Are Bruce Dickinson's solo albums worth checking out?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Feat77, Jul 27, 2017.

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  1. Feat77

    Feat77 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Toronto
    Where should I start if so?
     
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  2. Holy Diver

    Holy Diver Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    The Bruce Dickinson? :)

    I'm not too familiar with his solo stuff, but I like this song.

     
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  3. krisjay

    krisjay Psychedelic Wave Rider

    Location:
    Maine
    All are worth digging into. The Chemical Wedding would be my pick to start with.
     
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  4. Zoot Marimba

    Zoot Marimba And I’m The Critic Of The Group

    Location:
    Savannah, Georgia
    Chemical Wedding and Accident of Birth are worth a listen, but avoid Tattooed Millionare, yikes that one was terrible.
     
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  5. sentinel90125

    sentinel90125 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Virginia, USA
    Another vote for Chemical Wedding.
     
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  6. Papageno

    Papageno Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sweden
    +1 for Chemical Wedding
     
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  7. johnny q

    johnny q Forum Resident

    Location:
    Bergen County, NJ
    Chemical Wedding and Accident of Birth are the best in my personal opinion. However, my favorite Dickinson solo song is "Tears Of A Dragon" from Balls To Picasso. He would revisit this style later with Maiden on "Coming Home."

     
  8. Deuce66

    Deuce66 Senior Member

    Location:
    Canada
    I would suggest starting with this one. You'll notice another Maiden member in the song credits.

     
  9. Deuce66

    Deuce66 Senior Member

    Location:
    Canada
    The epic "Man of Sorrows" also from Accident of Birth.

     
  10. Sick Sick Phil

    Sick Sick Phil Forum Resident

    I love tattoo millionaire. After that I'm good with the best of he released.
     
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  11. Synthfreek

    Synthfreek I’m a ray of sunshine & bastion of positivity

    Don't forget the Samson albums he sang on.
     
  12. mikedifr0923

    mikedifr0923 Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Jersey
    The last three are by far the best, Accident of Birth, Chemical Wedding and Tyranny of Souls. The first two of those had Adrian. Such a good mix of the Maiden sound and modern (at the time) metal sound. Then get the Scream For Me Brazil live album, Tears of the Dragon is worth it alone hearing the crowd sing along with him.....

    If you want the older stuff the Alive in Studio A or Best of
     
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  13. mikedifr0923

    mikedifr0923 Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Jersey
    The live version of this song from Scream for Me Brazil gives me chills
     
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  14. The Hud

    The Hud Breath of the Kingdom, Tears of the Wild

    Accident Of Birth, Chemical Wedding, and Tyranny of Souls are all Maidenesqe, so if you like Maiden, you will probably like all 3.

    Balls To Picasso and Skunkworks are very different, so you have to go in with an open mind, but they are solid albums.

    I started with Accident Of Birth, then went with Chemical Wedding and Tyranny Of Souls. I would recommend Balls To Picasso next and finally Skunkworks.

    I have Tattooed Millionaire, but I don't like it very much.
     
  15. Why not go on to YT or Spotify and find out directly? It's not like there are dozens of them.
     
  16. The Hermit

    The Hermit Wavin' that magick glowstick since 1976

    Bruce's 1990's solo catalog is all pretty damned good in my opinion... a hell of a lot better than anything his (then) former band produced that decade, and arguably even better than anything they've produced since he and Adrian Smith returned to the fold. My advice is to start with Tattooed Millionaire and work through the catalog chronologically, up to and including The Chemical Wedding (which is one of the finest heavy metal albums of the decade, it has to be said). I'd love the Accident of Birth/Chemical Wedding line-up to have recorded one more album prior to the Maiden reunion, but it didn't work out that way so whatever...

    If in doubt about the magnificence of Brucie's solo works, feast your ears on this, probably the very best Maiden track that band never recorded;



    It's just a shame that Accident of Birth is such a terrible album title and probably one of the worst album covers in all of rock history, 'cause it's one hell of an album...
     
  17. The Hud

    The Hud Breath of the Kingdom, Tears of the Wild

    I agree that the title isn't great, but I do like the artwork. What can I say, I am a sucker for Derek Riggs' album covers.
     
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  18. MYQ1

    MYQ1 Forum Resident

    I have Tattooed Millionaire & like it.
    Bought Balls To Picasso, hated it & decided to end my Bruce Dickinson collection right there.
     
  19. Cheevyjames

    Cheevyjames Forum Resident

    Location:
    Graham, NC
    YES YES YES! I love Bruce's solo albums. As most have said here, start with Chemical Wedding or Accident of Birth. Skunkworks was a lot more daring of an album for him, not typical metal stuff. The run from Skunkworks through Tyranny of Souls is full of fantastic songs. Balls to Picasso was a bit more difficult for me to get into, except for Tears of the Dragon, which is a classic. I'm a fan of Tattooed Millionaire, even if a few songs are kind of bad. Janick Gers plays on TM and it's some of his most melodic playing I've heard from him. As stated, Adrian Smith plays and writes on Accident and Chemical and his presence is strongly felt.

    Tattooed, Piccasso, Skunkworks & Accident are all available in 2-disc versions with a ton of great B-sides.
     
  20. Matthew Tate

    Matthew Tate Forum Resident

    Location:
    Richmond, Virginia
    chemical wedding and accident of birth
     
  21. weekendtoy

    weekendtoy Rejecting your reality and substituting my own.

    Location:
    Northern MN
    I don't have Chemical Wedding and am looking to add to 'the collection' shortly. Quick question...

    Has the album ever been remastered? I can get, used, the 1998 CMC disc for the same price as the newer disc with three bonus tracks on Amazon. Just concerned if the reissue has been futzed with. Not sure if the Amazon date of 2015 is right since I'm not seeing anything at Disccogs for that year.

    https://www.amazon.com/Chemical-Wed...8-1&keywords=bruce+dickinson+chemical+wedding
     
  22. el supernautico

    el supernautico A traveller of both, time and space

    Location:
    Germany
    I can't but strongly confirm the recommendation of Dickinson's solo stuff!!!:edthumbs:
    To me, Chemical Wedding is the fulfilled promise of a more modern sounding Iron Maiden, and I rate it SO much higher than anything the original Iron Maiden did in the WHOLE nineties!
    I'd rate his solo works as follows:

    Tattooed Millionaire (1990):
    Pure classic hard rock with very melodic, catchy songs. It's Maiden escapism, but it's good. It didn't achieve the commercial hopes of the label, but I rate it very high in his catalogue. It's fresh, honest and presented Janick Gers to the Maiden family.

    Balls To Picasso (1994):
    Too grungy for my taste. I had high hopes for it when it was released, but except for Tears Of A Dragon (which isn't grungy at all, BTW) the album just doesn't do it for me. Bruce Dickinson, powerhouse-superhero of Metal-giants, now exercising understatement in a bobble-hat? Nah... He re-recorded several songs one year later (on "Alive in Studio A"), but that didn't help either...

    Skunkworks (1996):
    Okay, so Grunge didn't work out. Let's try it with Alternative Rock! This album feels and runs better than it's predecessor, but still, I never got into it. It's obvious that Mr. Dickinson put a lot of effort in this album, and I deeply respect that. But with a voice like his, you just cannot sing that sad emo-stuff with enough credibility. To me, it's neither fish nor fowl. That kind of music simply doesn't fit with somebody featuring an operatic voice. It's like Dio would try singing in Radiohead. Still, the album has it's fans.

    Accident Of Birth (1997):
    Now finally. Bruce has given up his dreams of a universally acclaimed, fashionable rocksinger and returns to his roots. With Adrian Smith on board, the songwriting metal-twin-force is back and delivers the goods. To me, the album feels a little patchy, but there are songs here that are some of the best he ever did (Darkside Of Aquarius, Man Of Sorrows). I think it's a bit overrated, but nonetheless it was definitely a move in the (only?) right direction.

    Chemical Wedding (1998):
    Wow. Simply amazing stuff. "Accident..." showed the way, and here they drove it full-throttle. Bruce managed to give the album a conceptual feel, it features a killer-production and songs that must have left Steve Harris in awe (if he could ever admit that;)).
    It's so much more than I could have hoped for, and to me, it's Dickinson at his absolute peak. Had he done this record with Iron Maiden, the heights would be unbelievable - well, if 'Arry would have let him, of course!:D
    A totally MUST-BUY!!!

    Tyranny Of Souls (2005):
    Released seven years after his last solo-album, I was disappointed. To me, it's treading water. It features the same soundscape as "Accident..." and "Chemical...", but not on the same level. It carries the mysticism, but not the quality. But then again, maybe I expected too much. Thinking about, I must admit I didn't hear it for ages. Maybe it's better than it is in my memory. It wasn't bad, but I prefer an artist to be challenging instead of repeating. Man, I have to hear it again...
     
  23. CBackley

    CBackley Chairman of the Bored

    I’ve decided to get into Bruce’s solo material by buying everything. There’s not that much so this is just the easiest way. So far I love it all. I’m mad at myself for not discovering this great music decades ago.
     
  24. el supernautico

    el supernautico A traveller of both, time and space

    Location:
    Germany
    It's never too late, my friend! :righton:
     
  25. Cheevyjames

    Cheevyjames Forum Resident

    Location:
    Graham, NC
    I felt the same way after missing Skunkworks for a few years. His solo albums are so excellent.
     
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