Bruce Dickinson

[Vaenyr]

They were a lot more favorable towards Breeg:

But I have come to accept the fact Bruce's voice is pretty much an acquired taste, you either love it or cant stand it, there doesnt seem to be much of a middle ground.

Funnily enough, since I grew up with Maiden, it never occurred to me that people might dislike his voice or that he could be divisive. A good friend of mine appreciates Maiden but doesn't like Bruce's vocals, which blew my mind when he first told me lol

That said, there are specific parts of his range that I'm not a fan of either, despite Bruce being in my top 3 favorite vocalists.

 

[MindlessPieces]

No, it's not naive. It's the entire point: to get a description of something you are looking forward to that you haven't heard yet. It's basically the definition. You read a review to find out if what they write will appeal to you or not; not to get glowing reviews and brownnosing.

So, should magazines have printed 10/10 reviews for the Blaze albums in your opinion? So that they could attract Maiden fans, according to your theory?

I'm not talking in "shoulds". I'm talking in "is"

 

[MindlessPieces]

They were a lot more favorable towards Breeg:

But I have come to accept the fact Bruce's voice is pretty much an acquired taste, you either love it or cant stand it, there doesnt seem to be much of a middle ground.

I find them really weird.

They seem to like songs that are groove heavy. I wouldn't consider IM to be groovy, but Benjamin Breeg has a very strong driving groove.
Normally these guys are, Wow, this is hot, ooh listen to that, that's great. Ohh so hot, right there. And then at the end, yeah, nah, not putting that on the playlist.

Anyway, they listen to lots of styles of music, which is terrific of them. But then when they listen to metal they form some sort of box, some idea of what metal should be. Like here they keep saying that Maiden should be more thrashy.
Other music genres they don't say silly stuff like that, they just enjoy the music for what it is.
But why on earth they feel IM have to be a certain way?

 

[Iron Lurker]

I find them really weird.

They seem to like songs that are groove heavy. I wouldn't consider IM to be groovy, but Benjamin Breeg has a very strong driving groove.
Normally these guys are, Wow, this is hot, ooh listen to that, that's great. Ohh so hot, right there. And then at the end, yeah, nah, not putting that on the playlist.

Anyway, they listen to lots of styles of music, which is terrific of them. But then when they listen to metal they form some sort of box, some idea of what metal should be. Like here they keep saying that Maiden should be more thrashy.
Other music genres they don't say silly stuff like that, they just enjoy the music for what it is.
But why on earth they feel IM have to be a certain way?

Yeah, Maiden is too "gallopy" for them but they like thrash Metallica, which makes little sense to me. They seem to appreciate their greatness but their style is not for them it seems. They sure did like Breeg a lot though.

 

[Helmuth Von Moltke]

Funnily enough, since I grew up with Maiden, it never occurred to me that people might dislike his voice or that he could be divisive. A good friend of mine appreciates Maiden but doesn't like Bruce's vocals, which blew my mind when he first told me lol

That said, there are specific parts of his range that I'm not a fan of either, despite Bruce being in my top 3 favorite vocalists.

Plenty of my school or university friends I played Maiden to in the 90s/early 2000s hated Bruce's voice.

Its the thing about Maiden that stops them from the kind of Chilli Peppers or modern Metallica or Whitesnake even mid-80s Priest kind of US radio exposure. Bruce's voice is just so British and Shakesperian and not at all Americanised. There seems to be a way for rock radio vocals to be expected and its not Bruce.

The mystery to me is why ACDC or GnR were never held back by their Donald Duck and screeching cat vocals...? Who knows. Maybe its because their song composition are often simple and they are marketed with smutty lyrics or sex appeal. So Maiden have a triple whammy of idiosyncratic vocals, complex compositions and intellectual appeal as a barrier for many casual listeners and lay fans.

Its why I love them, frankly, because they always were different.

 

[redandtheblack92]

Probably because the fans want fast and complex metal, where as the critics are used to critiquing all sorts of music, not just metal.
Plus, it seems many fans are just simply overly critical. Worried about whether they can hear a lisp in a 65 year old cancer survivor, worried about a mix of 10 years ago vocals and present vocals, things that many people who just enjoy music don't care about.

I think when some of the fans get used to the album and stop trying to pick up on every little flaw, I think perhaps they will like the album more.

Agreed man. Expectations were sky high given the huge gap between this and TOS. And yeah people were expecting things on the lines of TCW & AOB. But this is Bruce and he is gonna experiment since Capn Arry won’t allow him to do the same in Maiden. He gets to be himself here musically.

 

[Ascendingthethrone]

I’m just grateful to get both a Blaze and Bruce album released within a week of each other. Also, both are pretty good.

There is a lot of nitpicking going on and that is fine. I still think much of the criticism of fans is behind the fact that the album was hyped so much and has failed to live up to their expectations. I often wonder if Bruce just churned out ‘The Chemical Wedding Part 2: The Divorce’, whether this would silence his critics on this forum or embolden them by saying he is living in the past. Personally, I think he is going to get flak on here regardless of what he puts out. Then again he is Bruce! We have high expectations

 

[AncientMariner_Essex]

Liam didn't take kindly to a review of his new album that a mate of mine wrote, see quote on his twitter page, https://twitter.com/swench

Can’t see anything related to Liam Gallagher on that twitter link, scrolled for ages trying to find it lol.

 

[Kalata]

Roy Z - long video interview about the new album

The interview appears to have been taken shortly after the release of the 2nd single. He says he's excited to play live. The most curious bits:

- most of the album was written in 2012.
- Maiden were going to take a break back then, but after a short while they decided against that. He knew this because Dave Murray approached him about his first solo album! Wow. What a surprise, Maiden taking a break back then too. Roy said they had talked about it and that he would love to do an album with Dave.
- he said his job as a producer is to make the vision of the artist a reality.
- he and Bruce work so easily together. He deal with the music side and try to create a canvas for Bruce for the rest. He wants Bruce to be happy.
- he wrote the music for Afterglow Of Ragnarok and Many Doors To Hell in about an hour.
- he's most proud of Bruce's vocals on the album and his bass playing, which he plays without a pick.
- he likes the middle part of Resurrection Men.
- Fingers In The Wounds almost didn't make the album. Roy said it's mostly a Bruce song (he came with the middle part) and he really liked it and told Bruce to add it. I'm really glad.
- they add on to their demos.
- they wanted a proggy middle part for Mistress Of Mercy.
- he and Bruce like to create catchy songs.
- he kind of insisted Bruce to play a solo in Face In The Mirror.
- Roy wrote the music and came up with the title for Shadow Of The Gods. The middle part was written for both Bruce and Rob to sing.
- he thinks Sonata was written around 2001. The song is a jam for him and a favorite of both him and Bruce. They used a drum machine for it!
- the setlist is up to Bruce.

 

[Vaenyr]

I'm not talking in "shoulds". I'm talking in "is"

Nah, that's just dodging the question because it contradicts your earlier theory lol. Cognitive dissonance and all that

Let's leave it at that. You go looking for all the brown-nosing reviews that make you happy; I'll go looking for genuine and honest reviews, even if they are critical.

I’m just grateful to get both a Blaze and Bruce album released within a week of each other. Also, both are pretty good.

There is a lot of nitpicking going on and that is fine. I still think much of the criticism of fans is behind the fact that the album was hyped so much and has failed to live up to their expectations. I often wonder if Bruce just churned out ‘The Chemical Wedding Part 2: The Divorce’, whether this would silence his critics on this forum or embolden them by saying he is living in the past. Personally, I think he is going to get flak on here regardless of what he puts out. Then again he is Bruce! We have high expectations

I'm sure that there are plenty of folks who would've wanted another TCW, but I didn't. I'm disappointed with the songs themselves, not the genre or style.

- Fingers In The Wounds almost didn't make the album. Roy said it's mostly a Bruce song (he came with the middle part) and he really liked it and told Bruce to add it. I'm really glad.

Good call, it's my favorite part of the song.

- he thinks Sonata was written around 2001. The song is a jam for him and a favorite of both him and Bruce. They used a drum machine for it!

Yeah, it's used in the beginning and then later replaced by actual drums.

 

[Kalata]

I think it’s positive among the critics and mixed (with a slight tilt towards negative) among the fans

I think this a correct view, more or less. Very often I come across really positive comments. I think some fans should appreciate the album for what it is, I did that. It's not perfect, but the quality of the ideas is there. Opinions differ, but it's as if he released a total crap? The songs don't have enough solos or melodic interludes, but some of the scores are baffling.

As for Sonata: it's just a demo. There are some cool ideas in there, but it needed some serious editing, as in cut half the song because what we have is not enough to fill 10 minutes of music. The lyrics had the potential for an interesting story, but the music doesn't take advantage of that. There is no evolution.

Bruce went for the big theatrical approach for it, the changes and the rest was put aside.

Mostly run-of the-mill guitar work. Adrian must be extremely busy if they couldn't even ask him to contribute a short solo like Chris Declercq and Gus G.

I don't think Adrian was interested even in doing that. Agreed about the guitar work.

Part of me wonders if the album reception would be different if certain things weren't so highly publicized, mainly the wide timespan that the songs/vocal takes originate from... and some of the criticisms of Sonata feel overblown to me

I doubt it. Agreed. I think it's good and is Bruce's thing to try new things on his albums.

There is a lot of nitpicking going on and that is fine. I still think much of the criticism of fans is behind the fact that the album was hyped so much and has failed to live up to their expectations. I often wonder if Bruce just churned out ‘The Chemical Wedding Part 2: The Divorce’, whether this would silence his critics on this forum or embolden them by saying he is living in the past. Personally, I think he is going to get flak on here regardless of what he puts out. Then again he is Bruce! We have high expectations

The expectations were impossibly high, but I do think most of the fans would have gladly accept the style from the previous 3 albums, the quality will be there ofc. They expected this style again. In general, they want more fast songs, like in Maiden. Me too, but I like the pace of the album. I always find it funny to me that when Maiden put short and faster songs on the recent albums, Bruce released an album with mostly shorter songs - and still they say the best songs are the longer ones. As for the nitpicking, we do it because we know for sure that Bruce (and Maiden) could have done better for a certain song. My biggest issue with the album is that half of the songs feel unfinished (no solos, no melodies) and shorter on purpose. His solo career is not the main priority now, but Bruce (and Roy) should spend more time on the songs, because they can make them better. The album is full of interesting ideas.

 

[Sth2112]

I can understand metal fans don’t like Sonata, its different and way more drone type of rytmn. But I will not be surprised of some people are enjoying it in about a year. I think it’s great Bruce are trying out different things on his solo albums

 

[mtmccox]

- he and Bruce like to create catchy songs.

This is for me the biggest truth about TMP. For weeks the verses and choruses are stuck in my head wherever I go, whatever I do.

Also, Roy + Dave, that could have had amazing potential! Damn.

 

[srfc]

Y’know, after multiple listens I think the only truly mediocre song on the album is “Face In The Mirror”, which sounds like a castrated version of “Tears Of A Clown”. I genuinely like every other track (though obviously some more than others).

It's funny I made the same comparison with TOAC myself, and it really outlines the differences between having a real functioning band and hiring a session drummer and having a guitarist pretend to be a bass player.

 

[Kalata]

This is for me the biggest truth about TMP. For weeks the verses and choruses are stuck in my head wherever I go, whatever I do.

^Besides the experimentation, this is the album's other distinguishing feature, imo.

Also, Roy + Dave, that could have had amazing potential! Damn.

Melodic shredding! It would have been quite interesting, Dave also writes great catchy short songs.

 

[srfc]

Part of me wonders if the album reception would be different if certain things weren't so highly publicized, mainly the wide timespan that the songs/vocal takes originate from as well as the fact that Sonata is somewhat ad libbed.

I was thinking the same, I can't imagine I would have been on board with Sonata straight away, but if he hadn't have let us know it was basically a rehearsal room jam would I have spotted the tell tale signs that get my back up now that I know what they are?

 

[srfc]

Can’t see anything related to Liam Gallagher on that twitter link, scrolled for ages trying to find it lol.

Just the little quote under the signature is something Liam tweeted in response to a fan commenting on my mates review

 

[srfc]

- he kind of insisted Bruce to play a solo in Face In The Mirror.

Is that the Bruce solo?

I wasn't paying attention to any of the review and press before the album so didn't know which song to look out for, so I was thinking it was a little bit in Mistress of Mercy

 

[Kalata]

Face In The Mirror indeed has a bit of a Tears Of A Clown feel to it. This is Bruce's favorite song from TBOS after all (not co-written by him). A different song for Maiden.

About the improvisations on Sonata, to me it feels like it's carefully crafted. So kudos to Bruce. It's the jam continuation of Eternal.

 

[TheMercenary]

Is that the Bruce solo?

Yes, it is. As the main riff on "Resurrection Men" is also Bruce playing guitar.