Bruce Dickinson

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My AOB rating.

Absolute Gemstones:

Toltec 7 Arrival
Taking the Queen
Darkside of Aquarius
Road to Hell
Man of Sorrows
Accident of Birth
Ghost of Cain
Arc of Space

Good:
Freak
Starchildren
The Magician
Omega

Bad/Filler/I don't like:
Welcome to the Pit

Overall, very Maidenish album, imo. Leaves Virtual XI far behind in the dust
 
I think Welcome to the Pit is pretty good. It's a nice change of vibe from the other tracks and sounds a little sinister in a good way. I agree on Road to Hell not being that special. It's alright, but it almost feels like a cynical attempt at writing a Maiden-style short rocker and I don't think the chorus is strong enough to carry it. The verses are a bit dodgy too, but the prechorus bit I do like a lot. The solo's great too.
 
Azas said:
My AOB rating.

Absolute Gemstones:

Toltec 7 Arrival
Taking the Queen
Darkside of Aquarius
Road to Hell
Man of Sorrows
Accident of Birth
Ghost of Cain
Arc of Space

Good:
Freak
Starchildren
The Magician
Omega

Bad/Filler/I don't like:
Welcome to the Pit
Click to expand...
My take:

Gems:
Taking The Queen
Darkside Of Aquarius
Road To Hell
Man Of Sorrows
Accident Of Birth
The Magician
Omega
Arc Of Space

... The Ghost Of Cain

Good:
Toltec 7 Arrival (Intro)
Starchildren

I don't like:
Freak (nice verses)
Welcome To The Pit (the chorus is not that bad)
 
It's interesting how opinions differ so much. I agree, that Road to Hell may be a 'cynical' attempt to write maidenish rocker and... I applaud that. To be truthfull, Road to Hell, Return of the King and Silver Wings are better than any post reunion Maiden short rockers, IMO.
The Wicker Man and Death or Glory comes close.
In my view, sometimes 'cynical' let's write like in the good old days is not a bad thing and gives great results.
 
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Azas said:
It's interesting how opinions differs so much. I agree, that Road to Hell may be a 'cynical' attempt to write maidenish rocker and... I applaud that. To be truthfull, Road to Hell, Return of the King and Silver Wings are better than any post reunion Maiden short rockers, IMO.
The Wicker Man and Death or Glory comes close.
In my view, sometimes 'cynical' let's write like in the good old days is not a bad thing and gives great results.
Click to expand...
It's not an attempt, I think it's just that Bruce and Adrain can't escape from their Maiden DNA/nature (''Days Of Future Past'' confirms this). And this is normal. You can find a Maiden-esque rocker (and not only) on almost every solo album of Bruce - ''Power Of The Sun'', ''The Tower''/''Return Of The King'', ''Road To Hell''/''The Magician'', ''The Breeding House''...

The aforementioned 3 solo songs of Bruce are top-notch stuff.
 
Azas said:
Overall, very Maidenish album, imo. Leaves Virtual XI far behind in the dust
Click to expand...
Can't argue that--a far more Maidenish album than Virtual XI and a far better album overall, and I'm one of the apparent few who loves Virtual XI. I still think AoB was Bruce saying, "well, Skunkworks didn't work...let's drum up reunion talk and get back on top," which, of course, is exactly what happened.

As for Welcome to the Pit, I like it, but it's among my least favorites on the album. That isn't a big slam on it, though, since AoB is an extremely strong and fun album throughout.
 
Jer said:
blabbermouth.net

IRON MAIDEN's BRUCE DICKINSON Says His In-The-Works New Solo Album Is 'Sounding Really Interesting'

Last month, IRON MAIDEN singer Bruce Dickinson was a guest on the "Break It Down Show With Pete A Turner". During the chat, Bruce offered an update on his long-awaited new solo album which he recently resumed work on in a Southern California studio with his longtime collaborator Roy "Z" Ramirez...
blabbermouth.net blabbermouth.net
Click to expand...
New info - they will do the drums and tracks and everything(!) in June this year. Awesome. Maybe it has a chance to be released next year (after Maiden's album tour). Let's hope so.
 
Azas said:
My AOB rating.
[...]
Overall, very Maidenish album, imo. Leaves Virtual XI far behind in the dust
Click to expand...

Of course it leaves VXI in the dust but that's a not that too high of a bar to top! :D
Better than anything Maiden put on 90s and at least half the 00s -10s too. Better than Killers & Somewhere in Time.
 
Here's my rank:

Freak - Heavy and full of bounce. That first riff (it gives me Badmotorfinger vibes) and Bruce's voice are both top notch. Love it! 8.5/10
Toltec 7 Arrival/ Starchildren - Cool tune. Verses are ok and the chorus is strong as hell (Bruce really owns it). 7.75/10
Taking The Queen - Merely ok-ish. Nothing wrong with it but also nothing that moves me that much. 6.75/10
Darkside Of Aquarius - Hell of a tune with somewhat of a epic Maiden flavor to it. One of the best from the lot. 8.75/10
Road To Hell - Great traditional metal tune full of cool leads and hooks. Simple yet really well composed and catchy. 8/10
Man Of Sorrows - Nice arrangements and great chorus but never jelled with it much. 7.25/10
Accident Of Birth - Really heavy with cool passages but always thought it lacked something. 7.5/10
The Magician - If Road To Hell is simple yet truly addictive traditional Heavy Metal this tune is even catchier. 8.5/10
Welcome To The Pit - Heavy as bricks with a stunning pre-chorus and emotional refrain. 8.25/10
Omega - Drop dead gorgeous, emotive and dramatic. This is simply stunning and IMO the best song here. 9/10
Arc Of Space - Shares the majority of the traits of its predecessor... Amazing tune. 8.5/10

Average score: 8.07/10

Overall a strong album and a solid 8/10 in my book.
 
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Now that Bruce seems to be serious about actually finishing the album and Roy Z has a license to record all the music I actually do think they could knock this out pretty fast and complete it this year for a 2023 release
 
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