“Spinal Tap” is a movie that gets thrown around more than its fair share when it comes to band biographies, documentaries and the like. “At The End Of The Day, The Story of the Blaze Bayley Band,” is essentially the story of “Spinal Tap” on crack. If “Spinal Tap” went to 11, then the story of Blaze Bayley and the Blaze Bayley Band goes to 1,000. Bayley is widely known as the ex-vocalist of Iron Maiden who filled in Bruce Dickinson’s shoes when Dickinson basically started mailing things in the early 90s and left the band for dead to pursue solo work. Two full-length albums were conceived with Bayley, “The X Factor,” and “Virtual XI.” These are largely controversial efforts when it comes to Maiden purists. Some hail them both in extremely high regard as two of the best the band have ever done even to present day. Others dismiss them simply as the band doing what it needed to do before the eventual return of Dickinson for 2000s “Brave New World” album. As far as America goes, it might has well have been a different band all together when Bayley joined. I can firmly say that I’m in the minority of American Maiden fans when it comes to what I think of these two releases. I only rate “Number of the Beast,” “Killers” (with another ex-Maiden vocalist, Paul Di’Anno) “Powerslave,” and “Brave New World” as better Maiden efforts. Bayley was not the voice of Iron Maiden. He was himself on these releases, singing in a register more akin to Danzig than the high registers of Dickinson or other metal throats like Rob Halford. So in essence, the two albums, while Iron Maiden releases, were a major departure from material fans had been familiar with. Not so much in musical style, but no one could get past the new voice. Bayley’s first effort “The X Factor” was a very dark and grim record reflecting much of the personal life of bassist and Maiden mastermind Steve Harris at the time. The material reflected it, but the recording itself suffered from vast overproduction. On every Maiden release since Bayley’s departure, the band sounds live, raw and rocking for the most part. On “The X Factor” it sounds largely classical in sound with a sheen so terribly present that it’s hard to recognize the actual strengths of the material. Bayley’s voice was the only thing raw about the record, and along with some very inspiring arrangements by Harris, are what makes the record great. The same can be said of “Virtual XI” which had production values that were slightly less exacerbated than its predecessor, but still not the live and ripping animal that “Brave New World” or the latest Maiden offering “The Final Frontier” turned out to be. Maiden itself was quickly running a Spinal Tap route in North America as time went on with Bayley touring in stripped-down fashion they were not accustom to and playing to vastly smaller venues. So when the singer was given the boot he was already behind the 8-ball with a lot of people. Fronting the biggest metal band in the world helped him some and certainly fueled him through the foreign markets, where Maiden has never done wrong, quite nicely. But the comedy of errors chronicled by “At The End Of The Day” author and ex-Blaze Bayley band drummer Lawrence Paterson takes Spinal Tap to levels that are beyond amusing and in some cases quite sad. The book itself starts as a biography of Bayley and his rise to semi-stardom with Wolfsbane, the Motorhead meets Van Halen band that had a Rick Rubin-produced release on Def American and then suffered label problems and eventually dissolved. Reaching only a cult status in Europe and never really making any clout in America. Ultimately Wolfsbane went to shit as did everything after with a few brief, fleeting glories. Still, through an ever-revolving door of band members in first BLAZE and then the Blaze Bayley Band (honestly, I lost fucking count – there are so many it’s ridiculous), the death of his wife and more insane tour stories than any band should ever have to encounter, Bayley soldiered on for the love of his fans and for the love of metal. Author Paterson was there for a large part of it as the second half of the book is essentially a tour diary – literally an exhaustive show to show account of two-plus years of being with the band. What the book lacks in polish and continuity as far as writing ability goes, it more than makes up for in entertainment value and honesty. Certain parts could certainly have been trimmed and you would’ve gotten the gist, similarly, as the Blaze Bayley Band dissolved into a clusterfuck of bad management, gigs to handfuls of people, band members with performance problems, visa problems, and ego problems, Paterson takes the high road ultimately leaving those who truly want the gory details still in the dark. What is clear is Paterson’s point of getting across the work ethic of Bayley and the fact that a few in his camp including Paterson himself remained unwavered during all of this ridiculousness. Blaze Bayley is one of the hardest working men in heavy metal. While he hasn’t exactly always possessed the right business sense and has been a little lax on many decisions, at the end of the day, pun intended, the guy just wants to perform his ass off for anyone that wants to listen. He took a ton of chances. Some worked. More than not, they failed. Bayley has since sacked the remaining parts of what were left of his recording band, although no one outside of the camp would much recognize since so many of his shows were with fill-ins anyways, and has rejoined Wolfsbane where he probably truly belongs. His solo career certainly had high moments musically as well as on stage. It also has had so many low points and ridiculous drama that anyone with any less resolve would’ve hung it up, or as Bayley himself nearly did as he said in the book, hung themselves in depression over working so hard and seeing so little in return. It’s a staggering story of resolve and Paterson should be commended for bringing it to light. As a book for the casual reader, it’s probably not going to interest much more than few chapters. For any die hard of Maiden or Wolfsbane or for metal music fanatics, it’s a study in self-resolve, work ethic and dedication. Bayley might not have always done things the right way. He may not have always been at the top of his game vocally. He may have pushed himself far too hard touring for a voice that’s far more fragile than many other vocalists in the genre. He may not have always had the best band backing him at times post-Maiden and that includes solo shows up to this day. But hindsight is a bitch that way. He exhausted himself financially and put a lot of musicians who otherwise wouldn’t be known outside of their regional circle on the map. Blaze Bayley was doing things the rock ‘n’ roll way. Have show, will travel. It’s his livelihood, and he made it a livelihood for about a million other guys, too, in the course of his solo projects. As his late wife said to him after he contemplated suicide, “You’re Blaze Bayley.” Damn right. Anyone who slags him because they don’t like his singing style in Maiden, fine. That’s your right. But anyone who slags Bayley as a metal purist and true die hard no matter what it takes to give the fans what they want, when they want, and delivers to the best of his ability no matter the situations – if you slag Bayley for that you’re a complete and utter moron. Cheers to Lawrence Paterson, a fine and true metal soldier in his own right, for bringing this story to light. A bloody fine read for the heavy metal soldier in everyone. 8/10 – B.J. Lisko