Bruce Dickinson

1. King In Crimson - 8/10
2. Chemical Wedding - 10/10
3. The Tower - 9/10
4. Killing Floor - 8/10
5. Book of Thel - 10/10
6. Gates of Urizen - 10/10
7. Jerusalem - 10/10
8. Trumpets Of Jericho - 8/10
9. Machine Men - 7/10
10. The Alchemist - 9/10

11. Return of the King - 9/10
12. Real World - 8/10
13. Confeos - 6/10

Something like that.

CA Bryers said:
Just found this, and...it kinda works.

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Tempo-wise they match really well and I had thought of Rolling In The Deep while listening to Rain On The Graves as well. A pity that this video didn't try to pitch-correct the tracks to make them fit better.
 
Some comments on Balls To Picasso.

First, I agree with most people (including Bruce and Roy) that the production and mixing could be a lot better. So I'm glad to hear that Roy is re-doing the album. I can't wait to hear the new version.

Second, I hate the title of the album. Worst title of all time. Should have been called Tears of the Dragon. I hope they rename the album. (Ha.)

Third, I bought the surround sound version of the CD and listened to it on my decent surround sound system. What a trip! That is so fun.
 
Vaenyr said:
Yeah, I dislike BTP's title as well. What's the story behind that? Is there some kind of joke or pun that I'm not getting?
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According to Wikipedia :

"Cover artwork
In a 1996 interview with Tom Russell of Glasgow-based Radio Clyde 1, Bruce revealed that the album was originally to be titled Laughing in the Hiding Bush. The artwork was designed by Storm Thorgerson – but they couldn't afford it. His album's title was changed and he drew two squares on a toilet wall for the cover, and Thorgerson's artwork later ended up as the cover for the Anthrax album Stomp 442.[8]

Thorgerson later did the artwork for Bruce's Skunkworks album."
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Gotta say I'm not a big fan of most cover artworks that Bruce has used. The only one I genuinely like is Accident Of Birth. TCW and TOS at least have a unifying concept and while I'm not the biggest fan of the chosen paintings, I get the point. The rest simply isn't for me I guess.
 
Vaenyr said:
Gotta say I'm not a big fan of most cover artworks that Bruce has used. The only one I genuinely like is Accident Of Birth. TCW and TOS at least have a unifying concept and while I'm not the biggest fan of the chosen paintings, I get the point. The rest simply isn't for me I guess.
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Well, Bruce has some particular and personal sense of humor (look at his books about Iffy Boatrace). When he left Iron Maiden, he dreamt of a succesful alternative career far away from Iron Maiden. So, that's why he didn't want to have some recognizable identity via a well-known mascot like Eddie, that to detach himself completely from his previous job with Steve Harris & co. He wanted to fly with his own wings and make a name for himself. This always influenced him in his choices of cover artworks : 'Tattooed Millionaire' and 'Balls To Picasso' were very shitty. 'Accident Of Birth' and 'The Chemical Wedding' covers were original creations with a lot of personality. 'Tyranny Of Souls' artwork was a painting that already existed before. 'The Mandrake Project' artwork brings together the three periods : it's an original creation, with a previous idea that already exists on 'The Book Of Souls' and 'Senjutsu' (by putting the most important element on a dark background) but is still a shitty idea which doesn't do justice to the content of the new album.
 
srfc said:
Picasso was an abstract artist, so the joke is he would paint balls (i.e. round onjects) as square
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Thought something along those lines. So basically "There are/would be balls to Picasso"? As in, the "to" in the title is putting it in Picasso's POV?

TheMercenary said:
Well, Bruce has some particular and personal sense of humor (look at his books about Iffy Boatrace). When he left Iron Maiden, he dreamt of a succesful alternative career far away from Iron Maiden. So, that's why he didn't want to have some recognizable identity via a well-known mascot like Eddie, that to detach himself completely from his previous job with Steve Harris & co. He wanted to fly with his own wings and make a name for himself. This always influenced him in his choices of cover artworks : 'Tattooed Millionaire' and 'Balls To Picasso' were very shitty. 'Accident Of Birth' and 'The Chemical Wedding' covers were original creations with a lot of personality. 'Tyranny Of Souls' artwork was a painting that already existed before. 'The Mandrake Project' artwork brings together the three periods : it's an original creation, with a previous idea that already exists on 'The Book Of Souls' and 'Senjutsu' (by putting the most important element on a dark background) but is still a shitty idea which doesn't do justice to the content of the new album.
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Small correction, the artwork for The Chemical Wedding isn't an original creation:
en.wikipedia.org

The Ghost of a Flea - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org

I wasn't talking about mascots either. I'm purely talking about aesthetics and the artwork used for most of his work either doesn't align with my taste at all (TM, BTP, TOS, TMP) or is inoffensive but boring at the same time (Skunkworks).
 
Vaenyr said:
Gotta say I'm not a big fan of most cover artworks that Bruce has used. The only one I genuinely like is Accident Of Birth. TCW and TOS at least have a unifying concept and while I'm not the biggest fan of the chosen paintings, I get the point. The rest simply isn't for me I guess.
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I beg to differ. They are different and, for the most part, very good. For what is worth, I love William Blake’s pictures and Storm Thorgerson was a genius.

The exception is probably the one you like, which is cartoonish and somewhat puerile after all the criticism Bruce had aimed at metal since he left Maiden. It doesn’t help that Derek Riggs had lost his magic touch years before he came up with that illustration.
 
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