Bruce Dickinson solo material

[SoundMaster]

What do you all think of Bruce's solo records?

Obviously, he's attempted a few different styles, but I think he's kicked ass with each and succeded with each.
Every record has some great tunes, with his masterwork being, IMO, "Chemical Wedding".

Heck, when it first announced that he & Adrian were rejoining Maiden, I was both happy & upset. Of course, I was excited for some classic Maiden, but I thought his joining might end his solo career (luckily, I was wrong!).

Do you think if Bruce had never joined Maiden, and had continued down the road begun with "Accident of Birth" (with Adrian & RoyZ) that he'd have completelly pummeled Maiden into the ground (although I really like the Blaze era, I feel Bruce blew it away)?

 

[Hawk]

Well, my "story" with Bruce is a bit weird. I did not liked it at all when Paul was displaced by Bruce. I had seen Maiden with Paul 4 times and I really liked Paul as a person [I had met him all four times] and as a singer.

Later when I noticed that Bruce could not reach some of the high notes live I was sure I disliked his singing.

Anyway when I was on Holiday in Austria I saw "Accident of Birth" in a shop and decided to give it a go, since I heard some good things about it. Mind you, I was very skeptic about it and disliked his singing very much.

It turned out that it was one of the best decisions I have taken! I simply loved the album! I could not help noticing he was singing in a lower key on the album than on the Maiden albums I heard him on. To this day I consider "Accident of Birth" a great album.

So when "Chemical Wedding" was released I got as soon as I could. Only to find that I was very disappointed. It did nothing for me. I knew now that it was not the singing of Bruce. I found the songs to be very repetitive and was bored in the end.

When Bruce was re-joining Maiden his vocals sounded a lot better to me than before he left. I have the "Live in Rio" DVD and he rules during that gig. Next time they come this way I want to see them again!

 

[ElectricWiz]

Accident of Birth and Chemical Wedding are both fantastic. I wore them out, and still do put them in. I liked Skunkworks as well, and the greatest hits package (with the extra disc) had some great unreleased stuff on it. If he had stayed solo, well, that would have been fine with me. Still, I like both of the last Maiden records, so no biggee. The real cool thing though, is that (if you didn't know) Bruce has a new solo album coming out in the next 4 months or so. If the last two are anything to judge by, it'll be great too. Incidentally, though Bruce in his own right is great, this might really be thought of as the Roy Z appreciation thread. He's responsible for several old-school singers getting back to their roots again; making them realize that you don't have to modernize (necessarily) to make good records (he was involved in Halford's later stuff too).

I think that Chemical Wedding and Accident of Birth are two of the best metal records of the 90s, to put it in a sentence.

 

[Abryl]

Oh man... Skunkworks, Accident Of Birth and Chemical Wedding beat the crap out of EVERYTHING Maiden released during that time. They really needed him back. I'm glad to hear he's coming up with another album, he's an amazing songwriter. My favorite Iron Maiden songs were written by him and Darkside Of Aquarius is just a masterpiece

 

[sixxswine]

I think I have to revisit his solo stuff, I used to have Tattooed Millionaire, but it was "borrowed" & never returned...
I might look up Chemical & Accident to hear for myself...
My friend has them used for $6.00 each... mint!

 

[Pabla]

Oh man... Skunkworks, Accident Of Birth and Chemical Wedding beat the crap out of EVERYTHING Maiden released during that time. They really needed him back. I'm glad to hear he's coming up with another album, he's an amazing songwriter. My favorite Iron Maiden songs were written by him and Darkside Of Aquarius is just a masterpiece

DOA is one of my top favs, if not my fav by Bruce!

 

[Pabla]

I think I have to revisit his solo stuff, I used to have Tattooed Millionaire, but it was "borrowed" & never returned...
I might look up Chemical & Accident to hear for myself...
My friend has them used for $6.00 each... mint!

Defo go for it Sixx! A very good investment don't leave out AOB though, I tend to like it a tad better than CW personally

 

[SoundMaster]

DOA is one of my top favs, if not my fav by Bruce!

My fav is "Taking the Queen" which, IMO, is one of the best song's that Bruce has ever had the honor of singing on!

 

[TheGraveDigger]

Solo Bruce rules. Chemical Wedding is a masterpiece and I agree one of the best records of the 90's. Accident of Birth and Tattooed Millionaire rule too. I need to get Skunkworks.

 

[ElectricWiz]

My fav is "Taking the Queen" which, IMO, is one of the best song's that Bruce has ever had the honor of singing on!

Now we're talking! That's definately one of my tops from that album, along with, say, Omega and Arc of Space. And Ghost of Cain, and Welcome to the Pit....ah hell, all of 'em. The whole album is just spot on.

From Chemical Wedding my faves are probably Machine Men, Gates of Urizen, Book of Thel. Well, you know, those records really are that good. Both, from start to finish.

Man, I'm getting excited all of a sudden for the new one.

 

[Hawk]

My fav is "Taking the Queen" which, IMO, is one of the best song's that Bruce has ever had the honor of singing on!

Agreed!! Indeed his best. What a great song

 

[desert_demon]

Accident of Birth and The Chemical Wedding are both fantastic albums! As many have stated, they are superior to anything Maiden was doing with Blaze andeven better than the last ones Bruce himself did with Maiden, Fear of the Dark and No Prayer for the Dying which were starting to sound a bit tired.
I also have his second solo album, Balls to Picasso, which is pretty good though nowhere near as good as AOB or CW.
I feel that when Bruce rejoined Maiden, he carried over some of the style of his solo stuff onto Brave New World, which is why it sounded more revitalized and heavy.

 

[Wyvern]

Except maybe "Tatooed Millionaire" who has to be heard in the context in which was made, ALL his stuff is awsome. Recommended to have in the collection.

 

[ElectricWiz]

Actually, I'll be the one who goes on record by saying that Tattooed Millionaire blows. Ha. Just an opinion, but it was just too "rock and roll." I can certainly listen to that kind of stuff, but, open minded as I can be, I just couldn't take Bruce singing those kinds of songs.

Old-school forum this may be, but a lot about the 80s bit hard from where I stand. Ha, again. Things were looking pretty bleak for awhile there. Maiden made a couple clunkers, and Bruce released T.M. Honestly, as a young Master of Puppets/Number Of The Beast/Hell Awaits fan, I remember thinking, "What the fuck is going on?" In hindsight T.M. is ok, but back then, hot on the heels of all those Maiden classics (and right before Fear Of the Dark which was just alright) I really felt like metal was taking a dive. Not to mention all the crap that people were calling metal. You know, the glam bands and all that. They had their charm (I guess - not for me really), but I always wondered why they were thought of as metal, or at least referred to as metal.

All of this stated with a good sense of humor I assure you. All are entitled to their taste, and I like TONS of things that aren't metal in the slightest. My skin just tends to crawl a bit when somebody like Saxon or Bruce does something that's kinda, well, pop-ish.

Again I say, this all just opinion. There is no reason for anybody to "be" metal, or to live up to some silly stereotype. Only that, Maiden were the fucking metal GODS, and that came with a certain charisma. When Tattooed Millionaire came out it just kinda knocked the wind outta my childhood metal fantasies. Probably a good thing, but it wasn't lack of open mindedness, I swear it. Then again, if he made it now, I'd probably say the same thing. Some people switch genres effortlessly and with class. That is, to be frank about it, a little tough to do when your band is basically THE archetypal band in your field. Maiden WAS metal at that time.

If this all sounds a bit narrow, just keep in mind that atmosphere at the time. There was a LOT of crap on the radio being passed off as metal. And as much as Master of Puppets is an accepted classic now, when it came out I didn't know anybody who liked it, or who had even heard of Metallica for that matter. True, I lived in a rural area at the time, but I think that's a pretty accurate statement nonetheless. So, Bruce kinda jumping ship was a little strange seeming is all.

 

[ElectricWiz]

Except maybe "Tatooed Millionaire" who has to be heard in the context in which was made, ALL his stuff is awsome. Recommended to have in the collection.

And after overdoing it like that, I will say that your comment here is poignant for sure. It has to be heard in the context in which it was made.

 

[AngelWitch73]

I think "Balls To Picasso" is a great album but it rarely seems to get mention when his solo work comes up. I didn´t like "Tattooed Millionaire" much.

 

[SickBoy]

Except maybe "Tatooed Millionaire" who has to be heard in the context in which was made, ALL his stuff is awsome. Recommended to have in the collection.

Man, do we have a similar mindflow...
I consider all of his solo albums GREAT, except for the debut.
Many don't pay enough attention to Balls... and Skunkworks since he doesn't play metal on them and they're such great records. Accident is absolutely high high above anything Maiden did after 7th Son and I consider that Maiden should've began playing in the style of that album, it sounds very much like Maiden going modern, but not shitting themselves up. All the IM trademarks are there (double melodies, galloping rhythms) with a few (at least for IM) unorthodox songs like Taking The Queen or Arc Of Space...

I eagerly await his next solo effort, I'm sure he won't dissapoint, regardless if he decides to do metal on it or not...

 

[Hawk]

After all the glowing respect that "Chemical Wedding" got on this tread. I started to ask myself some hard questions. Was it me or was it the record?

Well, I thought, Let no man [or woman for that matter] say 'ol Hawk is a close minded bastard! So I did some clicking on my PC and Lo and behold there was "Chemical Wedding" blasting through my speakers. Actually it had been years and years since I last took the time to listen to it.

And what do you know? I fucking like it now! A lot! Its of course a killer album. But who am I telling this?

Soooo here's Hawk telling you all that sometimes he just utters some shit that not quite up to par if you catch my drift

Anyway thanks for reminding me that it sometimes is a good thing to reevaluate your opinions. Now I know for sure that sometimes, I am an open minded bastard

 

[SoundMaster]

In my view, Chem Wed & Accident go hand-in-hand. They're really two of a kind. They were also Bruce's "rebirth", so to speak. Although the two preceeding records were awesome, they were very different from what fans expected of the Air Raid Siren, as others have stated.

Chem Wedding is really just a more polished AOB. It wasn't much of a growth, or progression....but that's fine, the songs kick f*cking ass.

And I will agree - Tat Millionaire is his weakest effort, by far. IMO, there are really only 2 GREAT songs (Born in '58 & Son of A Gun). It's hard to take the rest of the album seriously.

 

[Hawk]

Well,to these ears CM sounds a bit darker. I found that AoB sounded a bit mysterious or symphonic when I first heard it. Call me crazy but thats how it sounded to me. Anyway I guess I was initially disappointed by the more darker sound of CM.