Bruce Dickinson

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CA Bryers said:
Opposite for me. I gave it another listen right after maybe my fourth listen of Mandrake, and there's just no contest. The title track is great on Blaze's, but the album overall is so trapped in the Blaze/Absolva sound and there's barely any divergence into new territory. The little bagpipe intro track for "Circle of Stone" is about it. I feel like I've heard it before, and done better to boot. Definitely a step down from War Within Me, IMO.

Bruce swings and misses a good few times on Mandrake, but I certainly didn't spend the majority of the album thinking, "ugh, I've heard this before," like I did with CoS. And don't get me wrong, I love Blaze solo, and even this lineup has done some great albums. But Mandrake wins solidly for variety, a bit of experimentation, and some great songs...even if my final ranking puts it behind the rest of his Z collaborations.
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Interesting.... I listened to both one after the other today while at the gym (made it a longer session than planned! but i skipped Sonata as usual)

On CoS, I must say Until We Meet Again might be the most touching and emotively powerful I have ever heard Blaze. Better than Como Estas Amigos and overall I though the vibe of CoS is coherent and heartfelt. Tears in the Rain also packs emotive power for me, I can even picture rutger hauer.

On TMP, Sonata aside which I genuinely dislike, it feels like an incoherent long EP. Like a compilation of ideas and unreleased tracks from different eras. Some of the emotion to me sounds very forced and dare I say it, inauthentic. Not slagging Bruce off, I know the album had a difficult birth. Congrats on his success with it so far.
 
Kalata said:
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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.''
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I have to admit that I find some of the statements in Roy's recent interviews a bit strange.
Sure, you can have planned a collaboration with another musician that doesn't materialize, but that doesn't mean you release songs with less guitar work (or whatever this guest musician was supposed to do) than you actually would have found fitting.). You just rearrange, find a substitute etc.
 
Hey, I might disagree on the finer points @Manic Gers , but as I said before: your opinion is totally valid. Would be boring for a forum if we all agreed on everything :lol:

Also, love your username lol
 
Sth2112 said:
4. high class musicians, who are very down to earth. No drugs and rock star attitudes, they have done this job for years. If you look closer within their staff, this also goes for Rod and the crew. All normal, hard working and easy going human beings.
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Reading this I can't agree more, by remembering my first meeting with the band in 2005. :-) Steve e.g. came on foot, walking with a shopping bag in each hand, just about to enter their hotel. He stopped and put his bags down to the ground to sign my ticket and took time for a few words. I mean, he could have easily passed by. A very nice person.
 
Helmuth Von Moltke said:
Interesting.... I listened to both one after the other today while at the gym (made it a longer session than planned! but i skipped Sonata as usual)

On CoS, I must say Until We Meet Again might be the most touching and emotively powerful I have ever heard Blaze. Better than Como Estas Amigos and overall I though the vibe of CoS is coherent and heartfelt. Tears in the Rain also packs emotive power for me, I can even picture rutger hauer.

On TMP, Sonata aside which I genuinely dislike, it feels like an incoherent long EP. Like a compilation of ideas and unreleased tracks from different eras. Some of the emotion to me sounds very forced and dare I say it, inauthentic. Not slagging Bruce off, I know the album had a difficult birth. Congrats on his success with it so far.
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I agree with just about everything you wrote. CoS is very coherent, feels like one album, and Bruce's absolutely feels disjointed at times. I'm not a big fan of Sonata either. I want to like it, but it only hits halfway, and I don't foresee it growing on me any further. There's a great song in there, but it needed of total overhaul with some variety in the dynamics and probably a rethought story to go along with it.

Circle of Stone I was unimpressed with on first listen, and went back to it after many voiced their preference to it over Mandrake. It struck me the same as the first time, unfortunately. I was looking forward to relistening to "Tears in the Rain" in particular, but choosing to set it at a frenetic speed rather than a slower, more contemplative song smothered whatever emotion I thought he was trying to convey there. Sort of like Maiden with "Tears of a Clown," that one I thought would've worked FAR better as an acoustic track than a midtempo rocker. In the end, like I said before, CoS just felt way too familiar, almost like I wasn't listening to a new album, just a variation on other songs Blaze/Absolva have done previously. Mandrake absolutely has problems. I don't understand the 10/10 reviews it's been getting, and trust me, I was READY for a 10/10 new Bruce album. We got a mishmash of songs pulled from the last 10-25 years instead, but in the end, it's all preference. I prefer Mandrake, and a lot of people prefer CoS, and that's awesome. Blaze and co. did put out a very solid album, and it the fan consensus is that he got the win, he deserves it.
 
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CA Bryers said:
I agree with just about everything you wrote. CoS is very coherent, feels like one album, and Bruce's absolutely feels disjointed at times. I'm not a big fan of Sonata either. I want to like it, but it only hits halfway, and I don't foresee it growing on me any further. There's a great song in there, but it needed of total overhaul with some variety in the dynamics and probably a rethought story to go along with it.

Circle of Stone I was unimpressed with on first listen, and went back to it after many voiced their preference to it over Mandrake. It struck me the same as the first time, unfortunately. I was looking forward to relistening to "Tears in the Rain" in particular, but choosing to set it at a frenetic speed rather than a slower, more contemplative song smothered whatever emotion I thought he was trying to convey there. Sort of like Maiden with "Tears of a Clown," that one I thought would've worked FAR better as an acoustic track than a midtempo rocker. In the end, like I said before, CoS just felt way too familiar, almost like I wasn't listening to a new album, just a variation on other songs Blaze/Absolva have done previously. Mandrake absolutely has problems. I don't understand the 10/10 reviews it's been getting, and trust me, I was READY for a 10/10 new Bruce album. We got a mishmash of songs pulled from the last 10-25 years instead, but in the end, it's all preference. I prefer Mandrake, and a lot of people prefer CoS, and that's awesome. Blaze and co. did put out a very solid album, and it the fan consensus is that he got the win, he deserves it.
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Yes that's very fair and I can see your points.

Something that works well for Blaze is that Absolva are absolutely a working class, tomorrow-is-the-same-as-yesterday metal band run as a family business by three brothers. It is the kind of metal that is forged from the metaphorical factory of blood, sweat and hard work. I actually saw Absolva play a live show back in 2013 or 2014 in Highbury, North London (before they were involved with Blaze). I liked their song Code Red and they were playing a pub ten minutes from my flat at the time.

Blaze and Absolva are a great fit, not to innovate but to get the job done with power and style. But let me clarify my comparison.

CoS is not a perfect or innovative album, I'd rate it 8/10

TMP however is below par for Bruce and Roy, I'd rate it 6.5/10 (with half a point docked for Sonata. It gets a 7 if I skip that track!)
 
Manic Gers said:
I agree about Charlotte (and would add 22 Acacia Avenue, among others) - one of the worst lyrics by any band ever. Now I'm no longer 13 years old, it absolutely makes me cringe.

I'm not trying to make a case for Maiden being great poets, they've always had bad lyrics scattered through their catalogue. I suppose my point is that Fear Of The Dark seemed to me to be a whole album of bad lyrics.
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I never read lyrics. Quite frankly I don't care what they sing about. It's just an excuse to put a vocal melody on the song. I'm just in it for the music. If it sounds good then I'll like it.
 
CA Bryers said:
and Bruce's absolutely feels disjointed at times.
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Even though all the songs are different, I don't feel that at all. I think the album works and flows very well. And good luck finding other albums with last 3 songs that carry so much emotion. Whatever type of music style Bruce does, he does it with quality. He (and Roy for that matter) will always have high expectations. This is an album that is not in his comfort zone and I'm glad it exists. I don't want a composer like him to repeat himself. Bruce was never afraid to try different things. The only problem is that most of the songs, for their length, are without solos or melodies, but this is not mainly up to him. There is music for everyone, and the success of Mandrake is big for Bruce, expected or not that much.

I realized something - this is the first solo album of Bruce, which mostly consists of songs from different writing sessions.
I think his next album should be in the same vein as this one, but with at least half of the songs in his classic style (heavier). That would be perfect. His solos albums are all different from each other, so the next one will probably combine all aspects (since 1994 or 1997), more than this one.
 
The_7th_one said:
Thanks! Although I have no Facebook. I always hated it lol Thanks anyway!
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You can see here an excerpt of the interview with TéléNantes. :)

www.instagram.com

Télénantes в Instagram: "On le connait plus souvent comme le chanteur du groupe mythique Iron Maiden. Bruce Dickinson a aussi lancé sa carrière solo dans les années 90. 20 ans après son dernier album, l’artiste sort un nouveau disque « The Mandrake

60 likes, 1 comments - telenantes на March 6, 2024: "On le connait plus souvent comme le chanteur du groupe mythique Iron Maiden. Bruce Dickinson a au..."
www.instagram.com www.instagram.com
 
Kalata said:
I realized something - this is the first solo album of Bruce, which mostly consists of songs from different writing sessions.
I think his next album should be in the same vein as this one, but with at least half of the songs in his classic style (heavier). That would be perfect. His solos albums are all different from each other, so the next one will probably combine all aspects (since 1994 or 1997), more than this one.
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And that's why I think this time for the next album coming next year, the songwriting will be a one-shot session in the studio. Roy Z is currently composing new songs and Bruce will put his vocals on january 2025. For a late 2025 or early 2026 release. In the meantime, in february and march 2025, Maiden will be in the studio to record its new album and will release it in september 2025.
 
French charts (new entry) :

'The Mandrake Project' #4 for physical sales. :)

BD-TopAlbumsPhysiquesSemaine1.jpg



'The Mandrake Project' #10 for both physical and digital sales. :)

BD-TopAlbumsPhysiquesDigitauxSemaine1.jpg

blabbermouth.net

BRUCE DICKINSON Celebrates Worldwide Chart Success Of 'The Mandrake Project'

IRON MAIDEN singer Bruce Dickinson's brand-new solo album, "The Mandrake Project", has become a global smash hit, with huge chart success already announced across Europe and further major worldwide chart positions to follow this week. In Germany and Sweden, Bruce has topped the album charts...
blabbermouth.net blabbermouth.net
 
Brigantium said:
Goodness knows how much Bruce stuff is kicking around out there already part written or even recorded. This album has shown stuff was out there for quite some time.
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Looking forward to it

"So I found this old demo from my Samson days. It's the most extraordinary thing I have done. I added some lyrics but kept the rest. You can't even tell the difference! "
 
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