Year : 2005 Style : Heavy Metal Country : United Kingdom Audio : 320 kbps + all scans Size : 352 mb
Bio:
Bruce started his solo career alongside his main gig in Iron Maiden in 1989, when Zomba Music asked him to do a track for the movie "A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child". The song, "Bring Your Daughter...To the Slaughter" was quickly re-recorded by Iron Maiden and went on to become their only UK number 1 single to date. The originally recorded version of the song remained unheard for many years.Bruce continued his solo work as a side project before departing Maiden in the early 90s to explore styles other than metal. It wasn't until the release of "Accident of Birth" in '97, that Bruce's solo work was recognized by the metal community. The follow up album, "The Chemical Wedding," was widely acclaimed as a masterpiece by the heavy metal community.Bruce's solo career has slowed down since he rejoined Iron Maiden in 1999, and 2005's "Tyranny of Souls" was recorded as more of a project album rather than a full band effort.Roy Z is credited with getting Bruce back into the metal scene after persuading him to record "Accident of Birth" after the grunge-influenced Skunkworks project.
Album:
Super collection
Line Up:
Bruce Dickinson Vocals (1989-present) - See also: Iron Maiden, ex-Samson, ex-Speed, ex-Shots, ex-Styx Roy Z Guitars (1992-1995, 1997-present), Bass (2005) - See also: Driver, Halford, Rob Rock, Tribe of Gypsies, ex-Warrior, ex-Lambs Among Wolves
Tracklist:
CD1:
1-1 Bring Your Daughter...To The Slaughter 1-2 Ballad Of Mutt 1-3 Darkness Be My Friend 1-4 Sin City 1-5 Riding With The Angel 1-6 Black Night 1-7 Son Of The Gun 1-8 Fire Child 1-9 Elvis Has Left The Building 1-10 The Breeding House 1-11 No Way Out...To Be Continued 1-12 Wings Of Change 1-13 Spirit Of Joy 1-14 Over And Out 1-15 The Post Alternative Seattle Fall Out 1-16 Cadillac Gas Mask 1-17 No Way Out ...Continued
CD2:
2-1 Tibet 2-2 I`m In Band With An Italian Drummer 2-3 Rescue Day 2-4 God`s Not Coming Back 2-5 Armchair Hero 2-6 R 101 2-7 Re-Entry 2-8 Americans Are Behind 2-9 Broken 2-10 Silver Wings 2-11 Wicker Man 2-12 Acoustic Song 2-13 Midhight Jam 2-14 Return Of The King 2-15 Real World 2-16 Confeos 2-17 Eternal 2-18 The Ghost Of Cain 2-19 Man Of Sorrows
Bruce Dickinson - The Best Of Bruce Dickinson (2CD) (Japan Edition) (2001)
Year : 2001 (Japan Edition) Style : Heavy Metal Country : United Kingdom Audio : 320 kbps + all scans Size : 295 mb
Bio:
Bruce started his solo career alongside his main gig in Iron Maiden in 1989, when Zomba Music asked him to do a track for the movie "A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child". The song, "Bring Your Daughter...To the Slaughter" was quickly re-recorded by Iron Maiden and went on to become their only UK number 1 single to date. The originally recorded version of the song remained unheard for many years.Bruce continued his solo work as a side project before departing Maiden in the early 90s to explore styles other than metal. It wasn't until the release of "Accident of Birth" in '97, that Bruce's solo work was recognized by the metal community. The follow up album, "The Chemical Wedding," was widely acclaimed as a masterpiece by the heavy metal community.Bruce's solo career has slowed down since he rejoined Iron Maiden in 1999, and 2005's "Tyranny of Souls" was recorded as more of a project album rather than a full band effort.Roy Z is credited with getting Bruce back into the metal scene after persuading him to record "Accident of Birth" after the grunge-influenced Skunkworks project.
Album:
Disc 1 features selected tracks from Bruce's solo discography, as well as two new, previously unreleased songs in "Broken" and "Silver Wings".Disc 2 ("Tracks From The Vault") is a strictly limited edition bonus CD that includes rare and previously unreleased material, plus an exclusive Bruce interview. "Wicker Man" has nothing to do with the Iron Maiden song "The Wicker Man" and was recorded during the Chemical Wedding sessions. The final song, "Dracula", is the first Bruce ever recorded and is remastered from a very old cassette tape. "The Voice of Crube" is a commentary track by Bruce Dickinson explaining the background of each song on Disc 2. All tracks are digitally remastered.
Line Up:
Bruce Dickinson Vocals (1989-present) - See also: Iron Maiden, ex-Samson, ex-Speed, ex-Shots, ex-Styx Roy Z Guitars (1992-1995, 1997-present), Bass (2005) - See also: Driver, Halford, Rob Rock, Tribe of Gypsies, ex-Warrior, ex-Lambs Among Wolves
Tracklist:
CD1:
01. Broken 04:00 02. Tattooed Millionaire 04:26 03. Laughing in the Hiding Bush (live) 04:09 04. Tears of the Dragon 06:20 05. The Tower 04:43 06. Born in '58 03:37 07. Accident of Birth 04:28 08. Silver Wings 04:17 09. Darkside of Aquarius 06:50 10. Chemical Wedding 04:06 11. Back from the Edge 04:16 12. Road to Hell 03:59 13. Book of Thel (live) 08:27
CD2:
01. Bring Your Daughter to the Slaughter (original soundtrack version) 05:00 02. Darkness Be My Friend 02:01 03. Wicker Man (recorded 1997) 04:41 04. Real World 03:55 05. Acoustic Song 04:23 06. No Way Out...Continued 05:18 07. Midnight Jam 05:11 08. Man of Sorrows 05:16 09. Ballad of Mutt 03:33 10. Re-Entry 04:04 11. I'm in a Band with an Italian Drummer 03:52 12. Jerusalem (live) 06:44 13. The Voice of Crube 13:45 14. Dracula 03:44
Year : 2018 Style : Heavy Metal Country : United Kingdom Audio : 320 kbps + front Size : 148 mb
Bio:
Bruce started his solo career alongside his main gig in Iron Maiden in 1989, when Zomba Music asked him to do a track for the movie "A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child". The song, "Bring Your Daughter...To the Slaughter" was quickly re-recorded by Iron Maiden and went on to become their only UK number 1 single to date. The originally recorded version of the song remained unheard for many years.Bruce continued his solo work as a side project before departing Maiden in the early 90s to explore styles other than metal. It wasn't until the release of "Accident of Birth" in '97, that Bruce's solo work was recognized by the metal community. The follow up album, "The Chemical Wedding," was widely acclaimed as a masterpiece by the heavy metal community.Bruce's solo career has slowed down since he rejoined Iron Maiden in 1999, and 2005's "Tyranny of Souls" was recorded as more of a project album rather than a full band effort.Roy Z is credited with getting Bruce back into the metal scene after persuading him to record "Accident of Birth" after the grunge-influenced Skunkworks project.
Album:
"Scream For Me Sarajevo", a documentary telling the story of a 1994 concert given by IRON MAIDEN singer Bruce Dickinson while the Bosnian War was raging and Sarajevo itself was under siege, will be released on June 29 on DVD, Blu-ray and digital via Eagle Vision. In addition, the music from the film is being released on CD/double LP via BMG.Comprising music from the film which spans Bruce Dickinson's solo career, the album features the rarities "Acoustic Song" (previously only available as a bonus track on the 2001 "Best Of Special Edition"), "Inertia (Live)" (previously only available as a bonus track on the expanded re-release of "Skunkworks" in 2005) and the album closer "Eternal" (previously only available as Japanese bonus tracks on "Tyranny Of Souls")."Scream For Me Sarajevo" will be released beginning May 10 in select theaters across the U.S. and Canada.The first time Dickinson was in Sarajevo, the city was cut off from the world, its citizens brutally terrorized by shooting, bombing and starvation with electricity and water supply being nothing short of a luxury. Bruce and his then-solo band drove through the frontlines and ultimately played a show for the people trapped in the city. What this gig meant to the people and how it changed Bruce and his band is told in "Scream For Me Sarajevo".Featuring footage from the historic gig, the film also meets those that made it to the show and made the show happen; determined to keep living their lives despite the atrocities going on around them. Interviews with the band, crew and security bring home the reality of the situation that was not only dangerous, it was barbaric."We weren't protected, there was no plan and the bullets were real, but fuck it, we went anyway," said Bruce in his autobiography "What Does This Button Do?" "The gig was immense, intense and probably the biggest show in the world at that moment for the audience and for us. That the world didn't really know didn't matter. It changed the way I viewed life, death and other human beings." In addition to the feature film, a specially recorded interview with Dickinson will be included as exclusive theatrical-only content in participating theaters.In a December 2015 interview with the Radio Sarajevo show "The Aebyss", Bruce spoke about the security concerns he has in an age of terrorism when it comes to deciding which countries to travel to in order to play for the people there. He said: "Personally, yeah, I'll play no matter what. Your concern has to be, actually, for people who don't have a choice in the matter. I mean, it was my choice [in 1994] — actually our choice, collectively, 'cause we all, collectively, said, 'Yeah, we're all crazy enough to try and do this thing and drive into Sarajevo in the middle of a war and see if we can do and do a gig. And [laughs] we're not quite sure when we're gonna come back.' But those poor people that went for that [EAGLES OF DEATH METAL] concert at the Bataclan [in Paris, France] had no choice; they were completely, completely innocent in every possible way. And, of course, nobody knew that the place was gonna get targeted. So, unfortunately, there's a judgment call that people have gotta make, and you have to make it on the best information available — as to whether or not you're suddenly gonna get… If somebody says, 'We're gonna massacre everybody at a rock concert,' you say, 'Well, is it some lunatic, or is it genuinely credible that this might happen?'"He continued: "You can't take the responsibility for what might be some lunacy, massacring people, just because you wanna be kind of 'macho man' and stand up and say, 'Ah, yeah, yeah, yeah, we did this and people threatened us, but we were like macho men.' And that's great until one day it turns out that somebody does go and do [something like that] and then you have lots and lots of dead women and children, and you go, 'Maybe we shouldn't have done the show, because there was a credible threat.' So, unfortunately, you've gotta be grown up about it. But, at the same time, you still need to be able to offer people that hope and send that message out there. They can't stop… Real life just carries on. I mean, when the Irish Republican Army, years and years ago… when I was a kid, things were getting blown up left, right and center in the U.K., and one lot was blowing things up and horrendous things happened, and nothing stopped — people just got on with it and carried on. You don't stop. You don't back down from living your life. And that was the message in Sarajevo — that in all the craziness, this little bastion of rock and roll and kind of normality happened, for five minutes, in the middle of it. You know, yeah, you know what? There is light at the end of the tunnel there. So all those kinds of things are acts of defiance, but not involving guns or bombs or bullets and things like that."
Line Up:
Bruce Dickinson - Vocals (1989-present) - See also: Iron Maiden, ex-Samson, ex-Speed, ex-Shots, ex-Styx Roy Z - Guitars (1992-1995, 1997-present), Bass (2005) - See also: Driver, Halford, Rob Rock, Tribe of Gypsies, ex-Warrior, ex-Lambs Among Wolves
Tracklist:
01. Change Of Heart 02. Tears Of The Dragon 03. Gods Of War 04. Darkside Of Aquarius 05. Navigate The Seas Of The Sun 06. Road To Hell 07. Arc Of Space 08. Omega 09. River Of No Return 10. Power Of The Sun 11. Strange Death In Paradise 12. Inertia (Live) 13. Acoustic Song 14. Eternal
Bruce Dickinson - The Mandrake Project (Digipak Edition) (2024)
Year : 2024 Style : Heavy Metal , Hard Rock Country : United Kingdom Audio : 320 kbps + all scans Size : 139 mb
Bio:
Bruce started his solo career alongside his main gig in Iron Maiden in 1989, when Zomba Music asked him to do a track for the movie "A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child". The song, "Bring Your Daughter...To the Slaughter" was quickly re-recorded by Iron Maiden and went on to become their only UK number 1 single to date. The originally recorded version of the song remained unheard for many years.Bruce continued his solo work as a side project before departing Maiden in the early 90s to explore styles other than metal. It wasn't until the release of "Accident of Birth" in '97, that Bruce's solo work was recognized by the metal community. The follow up album, "The Chemical Wedding," was widely acclaimed as a masterpiece by the heavy metal community.Bruce's solo career has slowed down since he rejoined Iron Maiden in 1999, and 2005's "Tyranny of Souls" was recorded as more of a project album rather than a full band effort.Roy Z is credited with getting Bruce back into the metal scene after persuading him to record "Accident of Birth" after the grunge-influenced Skunkworks project.
Album:
Bruce Dickinson will release a brand-new solo album on BMG Records. Entitled "The Mandrake Project", it sees him reunited with long-time musical collaborator and producer Roy Z. "The Mandrake Project" will be Dickinson's seventh solo album and his first since "Tyranny Of Souls" in 2005. "The Mandrake Project" is a dark, adult story of power, abuse and a struggle for identity, set against a backdrop of scientific and occult genius.As time passed, the idea of Bruce Dickinson going solo again became a pipe dream. Even if he did mention releasing an album, his busy schedule with Iron Maiden left little hope of a follow-up to 'Tyranny Of Souls'. But the Englishman was tenacious and the miracle came with 'The Mandrake Project'. Revolving around magic and resurrection, the album was written in collaboration with Roy Z, Bruce Dickinson's faithful accomplice.The melancholy atmosphere is immediately gripping, rediscovering the spirit that made 'The Chemical Wedding' so strong. 'Shadow Of The Gods' and 'Sonata (Immortal Beloved)' are two superb, convoluted pieces, full of emotion. Bruce Dickinson takes on the role of storyteller, singing in the poised manner of an actor. There's an ethereal quality to the music, underpinned by melodic, rousing solos that are full of feeling.Beyond the dark aspects, there's a theatrical edge. 'Afterglow Of Ragnarok', 'Many Doors To Hell', 'Rain Of The Graves' and 'Eternity Has Failed' are direct and catchy. Bruce Dickinson doesn't force his voice and this hard rock register, not far removed from Alice Cooper, suits him perfectly. The keyboards take pride of place, the choruses are simple and effective and the epic side is very much present, while Roy Z delights with his touch on some pleasing virtuoso solos.The melodic side is even stronger on 'Fingers In The Wounds' and 'Face In The Mirror', where acoustic and piano work wonders. Bruce Dickinson excels in this melancholy ballad register. The choruses are splendid, as are the chilling melodies.With 'The Mandrake Project', Bruce Dickinson has produced a fine work worthy of the greatest moments of his solo career. Backed up by Roy Z, he cleverly moves away from the Iron Maiden sound to produce a cinematic Heavy/Hard Rock that's colourful and deliciously catchy.
Line Up:
Bruce Dickinson - Vocals (1989-present) - See also: Iron Maiden, ex-Samson, ex-Speed, ex-Shots, ex-Styx Roy Z - Guitars (1992-1995, 1997-present), Bass (2005) - See also: Driver, Halford, Rob Rock, Tribe of Gypsies, ex-Warrior, ex-Lambs Among Wolves Dave Morena - Drums Maestro Mistheria - Keyboards
+ guests:
Gus G. - Guitar on "Eternity Has Failed" Chris Declercq - Guitar on "Rain On The Graves" Sergio Cuadros - Guitar on "Eternity Has Failed"
Tracklist:
01. Afterglow Of Ragnarok 02. Many Doors To Hell 03. Rain On The Graves 04. Resurrection Men 05. Fingers In The Wounds 06. Eternity Has Failed 07. Mistress Of Mercy 08. Face In The Mirror 09. Shadow Of The Gods 10. Sonata (Immortal Beloved)
Bruce Dickinson - Resurrection Men (CD Single) (Limited Edition Digipak) (2024)
Year : 2024 (Limited Edition Digipak) Style : Heavy Metal , Hard Rock Country : United Kingdom Audio : 320 kbps + all scans + Video Size : 62 mb
Bio:
Bruce started his solo career alongside his main gig in Iron Maiden in 1989, when Zomba Music asked him to do a track for the movie "A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child". The song, "Bring Your Daughter...To the Slaughter" was quickly re-recorded by Iron Maiden and went on to become their only UK number 1 single to date. The originally recorded version of the song remained unheard for many years.Bruce continued his solo work as a side project before departing Maiden in the early 90s to explore styles other than metal. It wasn't until the release of "Accident of Birth" in '97, that Bruce's solo work was recognized by the metal community. The follow up album, "The Chemical Wedding," was widely acclaimed as a masterpiece by the heavy metal community.Bruce's solo career has slowed down since he rejoined Iron Maiden in 1999, and 2005's "Tyranny of Souls" was recorded as more of a project album rather than a full band effort.Roy Z is credited with getting Bruce back into the metal scene after persuading him to record "Accident of Birth" after the grunge-influenced Skunkworks project.
Album:
Resurrection Men is the third single from Bruce Dickinson's very good conceptual heavy metal record The Mandrake Project that was released last winter and supported by a tour around the globe throughout spring and summer. Two elements seemed particularly promising about this particular release: the inclusion of two live songs and a double-sided folded Mandrake movie poster.However, the version that I have been able to purchase in Canada didn't include any sort of poster at all. This is also the main reason why I'm writing this review, so that potential fans might not get disappointed by this inexplicable lack of bonus material. That's quite a bummer to be honest since I would have appreciated honouring this strong comeback by putting an imaginative poster upon my wall.As for the live songs, they are both excellent and make me hope for an actual live release in the near future. Both songs have never been played in concert before this tour. "Afterglow of Ragnarok" opens with a short speech by Bruce Dickinson himself followed by a slow overture with atmospheric doom metal elements before all hell breaks loose in form of an energetic heavy metal anthem that was rightfully chosen as first single for the most recent studio album. Up next follows fast-paced "Abduction" from previous studio record Tyranny of Souls that flirts with liberating thrash metal tones and was also chosen as that record's first single and supported with a quite memorable music video that you should most certainly check out if you haven't done so already. Both selections convince with organic band chemistry, enthusiastic fans from São Paulo and excellent musicianship.Needless to say that title track Resurrection Men comes around in its studio version that is identical to the album version. This song is perhaps the one that has grown the most on me on The Mandrake Project. It is an energetic heavy metal epic with a few minor progressive elements in form of changes of mood and pace. This song includes a few almost danceable folk guitar sections and quite dynamic percussive elements that complement the heavier style of the song creatively and refreshingly. This is what great heavy metal should sound like in this day and age.At the end of the day, the missing poster is this single's only downfall. The title song is a grower with wonderful songwriting and the live tracks remind me of the astonishing concert I have been attending with my father this summer. Bruce Dickinson's extended play Resurrection Men will thus always remind me of a wonderful time in my life.
Line Up:
Bruce Dickinson - Vocals (1989-present) - See also: Iron Maiden, ex-Samson, ex-Speed, ex-Shots, ex-Styx Roy Z - Guitars (1992-1995, 1997-present), Bass (2005) - See also: Driver, Halford, Rob Rock, Tribe of Gypsies, ex-Warrior, ex-Lambs Among Wolves Dave Morena - Drums Maestro Mistheria - Keyboards
Production:
Recorded at Doom Room, Los Angeles, California, USA Mixed and mastered at Brendan Duffey Audio Live songs recorded in São Paulo, Brazil on May 4th, 2024
Tracklist:
01. Resurrection Men 02. Afterglow of Ragnarok (Live) 03. Abduction (Live)
Bruce Dickinson - Live On Air (2CD) (Digipak Edition) (2024)
Year : 2024 (Digipak Edition) Style : Heavy Metal , Hard Rock Country : United Kingdom Audio : 320 kbps + scans Size : 227 mb
Bio:
Bruce started his solo career alongside his main gig in Iron Maiden in 1989, when Zomba Music asked him to do a track for the movie "A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child". The song, "Bring Your Daughter...To the Slaughter" was quickly re-recorded by Iron Maiden and went on to become their only UK number 1 single to date. The originally recorded version of the song remained unheard for many years.Bruce continued his solo work as a side project before departing Maiden in the early 90s to explore styles other than metal. It wasn't until the release of "Accident of Birth" in '97, that Bruce's solo work was recognized by the metal community. The follow up album, "The Chemical Wedding," was widely acclaimed as a masterpiece by the heavy metal community.Bruce's solo career has slowed down since he rejoined Iron Maiden in 1999, and 2005's "Tyranny of Souls" was recorded as more of a project album rather than a full band effort.Roy Z is credited with getting Bruce back into the metal scene after persuading him to record "Accident of Birth" after the grunge-influenced Skunkworks project.
Album:
Here’s the very good 2-CD Digipak ”Live On Air” released 2024 including two BRUCE DICKINSON shows from 1997 and 1999. Featuring at the time former Iron Maiden bandmate Adrian Smith on guitars as well as talented Roy Z, Bruce assembled a killer band.The setlist included songs from his solo albums like “Accident of Birth,” “Balls to Picasso,” and “Tattooed Millionaire,” as well as Iron Maiden classics like “2 Minutes to Midnight,” “Powerslave,” “Flight of Icarus,” and “Run to the Hills,” server with passion to an enthusiastic audience.Sound quality is very good, A-grade. These shows were professionally taped for TV broadcast, and even some of these recordings were later officially released.After this tour Bruce and Adrian Smith confirmed their return to Iron Maiden, so these were among the last concerts of this band – a valuable conclusion to Dickinson’s solo career.
Line Up:
Bruce Dickinson - Vocals (1989-present) - See also: Iron Maiden, ex-Samson, ex-Speed, ex-Shots, ex-Styx Roy Z - Guitars (1992-1995, 1997-present), Bass (2005) - See also: Driver, Halford, Rob Rock, Tribe of Gypsies, ex-Warrior, ex-Lambs Among Wolves Adrian Smith – guitar Eddie Casillas – bass David Ingraham – drums
Tracklist:
CD1:
01. King In Crimson (Live) 02. Gates of Urizen (Live) 03. Killing Floor (Live) 04. Book of Thel (Live) 05. Tears of the Dragon (Live) 06. Laughing In the Hiding Bush (Live) 07. Darkside of Aquarius (Live) 08. Road to Hell (Live)
CD2:
01. Accident Of Birth (Live) 02. Toltec 7 Arrival Star Children (Live) 03. 2 Minutes To Midnight (Live) 04. Magician (Live) 05. Road To Hell (Live) 06. Tattooed Millionaire (Live) 07. Powerslave (Live) 08. Taking The Queen (Live) 09. Flight Of Icarus (Live) 10. Run To The Hills (Live)
Bruce Dickinson - More Balls To Picasso (Digipak Edition) (2025)
Year : 1994 (BMG Records Digipak Edition 2025) Style : Heavy Metal , Hard Rock Country : United Kingdom Audio : 320 kbps + all scans Size : 150 mb
Bio:
Bruce started his solo career alongside his main gig in Iron Maiden in 1989, when Zomba Music asked him to do a track for the movie "A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child". The song, "Bring Your Daughter...To the Slaughter" was quickly re-recorded by Iron Maiden and went on to become their only UK number 1 single to date. The originally recorded version of the song remained unheard for many years.Bruce continued his solo work as a side project before departing Maiden in the early 90s to explore styles other than metal. It wasn't until the release of "Accident of Birth" in '97, that Bruce's solo work was recognized by the metal community. The follow up album, "The Chemical Wedding," was widely acclaimed as a masterpiece by the heavy metal community.Bruce's solo career has slowed down since he rejoined Iron Maiden in 1999, and 2005's "Tyranny of Souls" was recorded as more of a project album rather than a full band effort.Roy Z is credited with getting Bruce back into the metal scene after persuading him to record "Accident of Birth" after the grunge-influenced Skunkworks project.
Album:
Balls to Picasso is the second solo album by Iron Maiden vocalist Bruce Dickinson, released in 1994.It is the first album in Dickinson's solo career that was released after he had officially left Iron Maiden (although he rejoined again in 1999).This record marked the beginning of Dickinson's collaborations with guitarist Roy Z, who would work on many of Dickinson's later albums including Accident of Birth, The Chemical Wedding and Tyranny of Souls. Stylistically it departs from Tattooed Millionaire but is still more traditional-sounding than the follow-up album Skunkworks released in 1996. Later, Dickinson said that he and Roy Z were talked into making the album less heavy than it should have been.Bruce’s second solo album gets a makeover and it is well worth splashing out the cash for some of these reinventions.Balls to Picasson was Bruce’s first solo album without the safety net of Maiden and it was when he decided lets do something very un Maiden and he really grabbed the Heavy Metal banner by the throat. He teamed up with Roy Z and Tribe of Gypsies and there was no looking back.You just need to listen to openning track “Cyclops” to see how far Bruce wanted to put Maiden in the rear view mirror. It was brave, the easy option would have been to recreate Maiden tunes and bring along all those fans…job done and dusted but that just is not the way Bruce rolls.He set the standard with an off kilter track that Maiden would never have touched and for that reason it became one of the most memorable tracks on the album. The guitar work on “Cyclops” is mesmerising and this version sounds clean, powerful utterly fresh.Next track “Hell No” is another banger, a slow build with Bruce on the low end of his scale before he soars and lets rip with an anthemic masterpiece. I still remember seeing this tour. It was a much smaller venue than Maiden had played for a very long time at that point but it was incredible. So intimate, so sweaty and these songs were the backbone of the show and why this gig is still stuck in my memory banks.The metal riffage of “Gods of War” scream from your speakers as Bruce chants his way to the first verse. as I look back at this album it basically hung drew and quartered his debut. Even the recently released reissue cannot capture the power and vitality of this record. It kicked ass then and it has not aged a day since and this track just has Bruce letting rip.It is onto the quirky again with “1,000 Points of War”. He had obviously heard Living Colour at this point as that riff hits you instantly but as clunky as the song sounds it works to perfection.My second favourite track of the album is up next in “Laughing in the Hiding Bush”. It goes for the jugular from the off and this was the new extreme Bruce, the man who wanted to reinvent himself and boy did he.This album was a breath of fresh air for me as I was no fan of the Blaze Bailey Maiden era and this album and a track like this wiped the floor with those two Blaze albums.From the brutal metal to another tangent Maiden would not go for…balledic numbers and “Change of Heart” plays to all Bruce’s strengths. I have always been a sucker for a ballad and now I had Bruce dipping in his toes and owning it.“Shoot All the Clowns” sees Bruce’s wicked sense of humour come to the fore. This is the Marmite track, you either love or hate it with its horns, Jazz bass and very suspicious rapping.“Fire” is the track I kind of forgot about for some reason but listening again it is a killer slice of Rock. It is sleazy as hell and one I need to listen to far more.One song I did not forget about is “Sacred Cowboys”, another quirky start but this song is a fucking monster. It could well be a “Run to the Hills” part two based on the lyrical content but what cannot be disputed is just how good this is.Final track on the original is basically one of the best songs Bruce ever wrote in “Tears of the Dragon”. On the new version we have some beautiful strings to accompany the masterpiece and it sounds epic.Strangely to this day when I hear this song the first thing that pops into my head is that man ruined a perfectly good leather jacket in the video. It is quickly followed by holy shit this song just gets better with every listen. I was so chuffed to hear it live again last year in what was my favourite show of 2024.Do I really need to say any more about this song? you all know exactly how kick ass it is.As a bonus the album has two live(in the studio) versions of “Gods of War” and “Shoot All the Clowns” which sound excellent and gives you every excuse to splash the extra cash so you have this in your collection.The original album was a watershed moment for Bruce but for me when it comes to Picasso you want as many, as big and as hairy balls as you can get as this version is now the definitive one for your collection. The production alone will make you fall in love with the album all over again.
Line Up:
Bruce Dickinson - Vocals (1989-present) - See also: Iron Maiden, ex-Samson, ex-Speed, ex-Shots, ex-Styx Roy Z - Guitars (1992-1995, 1997-present), Bass (2005) - See also: Driver, Halford, Rob Rock, Tribe of Gypsies, ex-Warrior, ex-Lambs Among Wolves Eddie Casillas – bass guitar David Ingraham – drums
+ guests:
Dean Ortega – vocals Doug Van Booven – percussion Mario Aguilar – percussion on "Shoot All the Clowns" Dickie Fliszar – drums on "Tears of the Dragon" Richard Baker – keyboards and programming
Production:
Shay Baby – producer, mixing Spencer May – additional engineering Sean De Feo – engineer at Townhouse 3 Andy Baker – engineer at Westside Studios Bjorn Thorsrud – engineer on "Shoot All the Clowns Greg Fulginiti & Andy Van Dette – mastering at Masterdisk, New York
Tracklist:
01. Cyclops 07:57 02. Hell No 05:12 03. Gods of War 05:02 04. 1000 Points of Light 04:25 05. Laughing in the Hiding Bush 04:21 06. Change of Heart 04:59 07. Shoot All the Clowns 04:24 08. Fire 04:30 09. Sacred Cowboys 03:54 10. Tears of the Dragon 06:20 11. Gods of War (Live) 04:55 (Bonus Track) 12. Shoot All the Clowns (Live) 05:24 (Bonus Track)
