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Lillian Axe is a hard rock band that released it’s first cd in 1988,
since then they have released seven cd’s. Most people feel their 1993
cd Psychoschizophrenia was their masterpiece with vocalist Ron Taylor.
The newest cd “Waters Rising” is a perfect mix of heavy metal, hard
rock, and softer acoustic pieces that some times get near classical
music but still has a heavy feel to it.
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Before we talk about this new masterpiece “Waters Rising” lets get
some back round on Steve Blaze. He is the leader of Lillian Axe as
well as producing, engineering, song writer, keyboards and guitar
wizard.

Steve started out listening to Alice Cooper, Black Sabbath, Kiss,
Scorpions, and Judas Priest among others. The First record he bought
was Alice Cooper’s “Schools Out”.
Steve started playing guitar before he was a teenager and by nineteen
was playing guitar on a record for Jim Dandy (former singer for Black
Oak Arkansas).

A few years later Steve formed Lillian Axe. They made four cd’s,
touring around the world and had four videos on MTV. For those of you
too young to remember MTV, it was a cable channel that had 24-7 rock
videos. With none of the #rap they have today, sorry I’ve digressed.
After their 1993 Psychoschizophrenia cd and tour it was finely time to
take a hiatus.

Lillian Axe cd’s
1988 Lillian Axe
1989 Love and War
1992 Poetic Justice
1993 Psychoschizophrenia
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1995 Steve Blaze had a new band called “Near Life Experience” This
time he would be the lead vocalist as well as guitar wizard and
songwriter. They recorded five cd’s but only three are still in print and
you may want to order them soon before they sell out. They are only
available through their website or at concerts.

Near Life Experience is:
Steve Blaze – lead vocalist and guitar
Richard Kendrick – guitar, keyboards, backing vocals
Eric Morris – bass
Rob Hovey – drums

1999 Lillian Axe releases “Fields of Yesterday” (B sides)

2000 Steve Blaze joins an old 1970′s/80′s rock band he had loved as a
teen called Angel.
They are working on a cd and do concerts from time to time.

2002 Lillian Axe releases “Live”
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2005 Steve Blaze releases his first solo cd “Random Acts of Blindness”
The cd is dedicated to his father, who passed away in 2002.
Steve sings and plays all the instruments. It’s soft and mellow with a lot
of acoustic guitars.
Steve said it’s still very touching for him listen to.

2007 Lillian Axe releases “Waters Rising”
Steve Blaze said Lillian Axe had spent ten years recording and touring
with very little time off. After 12 years of no new studio recordings
“Waters Rising” is the first studio record since their highly
acclaimed 1993 cd “Psychoschizophrenia”. They have gone through many
changes both personal and with solo projects. The record industry
has changed very much in the last 12 years plus there is no MTV for
their videos. For Lillian Axe to reestablish themselves would take a
lot of hard work. After four years of working on and tweaking “Waters
Rising” it was finely released. The wait is well worth it as “Waters
Rising” is a masterpiece. Steve says this was a new beginning for the
band. He tried to get the songs to work off each other. Sometimes
there were melodic theme, a dynamic theme, or even a lyrics theme so
Steve spent a lot of time to get all songs to work together to take
you on a journey from the start to the end. When you were done you
don’t feel you heard disjointed songs but one big piece that works
together. One of the great things about “Waters Rising” after you get
past just getting to know the killer songs, is all the hidden sounds
and layering. Put head phones on and check out “Fields of Yesterday”,
“Until the End of the World”, or really any song. You will find what I
call the hidden song. Most bands put out bonus tracks. Lillian Axe’s
bonus is the deepness of each track. Steve said they layered the music
with keyboard pads, another guitar part, and neat sound effects. Some
thing’s showed up that they didn’t even plan on or know how they got
on the song. If it sounded good they left it in.

Steve said “Waters Rising” is about the pressure we have in our lives
due to all the responsibility we have as we get older. Water rising is
how you either drown or get strong and swim through it. These are some
of the lines from the song.

Waters Rising – Music and Lyrics by Steve Blaze
I felt the waters rising up on me
I drowned a thousand times but washed up from the sea
Well I can take it, so I can break it
Melt it slowly
Fireflies paint the skies
Do we really need to burn?

And everything I see
Is jaded from the light that I used to follow
And everything I need
Slips right through the cracks as I watch it wash away
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“Fields of Yesterday” Steve said is kind of the song that defends Lillian Axe.
It has many different elements in the song that all have to work
together to make this epic like song. The song is about how mankind
has evolved spiritually, mentally and emotionally. Now we have evolved
up to this point but it looks like were ready to heading right back
down. Steve feels we as humans have great potential but we’re it messing
up.

Fields of Yesterday – Music and Lyrics by Steve Blaze
Then I saw a sign near the corners of my mind
In the fields of yesterday

Looking back it’s been so long
My burning passion keeps my hunger going strong
But, I still can’t see something’s stopping me
From the lake of knowledge I thirst for desperately
Just to drink of easily

Steve’s diversity in music goes beyond heavy metal, hard rock and pop.
It goes in to classical music and new age which he likes very much and
can even deal with some country. This is very evident in the music
Steve writes with portions of all in his songs (except country). His
listening taste has continued to grow over the years. Some of the
newer bands Steve likes now are My Chemical Romance, Chevelle and Type
O Negative. By far his favorite new band is Muse, he loves the guitar
work of Matt Bellamy.

Steve’s diversity has now moved into writing and performing all the
music as well as the narration to a five part documentary. The
documentary is being written by author Dr. Alfred Adams who has
written books about the “End Times” biblical prophesy (Nearing
Midnight I & II). Steve Blaze said as a Christian he hopes to spread the
word and reach more people, and be able to create more music. They’re
hoping this will be on TV or maybe picked up by 1200 theaters.
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Steve Blaze has teamed up with Guilford Guitars to create the new
Blaze model guitar. The guitar features an alder body with hand
carved figured maple top and a rock maple neck. Original Floyd Rose
Tremolo, Buzz Feiten tuning system, and Seymour Duncan Blackout
humbucker pickups make this guitar ready to rock. For more
information click here.
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Steve Blaze is an accomplished guitarist as anyone can tell after
listening to Lillian Axe, Near Life Experience or his solo record.
Recently (Dec.2007) “Guitar Player” magazine rated Steve Blaze as one
of the most underrated guitarists. Among some of the others who shared
the list with Steve are Rory Gallagher, Ronnie Montrose, Robbie
Krieger (Doors), Rick Darringer, Andy Powell/Ted Turner (Wishbone Ash)
and the one Steve was the most proud of being on the list with Matt
Bellamy of Muse. Muse of course being the band he loves the guitar
work of the most. If you really would like to hear Steve give his
guitar a work out, listen to the song “5″ on Waters Rising. This is a
song from his solo cd that was added on to Waters Rising just to
satisfy all the fans who have asked him to do a shredding record
over the years. Steve said he is more into the songs than just a
record of shredding. What Steve did was to make one song of all the
shredding styles he knew and put them into the song “5″. “Five” has a
lot of guitars on it, I mean a lot of guitars with so many different
styles you will not be able to keep up with as they blaze by.
This is a killer end to a great cd but it is just one example of the
reason Steve Blaze is in “Guitar Player” magazine as one of the most
underrated guitarists. The rest of the reason is for what he has done
on all the other songs in the last 20 years.

Currently Lillian Axe is working on a new cd for release some time
around September 2008 and will follow it with a tour.
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In my opinion Lillian Axe’s Waters Rising is a masterpiece. It has set
a new level for bands to try in reach. From the opening of the first
song to the close of the last song this record takes you on a great
journey.

The songs played on the podcast:
1. Quarantine
2. Fields of Yesterday
3. The 2nd of May
4. Waters Rising

Lillian Axe Website

Lillian Axe MySpace page

Steve Blaze Website

Steve Blaze MySpace page

Near Life Experience