Time Signature The voice of a thousand years...

Genre: traditional heavy metal

When the Maiden thing did not work out, and Dickinson was brought back into the band, Blaze Bayley launched a career as a solo artist, first as Blaze and then as Blaze Bayley. Ironically, all his solo albums are, in my opinion, light years better than "The X Factor" and "Virtual XI". His latest solo album is "Infinite Entanglement", which is the first installment in a trilogy of science fiction concept albums; the album is conceptually related to "Silicon Messiah" and "The Tenth Dimension" as well.

While solidly positioned within the traditional metal genre, the album nonetheless manages to be epic in all the right places, as heard in, for instance, the opening title track with its power metal sensibilities and epic background choir. Similarly, "A Thousand Years", "Solar Wind", "Calling You Home", "Dark Energy 256", and the riff-tastic "Human" are massive, energetic, and at the same time incredibly melodic. In fact every song on the album features super melodic and sing-along-friendly choruses and, of course, Blaze's trademark oh-oh-ohs. "Work of Anger" has folksy undertones and ends up an anthem of oh-oh-ohs and memorable melodies across the board. Anthem-wise, it belongs up there with Priest's "United". Another folsky tune is the rather beautiful ballad "What Will Come" which features classical acoustic guitars and violins. I guess I'm known for not liking ballads, but, if they're good - if they're well crafted - I can enjoy them, and this track is no less than fantastic. Another noteworthy track is the atmospheric "The Dreams of William Black" which features the voices of Blaze Bayley's own fans saying 'Where are you' in English and other languages, which I think is a pretty awesome thing to do. Blaze knows how fiercely loyal and supportive his fans are, and giving some of them the opportunity to actually appear on his album is pretty cool.

The musicianship is impeccable, and the album is characterized by admirable professionalism. The songs are very well composed and performed. A lot of work has obviously been put into making each song the best it can be. Chris Appleton delivers some sweet guitar solos, and the entire instrumental section is crushingly tight. Production-wise, the album sounds very good. The sound is well-defined without being too polished, and it carries the music well. Blaze's voice sounds as massive as always and better than ever. He has come a long way from the Wolfsbane days, but his voice has the same unique quality that made me pick up and buy "Down Fall the Good Guys" so many years ago.

"Infinite Entanglement" is a brilliant album. It is solidly positioned in the traditional metal genre, but still manages to be epic in scope and rich in sound and atmosphere. I am sure that many will find this to be the best album of Blaze's career - not just as a solo artist but over his entire career as a professional musician. For my money, it belongs up there with classic metal concept albums such as "Operation: Mindcrime" and "Abigail". I really look forward to hearing the sequel albums.

Blaze Bayley has broken away from the shackles of the music business and is now an independent artist. You can purchase this album, merchandise, and his other releases at blazebayley.net. I would definitely recommend that, if you are interested in this album, you buy it from his webshop. Support independent artists!

arcane-beautiful When I saw this when it first came out, I was like...Blaze Bayley solo album...in a shop...!

I know, I mocked him a little, which led to this album being a massive surprise.

This album was just...really good. I know Blaze's best work was probably in Maiden before they gave him the Ripper Owens. Their was no real bad songs, every song had at least something I liked about it...and it was consistent yet being able to be entertaining.

With a bit of a power metal edge...this album really needs to be heard to be believed.

1. The Man Who Would Not Die - Great chorus and some amazing vocals from Blaze. 10/10

2. Blackmailer - Very thundering guitar wise and a good chorus, may it be a little repetitive. 10/10

3. Smile Back At Death - A quite length composition...about the movie Gladiator. Pretty epic in its own right. 9/10

4. While You Were Gone - Take away the metal...and what are you left with...a love song. Great metal ballad...sort of. 10/10

5. Samurai - A bit repetitive and annoying. 7/10

6. A Crack In The System - Pretty heavy with some kick ass riffs. 9/10

7. Robot - One of the best songs on the album. Such an amazing chorus. 10/10

8. At The End Of The Day - A bit filler to be honest. 7/10

9. Waiting For My Life To Begin - It says grinding way too much in this song. Who does he think he is...Beyoncé. 8/10

10. Voices From The Past - One of the most kick ass songs on the album. Amazing vocals. 10/10

11. The Truth Is One - Great chorus and some head banging riffs. 10/10

12. Serpent Hearted Man - Good chorus and some nice twists and turns. 9/10

CONCLUSION: Was incredibly suprise...I need to hear his new one...shud be as good I hope.

look_for_the_truth Blaze is back. I think I shall say right off the bat that if you like metal, you should buy this album. simple as that. It will seep itself into your soul with an infectious quality that is almost unreal, and not let go. For the first two or three weeks after this album was released, I listened to it at least once a day, every day. This is the good news: it is teriffic, and may shape up to be one of the better classic metal albums of this decade.

now the bad news: it isn't as good as The Man Who Would Not Die. The Blaze Bayley band set themselves an almost impossibly high benchmark to follow with that release, which for me was the best metal album of the previous decade. With such an act to follow, they inevitable fell a little short. What is surprising, though, is how close they came to overturning my expectations and bettering their best.

My biggest piece of advice with this album is not to be disheartened by your first listen. For some undefineable reason, this isn't an instantly accessible album. But give it a couple of listens, there is definitely something in there. By the time you play it for the tenth time, you will be singing its praises as much as I am. It's a grower.

Indeed, after giving it this opportunity to fill your soul completely, it even becomes difficult to pick out weak tracks - my biggest initial criticism of the album is that it seemed to contain some 'filler', a criticism which would be simply impossible to direct at TMWWND. But, having given the disc a few spins, it is hard to detect any noticeable drop of quality anywhere, except for maybe 'time to dare' (which is still a chest-beatingly strong metal track, I just don't connect with it in the same way as I do with most of the other tracks).

The top tracks here are definitely the closing 4, which should be treated almost as one track. Blaze definitely pulls out a real surprise with the acoustic and beautiful 'surrounded by sadness', which then moves into 'the trace...', my very favourite track on the album.

Clearly, this is a work born almost directly from Blaze's personal tragedy, making it a very dark album, but, in its darkness, it may also bring you hope. Listen, and read the liner notes (it's worth actually buying this one rather than downloading it, just for the liner notes...) and you'll see what I mean.

Overall, definitely a metal must-have, as long as you are prepared to give it a couple of chances. I can't wait to see him playing it on the road - he is one of the very best, most genuine, and most intense live perfomers I have ever seen.