Bruce Dickinson

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.
Click to expand...
The producers are Bruce Dickinson and Roy Z. But the engineer who mixed and mastered 'The Mandrake Project' is Brendan Duffey who worked for a lot of bands like Almah or "artists" like pop singers that you can find here : http://www.brendanduffeyaudio.com/

So, there is no surprise why 'The Mandrake Project' sounds so weird sometimes...

In my opinion, I think Bruce should have chosen Roy Z for the mixing and the mastering instead. The result would have been way better.
 
Ascendingthethrone said:
All this criticism is making me curious. I will stream the album before I make a commitment to purchase.
Click to expand...

My first listen will be on Spotify, with headphones, at work.

After work, I will head to my local HMV and I can imagine two possible scenarios:

1) “The album is great! I cannot wait to get a copy so I can play it to death”.
2) “Oh dear! I’ll get a copy to complete the collection but I not sure I will be playing it too often”.

Fingers crossed it’s #1 and the album is not a #2!
 
Last edited:
GhostofCain said:
My first listen will on Spotify, with headphones, at work.

After work, I will head to my local HMV and I can imagine two possible scenarios:

1) “The album is great! I cannot wait to get a copy so I can play it to death”.
2) “Oh dear! I’ll get a copy to complete the collection but I not sure I will be playing it too often”.

Fingers crossed it’s #1 and the album is not a #2!
Click to expand...
For me, it's the 1st option. ;)
 
GhostofCain said:
My first listen will on Spotify, with headphones, at work.

After work, I will head to my local HMV and I can imagine two possible scenarios:

1) “The album is great! I cannot wait to get a copy so I can play it to death”.
2) “Oh dear! I’ll get a copy to complete the collection but I not sure I will be playing it too often”.

Fingers crossed it’s #1 and the album is not a #2!
Click to expand...
Either way Bruce gets richer by a few pounds :D
 
TheMercenary said:
The producers are Bruce Dickinson and Roy Z. But the engineer who mixed and mastered 'The Mandrake Project' is Brendan Duffey who worked for a lot of bands like Almah or "artists" like pop singers that you can find here : http://www.brendanduffeyaudio.com/

So, there is no surprise why 'The Mandrake Project' sounds so weird sometimes...

In my opinion, I think Bruce should have chosen Roy Z for the mixing and the mastering instead. The result would have been way better.
Click to expand...
Relatively common to both be both producer and mixing enginer at the same time (and then ship off to a mastering engineer, or do that yourself too), so easy to assume Z did it, and I had assumed he had mixed it anyway until you told us.

And considering how poor Z's output has sounded the past 15 years (though the unofficial Live in London Halford record that Z mixed sounded great, but the source material was definitely good too which is the most important factor), I don't think the result would have been way better (he also mixed Yngwie's Perpetaul Flame which was a train wreck, but I suppose that was a bit of a Harris/Shirley sitiuaton). Just listen to the Sprits of Fire album he did and you'll find a lot of parallels with Bruce's record, like goofy sounding triggered drums.
 
GhostofCain said:
My first listen will on Spotify, with headphones, at work.

After work, I will head to my local HMV and I can imagine two possible scenarios:

1) “The album is great! I cannot wait to get a copy so I can play it to death”.
2) “Oh dear! I’ll get a copy to complete the collection but I not sure I will be playing it too often”.

Fingers crossed it’s #1 and the album is not a #2!
Click to expand...
This is exactly what I will do as well!
 
Also I think even within the maiden fanbase, the music taste is quite diverse. So I wouldn't worry at all about if some of us didn't like the album. Just listen to the album with an open mind.

I liked Senjutsu a lot and still listen to it quite regularly. I like the heavier materials of Bruce although I don't mind the occasional Navigate the seas of the sun type material. Songs like accident of Birth, The Tower, Book of Thel, Chemical Wedding, Abduction is more in my spectrum.
 
Yax said:
Just listen to the Sprits of Fire album he did and you'll find a lot of parallels with Bruce's record, like goofy sounding triggered drums.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I know. The first Spirits Of Fire album was a catastrophe, both on musically and on the mixing/mastering side. But, if you compare this shit with Halford's 'Resurrection' and with Judas Priest's 'Angel Of Retribution', there is a huge difference with Spirits Of Fire eponymous record. And with Bruce Dickinson's 'The Mandrake Project'. I'm strongly convinced that 'The Mandrake Project' would have sounded better if Roy Z had the complete control on the production from A to Z, from the recording to the mastering, the result would have been comparable to the sound of 'Tyranny Of Souls', to name only this album, for example. ;)
 
Jadukor said:
Also I think even within the maiden fanbase, the music taste is quite diverse. So I wouldn't worry at all about if some of us didn't like the album. Just listen to the album with an open mind.

I liked Senjutsu a lot and still listen to it quite regularly. I like the heavier materials of Bruce although I don't mind the occasional Navigate the seas of the sun type material. Songs like accident of Birth, The Tower, Book of Thel, Chemical Wedding, Abduction is more in my spectrum.
Click to expand...
The heavier songs are my spectrum too. which doesn't stop me from liking 'Senjutsu' either. My musical tastes are rather versatile without falling into excess : I love agressive metal bands as Kreator or Judas Priest. But, I also love more progressive bands as Dream Theater or symphonic as Nightwish, for example. So, 'The Mandrake Project' is right between the heaviness and the quietness and I love that. That's why 'The Mandrake Project' fits in my tastes. That's why I appreciate it a lot and why I understood it quickly. :)
 
Last edited:
TheMercenary said:
The heavier songs are my spectrum too. which doesn't stop me from liking 'Senjutsu' either. My musical tastes are rather versatile without falling into excess : I love agressive metal bands as Kreator or Judas Priest. But, I also love more progressive bands as Dream Theater or symphonic as Nightwish, for example. So, 'The Mandrake Project' is right between the heaviness and the quietness and I love that. That's why 'The Mandrake Project' fits perfectly in my tastes. That's why I appreciate it a lot and why I understood it quickly. :)
Click to expand...
My problem with Mandrake project isn't due to the lack of heaviness. I see great ideas scattered throughout the album but most of the songs don't work for me as a whole either due to demo quality drums, Bruce being slightly off tempo in the verses, weird transitions that seem to be patched into the song (resurrection men) or simply the overall lack of catchy riffs and solos in the whole album. I had a higher expectation and unfortunately for me only Shadow of the gods fits that level
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top