them wrong with this album.

Blaze fans will love "Blood And Belief", and for those metal-heads that haven't really got into this band yet, you better. This is the third excellent studio album from this band who continue to provide those of us who like "real metal" (i.e. old school '80's influenced metal) with fresh, quality music that we unfortunately don't get much of these days.

Blaze's third studio album picks up where Silicon Messiah and Tenth Dimension left off, but it moves on a different musical path this time. The most notable difference is in the lyrical department. As opposed to writing theme albums as in his previous record Tenth Dimension, Blood and Belief is characterized heavily by Blaze's personal life. It must have taken a lot of courage to pen down his problems and share them with his fans. Not every other artist would have the balls to write such heartfelt and honest lyrics, so kudos to Blaze!

The album starts with "Alive" and is immediately followed by "Ten Seconds". Both songs are the kind of songs you would expect to hear on straightforward heavy metal albums with their melodic guitar solos and catchy choruses. The title track, like his previous solo efforts, kicks in right after the first two (or three in Tenth Dimension) songs and is one of the most powerful songs on the disc. I really like how the song builds up but I feel the title tracks on both Silicon Messiah and Tenth Dimension are a bit stronger. Nothing wrong with "Blood and Belief", it's just that it is a bit repetitive and loosely structured.

The following songs are all lyrically connected in the way that they depict Blaze's alcohol problem he had to deal with in the last two years. "Tearing Myself to Pieces" is perhaps my favourite song on this album and it mercilessly describes Blaze's self-destructive condition where he had to depend on alcohol to get rid of his problems. I read in an interview where Blaze mentioned there was a time in his life when he was in depression and he was picked up by the police in the middle of the street and they had to call his wife to come and collect him. Likewise "Hollow Head" is a song how he overcame his obstacles and personal problems with the help of his psychiatrist. "Will to Win", despite its heavily Iron Maiden-ish feel, is about his survival and Blaze's warrior nature. Lyrically it's about a person who doesn't want to conform to the rules set by the society but live his life his own way. "Regret" is my second favourite tune and the lyrics speak for themselves. I believe this tune might go overlooked by some fans like "Identity" off Silicon Messiah did, but I really think this is a great tune.

Overall the album retains the dark vibe we've all grown to like Blaze albums for but also incorporates more melodic passages and mid-tempo riffs than his previous CDs. With a completely new rhythm section on board, bassist Wayne Banks and drummer Jason Bowld have added their own touch to the flow of the songs. Long-time producer Andy Sneap has once again joined forces with Blaze, and Sneap being a very talented guitar player, he knew very well how to bring out the best in John Slater and Steve Wray. They both do an impressive job as far as the guitar work is concerned. While Wray's style is more riff-oriented, Slater plays the delicate melodic lines during the solos and it gives the album a nice contrast.

Blaze sounds as good as ever. His vocals never really worked for me when he was in Maiden but his solo albums and previous band Wolfsbane are proof that he is a very talented singer and has a great voice that he knows how to use to the best of his ability. His vocals are more focal to the album than, say Silicon Messiah, but but the raw feel of the album matches his delivery quite well.

I love all three CDs I own from Blaze (never heard his live album) but his first one Silicon Messiah is still my favourite. Tenth Dimension also stood the test of time with me, time will tell how Blood and Belief will do in the long run. I'll be seeing Blaze live in Istanbul this summer and look forward to his set.

I can tell when Blaze was with Maiden he must now have been allowed to much input sorry for them becasue they could have had amazing albums like this. This album has it all, amazing vocals, killer riffs, great solo's and everything that makes metal the best music ever \m/

Blaze's third studio album picks up where Silicon Messiah and Tenth Dimension left off, but it moves on a different musical path this time. The most notable difference is in the lyrical department. As opposed to writing theme albums as in his previous record Tenth Dimension, Blood and Belief is characterized heavily by Blaze's personal life. It must have taken a lot of courage to pen down his problems and share them with his fans. Not every other artist would have the balls to write such heartfelt and honest lyrics, so kudos to Blaze!

The album starts with "Alive" and is immediately followed by "Ten Seconds". Both songs are the kind of songs you would expect to hear on straightforward heavy metal albums with their melodic guitar solos and catchy choruses. The title track, like his previous solo efforts, kicks in right after the first two (or three in Tenth Dimension) songs and is one of the most powerful songs on the disc. I really like how the song builds up but I feel the title tracks on both Silicon Messiah and Tenth Dimension are a bit stronger. Nothing wrong with "Blood and Belief", it's just that it is a bit repetitive and loosely structured.

The following songs are all lyrically connected in the way that they depict Blaze's alcohol problem he had to deal with in the last two years. "Tearing Myself to Pieces" is perhaps my favourite song on this album and it mercilessly describes Blaze's self-destructive condition where he had to depend on alcohol to get rid of his problems. I read in an interview where Blaze mentioned there was a time in his life when he was in depression and he was picked up by the police in the middle of the street and they had to call his wife to come and collect him. Likewise "Hollow Head" is a song how he overcame his obstacles and personal problems with the help of his psychiatrist. "Will to Win", despite its heavily Iron Maiden-ish feel, is about his survival and Blaze's warrior nature. Lyrically it's about a person who doesn't want to conform to the rules set by the society but live his life his own way. "Regret" is my second favourite tune and the lyrics speak for themselves. I believe this tune might go overlooked by some fans like "Identity" off Silicon Messiah did, but I really think this is a great tune.

Overall the album retains the dark vibe we've all grown to like Blaze albums for but also incorporates more melodic passages and mid-tempo riffs than his previous CDs. With a completely new rhythm section on board, bassist Wayne Banks and drummer Jason Bowld have added their own touch to the flow of the songs. Long-time producer Andy Sneap has once again joined forces with Blaze, and Sneap being a very talented guitar player, he knew very well how to bring out the best in John Slater and Steve Wray. They both do an impressive job as far as the guitar work is concerned. While Wray's style is more riff-oriented, Slater plays the delicate melodic lines during the solos and it gives the album a nice contrast.

Blaze sounds as good as ever. His vocals never really worked for me when he was in Maiden but his solo albums and previous band Wolfsbane are proof that he is a very talented singer and has a great voice that he knows how to use to the best of his ability. His vocals are more focal to the album than, say Silicon Messiah, but but the raw feel of the album matches his delivery quite well.

This cd is for those people who were very dispointed with Blaze in his Maiden years (just like me!) although I liked Virtual XI. This cd has nothing to do with Maiden and it is pure good metal from start to end. I really really liked this cd and I've never been a Blaze's fan. The sound is great and his voice too.

Put "Life & Death" and "Hollow Head" in your car very loud and see if you can drive without crashing your car! :)

Must have!

This album is as musically brilliant as all the others before it. The only criticism is that there is no real 'theme ' as previously and as a result the lyrics are not as good as in earlier albums

Let me begin this one by saying that I've been a huge fan of Mr. Bayley's work ever since The X Factor was released. I'm definetely one of the few to have followed his career here in Canada throughout the last years.

I absolutely adore all of SM and 10thD. ALAIGets was fine as well. This record however suffers from much the same plague that affected VIX. In Planet Blaze, the first two songs on B&B ae fillers while they would rank as half decent tracks compared to anything else released this year.

From the third track on however, things pick up amazingly though. The title track is great if not a little repeatitive (a la Angel and the Gambler). Same goes for Life & Death (though it is a better track then the title one). Tearing Myself to Piece is the masterpiece of the record IMHO. Just an awesome song. The only negative to it is the lyric:

"You told me you could Die, I've never see you die"
but what can you do...

Hollow Head to me sounds like a return to the comical Wolfsbane days. It's in the same vein as LifeStyles of the Broke and Obscure. Funny track. Quite Heavy.

Will to Win is entirely another The Brave and Leap of Faith. No as good as The BRave but better than Leap. Still suffers from some repeatition. Path & Way is rather weak and Soundtrack is an attempt to do what Dio 's done with My Eyes and This is Your Life (just nowhere near as well).

That leaves us with Regret which is awesome and up there with Tearing as a classic song.

The first three Blaze albums where the best releases of their respective release years IMHO. This one here is not however. In 2004, so far, Iced Earth's The Glorious Burden beats out Blood&Belief.

Still I recommend this record highly ! IT's been in my CD player since I got it 15 days ago now...

Cheers,
Philippe