No release date set other than early 2024, but I'm more excited for this than any Maiden album over the last 15 years
QuoteDickinson explains: "This album has been a very personal journey for me and I am extremely proud of it. Roy Z and I have been planning, writing and recording it for years, and I am very excited for people to finally hear it. I'm even more excited at the prospect of getting out on the road with this amazing band that we have put together, to be able to bring it to life. We're planning to play as many shows as we can in as many places as possible, for as many people as we can! As for what 'The Mandrake Project' actually is... all will be revealed soon!"
The first live shows to be announced are in Mexico and Brazil in April and May 2024, with further touring plans to be revealed in due course.
yeah, just heard of that too...looking forward to it, his solo stuff has been awesome so far....
Will shit all over the last Maiden anyway no doubt
Bonus points that Roy Z isn't afraid to make guitars sound like guitars vs. Shirely and Harris making every Maiden album this century sound like limp noodles.
I've never listened to any of his solo albums.
They are genuinely more interesting than Maiden's output over the past couple of decades. If you haven't listened to any of them go for The Chemical Wedding.
Will do, cheers.
Bruce's solo stuff is quite good.
And certainly got much better with each release.
Seen a clip yesterday on Instagram with yer wan from Meath listening to a track in a studio with Bruce.
I wonder if she'll be contributing bass for the album.
I find his early stuff is a bit uneven, some good stuff in there but a bit padded out. Kinda feels like he was doing his best to distance himself from Maiden and throwing in a load of different styles that didnt always work
The run of Accident of Birth - Chemical Wedding - Tyranny of Souls though is fantastic
Great stuff..as stated his solo stuff is superb and the second half of his catalogue is actually metal and not the muddy sounding bloated shite maiden have been peddaling with him wailing over it for 20 yrs
Yeah I don't rate either Balls to Picasso or Tattooed Millionaire, both of which seem like a case of Bruce Killing time with whatever musicians he could find.
I do think Skunkworks is a good album, maybe not all of it works and some of it a little dated now but there's some great songs on it.
Got Tattooed Millionaire at the time and it put me off his solo stuff for decades. I've heard some of The Chemical Wedding and it was OK, I need to hear it properly I suppose.
Accident of Birth, Chemical Wedding and Tyrant of Souls are all really good and worth a listen. The earlier stuff is very patchy.
Yep, those three are gold, what if the new one is anything like as good I'll be happy
Ah feck off, last Maiden was decent so was Book of Souls
Hopefully he'll hit these shores. What size of venues you reckon he could do?
Surely he could do Olympia or Vicar Street?
British Lion only played Opium, but Bruce is probably a bigger draw than Harris. Plus British Lion are crap
Definitely limelight 1 I reckon.
Quote from: Eoin McLove on September 22, 2023, 04:30:09 AMI've never listened to any of his solo albums.
Accident of Birth is one of the best albums released in the last 30 years in
any genre of music and is better than 90% of Maiden's back catalogue IMO. Get that one as an absolute priority.
The Chemical Wedding is fantastic as well and also worth getting, as is the following album. The live record from 1999 Scream For Me Brazil is good too.
Must give it a listen. Cheers.
Yeah, it's heavy, but it plods like fuck
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yulfvacpvTc
The song isn't bad, I actually quite like it on first listen. Pretty heavy, catchy chorus but that video is a bag of shit.
You're all wrong re Maiden I'm afraid, their best albums have all been released since Bruce reunited with the band in 1999 (peaking with 2006's AMOLAD).
The song is okay, I like the chuggy riff. The B-side of the single is the demo version of If Eternity Should Fail (from The Book of Souls), pretty interesting to hear the demo.
The video is complete nonsense and not half as interesting as he thinks it is. I liked the goofy bits of Bruce dancing in front of the green screen tho.
That's not a bad song at all. Way more interesting than recent Maiden efforts anyway. The video is grand in a Dr Who corny way. I wonder with the lyrics and especially the harsh vocals at the end of Bruce has been listening to Amon Amarth. At least he is trying something new.
That's already better than anything off Tyranny of Souls, and I fairly enjoyed that album.
I've always enjoyed it, but I think the older I get the more I come around to the thought that The Chemical Wedding is the best record that Dickinson (and Smith) was ever involved in.
The 7" single has landed in the door.....
Sounds great, very interesting.
I do like a lot of Bruce's solo stuff.
Some of these days I'm going to have to stop watching music vids , the older I get the more I'm fucking cringing at them. Just play the song on stage, that'll do for a vid lads.
The track itself is ok, heard much, much better from Bruce.
Quote from: Thorn on December 02, 2023, 07:05:43 PMSome of these days I'm going to have to stop watching music vids , the older I get the more I'm fucking cringing at them. Just play the song on stage, that'll do for a vid lads.
The track itself is ok, heard much, much better from Bruce.
That happened me a few years back. I can hardly watch videos at all because of it.
Saying that, I'd take the most cringe possible over a lyric video
I think it's a Bruce thing with me too. Obviously all our icons are knocking on now but Bruce in particular is really looking his age these days, obviously he's had his travails and fair play to him for battling through and coming out the other side. Has to be said his voice is in amazing nick still. I guess I just want to keep him as Long Beach Arena Bruce rather than Obi Wan Kenobi Bruce in my head.
I love Bruce but I must be listening to a different song because that new one sounds absolutely shite to me. I was at the countdown for the live premiere and couldn't watch until the end. Hopefully the albums is better as a whole.
Song is OK actually. Have to agree that post 2000 Maiden gets a rough time here. Brave eNew World and a Matter... are top albums, Book if Souls and Senjutsu are good too anyway...
Brave new world is up there with the 80s albums.
Definitely, and my go-to 'reunion' era album is The Final Frontier. Cracking stuff.
Didn't think much of the song, but then I've never been a fan of his solo material.
I know it's been discussed to death here, but post-reunion Maiden are their own worst enemies with their noodly intros/outros, and the piss-weak production.
Bruce's version of If Eternity Should Fail was put up, then swiftly removed from youtube. It sounded a fair bit more muscular than the Maiden version, it must be said.
Great song that.
Once again Bruce has released a record that's far more interesting than anything Maiden have put out in aeons. Much more depth and variance to this stuff, it doesn't always quite hit the mark but leaves you wanting to listen again.
Apologies didn't see this thread earlier.
This album is class!
It is, I'm still listening to it here. First time I listened only Ragnarok and Eternity stood out but there's lots to sink ones teeth into,I've nearly got a different favourite every time I stick it on. Loving Fingers in the Wounds at the minute.
Aside from the songwriting being better than anything you'd find on a latter day Maiden record Bruce uses a lot more of his voice- doesn't always have to be roaring at the top of his range as he does with the day job.
Also compare how great this and Bruce's solo stuff is in general with British Lion.
Quote from: Pagan Saviour on March 07, 2024, 06:32:24 AMAlso compare how great this and Bruce's solo stuff is in general with British Lion.
I'm there man, couldn't compare Bruce with British Lion, Bruce's (as noted) output has been superior to Maiden post No Prayer.
Your right on the singing..... really comes into his own and a different fav everytime!
I could do without Face In The Mirror and the overblown Frozen epic at the end but I echo the words about a new favourite each listen. I'm on Rain On The Graves at the minute.
It is growing on me but I do think it pales in comparison to Accident, Chemical and Tyranny. Those three are real magic.
He is doing 2 warm up shows in La, the first of which just wrapped up, apparently he confirmed the setlist will be different tomorrow night so yet to see what the setlist is going to be when the tour starts proper but some interesting cuts anyway including some live debuts from older albums as well as the Mandrake Project.
Saw a couple of clips and he sounded excellent.
https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/bruce-dickinson/2024/whisky-a-go-go-west-hollywood-ca-53ab5309.html
Band sounds good alright but visually they look like Alestorm or something which is a bit jarring. Bruce adopted some of Janick's dance moves too
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8Smlk6jdM4
As a fan of some of his solo stuff, this is interesting. For me, Balls just didn't have enough good songs but I'll give it a listen to hear what he has done to it.
Bruce Dickinson – More Balls To Picasso
In 1994, having left Iron Maiden for a time (he rejoined in 1999), Bruce Dickinson released his second solo album, entitled Balls To Picasso. Named in honour of the cubist pioneer whose representations of spherical objects were as squares, and reflected on the cover in graffiti style on a tiled bathroom wall, the album belied its irreverent title by solidifying Dickinson's reputation as a serious solo artist.
His first record with collaborator Roy Z, and recorded with Z's band Tribe Of Gypsies, it went through various iterations before its release, produced by Shay Baby. The original album included a number of classic tracks and live favourites from Dickinson including the singles 'Tears Of The Dragon' and 'Shoot All The Clowns', alongside the much-loved epic 'Laughing In The Hiding Bush', which was the original title for the album.
Dickinson says of it, "While mixing all my catalogue into Dolby Atmos I had a nagging desire to revisit and reinvent the record. So putting more balls into 'Balls...' was a labour of love. Of course, we beefed up the guitars – courtesy of our 'Swedish shredder' Philip Naslund and we added some really beautiful work by Adassi Addasi on 'Tears...' as well. Fellow Brazilian composer Antonio Teoli added some stunning orchestral arrangements, and in a unique contribution, added indigenous instruments from the Amazon (recorded by himself when he lived there!) at the beginning of 'Gods Of War'.
"'Shoot All The Clowns' gets the benefit of a horn section fronted by the Berklee College of Music, and all of the record gets the benefit of the mix by Brendan Duffey, (who worked on The Mandrake Project), with notes along the way from Shay Baby, the original father of the album".
Additionally, More Balls To Picasso includes two previously unreleased live in-the-studio tracks, 'Gods of War' and 'Shoot All the Clowns'. It will be available as a splatter vinyl double album and tri-panel digisleeve CD album.
I enjoy all his solo stuff bar the new album..will def check the new balls out have a soft spot for the original
For me his solo career really start with Accident / Chemical. They're untouchable really. The earlier ones i never took to - but that version released last week does sound pretty good, I dont know the original album ( i listened to it years ago and thought it was poor) so this will seem like a new release for me. Tyranny is so overlooked, what a beauty. Mandrake was great too....