Blaze Bailey continues to churn out music on this third solo outing showing everyone there is life after Iron Maiden.   His solo work is unlike his time with Maiden.  First off he writes all the songs, usually tackling straight ahead everyday topics the listener can relate to.   The music he chooses to create is basically traditional Metal thoguh with very little to no dual guitar harmonies.  He does incorporate periods of down time during songs and light dynamics.  The title track shows his straight ahead nature towards writing with the guitar riff paving the way for his lyrics which are directly related to his problems with alcohol. 

As far as the voice, for the music he writes as a solo artist works actually much better than when he was with Iron Maiden.   Blaze’s range is more accommodating and better suited to his solo career writing style, being more exciting and catchy.   I felt his work with Iron Maiden (“The X Factor”, “Virtual XI”) was fine, and just fine at that, to no fault his own since Steve Harris and the other members of Maiden do write all the music. 

Arrangements even have a slight modern quality to the riffing patterns making “Blood and Belief” a record that will appeal to traditional fans as well as those of today’s sounds.