Tag: Bruce Dickinson

Picking Five Songs From 1994

On By bigbadburchIn Songs By Year7 Comments

So my post is late, big shock I know. This was actually due to an IT issue. I thought I had killed my trackball and I couldn’t find another mouse so I was navigating my PC with keyboard shortcuts and wasn’t having a grand time of it. I somehow got the trackball going again but everything got pushed back a little bit. No biggie.

I am now up to 1994 on this series. I was either a junior or senior in high school, depending on the time of year. I was still a fairly directionless, dumb teenager, though at some point in this year I did commit to joining the US Navy, which I would go through with a year later. But that’s a story for 1995, a post that’s coming tomorrow.

1994 was a big year for music. Grunge would symbolically “die” with the suicide of Kurt Cobain. New strains of alternative music were popping up. Alt-rock was really taking shape and was becoming the default version of rock on the radio and MTV. Heavy metal saw its older and more traditional forms fall off hard, but new, more extreme variants were having a field day around this time. Death metal was about as big as it would ever be, though it would have a short shelf life in the “almost mainstream.” And many of us in the pre-Internet USA were getting word of a crazy ass murder that happened in ’93 surrounding a form of music called “black metal.”

But neither of those forms of music are represented on today’s list. I was entrenched in death metal around this time, but the format doesn’t always lend itself to big, noticeable singles. And I wasn’t quite ready for black metal quite yet. I was fine with the music I had access to. I was still keeping an ear to what mainstream music had to offer, at least for the next few years. So with all that out of the way, let’s get into 1994.

Nine Inch Nails – Reptile

It’s fair to say The Downward Spiral has a handful of my favorite Nine Inch Nails cuts. One that’s really stood out to me when I’ve played it in recent years is this later into the album track that is, simply enough, about getting an STD (or STI now, I don’t know). Fine enough in itself but this dark and twisted musical accompaniment makes it almost desirable to engage in this chase. Conceptually this song is either a continuation of what happened in the big hit Closer, and/or it’s just some shit that happened to Trent Reznor. Musically it’s a titan of industrial metal.

Oasis – Live Forever

Britpop was big in ’94 and the eventual world leaders of the movement showed up with their debut album Definitely Maybe. Live Forever is a song I’ve gushed about several times before and I’m most likely going to do so several times again. Today I’ll do so, but briefly. This song is a beautiful account of the unbreakable bond between family, friends and other loved ones. The song can suit the most special of occasions like weddings and funerals, or simply sitting and contemplating those special bonds in life. This is easily one of the greatest Oasis songs.

Corrosion Of Conformity – Seven Days

Up next is a somber, powerful quasi-doom ballad from the long-running North Carolina noise merchants on their album Deliverance, a stark turn into southern rock and metal that redefined the band’s legacy. The song is a powerful statement that entwines the religious symbolism of Christ with the minefield of personal interactions. Hard not to get swept away in the emotions and desolate nature of this masterwork.

The Cranberries – Zombie

When The Cranberries hit I did not exactly go wild for them. Linger and Dreams didn’t connect with dull, disaffected teenage me. While I will gladly report that I am very into The Cranberries as a whole these days, our topic today is a whole other matter.

Zombie is a haunting, wretched heavy metal masterpiece about the woeful decades of The Troubles that plagued Ireland and England through a lot of the 1900’s. It isn’t just a case of a lily-white alt-rock darling going “metal” for a gag – this is full on the real deal, and with it a vocal performance from Dolores O’Riordran that goes down in immortality, and has already sadly outlived her.

For any song I’ll ever discuss on here, this is one I figure damn near everyone who might read would already know. And if you don’t, well, stop whatever you’re doing and educate yourself now.

Bruce Dickinson – Tears Of The Dragon

Bruce Bruce took a huge, frightful step in the mid 1990’s and left Iron Maiden, the band that made him and that also he made, or at least he helped put on the worldwide map. His second solo album Balls To Picasso was his first statement since leaving and it offered up this insane, massive power ballad.

This is an immense song about facing the fears of stepping out, which for Bruce was leaving Maiden, but the song is universal and everyone can find solace in its message. Bruce was able to explore space not available in Steve Harris’ vision of 1990’s Iron Maiden. While their paths would reconnect for one of music’s most electrifying reunion sagas, Bruce did acclimate himself very well on his own.

That wraps up 1994, which was a huge year in music and honestly a lot of songs I love are missing from this list. But hey, that’s the nature of picking five from each year. Up next is 1995, which was one of the most significant years of my life. And you, spoiled reader, get the goods tomorrow.

Bruce Dickinson – Resurrection Men

On By bigbadburchIn Song Of The Week5 Comments

This week’s song is a bonus feature as it includes a few more tracks. Bruce Dickinson just released a single for another song from The Mandrake Project. For my full review of that album, look no further than here.

Resurrection Men is a curious choice for a single release. We got a vinyl release with the lead single Afterglow Of Ragnarok, and the excellent Rain On The Graves was a digital-only offering. Now we have another physical product, this time a CD only issue of this song. It does seem a bit odd to see a CD single in 2024 but hey, it’s not expensive so I’m not complaining. This release did come with a big poster that I’m not hanging up or folding out so no pics of it, sorry.

The main serving here is Resurrection Men. As I said when I reviewed the album, I was a bit thrown off by this song at first. It does feature a bit of a spaghetti western riff with it, which is fine and isn’t the part that throws me off. It’s a weird sort of a slow-tempo breakdown or interlude a bit into the song that I think doesn’t fit all that well and detracts from the power Bruce showcases on the song’s chorus. I have warmed up to it on repeated listens but I’ll still be honest and say I would have done the song differently and let it ring solid throughout. But I’ve grown to be ok with it so I’m not going to rip it apart or anything.

I have zero clue what this song is about. There is a story through some of the album’s songs that discuss being able to resurrect people and this is certainly one of those songs. It mentions Lazarus, who is both a Biblical figure of resurrection and also a character in the story so I’m not really going out on a limb to figure this is a “story song.” I don’t know the story beyond Lazarus, Necropolis and dead bodies being brought back to life so there’s that.

A new music video came with the single release. It is a standard live performance clip that doesn’t tie in to the story at all. Cool video but nothing to help dig further into the concept that is mostly presented in graphic novel form.

As B-sides there are two songs performed live in Sao Paulo, Brazil earlier in 2024. Bruce performed on this tour with his House Band From Hell, which curiously did not include Roy Z. There is fan speculation on there being untidy reasons for that but nothing has really been said by anyone so I’ll leave it at that. To my knowledge these B-sides are only available on the CD right now, I’m sure in the future they’ll find their way to a streaming platform.

The first song is Afterglow Of Ragnarok, already mentioned as the lead single from this current album. The crowd kicks off the recording and is in full form as South American crowds are. If you aren’t aware, they are the most boisterous crowds on the planet. Things then kick in to a bit of an introduction from Bruce and the song proper, which sounds very heavy and honestly quite good on here. On first listen I remember telling Deke that these B-sides might not be up to snuff for a full live album, but my ears might have been wrong about that. This one is sounding pretty damn good after repeated listens.

The second B-side goes back in time to Bruce’s prior solo album which was Tyranny Of Souls from 19 years ago in 2005. Abduction was the lead and only single from that effort. It is really cool to hear this live after not having Bruce solo material for so long. It’s a good performance for a song that’s shockingly about alien abduction, then the single fades out as Bruce gives a “how the fuck are you?” to Brazil.

Overall this is a pretty cool package. The poster isn’t my thing but it’s a cool bonus for those who would want it, and two live B-sides are worth the price of admission. This does tip us off that live material is being recorded and we can draw lines and speculate that a full live offering might be on the horizon, so if you’re a Bruce and Maiden fan it might be best to keep a few bucks handy, especially since Maiden themselves will most certainly have a new live album in the next year.

Bruce Dickinson – The Mandrake Project

On By bigbadburchIn Album of the Week5 Comments

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.

Bruce Dickinson – Afterglow Of Ragnarok

On By bigbadburchIn Song Of The Week10 Comments

Usually I do a “song of the week” but this week we’ll get two as I have the new Bruce Dickinson single in my hands and, as luck would have it, there are two songs on it. One of them many are already familiar with, but we’ll get to that.

Afterglow Of Ragnarok is the lead single from Bruce’s forthcoming album The Mandrake Project. The album has now had its tracklist previewed and will be released on March 1st, 2024. Anticipation is high among the fanbase for this one, as this is Bruce’s first solo album since 2005, nearly a two decade wait. This first single was released to streaming on Friday, December 1st and it was also issued on 7-inch vinyl, which I got in the mail this past Monday.

The single package includes a small comic book which sets up the story being told in this concept album. There will also be a graphic novel running alongside the album that further gets into the crazy story Bruce has set up here. The music video for this song and the small comic inside the vinyl seem to be setting up the same story.

Afterglow Of Ragnarok

The A-side is the title song here so let’s hit that up first. You may notice the video is 8 minutes long, but rest assured the actual song is a more lean 5:40. There is an intro and extended credits cut on the video here.

This is one heavy, heavy song. It does go into some more melodic sections that give Bruce room to shine (well, sort of, we’ll get into that in a second) but this is seriously heavy stuff from Roy Z. It’s honestly a little stark just how hard hitting this one is. Not in a bad way at all, but there’s an edge here beyond what we’ve heard from Bruce or his other outfit.

Lyrically this one is a tough nut to crack. It’s not one of those songs that offer something to the usual human experience and that anyone can take a bit of meaning from. This is a pretty dense affair that has all to do with the story being told. The song functions well on its own but it will require hearing the whole album and knowing more about what the hell is going on to really get into the theme.

There is a pretty big issue here, one that I am far from alone in bringing up. For whatever reason, Bruce’s vocals are fairly buried in the music here. The instruments, which again are heavy as all hell, are somewhat flooding out a guy known as the Human Air Raid Siren. It’s a very noticeable flaw here and one I put down to production. Bruce sounds fine, all concerns about his age and past throat cancer aside. He may not wail like it’s 1984 but he can still carry a tune plenty well enough to do this solo record. But a puzzling choice was made to put his vocals under the music for some reason and it sticks out. It is maybe a bit better on the actual vinyl as opposed to digital but it’s still noticeable. I don’t know how this all works but I’m hoping someone can stealth fix this issue a bit before the full album releases, at least get the digital version of the album set straight. I do still like the song and I’ll gladly play the album but this flaw can’t be looked over.

If Eternity Should Fail (demo)

The B-side offers up a bit of a treat and a song nearly 10 years old now. This is the demo recording Bruce and Roy Z did of this song back when they were first laying plans for this album. The album was supposed to go by this title and this was presumably either the centerpiece or the starting point for the huge story.

Well, something got in the way, and that something is Steve Harris and Iron Maiden. Steve heard this demo and really liked the song, and as you may notice it is the opening track of The Book Of Souls. This led Bruce back to the drawing board and he chose a new title for the album and, after some rewrites on the background story, he also re-christened this song. I presume the track Eternity Has Failed from the album will bear some resemblance to this one but also be its own entity.

But here we have the original demo recording done in 2014. It is pretty well what most would think – it’s a demo version of this song. It is basic in structure though the song is fairly well formed, it hits the same beats as it does in its final form and there isn’t anything missing or altered. It is bare bones compared to the Maiden version but that’s certainly excusable as this is only Bruce and Roy’s demo version, they didn’t even get a chance to finish it. It’s a cool thing to have as a B-side, especially since the song proper didn’t make the album. We also get to clearly hear Bruce speak what is a bunch of distorted vocal gibberish on the end of the finished Maiden version – it’s all stuff that directly relates to Bruce’s story but Steve said to leave it on the Maiden album because “lol,” I guess.

One further note – as of now, this B-side seems to only be available on the physical vinyl single. I could not find it on any official digital service and I’m not gonna bother posting a random YouTube version that will probably get taken down in a day. This is more of a cool bonus track anyway, it’s not something essential to the album itself.

That about covers it for this new single, ahead of one of my most anticipated albums of 2024. The old guard are still flying the metal flag, gotta enjoy it while we can.

Bruce Dickinson announces new solo album The Mandrake Project

On By bigbadburchIn Upcoming Music6 Comments

Last Thursday, September 21 finally saw a long-awaited reveal, as Iron Maiden directly released information about Bruce Dickinson’s seventh solo album. It is titled The Mandrake Project and is slated for an “early 2024” release. More specific information will be forthcoming, of course.

In addition to the album, Bruce has also announced a small run of solo shows in Mexico and Brazil in late April and early May of next year, giving us a guess that the album will release sometime before that small tour.

This is Bruce’s first solo record in a long time – have to go back to 2005’s Tyranny Of Souls for the last one. It’s also only his second one since returning to Iron Maiden in 1999, clearly his main gig and host of other jobs like flying, beer selling and sword fighting keeps him busy.

Not much music has been made available yet, there is a small snippet of instruments in a video on Iron Maiden’s social media pages but that’s all for now. I’d expect a full song to be previewed soon, maybe when the release date is revealed.

There also isn’t a whole lot to say about the upcoming album yet, other than Bruce is again working with his longtime collaborator Roy Z. That’s good news to anyone attuned to Bruce’s solo outings, as Roy Z helped craft some amazing albums with Bruce.

We can also speculate that one song we already know will appear on the album. Bruce has been working on a concept album for years, dating back to when Iron Maiden recorded The Book Of Souls album that released in 2015. That opening track, If Eternity Should Fail, was originally written by Bruce and intended for this new solo record when Steve Harris heard it and asked for it to be on the Maiden record instead. In fact, the somewhat incoherent babbling about “Necropolis” and all that at the end of the song is a tie-in to the story for this Bruce solo album. While nothing official has been said yet, I’d place bets that If Eternity Should Fail winds up on here too, though I’m sure it would be a redone version of it.

There’s not much else to do right now but sit and wait, this will be a highly anticipated release for me. Well, I guess there is one more thing we can do and that’s gawk at that somewhat awkward promo photo, with Bruce totally photoshopped over a mystical alien door of some kind. I’m assuming and hoping that’s just a promo photo and not the true album cover, a bit of chatter in spots on social media seem to support that theory. People have had a field day with this shot, some even remarking that it’s as bad as the infamous cover to Dance Of Death. I think this is a goofy photo but it’s not anywhere near the level of bad that Dance Of Death has for a cover.

Now with that out of the way, I truly can sit and wait for more news and some previews of this new Bruce album. It’s been a long time and I’m looking forward to another entry in his outstanding solo catalog.

Xero – Oh Baby!

On By bigbadburchIn collecting5 Comments

Today’s single is a curiosity from the early 1980’s. This is a band that never wound up recording a proper album. They released one single, featured here today, as well as a handful of songs on compilation albums. A retrospective CD would come many years later, long after the band called it quits.

There are a number of ways to market a single for an emerging band. In the early 80’s, one such way would be to feature a guest spot from a famous rock star. It would appear from the cover that Xero have that part nailed down.

But, appearances are deceiving. Yes, Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden does have a vocal track on this single. But Bruce never sang for Xero, he did not drop by the studio and lend his vocal talents to the band.

Here’s what happened, this rather obscure tale is sourced through the Discogs page for Xero as hard info is hard to come by. The common thread between Bruce Dickinson and Xero is a band called Shots. Bruce sang for them for a bit before joining Samson in 1979. Shots recorded a few songs with Bruce, one of them being the track Lone Wolf.

At one point in Shots before they broke up, guitarist Billy Liesegang joined. It does not appear that Liesegang was in the group at the same time as Dickinson, but I can’t confirm one way or the other. Shots would break up and Liesegang formed Xero.

As Xero were preparing the release of their lone single, it would appear that the band’s manager was the one who had the idea to take the Shots recording and tack it on to the Xero single. I can’t source this definitively, but I have seen it mentioned at the Bruce Dickinson Wellbeing Network, an archive of Bruce-related news and releases. This concept that it was the manager’s idea also comes up in discussion, but again, a super hard and fast source is tough to come by. It doesn’t appear to have been Billy Liesegang’s idea, that much seems clear.

Whatever the case, Xero released the single with Lone Wolf on it. It apparently didn’t take long for Iron Maiden management to come calling in regards to the unauthorized use of Bruce Dickinson’s vocals. The track was replaced with a different song in subsequent pressings of the single.

So, with all that commotion out of the way, let’s get into the songs themselves. Bear in mind that these are not hosted by any official source and, as is often the case with YouTube, these clips may vanish without warning.

Oh Baby!

The lead single is a melodic rock affair with, uh, not the greatest production but good enough to hear what’s going on. The song seems a bit “light” given that the group have a New Wave of British Heavy Metal billing, and it’s especially light when compared to the B-side. I think the song is fine, I don’t at all mind listening to it. The single apparently moved a few copies back in the day but I don’t have solid information on that, just Internet anecdotes.

Hold On

On to the B-side and a very nice track. This is more along the lines of what I expected when I first checked this single out. It is a very straightforward song with a nice solo passage and I, like many, think maybe they should have led the single with this instead of Oh Baby. This song did appear on a comp record called Brute Force so maybe that’s why they didn’t release it as the A-side.

Lone Wolf

Here we have what is not really the band Xero, but the band Shots instead. This was one of a few tracks that Shots recorded with Bruce Dickinson and it was illicitly used on this single (again, an apparent management decision and not the band’s).

The song is pretty cool but it does stand out a bit from the other two recordings, this one is clearly a bit older than the other two songs. One can be forgiven for not thinking that Bruce is singing on this, but recall that he was still a teenager when he recorded this and hadn’t fully fleshed his voice out, something he’d do more of in Samson. After a few listens I can find him in there a bit, it’s interesting to hear him on an old recording so young.

So that’s the tale of Xero and their big single release, something that would be derailed by a pesky thing called performance rights or something like that. I don’t know what caused Xero to not get around to a full-length or to break up, again, info on them is super hard to come by and almost all of it revolves around the Bruce stuff.

Given the difficult nature of putting all this together with very few good sources, if anyone out there reads this and has any true, factual source material about this release I’d be happy to be pointed to it so I can make sure my stuff is accurate. I’m not really expecting much since few concrete leads turned up in my searches, but hey, never hurts to ask.

Album Of The Week – March 6, 2022

On By bigbadburchIn Album of the Week5 Comments

Today’s album is widely-regarded as the magnum opus of a legendary singer’s solo career. This crown jewel of an album, coupled with the low-water mark his former band was at in the late 90’s, would result in a reunion and a new legacy.

Bruce Dickinson – The Chemical Wedding

Released September 25, 1998 via Air Raid Records UK

My Favorite Tracks – The Tower, Chemical Wedding, The Book Of Thel

The Chemical Wedding was Bruce’s 5th solo outing and his 4th since leaving Iron Maiden in 1993. Former Maiden guitarist Adrian Smith was also along for the ride, having joined with Bruce the year prior for the Accident Of Birth album. Helming the console for production and also picking up a guitar was Roy Z, whose Tribe Of Gypsies bandmates would also fill out Dickinson’s solo band.

The album’s lyrics and themes were inspired by the works of English poet and painter William Blake. Blake’s painting The Ghost Of A Flea was used as the cover art. The marriage of Blake’s themes of religion and nationality along with heavy metal would create a stunning and unique record. At a few points where Blake’s works were directly read as song intros, English shock rocker Arthur Brown provided the narration.

King In Crimson

Things open with a banger. The guitars are low and heavy and Bruce builds through a powerful pre-chorus to deliver the to-the-point chorus. Adrian and Roy Z are all over this track with an extended solo section. This is one of the songs from the album that one really wonders what it would have sounded like with Maiden.

Chemical Wedding

A more atmospheric and brooding tune, the title track evokes images of marriage and death. It’s unclear what a “chemical wedding” actually is but it sounds pretty messed up. Bruce again stays quiet through the verses then goes air raid siren on the chorus. Play to your strengths, so they say, and Bruce does just that.

The Tower

A bass line opens the track, reminiscent of that band. The song goes into another metal outing that sees Bruce attacking the vocals from the get-go. The lyrics possess a ton of symbolism that some speculate is derived from tarot cards. This blend of heavy metal and spooky, mysterious symbology persists throughout the record and creates a vibe that transcends the cliches of heavy metal songwriting.

Killing Floor

The heaviness ratchets up a few notches on this slamming tune about the Devil. Satan is out on the prowl here, seemingly attacking people through their dreams in the vein of Freddy Kruger. The pre-chorus offers a bit of a melodic reprieve before the band tears through the heavy as hell chorus. This song also got a video with Arthur Brown fittingly in the role of Satan.

Of all the music videos, this is certainly one of them

The Book Of Thel

Directly lifted from a William Blake work, both Blake’s story and Dickinson’s song ponder the inevitable loss of innocence and the bleak ultimate fate of life. The song tears through the twisted tale of Thel discovering her terrible destiny.

Gates of Urizen

More from Blake’s mythology here, Urizen is a powerful figure that represents one aspect of a central god who later fell and created the material world out of spite. The song offers a vague recounting of being at Urizen’s gates and a dark transformation happening. Despite the heavy subject matter the song is one of the lighter offerings on the record.

Jerusalem

Most Dickinson-related fare requires an epic and Jerusalem serves that purpose here. Tied to Blake’s most ambitious and ponderous work of the same name, Dickinson sings of Jerusalem being re-established in England. The lyrics hold to Blake’s vague work, not offering a clear picture of whatever symbolism is delivered here. The band are up to the task of bringing a lush soundscape to this epic tale.

Trumpets Of Jericho

Here Bruce takes a story from the Bible, one where soldiers march around the outer walls of the city of Jericho until the walls crumble. In this song the unconventional siege tactic doesn’t work, because nothing about science indicates it would work, and the walls remain. The tune discusses the feeling of futility after being unable to break the walls down.

Machine Men

This song makes use of a well-worn topic in heavy metal – the literal use of metal to create engines of war. Soulless metal monsters storm the landscape and devour humanity in their jaws. The creations here seem to be made of humans now repurposed as war machines. The song’s heaviness matches the weight of the subject matter.

The Alchemist

The album closes with a very trippy and atmospheric number. The meaning is somewhat unclear but the protagonist seems to be rejecting the ills of civilization, it is a last stand against death and decay. As the song winds to its conclusion it offers the chorus of the title track as a reprise.

The Chemical Wedding was a critically acclaimed success for Bruce Dickinson. It is widely considered his solo masterpiece. Commercial success was more elusive for this traditional metal album in 1998, just as it was for Bruce and Adrian’s former bandmates toiling in obscurity. Less than 6 months after the release of this album, Bruce and Adrian rejoined Iron Maiden for a reunion that kicked off a new legacy for that group and an era that has now lasted 23 years.

It is believed by many that The Chemical Wedding was the catalyst for the reunion, as Bruce and Adrian were outshining Iron Maiden’s maligned output of late 90’s. It seems to have been a more practical decision involving finances but this doesn’t stop fans from ranking this record highly, even slotting it ahead of some of Maiden’s classics. Many wonder what this album would have sounded like backed by Iron Maiden, though that discounts the influence of Roy Z. Rather than ponder what-ifs, the reformed Maiden pushed forward with creativity on their own terms. We get occasional live samples of what Bruce would sound like on the Blaze Bayley material, but The Chemical Wedding stands on its own as a Bruce Dickinson classic.