Bruce Dickinson

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TheMercenary said:
The "problem" is that this album is very different from what Bruce has done in the past. It was the same with Maiden and 'The X Factor'. With time passing by, you'll appreciate more 'The Mandrake Project' in a couple of years, you'll see. ;)
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Heavily disagree on that. Opinions and tastes are different; that's it. There's no "oh, you just haven't noticed TMP's greatness yet".

It's a deeply problematic album. Many songs are borderline unfinished and closer to demos than actual compositions. The performances are all over the place. The drums are hilariously bad and the acoustic guitars sound worse than the ones on any other Bruce album.

There are barely any instrumental sections. There's quite a bit of repetition throughout the album. The way 2014 and 2022/2023 recordings were used in the same songs is incredibly jarring. Many of the lyrics are in fact quite repetitive. The album (to me of course) didn't have a single highlight that stuck in my mind after finishing, in the way Tears Of The Dragon was on BTP, Hell On Earth on Senjutsu or Darkside Of Aquarius on AOB.

Also, as far as expectations go: This is not a metal album; at least not for the most part. It's a hard rock album with a few metal parts here and there. There aren't really many riffs. There are barely any solos and the ones that are there feel like they were cobbled together in the last minute.

It's fine to like or even love the album, but it's starting to annoy me that people who have legitimate criticisms are handwaved away as if they just haven't found the greatness and appreciation for this album. I'm sorry, but for me this is genuinely the weakest material Bruce has released since the debut. And it's not because of the genre; metal is my favorite family of genres, but a good 80% of the music I listen to regularly is not metal. My problem is with the songwriting itself.
 
Vaenyr said:
It's a deeply problematic album. Many songs are borderline unfinished and closer to demos than actual compositions. The performances are all over the place. The drums are hilariously bad. There's quite a bit of repetition throughout the album. Many of the lyrics are in fact quite repetitive.
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Given that you’re a VXI fan I can’t tell if this is praise or criticism.

:P
 
2014 Bruce sounds mostly great on the album. The more recent recordings sound like Afterglow or Rain, so if you liked those you'll like most of the album too.

There is some high range stuff that sounds like the pre-chorus for Afterglow (so, to me at least) quite bad. Also, there's a line in Sonata where he sings "bring back my queen" or whatever and it might be the single worst delivered line in his entire career. Not even the vocals themselves but the melody; sounds like he had no idea what to do with that line and went, quite literally, all over the place not being able to settle on a final not and slowly wobbling between multiple notes.
 
1- Afterglow - Quite good song 7/10
2- Many Doors - Good song 8,5/10
3- Rain on the Graves - B Side for me 4,5/10
4- Resurrection - Quite good 7/10
5- Finger - Ok like a good B Side 6/10
6- Eternity - Good song and good cover but not new 7,5/10
7- Mistress - Bad song 2/10
8- Face in the Mirror - Like "Acoustic Song"- good B Side 6/10
9- Shadow - Good song 8,5/10
10- Sonata - good song and good surprise for me 8,5/10

Overall: 6,5/10, for the moment, slightly better than BTP or TM
 
I haven't listened to anything yet, but my understanding from the reviews is that different genres and styles of other bands are brought in.
For me, it depends on how exactly that was done. If it's been transformed into something new and original, that's great, if it's just quoting other bands and patching together new songs from that, especially without smooth transitions, I think it's superfluous.
It can feel relevant to you because they might be bands you admire, but as music it's not really relevant to me because you can listen to the original.
 
Melony said:
I haven't listened to anything yet, but my understanding from the reviews is that different genres and styles of other bands are brought in.
For me, it depends on how exactly that was done. If it's been transformed into something new and original, that's great, if it's just quoting other bands and patching together new songs from that, especially without smooth transitions, I think it's superfluous.
It can feel relevant to you because they might be bands you admire, but as music it's not really relevant to me because you can listen to the original.
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Perhaps I don't know that much of other music, but I am only aware of "this sounds like Ghost" comment.
Now, Bruce references sounds, melodies, lyrics and atmosphere from many of his past songs and albums, like there is a nod or two in almost every song. And I love it so fucking much, just "brings you home" as I said before.
 
Some very intriguing views on the album in this thread. Both the praise and the more negative views; frankly, it makes the wait all the more intriguing and it'll be very interesting to hear what kind of a personal impact the album will have on me. I guess that certain songs will appeal to me a lot more than they do for @Vaenyr or @Gd78 for example, but I'm not holding my breath for getting a new favourite Bruce album or anything. I'm just very curious and despite all the dark clouds above it, very happy that Bruce Dickinson, the solo artist, is back in the game. :)

So yeah, I'm quite excited for the album still and looking forward for the couple of shows I'll be catching in early June! It would've been nice to see Mr. Roy Z on stage as well, but as it is, I'm just so happy for the chance to finally witness Bruce doing some solo stuff life. Being a hardcore fan of Bruce & Maiden, I like to criticize lots of things as anyone here (well... maybe I'm far from the most critical wing, but yeah :P ), but I'm also very grateful for everything we've got!

These past few years haven't been, generally speaking, too great, and witnessing a couple of amazing Maiden tours with outstanding setlists, a new Maiden album and finally a new Bruce Dickinson album & tour has certainly been a major uplift for these times!
 
Agreed 100% with both vaenyr and riff
I do think I will go back to this album for Shadow of the gods and Mistress of mercy and nothing else. Many doors to hell didnt do it for me. I felt it belongs in Tattooed Millionaire
 
Randalf said:
Some very intriguing views on the album in this thread. Both the praise and the more negative views; frankly, it makes the wait all the more intriguing and it'll be very interesting to hear what kind of a personal impact the album will have on me. I guess that certain songs will appeal to me a lot more than they do for @Vaenyr or @Gd78 for example, but I'm not holding my breath for getting a new favourite Bruce album or anything. I'm just very curious and despite all the dark clouds above it, very happy that Bruce Dickinson, the solo artist, is back in the game. :)

So yeah, I'm quite excited for the album still and looking forward for the couple of shows I'll be catching in early June! It would've been nice to see Mr. Roy Z on stage as well, but as it is, I'm just so happy for the chance to finally witness Bruce doing some solo stuff life. Being a hardcore fan of Bruce & Maiden, I like to criticize lots of things as anyone here (well... maybe I'm far from the most critical wing, but yeah :p ), but I'm also very grateful for everything we've got!

These past few years haven't been, generally speaking, too great, and witnessing a couple of amazing Maiden tours with outstanding setlists, a new Maiden album and finally a new Bruce Dickinson album & tour has certainly been a major uplift for these times!
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Looking forward to the album too man.
And we´ll have an olut before Bruce's gig in Helsinki!
 
Vaenyr said:
I've never been shy about pointing out that my love for VXI is in large parts due to nostalgia and that it definitely has a ton of problems (mostly in the production and performances). Make of that what you will :lol:
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I have a soft spot for Virtual XI because I hated The X Factor (too grey, depressing, and Blaze's vocals), and VXI was actually listenable to me, with some upbeat "poppy" songs. So it was a pleasant surprise with no expectations. Of course it's not among Maiden's best.

Regarding The Mandrake Project, I've only heard the 2 singles so far, which are okay but not what I was expecting or wanting. When I hear about problems with the production, bad drums, lack of memorable solos and instrumental sections, etc., I wonder if this is on Roy Z. Something might be wrong with him.
 
Vaenyr said:
2014 Bruce sounds mostly great on the album. The more recent recordings sound like Afterglow or Rain, so if you liked those you'll like most of the album too.

There is some high range stuff that sounds like the pre-chorus for Afterglow (so, to me at least) quite bad. Also, there's a line in Sonata where he sings "bring back my queen" or whatever and it might be the single worst delivered line in his entire career. Not even the vocals themselves but the melody; sounds like he had no idea what to do with that line and went, quite literally, all over the place not being able to settle on a final not and slowly wobbling between multiple notes.
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I quite like the verse "bring back my queen", :):)
ok this is a weird vocal line but it s fine for me
 
The Red and the Black said:
I have a soft spot for Virtual XI because I hated The X Factor (too grey, depressing, and Blaze's vocals), and VXI was actually listenable to me, with some upbeat "poppy" songs. So it was a pleasant surprise with no expectations. Of course it's not among Maiden's best.

Regarding The Mandrake Project, I've only heard the 2 singles so far, which are okay but not what I was expecting or wanting. When I hear about problems with the production, bad drums, lack of memorable solos and instrumental sections, etc., I wonder if this is on Roy Z. Something might be wrong with him.
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Did you like Rain on the Graves chorus?
 
Randalf said:
Some very intriguing views on the album in this thread. Both the praise and the more negative views; frankly, it makes the wait all the more intriguing and it'll be very interesting to hear what kind of a personal impact the album will have on me. I guess that certain songs will appeal to me a lot more than they do for @Vaenyr or @Gd78 for example, but I'm not holding my breath for getting a new favourite Bruce album or anything. I'm just very curious and despite all the dark clouds above it, very happy that Bruce Dickinson, the solo artist, is back in the game. :)

So yeah, I'm quite excited for the album still and looking forward for the couple of shows I'll be catching in early June! It would've been nice to see Mr. Roy Z on stage as well, but as it is, I'm just so happy for the chance to finally witness Bruce doing some solo stuff life. Being a hardcore fan of Bruce & Maiden, I like to criticize lots of things as anyone here (well... maybe I'm far from the most critical wing, but yeah :p ), but I'm also very grateful for everything we've got!

These past few years haven't been, generally speaking, too great, and witnessing a couple of amazing Maiden tours with outstanding setlists, a new Maiden album and finally a new Bruce Dickinson album & tour has certainly been a major uplift for these times!
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For us all my friend
 
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