Blaze - Silicon Messiah (2000) (Japan, VICP-61036)

Date: Oct. 27, 2015

Blaze Balyey has been given a lot flack over the years, mostly for his time in Maiden (even though the two albums he made with Maiden are the last actual Iron Maiden albums that sounded like Maiden). Shortly after leaving Maiden he set out on his own and his debut album is nothing short of brilliant. The production is crisp. This is a heavy Power/Thrash affair that doesn't let up from start to finish. The guitars are heavy and precise. There are a few good solos thrown in on some songs as well. The riffs are crunchy and melodic. The guitars are also tuned down to 'D' and thus heavier than Maiden. The bass doesn't do anything noteworthy. The drums on the other hand are amazing. Jeff doesn't blast through this entire album like most other Power/Thrash bands do, but rather uses the double bass as an effective accent piece. His rhythms are tight and creative (certainly one of the higher points of this CD). The vocals are typical blaze but arguably a step up from either of the Maiden releases (its apparent that he's been getting vocal lessons and they are for the better). His voice is more natural with the lower tuned guitars. Over all, this is a very original piece of music. It doesn't sound like, east-coast, west-coast or German Thrash Metal. There is very little Iron Maiden influence in this either. There is only one song where the Maiden-esq harmonies are flagrant, aside from that its all original. There are a few punkish undertones in a song or two. This is a highly recommended piece of Heavy Metal, especially for the Power/Thrashers out there as they will find a lot to get excited about here.

~ by grimdoom, www.metal-archives.com

Tracklist :

1. Ghost In The Machine - 4:21
2. Evolution - 4:55
3. Silicon Messiah - 5:13
4. Born As A Stranger - 5:53
5. The Hunger - 7:06
6. The Brave - 4:04
7. Identity - 5:25
8. Reach For The Horizon - 4:32
9. The Launch - 2:53
10. Stare At The Sun - 7:49
11. The Day I Fell To Earth (Japanese Bonus Track) - 4:00

EAC extraction logfile

Exact Audio Copy V1.1 from 23. June 2015

EAC extraction logfile from 17. October 2015, 11:27

Blaze / Silicon Messiah (Japan, VICP-61036)

Used drive : PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-219L Adapter: 1 ID: 1

Read mode : Secure
Utilize accurate stream : Yes
Defeat audio cache : Yes
Make use of C2 pointers : No

Read offset correction : 6
Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No
Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Null samples used in CRC calculations : Yes
Used interface : Native Win32 interface for Win NT & 2000

Used output format : Internal WAV Routines
Sample format : 44.100 Hz; 16 Bit; Stereo

TOC of the extracted CD

Track | Start | Length | Start sector | End sector
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––-
1 | 0:00.00 | 4:20.50 | 0 | 19549
2 | 4:20.50 | 4:55.07 | 19550 | 41681
3 | 9:15.57 | 5:12.38 | 41682 | 65119
4 | 14:28.20 | 5:52.47 | 65120 | 91566
5 | 20:20.67 | 7:06.08 | 91567 | 123524
6 | 27:27.00 | 4:04.37 | 123525 | 141861
7 | 31:31.37 | 5:25.28 | 141862 | 166264
8 | 36:56.65 | 4:31.42 | 166265 | 186631
9 | 41:28.32 | 2:53.33 | 186632 | 199639
10 | 44:21.65 | 7:48.67 | 199640 | 234806
11 | 52:10.57 | 3:59.63 | 234807 | 252794

Range status and errors

Selected range

Filename D:\.by necromandus for avaxhome\Blaze - Silicon Messiah (Japan, VICP-61036).wav

Peak level 97.9 %
Extraction speed 7.1 X
Range quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 0F0988D4
Copy CRC 0F0988D4
Copy OK

No errors occurred

AccurateRip summary

Track 1 accurately ripped (confidence 2) [F1B6F05E] (AR v1)
Track 2 accurately ripped (confidence 2) [ED8D1501] (AR v1)
Track 3 accurately ripped (confidence 2) [4E1F4BFE] (AR v1)
Track 4 accurately ripped (confidence 2) [8CB10D0A] (AR v1)
Track 5 accurately ripped (confidence 2) [CB4CFB8C] (AR v1)
Track 6 accurately ripped (confidence 2) [2765A4DB] (AR v1)
Track 7 accurately ripped (confidence 2) [9D9FFD68] (AR v1)
Track 8 accurately ripped (confidence 2) [5294E7E8] (AR v1)
Track 9 accurately ripped (confidence 2) [5D8BC70A] (AR v1)
Track 10 accurately ripped (confidence 2) [D1757D3D] (AR v1)
Track 11 accurately ripped (confidence 2) [19660AB5] (AR v1)

All tracks accurately ripped

End of status report

–– CUETools DB Plugin V2.1.6

[CTDB TOCID: yCUTVNM5rpeijfNtiof7.UC4YnQ-] found
Submit result: already submitted
Track | CTDB Status
1 | (2/2) Accurately ripped
2 | (2/2) Accurately ripped
3 | (2/2) Accurately ripped
4 | (2/2) Accurately ripped
5 | (2/2) Accurately ripped
6 | (2/2) Accurately ripped
7 | (2/2) Accurately ripped
8 | (2/2) Accurately ripped
9 | (2/2) Accurately ripped
10 | (2/2) Accurately ripped
11 | (2/2) Accurately ripped

==== Log checksum B3AF4D5F38DB906C215495852053B1A6A6564FEB2555829386BCBBD20C4CE8A3 ====

• Blaze Bayley - Vocals
• Steve Wray - Guitars
• John Slater - Guitars
• Rob Naylor - Bass
• Jeff Singer - Drums

Produced, Engineered and Mixed by Andy Sneap.
Recorded at Backstage Studios, Ripley - Parr Street Studios, Liverpool - Trident Studios, London.
Mixed at Parr Street Studios, Liverpool.
Mastered at The Sound Masters, London.