Bruce Dickinson

TheMercenary said:
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TheMercenary said:
blabbermouth.net

BRUCE DICKINSON On NICKO MCBRAIN's Post-Stroke Recovery: 'How He Coped With That, It Was Just Amazing'

During a February 25 question-and-answer session at Bio Roy in Gothenburg, Sweden to promote his upcoming solo album, "The Mandrake Project", IRON MAIDEN singer Bruce Dickinson spoke about the stroke his bandmate Nicko McBrain suffered in early 2023 and the drummer's ongoing recovery. Bruce said...
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Bruce is so right about Nicko. We all love him. Some interesting things from this interview:

He mentioned that Roy has a lot of commitments. Bruce's son suggested a 2nd guitarists for the tour. Rehearsals start this week and he mentioned that one of the guitarists learned 14 songs (maybe the whole set?). Tears Of The Dragon won't be on the encores.

He thinks TMP approach is probably the direction for his future. The emotional stuff. According to him, there are not many artists who do this now. Fusion of metal and Pink Floyd. But he doesn't know what he will do for the next solo album, and that's what's exciting. Every album is a moment in time and a journey for him.
^I hope he will write metal songs for Maiden though. It seems he really wants to distance himself from the heavy stuff that made his previous solo albums so beloved. That's really weird, I must say.

They finished the album last April and have some leftovers.

Skunkworks remix is done. Jack Endino loves it. Next is BTP. Bruce said they have a lot of unused (and recorded) parts for the songs on this album. Some new ideas too - they added an intro with sounds for Gods Of War and Cyclops.
There was a question from the audience asking him if he will play The Breeding House and he said that he likes to re-record that song to make it sound even better. ''Don't give me ideas'' haha.
Atm, they couldn't find the tapes for Tattooed Millionaire.

And some Maiden stuff:

His favorite songs to perform live from the current Future Past tour are: TWOTW, CSIT and SIASL. He also said that the set will be the same for the 2nd leg. Expected, unfortunately.

Other Maiden songs he likes to play live again: SSOASS, ROTAM and Wrathchild... oh no! He can't say if they will play them.

The best of all - he said there are many Maiden songs he/they like to play in the future that have never been played live before!!! Don't tease us, Bruce.
 
Kalata said:
The best of all - he said there are many Maiden songs he/they like to play in the future that have never been played live before!!! Don't tease us, Bruce.
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This doesn't surprise me. He keeps mentioning Sun and Steel which apparently was on the cards for the Senjutsu tour in 2021 before that was tied together with the tour that was to follow.
 
Black Bart said:
1. Tie between Skunkworks and The Chemical Wedding

3. Accident of Birth
4. Balls To Picasso

5. Tie between Tattooed Millionaire and The Mandrake Project (seriously, that's now two albums in a row ruined by bad production! :( ). I've been listening to Mandrake on and off for two days though, it is much too soon to judge.

7. Tyranny of Souls (apart from its demo quality, there are really three songs I really like on it: Kill Devil Hill, Tyranny of Souls and to a lesser extent Navigate the Seas of the Sun)

NB I find the BTP songs much better live, for Tattooed Millionaire, it's the reverse.
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I have yet to listen to the new album, but my ranking is as follows:

1. The Chemical Wedding
2. Accident of Birth
3. Skunkworks
4. Balls to Picasso
5. Tyranny of Souls
6. Tattooed Millionaire

Skunkworks and Accident of Birth tend to alternate. Some days I prefer the former, others I prefer the latter.

Tyranny of Souls and Tattooed Millionaire have some great songs but a good amount of fillers too.

Let's see where The Mandrake Project ends up in that ranking!
 
Shadow Of The Gods has one of the best choruses Bruce has ever written imo. What a beauty, full of emotion.

Not to mention the classic part that starts after: ''one drop, creates the light, one drop, will fill the niiiiiiight''... :rocker:


I have to point out that the choruses from Bruce's last 2 albums and Maiden's Senjutsu are some of my favorites.
 
Kalata said:
Shadow Of The Gods has one of the best choruses Bruce has ever written imo. What a beauty, full of emotion.

Not to mention the classic part that starts after: ''one drop, creates the light, one drop, will fill the niiiiiiight''... :rocker:


I have to point out that the choruses from Bruce's last 2 albums and Maiden's Senjutsu are some of my favorites.
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I like this song and the ending is beautiful, Bruce at his top, but i don't see really a chorus in this song, apart "this is your life, world of the dead..." which is for me the worst part of the song.
 
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GhostofCain said:
I have yet to listen to the new album, but my ranking is as follows:

1. The Chemical Wedding
2. Accident of Birth
3. Skunkworks
4. Balls to Picasso
5. Tyranny of Souls
6. Tattooed Millionaire

Skunkworks and Accident of Birth tend to alternate. Some days I prefer the former, others I prefer the latter.

Tyranny of Souls and Tattooed Millionaire have some great songs but a good amount of fillers too.

Let's see where The Mandrake Project ends up in that ranking!
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I don't know why but i think you will not rank Mandrake in the top of your list :) :)
 
Gd78 said:
I like this song and the ending is beautiful, Bruce at his top, but i don't see really a chorus in this song, apart "this is my world, world of the dead..." which is for me the worst part of the song.
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The "journey on beyond the stars" at the 2:40 mark is the chorus. A chorus doesn't have to repeat to be one (see Hell On Earth for another one where the chorus is only heard once).
 
I had a two days pause from the album and I think I will make it till Friday to stay at home for an extra hour and fire up the Sonos.
I have to say the melodies here are so strong, it is immediately stuck in my head after only a few listens. With Maiden that happened only rarely - like "ocean is black, the devil's track" or "I wish I could go back, I'll never be the same again..."
Here some of the strongest melodies are constantly spinning in my head - Doors to Hell, Face, Save me Now, Gods, Fingers, just so much strong stuff. And I expect it only to grow after the proper release. One happy fan here.
(Originally posted elsewhere by mistake)
 
Kalata said:
Bruce said they have a lot of unused (and recorded) parts for the songs on this album. Some new ideas too - they added an intro with sounds for Gods Of War and Cyclops.
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That's on "Sonata (Immortal Beloved)" with the same intro with the same melodies and triggered drums as on "Cyclops".
 
Gd78 said:
I like this moment, and like you the part after, but this is the last minute which is for me "eargasmic"
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Yeah, the final section is a bit like the climaxes of Jerusalem ("Can Jerusalem be rebuilded here, In this trivial time, in this land of fear?") or Empire Of The Clouds ("Oh the dreamers may die but the dreams live on")
 
I love:
Many doors to hell
Rain on the graves
Resurrection men
Fingers in the wounds
Face in the mirror
Shadow of the gods

Songs that are ok:
Sonata
Mistress of Mercy
Eternity has failed
Afterglow of ragnarok
 
In descending order from favorite to least favorite:

Like:
Shadow Of The Gods
Face In The Mirror
Many Doors To Hell

Okay:
Fingers In The Wounds
Eternity Has Failed
Afterglow Of Ragnarok
Mistress Of Mercy

Dislike:
Sonata
Rain On The Graves
Resurrection Men

Sonata in particular is frustrating because there is a great song hidden in there. With heavy editing (cut half the song, particularly the final 3 minutes), proper structure in the lyrics, cut all the spoken words passages; with stuff like that it could be a great mini-epic. The way it is right now it's a bloated mess with cool sections here and there but no excitement to be found due to being stagnant and having no actual pacing. The definition of wasted potential and the prime example why a demo isn't a finished song (in my opinion of course).
 
Great, very good, like a lot, love:
Sonata
Shadow
Wounds
Eternity
Many Doors
Face In The Mirror

Good:
Mistress (really close to the category above)
Ragnarok (could have been better and I listened to it too much)

....... slightly lower category:
Resurrection Men (after many listens, it could and should have been better)
Rain (barely makes it, last month I would have put it in a different category)

I think I'm pretty good with the album. No dislikes.

Vaenyr said:
...particularly the final 3 minutes...
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One of my favorite parts of the song.
 
Vaenyr said:
Sonata in particular is frustrating because there is a great song hidden in there. With heavy editing (cut half the song, particularly the final 3 minutes), proper structure in the lyrics, cut all the spoken words passages; with stuff like that it could be a great mini-epic. The way it is right now it's a bloated mess with cool sections here and there but no excitement to be found due to being stagnant and having no actual pacing. The definition of wasted potential and the prime example why a demo isn't a finished song (in my opinion of course).
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Agree with you for the Lyrics and the fact that this song could have been better. Personally I would change also some weird vocal lines. But i love the last part of the song and the spoken words
 
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