It’s time now to turn attention to this year and one of the more anticipated releases from a few months back. It had been a very long time since Bruce Dickinson had dropped a solo album and buzz was high for it. Did it deliver?

Bruce Dickinson – The Mandrake Project

Released March 1, 2024 via BMG Records

This marked Bruce’s first solo album since 2005’s excellent Tyranny Of Souls. The planning for this record dates back to at least 2015, when Bruce and Roy Z recorded an early version of a song that wound up on an Iron Maiden album and then repurposed for inclusion here.

Bruce was joined by Roy Z, who produced and also played guitar and bass. Dave Moreno was the drummer and Maestro Mistheria provided keyboards. A few guests dropped by for cameos, including Gus G on a solo for Eternity Has Failed.

The Mandrake Project is a concept record, though the full story is not really available in the songs. A series of graphic novels are being released that detail the story. There isn’t a ton to go on other than someone has learned the secret to raising the dead. There has been speculation that not all songs on the album tie into the story and I personally can’t make much sense of it so I won’t drag the point out further.

Today we have 10 songs with a 58:44 runtime. There are several editions of the album around but the differences revolve around covers and booklets, the music is the same across formats and versions.

Afterglow Of Ragnarok

The album opens with the lead single and thus the song we’re most familiar with. It’s a pretty big track with a fat main riff and the song shifts up its focus a few times throughout. Some contrasting light and dark stuff going on.

It is really nice to hear Bruce sing over a Roy Z riff again, it does stand out in contrast to Bruce’s main gig. This song is good but it is also very all over the place. The lyrical fare is dense and hard to get into without knowing the full story and the song jumps around a bit too much for my liking. It’s one I don’t mind hearing but it’s a bit jumpy for me. Grade: C+

Many Doors To Hell

Up next is a pretty bright and powerful tune. It’s a more standard offering than the prior track and is a signature Roy Z rocker. Here Bruce opines about a vampire who actually wishes to feel what’s it like to be human again. It’s a pretty cool song. Grade: B+

Rain On The Graves

This one kicks off with a pretty sly and playful riff, which accents the premise that someone is meeting the devil in a graveyard. The chorus is more straight-up and powerful so it creates a nice contrast. An awesome song and the standout track of the record. Grade: A

Resurrection Men

It’s now on to a song with a spaghetti western motif to it. The intro riff establishes the unconventional theme, then the song moves into a more typical presentation. It’s a very interesting presentation through the first part of the song, then there is a weird breakdown kind of section that is very jarring on first listen. I was able to get more into it on later listens but it really threw me off at first. Grade: B+

Finger In The Wounds

This one starts up ballad-like but gains a lot of power into the first chorus. Bruce said in an interview with Apple Music that this one is about the stigmata of Christ. There is also a Roy Z “off in la-la land” interlude here which, honestly, fits the song very well. Grade: B

Eternity Has Failed

Now we’re on to a song that was in process a decade ago, then Steve Harris heard it and the song got included on Iron Maiden’s The Book Of Souls album. That song was called If Eternity Should Fail, so Bruce and Roy Z reworked some lyrics to freshen things up for the song’s intended purpose here.

For me I can’t separate the two entities. It’s tough to listen to this one in the shadow of the Maiden track. I feel like the Maiden song is better sounding and better executed. I don’t think this is awful, but it really does pale knowing what else is out there, this doesn’t have the same feel. Grade: C-

Mistress Of Mercy

This is a pretty standard, fast-paced rocker. Bruce said this one is about music and how it is a mistress, in the sense of a dominatrix. I don’t get it but the song is still pretty fun to hear. Grade: B-

Face In The Mirror

Now we get a ballad and it’s a very somber one about both addicts and the people who judge addicts. I’d say it’s pretty well done, it is very much on rails and the same all the way through and might get a bit dull toward the end, but I can appreciate the song’s concept and overall presentation. Grade: B-

Shadow Of The Gods

This one goes way back to Bruce’s prior solo album Tyranny Of Souls. It was written with intent to use for the Three Tremors project, which originally was to include Rob Halford and Ronnie James Dio alongside Bruce. There were attempts to insert Geoff Tate in place of Dio and the whole story behind it is a mess that is another story for another time. In the end this never got off the ground, so Bruce included the song here.

The song opens as a ballad but kicks into a heavy mother later on. It’s fairly evident where the part Halford was supposed to sing is at. But the song is very good and offers up plenty of worth even without the intended collaborators. Grade: A-

Sonata (Immortal Beloved)

The closing track is a ten minute ballad that I guess they forgot to put on Senjutsu. In seriousness, the song is the oldest track on the album and was something Roy Z put together based on the 1994 film Immortal Beloved, which covers an aspect of Ludwig van Beethoven’s life.

This one is more ballad-like with a fair bit of atmosphere and layering behind it. While the song has been around forever, Bruce winged the lyrics off the cuff. The song is interesting and after I’ve played it several times I find more to like about it then not. Maybe it could use a bit in the way of variety in the arrangement, but it’s still a nice song to hear. Grade: B

The Mandrake Project was a hotly anticipated release after 19 years without a Bruce Dickinson solo album. It charted number one in three countries and top ten in many others. It had a soft US performance, landing at 176 on the Billboard 200 but claiming spots on the Independent Album and Hard Rock Album charts. It did land at number three in the UK, where the album had stiff competition from Rod Stewart as well as Liam Gallagher. It’s too early for any sales or certification info.

This album was a challenge for me in the beginning. It isn’t easy and accessible right off the bat, there are some layers and more dense portions. I mean, I have no real clue what The Chemical Wedding is about and I hail it as a masterpiece, but this one didn’t hit with that kind of immediacy. The album’s reception was also impacted a week later by the Judas Priest album Invincible Shield, which is widely hailed as an instant classic and drew a lot of attention away from this one.

But over time I gave this one more spins and a fair few of my concerns were lifted. I could appreciate more of what was going on and some stuff that put me off at first, like Resurrection Men, I came around on. This album isn’t a masterpiece or a career record but it still offers up plenty to enjoy.

Album Grade: B

In the end I can appreciate what is on offer here. I sort of assume Bruce will work on another solo record someday, though I also believe his main gig will be taking up his time in the foreseeable future. But The Mandrake Project is a serviceable album to end a very long solo layoff.