Recomendar
Bruce Dickinson: A Brief Review of the Solo Works (Except One)
Abr 12 2008, 22h35
Note: This was posted in response to a request inside of a thread in a journal entry by one of my good friends here on Last. So it's sort of written in response to her, but if you're new to Bruce's solo work, this may be helpful to you as well, which is why I posted it as a separate entry over here. (And also not to hog up her journal entry!) If you are a long-time fan of Bruce, maybe this will spark your own POV, too. I'm looking for some feedback on one album in particular (see below). (And if you know of any "Icarus" songs, jump over to her entry and contribute!)
For me, hands down the best solo Bruce Dickinson album is Accident Of Birth. Favorite tracks include
Taking The Queen / Darkside Of Aquarius (top pick), Road To Hell, Accident Of Birth, and Omega.
I prefer the expanded edition because you get some interesting alternate versions ofMan Of Sorrows, including a version with an orchestra (which is actually my favorite version) and a Spanish version, too.
I recommend starting with AoB because it may be closest to the Maiden sound. Adrian Smith helped with writing a few of the songs and plays on this. Let there be no illusions, though: much of Bruce's solo work is clearly that, because the songs would be out of place in the Maiden catalog.
You will surely find some things you like on any of the albums, except maybe one (see below). My personal ranking after Accident of Birth would be, with Top 3 tracks from each:
The Chemical Wedding:King In Crimson, Book Of Thel, Return of the King. Adrian plays on this one, too, and subsequently they both reunited with Iron Maiden for Brave New World, making good on Bruce's statement back in 1993 that he would only return to Maiden if Adrian did, too.
Tattooed Millionaire:Son Of A Gun, Born In '58, No Lies. The first Bruce solo album, but before he left Maiden. This made it clear right away that Bruce solo work would not be like Iron Maiden.
Which is a very good thing because had it been similar, it would have indicated either that Bruce had no clue how to do something separate, or else that there were serious internal troubles with Maiden. Instead, it showed both were not true, and that he really did want to do something different. Janick Gers does the guitars for this one, which was actually his second association with the Maiden universe after joining Paul Di'Anno and Clive Burr in Gogmagog in the mid-80s.
Tyranny of Souls:Abduction, River of no Return, Power of the Sun. The most recent solo work. Not especially good, and no Adrian this time, but there are a few interesting ideas here.
My least favorite is Balls To Picasso, the first one after leaving Maiden. It pains me to say I really did not enjoy it at all, and not a single song from that is in my collection. But evaluate it for yourself. You might likeTears Of The Dragon.
I can't comment on the one that I have never heard, Skunkworks. It's apparently the most non-metal album in the series.
(*Anyone have or know more than nothing about this album? Give me some detailed feedback! Not much in its shoutbox and no other journal entries...)
Of the live albums, I prefer Scream for Me Brazil over the 2-disc Alive in Studio A, simply because it covers songs from my favorite albums, while the latter came after just the first two solo albums. I think you can now get them packaged 3-for-1, though.
Of course, based on the above selections, you'll see that some of those tracks appear on the 2-disc The Best Of Bruce Dickinson, so maybe you just want to start with that, and then if you like it, start in on the rest! Plus if you get that, you get the first thing Bruce ever recorded!
Commentary:
Sound:
For most of his solo work, Bruce has collaborated extensively with guitarist/producer Roy Z (Tribe of Gypsies). This has been a cause of criticism by many fans of Bruce who would prefer him to hold closer to the sound of Maiden. I personally have no problem with (1) Bruce doing something separate and different, which is the point of a solo effort and (2) the sound that Bruce and Roy bring to these albums. I once read a review of one of these albums that said listening to Roy Z's solos is like listening to "Steve Vai reduced to a computer" ostensibly because they tend to be a bit too technical and don't really go anywhere, sometimes seeming to be more of an interruption to the overall structure of the song rather than an embellishment. While I find that comment hilarious, that's maybe true only sometimes, and I don't have such a big issue with his playing.
Content:
Besides being a fencer, pilot, radio host, etc...Bruce is a very well-educated "renaissance man" who uses his solo work as a means of writing & performing songs that are influenced by a variety of subjects and sources that, while similar and seemingly suited to later Maiden works, don't quite mesh well with the Maiden sound or Steve Harris' favorite inspirations for songwriting: modern history, war, politics, gothic horror, science fiction. Since Maiden truly is 'arry's band, Bruce I believe needs an outlet for his interests in philosophy, mysticism, astrology, alchemy (e.g. The Chemical Wedding), medieval literature and art, even the Bible (e.g. Isaiah 53:3).
His leaving Maiden in the early 90s was, while painful for me during that decade, actually for the best because it lead to this great solo stuff and also gave him the space & time he needed to allow the return to Maiden and the great material they've brought during this decade!
For me, hands down the best solo Bruce Dickinson album is Accident Of Birth. Favorite tracks include
Taking The Queen / Darkside Of Aquarius (top pick), Road To Hell, Accident Of Birth, and Omega.I prefer the expanded edition because you get some interesting alternate versions of
Man Of Sorrows, including a version with an orchestra (which is actually my favorite version) and a Spanish version, too.I recommend starting with AoB because it may be closest to the Maiden sound. Adrian Smith helped with writing a few of the songs and plays on this. Let there be no illusions, though: much of Bruce's solo work is clearly that, because the songs would be out of place in the Maiden catalog.
You will surely find some things you like on any of the albums, except maybe one (see below). My personal ranking after Accident of Birth would be, with Top 3 tracks from each:
The Chemical Wedding:
King In Crimson, Book Of Thel, Return of the King. Adrian plays on this one, too, and subsequently they both reunited with Iron Maiden for Brave New World, making good on Bruce's statement back in 1993 that he would only return to Maiden if Adrian did, too.Tattooed Millionaire:
Son Of A Gun, Born In '58, No Lies. The first Bruce solo album, but before he left Maiden. This made it clear right away that Bruce solo work would not be like Iron Maiden. Which is a very good thing because had it been similar, it would have indicated either that Bruce had no clue how to do something separate, or else that there were serious internal troubles with Maiden. Instead, it showed both were not true, and that he really did want to do something different. Janick Gers does the guitars for this one, which was actually his second association with the Maiden universe after joining Paul Di'Anno and Clive Burr in Gogmagog in the mid-80s.
Tyranny of Souls:
Abduction, River of no Return, Power of the Sun. The most recent solo work. Not especially good, and no Adrian this time, but there are a few interesting ideas here.My least favorite is Balls To Picasso, the first one after leaving Maiden. It pains me to say I really did not enjoy it at all, and not a single song from that is in my collection. But evaluate it for yourself. You might like
Tears Of The Dragon.I can't comment on the one that I have never heard, Skunkworks. It's apparently the most non-metal album in the series.
(*Anyone have or know more than nothing about this album? Give me some detailed feedback! Not much in its shoutbox and no other journal entries...)
Of the live albums, I prefer Scream for Me Brazil over the 2-disc Alive in Studio A, simply because it covers songs from my favorite albums, while the latter came after just the first two solo albums. I think you can now get them packaged 3-for-1, though.
Of course, based on the above selections, you'll see that some of those tracks appear on the 2-disc The Best Of Bruce Dickinson, so maybe you just want to start with that, and then if you like it, start in on the rest! Plus if you get that, you get the first thing Bruce ever recorded!
Commentary:
Sound:
For most of his solo work, Bruce has collaborated extensively with guitarist/producer Roy Z (Tribe of Gypsies). This has been a cause of criticism by many fans of Bruce who would prefer him to hold closer to the sound of Maiden. I personally have no problem with (1) Bruce doing something separate and different, which is the point of a solo effort and (2) the sound that Bruce and Roy bring to these albums. I once read a review of one of these albums that said listening to Roy Z's solos is like listening to "Steve Vai reduced to a computer" ostensibly because they tend to be a bit too technical and don't really go anywhere, sometimes seeming to be more of an interruption to the overall structure of the song rather than an embellishment. While I find that comment hilarious, that's maybe true only sometimes, and I don't have such a big issue with his playing.
Content:
Besides being a fencer, pilot, radio host, etc...Bruce is a very well-educated "renaissance man" who uses his solo work as a means of writing & performing songs that are influenced by a variety of subjects and sources that, while similar and seemingly suited to later Maiden works, don't quite mesh well with the Maiden sound or Steve Harris' favorite inspirations for songwriting: modern history, war, politics, gothic horror, science fiction. Since Maiden truly is 'arry's band, Bruce I believe needs an outlet for his interests in philosophy, mysticism, astrology, alchemy (e.g. The Chemical Wedding), medieval literature and art, even the Bible (e.g. Isaiah 53:3).
His leaving Maiden in the early 90s was, while painful for me during that decade, actually for the best because it lead to this great solo stuff and also gave him the space & time he needed to allow the return to Maiden and the great material they've brought during this decade!
Comentários
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sablespecter escreveu:
What exactly is Bruce's stance on spiritual matters, as you understand it?
Wow, that's a loaded question, isn't it? Truthfully, I don't know. On one hand, it's kind of like speculating for anyone else I don't personally know, which is to say it's not for me to speculate. It's also kind of like how much do you want to know about your heroes?
But if I was to hazard a guess, I'd say he's very comfortable with a belief in the existence of both God and Satan, and the struggle for the hearts of man in between, and probably more in the camp of the former. They probably all are, if I was to guess. I know Nicko McBrain certainly is, being a born-again Christian. No secret there, and also not likely an issue for the rest of the band.
They certainly do have a lot of songs that deal with the supernatural, spirits, devils, etc, so regardless of whether any of them other than Nicko follow any particular faith or dogma, they certainly acknowledge the existence of the spiritual. I don't know whether they look to any of it for guidance, though, or merely musical inspiration?
I need to get back to you with thoughts on The Mars Volta from earlier in this (crazy) week
Never an expectation on time! Not with life as it is! >:-O -
sablespecter escreveu:
I was just wondering if maybe you had more insight from some of the music biographies you'd read.
Well, I've read Run to the Hills, but that mainly focuses on what went on in the band throughout the years and the story behind the albums. Even in Chapter 10 on Bruce's background (alone worth the price of the book), it's more about him being an oops baby, being more raised by his grandparents, bouncing between schools, the story behind pissing in the headmaster's dinner and being generally unsure of himself until he found confidence in his abilities as a singer, rather than anything about his beliefs. Doesn't seem that he ever had any organized faith, and probably mainly interested in religion as much as the occult But he's been married to Paddy for quite awhile and has three kids, so you know what a moderating influence that life is.
BTW...it does tell you which album was the first he bought, who his favorite singers are, and who he really wanted to be!
it probably means that Bruce keeps his private life private
Probably enough of his life in press anyway...fencing, commercial piloting, authoring two books, the radio show... Speaking of which, BBC *really* needs to make his show available as a podcast. I already have to sit in front of the computer to stream Rockline, and Bruce's show is on 5-8PM on Fridays, not exactly when I'm around my PC...
...and now further press & scrutiny this summer with his movie! Synchronicity strikes again:
Chymical Wedding-- coincidentally, I was inspired to get familiar with William Blake not that long ago through some completely different avenue
I don't know that this will play in theaters stateside, but you can bet I'll get the DVD as soon as it drops! The soundtrack will be released next month!
Better than boring, I suppose?
Remember...best years of our lives... -
GrantRS escreveu:
On the spiritual question, I'm 99.9% sure Bruce has gone on record as denying being a satanist.Revelations hints at several religions, as does Darkside Of Aquarius, though that's not to say that Bruce is aligned with any of them. If I had to guess, I'd put him down as agnostic or atheist.
Skunkworks is a great album. I got it fairly recently, and am very pleased with it. Rather than putting all my efforts into trying to describe it, I'll first recommend getting the 'Anthology' DVD Bruce released recently which features almost the whole album played live with some vaguely psychedlic lighting.
Videos of the two singlesBack From The Edge and Inertia can be seen on Youtube if you want to get a better idea.
I think I avoided getting Skunkworks for a while based on how a lot of reviews emphasised how un-metal it was. By the time I heard it, I was expecting some sort of singer/songwriter kind of sound, but on listening to the songs I found reports to have been greatly exaggerated.
Lyrical content isn't all that different to other albums, though I think there's more overlaying of additional vocals and harmonies. Song structure I think is marginally simpler, but not all that different. There's no denying that the vocals are definitely Bruce though.
The band Bruce worked with is obviously not Roy Z and Adrian, so that's where the major difference is.
I find it hard to describe the guitar tone, but I'd say it's distorted to a sort of Eddie Van Halen kind of degree, and there's a lot of effects, possibly phaser and flanger, maybe even wah. I'm not good at identifying effects as you may well be able to tell.
Overall, it reminds me a little of some of the heavier grunge bands, though it still has Bruce's individual touch to it. I want to say that it's possibly a shade more 'pop' than the later albums, but I have read several reviews claiming the exact opposite. The longest song is 5 minutes exact, which counts a long sort of fade out part, so I suppose that corroborates the claim that the structures are a little simpler. There are less instrumental sections than on the Roy Z albums I think, though there are still solos, which tend to be slower than the Roy Z ones.
It's hard to describe because I can't really think of anything that similar to it, but it's basically get a spacey, echoey sound to the guitar within songs that are nearly all under 4 minutes. It's kind of a vaguely psychedelic sound to the instruments, if you know what I mean. Bruce's vocals are not always as operatic as they would be with Maiden, and they're multilayered quite often...But it's good, very good. -
sablespecter escreveu:
On the spiritual question, I'm 99.9% sure Bruce has gone on record as denying being a satanist.
Most assuredly so. All of them have, especially since that tag was so liberally applied to nearly any metal band in the 80s, particularly here in the States. Meh.
While being enamoured with the occult and Crowley, etc., that I believe is for objective interests and inspiration, and I would agree with you perhaps on the agnostic position. Ultimately, other than Nicko who definitely is a Christian, I'd say the others are probably of a position that there's both God and Satan, though not necessarily believing according to any particular dogma.
Thanks for the help with Skunkworks! Based on your description, I'd say it's an album that's of its time given the grungy elements. Being the completist that I am, especially with my favorite artists, you've given me a perspective beyond the un-metal reviews that I've read, too, and I'll have to check this out...finally! -
GrantRS escreveu:
In case you haven't checked youtube, or for convenience (whichever is more applicable)
Back From The Edge:
I'm sure the promo vid for 'Inertia' was on Youtube, but I couldn't find it when I looked just now.
Anyway, Back From The Edge gives a pretty good idea on its own. -
sablespecter escreveu:
No, I hand't yet looked it up, so thanks for bringing it right to the doorstep of this lazy ass!
I think it's great, and not unlike some songs on other Bruce solo albums. Had I seen this at the time, I would have thought WTF?? But these days, being so much more open to artists doing much more than the one thing they're known for (and being more completist) I would own this!
In fact, I think I will own this particular track right now courtesy of this video and this handy service until I can get the complete album...
You get credit for providing me with first listen...Cheers! -
GrantRS escreveu:
No problem, and I think I will bookmark that media converter site for lateer use, thanks.
