Bruce Dickinson   'Balls To Picasso'
Sanctuary, 2005
Tyrant:
Bruce Dickinson's ( Iron Maiden ) second solo album is an upbeat almost funky derivitive of melodic metal featuring his trademark soaring vocals over a variety of groovy riffs and moods courtesy of guitarist Roy Z. A variety of lyrcial themes are tackled on Balls To Picasso ranging from anti war themes '1000 Points Of Light' to relationships 'Change Of Heart' to more traditional vaguer areas 'Tears Of The Dragon'. If you're an Iron Maiden fan seeking more twin guitar harmonies and noodling bass than you best look elsewhere as 'Balls...' was an altogether different more progressive line with interesting percussion and more varied track styles. The undisputed album highlight is the awesome epic 'Tears Of The Dragon' with soaring vocals and a grandiouse atmosphere that slaps anything on Bruce's last two Maiden albums, with the omious 'Cyclops', the groovy 'Laughing In The Hiding Bush', the gay ballad 'Change Of Heart', and the unusual 'Gods Of War' also making honourable mentions. The remaining material is solid with a few exceptions that provide a considerble drag factor like 'Shoot All The Clowns', 'Fire', and 'Sacred Cowboys' which are either too popish or just plain crap. Originally released in 1994 this extended edition features a bonus disc with sixteen bonus tracks of which only the two remixes of 'Tears Of The Dragon' are really worthy of note. Overall a decent and different album.
Favourite Tracks - Tears Of The Dragon ; Cyclops ; Gods Of War
Mark - 7.5/10


Bruce Dickinson  'Skunkworks'
Raw Power, 1996
Tyrant:
Bruce Dickinson's solo career started looking more promising with the release of Balls To Picasso and Skunkworks follows a similar yet broader reaching format. Lyrically
futuristic space themes are dominant with tracks like 'Space Race', 'Solar Confinement', and 'Innerspace' but occasionally drift into odder territory like 'Strange Death In Paradise'. Skunkworks is a collection of 13 varied and at times very different short rocky alternative tracks which mostly have little to nothing in common with his work in Iron Maiden. From the powerful multilayered vocal delivery of 'Faith' through to the bizarre and trippy ( but not necessarily good ) 'I Will Not Accept The Truth' with its rather slow and paranoid feel, Skunkworks offers up plenty of different styles for the listener to digest. Bruce's vocals do gather some momentum in a few tracks but he uses his more aggressive voice akin to 'Be Quick Or Be Dead' on these occasions rather than his more satisfying soaring voice. Overall Skunkworks is a reasonably competent work with some rather decent tracks hidden amongst some shash.
Favourite Tracks - Faith ; Inside The Machine ; Solar Confinement
Mark - 6.5/10


Bruce Dickinson   'Accident Of Birth'
Sanctuary, 2005
Tyrant:
Bruce's third solo effort is a pleasantly surprising album full of heavy melodic metal. Accident Of Birth takes the groove laden riffing of Balls To Picasso turns them up a notch and puts them into songs structured in a more metallic format. Bruce is back in form with his epic vocals sweeping from their soaring range to deeper and harder passages when required. Adrian Smith ( Iron Maiden ) joined Roy Z in the fold on axe adding a slightly more melodic edge to the material whislt the lyrics now focus on more interesting ( metal ) themes like post apocalyptical future scenarios 'Omega', aliens 'Star Children', and fantasy tales 'Taking The Queen'. Accident Of Birth delivers twelve varied, yet cohesive, high calibre metal anthems without a single filler amongst them and more than a handful of classics my two favourites being the power ballads 'Man Of Sorrows' and 'Omega'. There isn't a track on the album that doesn't warrant mention whether it be the melodic Maidenesque 'The Magician' or the epic and brooding 'Darkside Of Aquarius' each track is individual, powerful, and unique. Accident Of Birth was originally released in 1997 this extended edition features a bonus disk featuring a bonus track 'Ghost Of Cain' as well as demo versions of several of the album tracks and a spanish and orchestral remix of 'Man Of Sorrows'. Overall a triumph of modern melodic metal that has no comparable competition.
Favourite Tracks - Omega ; Man Of Sorrows ; Taking The Queen
Mark - 9/10


Bruce Dickinson ‘The Chemical Wedding’
CMC International, 1998
Tyrant:
The Chemical Wedding is another triumph of melodic heavy metal in the same vein as it’s excellent predecessor ‘Accident Of Birth’. Bruce’s song is still improving with strong, more varied, and slightly more progressive tracks contributing to an exceptional album. The trademark solo’s of the genre abound throughout The Chemical Wedding which are most prominent in the English folk song come power ballad ‘Jerusalem’ which is a little remiscent of Iron Maiden, perhaps again due to the inclusion of former Iron Maiden guitarist Adrian Smith's unique style. An impressive acoustic build up in ‘Gates Of Urizen’ and a light sprinkling of keyboards in ‘The Alchemist’ effectively add depth to the more emotive parts of the albums material. Lyrically The Chemical Wedding deals with a variety of typical and unusual fantasy style topics such as William Blake, tarot cards ‘The Tower’, folksongs ‘Jerusalem’ offering an interesting array of moods to process. Bruce’s vocal performance is as usual spectacular utilising a vast range of his vocal spectrum from his soaring emotional voice ‘Chemical Wedding’ to his rougher growl and his under explored deeper clean voice ‘Machine Men’. Another example of why Bruce is the best vocalist in metal. The extended addition provides three additional bonus tracks of decending quality from good 'Return Of The King', to average 'Real World', to poor 'Confeos'.
Favourite Tracks - Chemical Wedding ; Machine Men ; The Book Of Thel
Mark 9/10
SECOND OPINION
Gloon :
Awesome, why Bruce went back to Maiden after this gem is anyone’s guess. A masterful blend of crushing heavy guitars, great song writing and ‘THAT’ voice.
Favourite Tracks - Chemical Wedding ,  Gates of Urizen, The Tower
Mark 9/10


Bruce Dickinson   ‘Tyranny Of Souls’
Sanctuary, 2005
Tyrant:
Tyranny Of Soul is a substantial departure from the heavy power metal anthems of Tragedy At Birth and The Chemical Wedding instead adopting a more power ballad style
of song writing akin to his earlier works. It also shares the sci-fi themed space lyrics of Skunkworks whilst retaining a 'thankfully' more consistent vibe. Highlights include the
acoustic power ballad ‘Navigate The Seas Of The Sun’ which allows Bruce to open up a bit, ‘Soul Intruders’ with a catchy chorus, ‘Kill Devil Hill’ with its infectious melodies, and the superbly wicked title track ‘Tyranny Of Souls’ offering up a slower darker vibe. The rest of the accompanying material on Tyranny Of Souls is quite good and complements the aforementioned standout tracks which was an area he has failed to deliver on in the past ( see 'Skunkworks'/'Balls To Picasso' ). Overall Bruce has relased a softer but still satisfying album of light melodic metal his fans will enjoy.
Favourite Tracks – Tyranny Of Souls ; Navigating The Seas Of The Sun ; Kill Devil Hill
Mark – 8/10
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