Bruce Dickinson

Kalata said:
The ''reimagined'' bit is curious. Does that mean they could change or add different ideas to some songs on some albums? That would be a big surprise and quite unexpected. For BTP they had some recorded stuff from back then. It's great that he and Roy have so many demos and ideas from all years. For me it's cool when a song from one album sessions is used for another album, nothing is wasted and is a throwback moment in time. I certainly hope so for the song called Nightmares. And it seems they have a good amount of leftovers from the new album sessions.
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I'm curious about that bit as well. I'm not sure I'm too interested in buying the albums again unless there's a significant difference, and by tweaking them in ways large and small could make it worthwhile. I'm not sure I'm for turning Skunkworks into a metal album, but...I still have the original, and that's not going away anytime soon.

I know surprisingly little about "Nightmares," but I'm up for any lost material resurfacing, like "Original Sin"--of which little is also known, apart from Bruce not being able to find it for the Best Of, it being about his father (if I recall correctly), and being a song so personal it was the tipping point for his decision to leave Maiden.
 
Vaenyr said:
The re-imagining of older material and reinserting unused material and recordings is actually a pretty cool project and far more interesting than a simple remaster or remix. Cradle Of Filth released such a re-imagining of their 1998 album Cruelty Brought Thee Orchids back in 2019 and it is the gold standard for remixes/remasters/re-imaginings for me. The original album has amazing music but the original production is widely seen as a horrible failure; the drum sound was so bad that the drummer quit the band (and went on to join Dimmu Borgir). The new version sounds brilliant and you wouldn't know that the album was recorded in 1998. An perfect transformation.

Let's just hope that Roy actually delivers a good project and something very different sounding form TMP's production.
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When I first heard about the remixes, particularly Balls to Picasso and making it heavier, my first thought went to the remix of Cruelty and the Beast, hoping it'll turn out that good.
 
Since right now I don't have any other option than streaming it, can somebody tell me if the horrible lisp Bruce has throughout is a compression fuckup on Spotify, or if it's actually the way it sounds on the album?
 
Perun said:
Since right now I don't have any other option than streaming it, can somebody tell me if the horrible lisp Bruce has throughout is a compression fuckup on Spotify, or if it's actually the way it sounds on the album?
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Uh... That's just how post-cancer Bruce sounds like. Most sections that were recorded in the last couple of years have the lisp, as well as some timing issues here and there.
 
Perun said:
Since right now I don't have any other option than streaming it, can somebody tell me if the horrible lisp Bruce has throughout is a compression fuckup on Spotify, or if it's actually the way it sounds on the album?
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You mean in Many Doors To Hell?
 
Perun said:
Since right now I don't have any other option than streaming it, can somebody tell me if the horrible lisp Bruce has throughout is a compression fuckup on Spotify, or if it's actually the way it sounds on the album?
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It’s the way he sounds on the album.
 
Ruflux said:
Okay Sonata's like halfway through and I'm checking my imaginary watch. I just don't jibe with this at all. It sounds like it wants to be grand and important but something about it just falls flat. The lyrics aren't really anything special either, despite the hype.

Overall I don't think I'll be revisiting this album in full any time soon since I keep feeling like I'd rather listen to something better.
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You have really liked the album, haven’t you? :lol:

Out of curiosity, what is your opinion on his other solo albums?
 
Vaenyr said:
Uh... That's just how post-cancer Bruce sounds like. Most sections that were recorded in the last couple of years have the lisp, as well as some timing issues here and there.
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Uh... So it must be a compression error, because what I heard there is not what Bruce sounds like on Senjutsu. I get there's a lisp, everyone hears it, but what I heard was overbearing. I've been told that it's possible I got a very foul Spotify upload in the region I'm in, so I'll look for other streams tomorrow.
 
GhostofCain said:
It’s the way he sounds on the album.
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It’s easy to hear Eternity has failed and Shadow of the gods are recorded before the cancer treatment.

Almost done with first listen now. Bruce do really fine as always. I think my favorites so far is the opening song and Mistress of mercy
 
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GhostofCain said:
You have really liked the album, haven’t you? :lol:

Out of curiosity, what is your opinion on his other solo albums?
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I don't think I've listened to Tattooed Millionaire in years, BTP I found had a few okay songs but I honestly don't remember much of it (been about as long since I last heard it) and Tears of the Dragon is the obvious highlight. I enjoy Skunkworks, sometimes a bit less, sometimes a bit more and right now I've tentatively put it on my weekend playlist since I'm kinda feeling it.

AoB is excellent, TCW is somehow even better and ToS is good, definitely a step down from those two however. And I think that about covers it. AoB, TCW and Skunkworks (and Scream for Me Brazil) are the ones I have in semi-regular rotation when the mood strikes me to listen one of Bruce's solo things every few months or so.
 
Spector said:
…It's like he put it together in 10 minutes and said "we're done here, let's grab a lunch". I really have an urge to cut these songs, somehow re-record passages I hate and stitch it back together. vThere'S so much potential.

The rest is complete no no for me. Sonata... What the hell is that? Eternity is (to me - everything here is just my opinion) an inferior version of what he recorded with Maiden, and so on. I'm angry, disappointed, but after all somehow glad I have at least one or two new songs from Bruce I can listen to.
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Do you think there's an honest belief behind it that an early version can't be improved in its authenticity and emotionality, or more of a "Oh, that's good enough for them out there." ?
You'd think every artist would want the best possible product for their name, but I've actually also heard of the latter behind closed doors.
 
Donner said:
Even though I'm not completely sold on The Mandrake Project, the one thing I do like about it is how none of the songs (except for Eternity for obvious reasons) sound anything like something Maiden would do. I'm glad this is truly a solo project in that sense, warts and all.

Keeping it positive here, I also really like the addition of keyboards. That is a huge sonic difference here compared to Bruce's previous material.
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I agree, the different approach to each song and the prominent keys made the album to stand out. That being said, I think Bruce could easily have replaced songs like Mirror, Rain and Eternity (because we have it with Maiden) with fast pure metal songs like Road, Abduction, Tower. And still the album would have this unique style.

^These 3 songs for me would be a perfect bonus songs for the album.
Revelationer said:
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Love these videos. Bruce during the creative process! He improved Eternity imo. Really cool creative ideas for the intro.
 
v13.net

Bruce Dickinson: “What if you had the four bikers of the apocalypse? What if they were the four Eddie Bikers of the apocalypse?”

In our latest Cover Story, metal icon Bruce Dickinson invites us into the world of his new solo album 'The Mandrake Project'.
v13.net v13.net

It seems Bruce will start working on the songs for the next album soon:

''Where we go with the music, I’ve got loads of guitar demos from Roy. I have to clear the decks mentally and start and see what madness arrives, you know? I’m not going to prejudge it. I think we just do what’s in front of us that we think is good. I’m going to make a start on that and the next week.
Just enjoy it for exactly what it is. It’s a load of stories and great music, and you can paddle around in the shallow end if you want, or you can take a deep dive and have a look. It just depends on what sort of stuff you’re into. It’s an open door, take from it what you want.''
 
Honestly, I don't understand Bruce and Iron Maiden's approach to recording lately. Leaving mistakes or gluing songs together from vocals recorded 15 years apart looks (and is) lazy.

I understand that albums don't make a profit. Which means you can think of albums as an expensive tour demo. If an album sounds bad, it personally deters me from buying tickets.

I'm not saying in any way that TMP is a bad album, but it has a lot of small elements that would take a few minutes to improve and that would have a big impact on the final reception.

But on a positive note - when was the last time we had: A Bruce Dickinson album, a Judas Priest album and a Blaze Bayley album in span of 20 days?
 
Sth2112 said:
It’s easy to hear Eternity has failed and Shadow of the gods are recorded before the cancer treatment.

Almost done with first listen now. Bruce do really fine as always. I think my favorites so far is the opening song and Mistress of mercy
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Most of eternity has failed voice tracks are from the maiden version
 
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