Bruce Dickinson

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GhostofCain said:
The cover of Skunkworks is a work of art by one of the best artwork designers of all time, Storm Thorgerson. The guy was a genious.
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I agree. Skunkworks is a great idea and well executed by Thorgerson (ex-Hipgnosis). It's not very metal is what Kalata is sayin' I think. No monsters in sight buddy. What a hoot.
 
Black Abyss Babe said:
Is that where he talks about having a "stunt Thunderstick" in Biceps of Steel?
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Correct! That bit is also part of the Anthology DVD.

If I remember correctly, the story goes as follows: as Thunderstick was playing Samson (the biblical character, not the guitar player), Thunderstick's brother-in-law had to stand in playing drums wearing a mask.
 
Thanks! I've watched everything on that DVD at some point, but not for a while. I'll have to have another look at it.

Bruce also recounts the making of the "Tattooed Millionaire" video (though not any of the others) in his autobiog, and this is how he remembers is:
Who should show up to make the video for "Tattooed Millionaire" but Storm Thorgerson of Hipgnosis - and Pink Floyd - fame. Storm came via a contact of a new manager at Sanctuary, Maiden, management company.

Not quite a yellow submarine, but rather a subterranean submarine upping its periscope into the lurid lifestyles of the rich and infamous was the basic premise of the video. I was very enamoured of the submarine control room and wanted to install it in my attic, complete with periscope, but the men in white coats explained that it all belonged to a prop house. Such a disappointment.

I watched Storm direct, and the cheeky thought occurred to me that he was having far too much fun making all these videos.

"You're just making it up, aren't you?" I whispered to him one day.

"Don't let on, dear boy," he whispered back at me.
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Kalata said:
How this song can be a bonus song... :huh: One of the best Bruce's solo songs, for sure ! The guitar solo is brutal.
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Bruce has a lot of neat bonus tracks because he had a couple of aborted albums before Balls To Picasso that were mined for B-sides, plus he was pretty prolific during the Skunkworks sessions. But even some one-offs like “Eternal” are amazing...
 
Jer said:
Bruce has a lot of neat bonus tracks because he had a couple of aborted albums before Balls To Picasso that were mined for B-sides, plus he was pretty prolific during the Skunkworks sessions. But even some one-offs like “Eternal” are amazing...
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So true!
 
Yep. Top 5 track for me.
Jer said:
Bruce has a lot of neat bonus tracks because he had a couple of aborted albums before Balls To Picasso that were mined for B-sides, plus he was pretty prolific during the Skunkworks sessions. But even some one-offs like “Eternal” are amazing...
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The Breeding House does not sound like the stuff that is known from these lost albums. It is a brilliant hard rock that might not have fitted well (in his view) on the album.
 
Forostar said:
The Breeding House does not sound like the stuff that is known from these lost albums. It is a brilliant hard rock that might not have fitted well (in his view) on the album.
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It is more metal than some of the other songs off the first lost album (the one produced by Chris Tsangarides), but not that different in terms of sound and general feel.

That being said, it is a fantastic song.
 
I think it was written and performed during the Balls sessions but have nothing to back it up. It just feels that way. As an early in the sessions recording just like No Way Out... To Be Continued. The songs felt fine without adding percussion. BH is probably the one Bruce talked the least about from everything he did in his whole career. Such a shame imo.
 
Kalata said:
How this song can be a bonus song... :huh: One of the best Bruce's solo songs, for sure ! The guitar solo is brutal.

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Because it sounds too "metal" or "hard rock"(flavours of Maiden of course, but also Dio and Wild Frontier-Gary Moore) and at that stage, Bruce wanted to move away from it and be considered as more "artistically relevant" (tough luck...). I think that part of the appeal of this song comes -in retrospect- from the fact its (rough) orchestration reminds us of "classic" heavy metal and from the indulgence of the solo parts compared to what was given to hear on BTP . Yet, in my opinion, the chorus is poor and the song is too long, two elements too many for the song to be worth the effort of being tweaked so as to be included in an album whose mood was very different anyway.
 
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Forostar said:
I think it was written and performed during the Balls sessions but have nothing to back it up. It just feels that way. As an early in the sessions recording just like No Way Out... To Be Continued. The songs felt fine without adding percussion. BH is probably the one Bruce talked the least about from everything he did in his whole career. Such a shame imo.
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I think The Breeding House, along with Winds of Change, Spirit of Joy and Firechild to name some other songs with a similar sound, are from the first album, the one produced by Chris Tsangarides and recorded with some musicians from Skin. Songs like Over and Out, No Way Out... Continued, Tibet, etc. are from the Keith Olsen album.

I believe the only songs from the Balls to Picasso sessions are those co-written by Roy Z and that no B-sides were written. Tears of the Dragon is the only song on the album predating the writing sessions with Roy.
 
Jer said:
Bruce has a lot of neat bonus tracks because he had a couple of aborted albums before Balls To Picasso that were mined for B-sides, plus he was pretty prolific during the Skunkworks sessions. But even some one-offs like “Eternal” are amazing...
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''Eternal'' is an amazing song - a little cosmic epic. :lol: And yeah, he has so many fantastic songs as a bonus songs that for me personally should had been on their respective albums like: The Breeding House, Eternal, The Ghost Of Cain and Return Of The King (one of my favorite songs ever!)....
GhostofCain said:
It is more metal than some of the other songs off the first lost album (the one produced by Chris Tsangarides), but not that different in terms of sound and general feel.
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I like that it is more metal than a lot of the songs on BTP album and I also think that it is a better song than almost the whole album, except Tears of the Dragon.
 
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Black Bart said:
Because it sounds too "metal" or "hard rock"(flavours of Maiden of course, but also Dio and Wild Frontier-Gary Moore) and at that stage, Bruce wanted to move away from it and be considered as more "artistically relevant" (tough luck...). I think that part of the appeal of this song comes -in retrospect- from the fact its (rough) orchestration reminds us of "classic" heavy metal and from the indulgence of the solo parts compared to what was given to hear on BTP . Yet, in my opinion, the chorus is poor and the song is too long, two elements too many for the song to be worth the effort of being tweaked so as to be included in an album whose mood was very different anyway.
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I agree with you about the reasons why the song might have been relegated to B-side status, but disagree on the quality of the song. It is a fantastic heavy metal track, with very thought-provoking lyrics highlighting the not-so well-known atrocities committed by the Unit 731 and the subsequent cover-up by the American government. The whole thing is sickening.
 
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