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Bruce's solo work reveals a daring artist, without boundaries or fear of experimentation.
Bruce's solo work reveals a daring artist, without boundaries or fear of experimentation.
Felipe Godoy
One of the biggest "curses" that can befall a musician from a major band who goes solo is the marketing power that usually emanates from the name/brand that made their past. Name anyone, from Rob Halford to Ozzy Osbourne, and every great musician who sets out to explore new musical and artistic horizons far from the group that brought them fame will have to deal with constant comparisons to their former band.
Bruce Dickinson's case isn't much different. Despite the hit "Tears Of The Dragon ," most of the former Air Raid Siren's solo career went completely unnoticed by the general public. The problem is that underestimating this phase of his career is one of the greatest injustices a respectable rocker can commit.
Bruce's solo work reveals a daring artist, without boundaries or fear of experimentation, representing, in the eyes of a small – but loyal – group of fans (including this writer), a much more complete and higher quality work than anything Iron Maiden, the band that made Bruce world-famous, has done since his and Adrian Smith's return to its ranks in 1999.
Let's now review Bruce Dickinson's solo career album by album, giving an overview of what these generally underrated albums have to offer.
“TATTOOED MILLIONAIRE” (1990)
A stripped-down album, packed with Rock N' Roll with a seventies flavor.
A stripped-down album, packed with Rock N' Roll with a seventies flavor.
Bruce Dickinson's first solo album began in a completely unexpected way, while the diminutive singer was still an official member of Iron Maiden. An invitation to contribute to the soundtrack of the film "A Nightmare On Elm Street 5: The Dream Child" and the desire to work with his old friend Janick Gers resulted in the track " Bring Your Daughter…To The Slaughter" (later re-recorded by Maiden themselves). Things seemed to work so well that the record label soon offered him a full album.
Featuring, in addition to Janick's guitars, the help of bassist Andy Carr and drummer Fabio Del Rio, what we have here is a stripped-down album, packed with top-quality 70s-flavored Rock N' Roll and produced by the always excellent Chris Tsangarides (Judas Priest, Anvil and many others). No less than four songs became singles/videos: Dive, Dive, Dive , the autobiographical Born in '58 , the wonderful cover of Mott The Hoople written by David Bowie, All The Young Dudes , and the instant classic that gives the album its name, Tattooed Millionaire – this one, they say, a message to a certain bassist named Nikki Sixx who had "spoiled" Bruce's wife and represented everything Bruce saw as wrong with humanity and Rock N' Roll as a whole.
There was also a promotional tour for the album, generally involving small clubs packed with fans and a band overflowing with energy. Drummer Fabio Del Rio couldn't make the shows due to other commitments, and was replaced by Dickie Fliszar. This is the lineup we see in the official video release "Dive Dive Live," which records a complete show from that tour. At the time, Bruce hated the result of these recordings thanks to the director's fussiness, to the point of wanting to prevent the release by throwing the original tapes into a river! Nowadays, however, he doesn't think it's so bad anymore and even celebrates the fact that there is a complete record of that very special time.
“BALLS TO PICASSO” (1994)
The album represented the constant need for reinvention that Bruce always sought as an artist.
The album represented the constant need for reinvention that Bruce always sought as an artist.
Bruce Dickinson's second solo album had an extremely difficult birth, full of trauma and ruptures. No fewer than three completely different versions of the album were made before something that truly pleased Bruce was completed.
The first version was again produced by Chris Tsangarides and featured musicians from the band Skin. While still a member of Maiden, the material sounded too closely tied to the band's work and was ultimately discarded for that very reason. Bruce needed to disconnect from all that and do something truly different. He quit Maiden and hired producer Keith Olsen (Ozzy, Scorpions, and others). The idea now was to go against the grain: absolutely inspired by his idol Peter Gabriel, he decided to take on the challenge of producing music with a more electronic flavor, absolutely unclassifiable and, at that time, totally avant-garde.
That still wasn't what Bruce was looking for. Then someone introduced him to the work of a Latin-flavored rock band called Tripe of Gypsies, and he was particularly blown away by the guitarist – a young man who went by the name of Roy Z. The two started composing together, and the result was inevitable: the entire second version of " Balls... " was also scrapped, replaced by a much heavier and more organic new work, now made by the two of them and produced by Shay Baby – although nowadays Bruce says he would have preferred Roy himself to have produced the album. More musicians from Tripe of Gypsies collaborated on the project: bassist Eddie Casillas and drummer Dave Ingraham.
Bruce finally achieved what he wanted: without necessarily abandoning the heavier side of music and accompanied by the musicians of Tripe of Gypsies, "Balls to Picasso" is a boundless and extremely courageous album. Full of groove, percussion, heaviness, and definitely distant from the sound that made him famous in Maiden, the album represented the constant need for reinvention that Bruce always sought as an artist, as well as the almost desperate attempt to escape formulas and everything the world seemed to expect of him.
The album yielded the singles/videos Shoot All The Clowns (a song commissioned by the record label, which wanted to hear something that sounded more or less like Aerosmith in the 70s) and the famous Tears of the Dragon , Bruce's only mainstream hit in his solo career and the only song that survived all three incarnations of the album. Many of the tracks discarded from the first two versions can be heard on the various singles released to promote the album and also on the remastered double version of " Balls… ", which features no less than 16 bonus tracks.
“SKUNKWORKS” (1996)
A quality album, but much more connected to the indie/alternative rock scene of the time than to metal. Bruce's new haircut contributed to the outburst of anger from fans.
A quality album, but much more connected to the indie/alternative rock scene of the time than to metal. Bruce's new haircut contributed to the outburst of anger from fans.
After the release of “Balls to Picasso,” Bruce was without a backing band. The musicians from Tribe of Gypsies had commitments to fulfill and couldn't tour with him. That's when he met the young guitarist Alex Dickson and recruited bassist Chris Dale and Italian drummer Alessandro Elena for the shows. A great document of this phase – which yielded good shows in Brazil in 1995 – can be heard on the live album “Alive In Studio A,” which also includes another CD as a bonus, “Alive At The Marquee.”
This lineup had good chemistry, and Bruce felt it might be time to return to a real band atmosphere in his work. Now named Skunkworks and produced by the wizard of 90s alternative sound Jack Endino (Nirvana, Titãs, and others), the band emerged from the studio with a final product that deeply pleased Bruce, while simultaneously alienating a good portion of his more Heavy Metal fanbase.
Contrary to what many people say, "Skunkworks" (the album) had nothing to do with the infamous Grunge scene that sent shivers down the spines of Bruce Dickinson's fans. It is, in fact, a quality album, but much more connected to the indie/alternative rock scene of the time than to metal. Contributing to the fans' anger was Bruce's new haircut and some of his comments here and there, revealing his dissatisfaction with certain sectors of heavy music and its extreme need to always adhere to pre-established formulas.
Bruce had been dropped from EMI and was now signed to the much smaller Castle Records. The market response to the album was meager, even with two more singles/videos being released: " Back From The Edge" and "Inertia ," the latter inspired by the band's trip to Sarajevo during the war. The tour promoting the album also yielded the long live video "Skunkworks Live," which ended up becoming the testament to this lineup.
“ACCIDENT OF BIRTH” (1997)
Since the idea was to revisit our roots and be Metal to the nth degree with great pride, how about calling our old friend Adrian Smith for the project?
Since the idea was to revisit our roots and be Metal to the nth degree with great pride, how about calling our old friend Adrian Smith for the project?
With his ego bruised after seeing many people consider "Skunkworks" a fiasco, Bruce felt it was time to return to what had initially made him famous: Heavy fucking Metal! This at a time when all the mainstream media was repeatedly saying that the style was dead. Mr. Dickinson didn't care: he wanted backdrops, lights, and even a new mascot. He decided to start by calling back the musicians from Tribe Of Gypsies, leaving the production in the hands of Roy Z for the first time. Completely unknown at the time, nowadays the mere mention of his name in a Metal-related project adds immediate value thanks to the enviable resume he has amassed over the years, including his work with Rob Halford and Judas Priest, among dozens of others.
But there was something more: since the idea was to revisit their roots and be Metal to the nth degree with great pride, how about calling old friend Adrian Smith for the project? Adrian had also been out of Maiden for a few years and was trying his luck with his project Psycho Motel. It didn't take much thought to see that the whole thing represented a match made in heaven for those who missed seeing the two responsible for creating anthems like 2 Minutes to Midnight and Flight of Icarus working together, and especially for those who weren't happy with the direction Iron Maiden's music – at the time with Blaze Bayley on vocals – had been taking in recent years.
The result? Simply one of the best Heavy Metal albums of the 90s. From the cover featuring the new mascot, the Edson puppet (get the joke?), to the recording, including the arrangements, lyrics and the whole package, the band came very close to what we can call "perfection," although it doesn't exist. Three singles/videos were released to promote the album: Road To Hell , the beautiful ballad Man of Sorrows (which was even recorded in a hilarious Spanish version) and the killer title track Accident of Birth .
Brazilians were able to witness all this magic during some shows that took place in the country in 1997, and it's worth seeking out the professional footage of the Skol Rock festival, broadcast live at the time by MTV Brasil, in which the band shows what they're made of despite heavy rain and almost overwhelming energy. Although the headliner of the night was Scorpions, a large part of the audience left after Bruce's show. Raise your hand if you were there!
“THE CHEMICAL WEDDING” (1998)
If someone who considers themselves a headbanger doesn't feel like playing air guitar around the house to Book of Thel , they should rethink a few things in life.
If someone who considers themselves a headbanger doesn't feel like playing air guitar around the house to Book of Thel , they should rethink a few things in life.
Since you don't mess with a winning team, Bruce kept the exact same lineup for this album as the previous one, in every aspect – including the band and Roy Z's production. And he was right, because "The Chemical Wedding" achieves something almost impossible: being even better than "Accident of Birth". Everything that made the previous album a true "must-have" is there again, only heavier and more refined. If anyone who considers themselves a headbanger doesn't feel like playing air guitar around the house to the immense weight and groove of Book of Thel , they should rethink a few things in life.
The entire band shines on the album, and two more singles/videos were released: the hilarious " Killing Floor" (featuring Bruce as a waiter amidst a setting representing the seven deadly sins) and the semi-hit "The Tower," in which even the puppet Edson makes a cameo. The entire graphic and conceptual aspect of "The Chemical Wedding" is inspired by the art of the cursed painter/poet William Blake (whose illustrations adorn the CD booklet) and other personalities who grappled with the hidden side of life in their quest for self-knowledge. The story eventually became a film produced by Bruce years later, which can be found under the same name as the album or as "Crowley," depending on the region.
Around this time, rumors of Bruce and Adrian's return to Maiden began to gain strength and became reality in early 1999. Bruce had already announced that the phase of long solo tours had also come to an end, but that he would promote "The Chemical Wedding" for a few more months before the definitive return "home". The shows included Brazil once again, and the excitement and connection between the band and the fans was so great that a live album recorded here was soon released, titled "Scream For Me Brazil".
“TYRANNY OF SOULS” (2005)
Even with this more sterile, somewhat careless, and even cold atmosphere, "Tyranny of Souls" is devastating from beginning to end.
Even with this more sterile, somewhat careless, and even cold atmosphere, "Tyranny of Souls" is devastating from beginning to end.
A good number of years had passed since "The Chemical Wedding," and Bruce was now comfortably back in the ranks of Maiden, having recorded two new albums with them. During one of the band's breaks, Bruce thought it might be time for another solo project, since Roy Z had given him a tape full of new riffs to analyze. The idea now was quite different from the guerrilla atmosphere of the 90s; there would be no tour – and in fact, the band wouldn't even get together to record the songs. The concept was to make as many good songs as possible, record them, put them all on a CD, release it, and that's it. No shows, no fanfare, just for personal satisfaction.
The recordings also reflected the era of home studios and Pro Tools. Each member was in a different corner of the world, exchanging recordings remotely, putting everything together, making adjustments here and there. The band was basically Bruce and Roy, with the other instruments being recorded by hired musicians like the (excellent) drummer David Moreno.
Even with the more sterile, somewhat careless, and even "cold" atmosphere of the recording sessions in terms of interpersonal relationships, "Tyranny of Souls" is devastating from beginning to end. Following the same total metal line as " Accident... " and " Chemical... ", the duo Z and Dickinson did what all the fans dissatisfied with Maiden's newer, more progressive-influenced works expected: they delivered a barrage of blows, heading in a direction that is both technical and aggressive, thus delighting those who miss this facet in the Maiden's current work. The greatest proof of this was chosen as the single/video: the simply annihilating " Abduction ," which shows what the Z/Dickinson duo is capable of when they come together.
The album also had a celebratory feel, with the re-release of Bruce's entire solo discography, remastered and packed with bonus tracks. It is now hoped that one day the little guy will be inspired enough to give us another continuation of this saga, which is only properly appreciated by a few, but which has left behind small and true masterpieces. And for those who want to start exploring this rich history, two recommendations: on CD we have “The Best of Bruce Dickinson” (2001) and on DVD the sensational triple DVD “Anthology” (2006) covering Bruce's entire solo career and videography – including all the music videos, the long-form videos (Dive Dive Live and Skunkworks Live), the 1999 São Paulo show that gave rise to the live album “Scream For Me Brazil”, commentary, interviews, material from Samson (the hilarious short film Biceps of Steel, from 1980), an electronic press kit for “Tyranny of Souls” and much more. Unmissable!
I hope this text will pique the curiosity of someone unfamiliar with Bruce's solo work, enough to enter this fascinating world. And if you already know and enjoy it, may it inspire you to listen again to your favorite album from this period, whatever it may be.
UP THE SHORTY!
*This text was written by a Wikimate and does not necessarily represent the opinions of the site's authors.
