Bruce Dickinson

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This comment was shared by Roy on his FB page about something unrelated to Bruce's solo stuff, but I think it defines the thinking of both of them:

I’ll take mistakes & character all day long versus sounding like the other millions that all sound the same!

I kind of doubt that this thought is meaningless.
 
Kalata said:
This comment was shared by Roy on his FB page about something unrelated to Bruce's solo stuff, but I think it defines the thinking of both of them:

I’ll take mistakes & character all day long versus sounding like the other millions that all sound the same!

I kind of doubt that this thought is meaningless.
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You can have character and keep mistakes at a minimum. It's not either/or. Just look at The Number Of The Beast, Powerslave or Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son for perfect examples. Albums full of character that broke new ground for the band, but didn't compromise their vision with "good enough" takes. They spent the time to deliver the best performances that they could because they had something to prove.

"I’ll take mistakes & character all day long versus sounding like the other millions that all sound the same!" just sounds like an excuse for not giving 100% anymore.
 
Kalata said:
Roy: ''No, 2012 was really concentrated, and then, as I say, unfortunately our plans got derailed a bit. I was really looking forward to having Uli Jon Roth play with us because he was keen on being on the album back in 2012. And so, he said, ‘Leave some space for me.’ You know, that’s Uli. And then I left some space. That’s why there’s not that much guitar on there, to be honest. But then I filled in what was needed.''

^So the album was supposed to be with 2 guitars?
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I have an idea - why not re-record the album with 2 guitars at some point in the future, like they will add different parts for BTP's songs now.

:yes:
Vaenyr said:
You can have character and keep mistakes at a minimum. It's not either/or. Just look at The Number Of The Beast, Powerslave or Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son for perfect examples. Albums full of character that broke new ground for the band, but didn't compromise their vision with "good enough" takes. They spent the time to deliver the best performances that they could because they had something to prove.
"I’ll take mistakes & character all day long versus sounding like the other millions that all sound the same!" just sounds like an excuse for not giving 100% anymore.
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I think he probably meant the production, but what you say is spot on.
 
Kalata said:
Some interesting bits:

Bruce: ''I’m pretty proud of everything I’ve done with Z.''

Bruce: ''And the first thing we did, Roy and myself, was write two brand-new songs, which actually open the record. And what that did is that gave us a new lease on life to look at all the other songs again. Now the other stuff didn’t feel stale. It was like, OK, we’re going to reinvent the songs that we already invented once already, but let’s look at them with fresh eyes and fresh ears and see where we go with it.''

Bruce: ''Face in the Mirror’ is kind of folky.''
Roy: ''He did the solo on it in one take. It’s interesting for somebody that doesn’t play guitar all the time for them to do a solo, especially as a singer, because he was singing through the guitar and I really like that—he’s vocalizing on that solo. It’s a nicely composed solo and it’s fresh.''

Roy: ''The music reflects our ages, I suppose. But it’s a constant progression of moving into other realms of things that we like. There are also a lot of ‘firsts.''

Roy: ''Oddly enough, it’s all in there. I used the same tools that I used before, on, say Chemical and Tyranny, but I used them in a different way. Production-wise, I wanted to keep our brand and sound. I wanted to make sure we had our sound and so that’s always there. The odd thing is this is the first time that I was the only bass player on the record.''

Roy: ''It’s one of the last two songs that made this record, along with ‘Many Doors to Hell.’ I just felt that we were missing those elements. It was just a gut feeling that we needed those two extra, newer songs. Because we were covering so much other ground on the other songs, as a producer, I just wanted to give it a fresh coat of paint. ‘Afterglow of Ragnarok’ was, to me, a nod to the Chemical Wedding sound, because I’m using the same tunings and a lot of the same sounds that I used on that record. I thought that was needed. I have my bag or my bucket of tricks and sounds that I use exclusively for the Bruce solo situation, and I thought some of that was missing.''

Ragnarok uses TCW sounds. Cool to know.

Roy: ''No, 2012 was really concentrated, and then, as I say, unfortunately our plans got derailed a bit. I was really looking forward to having Uli Jon Roth play with us because he was keen on being on the album back in 2012. And so, he said, ‘Leave some space for me.’ You know, that’s Uli. And then I left some space. That’s why there’s not that much guitar on there, to be honest. But then I filled in what was needed.''

^So the album was supposed to be with 2 guitars? I don't think that's an excuse of some sort, though. Sorry. A hard rock/metal album with not that much guitar on it?
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Roy Z keeps on mentioning 2012, but I believe the writing sessions took place in February/March 2013. Henning Basse, touring with Uli Jon Roth mentioned that back in the day:

www.metalmeltdown.com

Interview with HENNING BASSE

Back home from touring the States with Uli Jon Roth , I caught up with Henning Basse for an in-depth discussion about his experiences on the road and his musical career as a whole. With Metalium...
www.metalmeltdown.com

Bruce was supposed to be a guest vocalist on the LA gig on 2nd March 2013.
 
GhostofCain said:
Roy Z keeps on mentioning 2012, but I believe the writing sessions took place in February/March 2013. Henning Basse, touring with Uli Jon Roth mentioned that back in the day:

www.metalmeltdown.com

Interview with HENNING BASSE

Back home from touring the States with Uli Jon Roth , I caught up with Henning Basse for an in-depth discussion about his experiences on the road and his musical career as a whole. With Metalium...
www.metalmeltdown.com

Bruce was supposed to be a guest vocalist on the LA gig on 2nd March 2013.
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So not only can't we trust Bruce's memory anymore, now Roy is unreliable as well? Chaos!
 
Zeitraum: 08.03.2024 - 14.03.2024
1Bruce Dickinson The Mandrake Project BMG IN CHARTS: 1 W PEAK: 1
26Kontra K Die Hoffnung klaut mir niemand Letzte Woelfe IN CHARTS: 17 W PEAK: 1
3Metallica Metallica Vertigo IN CHARTS: 210 W PEAK: 1
4Beatrice Egli Balance Ariola IN CHARTS: 20 W PEAK: 1
51Luciano Seductive Urban IN CHARTS: 4 W PEAK: 1

​

The album is number 1 in the official German album charts. It paid off that he was so diligent in giving interviews to German magazines and newspapers.
 
Kalata said:
This comment was shared by Roy on his FB page about something unrelated to Bruce's solo stuff, but I think it defines the thinking of both of them:

I’ll take mistakes & character all day long versus sounding like the other millions that all sound the same!

...
Click to expand...
I'm not a fan of sterile-sounding production at all, but that doesn't mean you have to leave mistakes in the final product.
That has nothing to do with each other. I don't understand why an experienced producer like Roy Z would say something like that.
 
After more than 20 listens:

1. Afterglow Of Ragnarok 6/10
2. Many Doors To Hell 7/10
3. Rain On The Graves 8/10
4. Resurrection Men 6.5/10
5. Fingers In The Wounds 9/10
6. Eternity Has Failed 10/10
7. Mistress Of Mercy 8/10
8. Face In The Mirror 6.5/10
9. Shadow Of The Gods 9.5/10
10. Sonata (Immortal Beloved) 8/10

Album Rating: 7.9

I did not expect it to be better than The Chemical Wedding. Actually TCW is a masterpiece and very few albums can top it.
 
Melony said:
Zeitraum: 08.03.2024 - 14.03.2024
1Bruce Dickinson The Mandrake Project BMG IN CHARTS: 1 W PEAK: 1
26Kontra K Die Hoffnung klaut mir niemand Letzte Woelfe IN CHARTS: 17 W PEAK: 1
3Metallica Metallica Vertigo IN CHARTS: 210 W PEAK: 1
4Beatrice Egli Balance Ariola IN CHARTS: 20 W PEAK: 1
51Luciano Seductive Urban IN CHARTS: 4 W PEAK: 1

​

The album is number 1 in the official German album charts. It paid off that he was so diligent in giving interviews to German magazines and newspapers.
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In Finland too. Glad to see his solo music doing well. His best performing album. Think he’ll do another album soon. Hopefully 2 years
 
The Red and the Black said:
For me it was a comeback album. I was thrown off by No Prayer for the Dying after the great epic 80s albums. (No Prayer has grown on me over the years.) With Fear, I felt this new line-up was coming into its own and had found its own sound and identity, which resonated with me. And then suddenly Bruce left, and it was over. And then the dark days began..
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I think X-Factor is an amazing album. Despite having been around dark days (Arrys divorce), I think some of the songs really make you come back to the album more so than Fear of the Dark.
 
GhostofCain said:
Roy Z keeps on mentioning 2012, but I believe the writing sessions took place in February/March 2013. Henning Basse, touring with Uli Jon Roth mentioned that back in the day:

www.metalmeltdown.com

Interview with HENNING BASSE

Back home from touring the States with Uli Jon Roth , I caught up with Henning Basse for an in-depth discussion about his experiences on the road and his musical career as a whole. With Metalium...
www.metalmeltdown.com

Bruce was supposed to be a guest vocalist on the LA gig on 2nd March 2013.
Click to expand...
I was confused by an earlier statement that Maiden was gonna take 2012 off, but if Roy misremembered and actually meant 2014 (since if the sessions with Bruce were in early 2013, the following year could've still well been open for the band) instead then it'd make sense. They ended up extending Maiden England for another year and then heading straight to the studio rather than I guess taking a year off and entering the studio in early 2015. Thank God they did, incidentally, considering what happened.
 
In Italy:
14th in "TOP 100 Album & Compilation" chart (physical media and streaming)
5th in "TOP 20 CD, Vinili e Musicassette" chart (physical media sales only)
 
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