Bruce Dickinson

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Well...I'm...hmm...please define "live" Bruce. I am entirely skeptical of a completely live album (vocals and all) of new material.
 
Ahh, I just hope the album is properly produced. I think this “live” approach might not benefit the vocals, but on the other hand, it’s still a studio environment - Bruce can rest between takes and even add overdubs. The result remains to be seen - and heard.
 
Not surprising as every Maiden album has been recorded in this fashion since 2000, now Bruce has a complete band he can play with. Some great musicians, will be interesting to hear it in due course.
 

Well...I'm...hmm...please define "live" Bruce. I am entirely skeptical of a completely live album (vocals and all) of new material.
16 or 18 songs, Bruce? Maybe Steve convinced Maiden to do one again... he will put 9 or 10 songs, not more.

TMP wasn't recorded live in the studio, right? Even if so, the production isn't strong, the drums sound is important. Bruce's vocals will also depend on the takes, but recordings in less than a month probably didn't suggest a lot of takes. Overdubs? I kind of doubt it. The rest of the instruments should sound good, I hope so for the rhythm guitar for the heavy parts, it's really needed for his solo music. BNW (or AMOLAD) is how a ''live in the studio record'' should sound. Something like the MBTP remix (at least for Gods Of War) would be better than TMP mix, I doubt it will sound like Maiden's recent mixes.
 
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I’m pretty sure BNW was individually tracked with plenty of overdubs. Hence why it sounds better than every album since.
No, there's nothing that indicates that most of the recording wasn't done live and compiled, especially as they have said as much. The skeleton certainly should be live. Though, the instruments are quite clearly very isolated from eachother so it doesn't have much of the live-in-a-room sound- we don't certainly hear any room tracks either. The vocals would be done in a booth with plenty of overdubs, - we're obviously not getting one-take vocals here, and the drum sound has a rather fair share of sample reinforcement/replacement.
 
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I think it sounds pretty big but unnatural. Too much sample and not enough real drums in the mix. A Matter of Life and Death is the best sounding post reunion album to my ears but Brave New World is the most polished.
Well, they are samples of his kit blended with live hits, but yeah, the hits sound too big, too consistent and the drum components are too isolated with about zero bleed. I agree with you about AMOLAD, gauging from a perspective of "real sounding drums" over sample replaced (though it sounds like there are drum samples in there too).
 
Recording an album live can sound great if the necessary care has been taken. Listen to Kreator's Hordes of Chaos. Drums, bass and both guitars were tracked live, solos and vocals overdubbed. It took ages for them to get everything tight, but it was worth it. For the next album Phantom Antichrist they played live and recorded bass and drums, but the guitars and vocals were overdubbed. They used this compromise because the way HoC was done, was too much work.

Unfortunately I don't think Bruce and his band are nearly as tight and their approach to live recording will be closer to what we've heard on the last couple of Maiden tracks. So we'll probably get a few mistakes here and there, instruments out of time and so on. Yay.
 
Well, they are samples of his kit blended with live hits, but yeah, the hits sound too big, too consistent and the drum components are too isolated with about zero bleed. I agree with you about AMOLAD, gauging from a perspective of "real sounding drums" over sample replaced (though it sounds like there are drum samples in there too).
I'm pretty sure Shirley's used bass drum samples at least on some tracks for all of the albums he's produced, including the live mixes. TBOS and Senjutsu might be the ones with the least obvious sample use, but Isle of Avalon for example is downright blatant in an otherwise pretty shoddy sounding mix.
 
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16 or 18 songs, Bruce? Maybe Steve convinced Maiden to do one again... he will put 9 or 10 songs, not more.

Bruce's vocals will also depend on the takes, but recordings in less than a month probably didn't suggest a lot of takes. Overdubs? I kind of doubt it.
The speed with which they blazed through recording this has me a bit worried, especially since a big criticism of TMP was that more Bruce vocal takes would've helped the final product. However, Brendan Duffey has a year to play around with it before it releases.

I agree the album will be around 10 songs, give or take. It does make me wonder what'll happen with the others. The day of the single + B-side is over, which was used to great effect with the Balls to Picasso singles where we got a mess of unused tracks. As for Maiden? I imagine if Steve wanted any of the material, he'd have Maiden re-record it the way they did with Bring Your Daughter.

My guess is we're looking at a situation like he and Roy had post-Tyranny of Souls. The pair of them had amassed a backlog of leftover material and saved it for what would become The Mandrake Project. These leftovers might end up on the next solo release.
 
Could it be that this also has to do with a personality trait of Bruce’s that may have become more pronounced over time as he’s gotten older?
That he gets very enthusiastic and excited quickly, and therefore also finishes things very quickly, because everything is already the absolute best. Whereas the opposite type of person can’t stop tweaking things, even though they’re already very good.
 
Could it be that this also has to do with a personality trait of Bruce’s that may have become more pronounced over time as he’s gotten older?
That he gets very enthusiastic and excited quickly, and therefore also finishes things very quickly, because everything is already the absolute best. Whereas the opposite type of person can’t stop tweaking things, even though they’re already very good.
It could absolutely be that. Also, let's not forget the financial factor. Studio albums are loss leaders these days, whereas live is where the money is. The way I see it, an emphasis on producing a great sounding album has dropped throughout the reunion era. Also, Bruce's first new album in the midst of Maiden's drop in sonic studio quality, The Mandrake Project, also doesn't hold up sound-wise to his previous albums. The thought could be as simple as: get it down on tape, release it so fans know the songs, and tour it--all while cutting down on costly studio time.
 
The speed with which they blazed through recording this has me a bit worried, especially since a big criticism of TMP was that more Bruce vocal takes would've helped the final product. However, Brendan Duffey has a year to play around with it before it releases.

I agree the album will be around 10 songs, give or take. It does make me wonder what'll happen with the others. The day of the single + B-side is over, which was used to great effect with the Balls to Picasso singles where we got a mess of unused tracks. As for Maiden? I imagine if Steve wanted any of the material, he'd have Maiden re-record it the way they did with Bring Your Daughter.

My guess is we're looking at a situation like he and Roy had post-Tyranny of Souls. The pair of them had amassed a backlog of leftover material and saved it for what would become The Mandrake Project. These leftovers might end up on the next solo release.
I think they spent last year a few weeks in rhe studio too.
 
From Iron Maiden - España facebook:

"BRUCE DICKINSON HAS HIS NEW SOLO ALREADY READY: “IT’S ANTI-I.A. AND TOTALLY LIVE”.
While Iron Maiden remains focused on his live action, Bruce Dickinson isn't slowing down. The vocalist has confirmed in an interview with Rolling Stone that his upcoming solo album is now completely finished, although its release will not arrive until 2027.
The record, as yet untitled, was recorded earlier this year at Studio 606, owned by Dave Grohl, in California. And true to his character, Dickinson has opted for a straightforward, raw, and fireworks-free approach.
"Just finished a solo album: we did 16 tracks in 21 days, all 100% live." It's like the 'anti-I.A.' generation."
Far from hyper-edited productions, the singer wanted to capture the purest essence of live, something that fits perfectly with his artistic philosophy."
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***

I’m starting to wonder if Bruce’s next solo album might lean more toward the spirit of No Prayer for the Dying, Tattooed Millionaire, or Balls to Picasso. Maybe lyrically angrier, more politically charged?

I’m drawing that conclusion purely from his recording approach—which, of course, could be completely wrong—but for me, that ‘straightforward, raw, and fireworks-free approach’ instantly gives off the aura of a street-level, attitude-driven album.

Then again, if the music ends up sounding mean, direct, and in-your-face, it could work really well.

You could also argue that Accident of Birth had a similarly raw and straightforward production approach, yet lyrically it was mystical and overall fantastic.

In any case, the hype is definitely building.
 
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