Bruce Dickinson

[CA Bryers]

The real bonus song is Eternity. Come to think of it, the album could have been without it and Sonata - and those two, along with Shadow and maybe Resurrection Men, are the songs with the biggest impression from the album for most fans. So it was a good move for the album's success. Better songs, probably, the same emotion, that's not that easy. IIRC, Bruce said that Shadow is a better closer than Sonata, both unique in their feel and structure.

With the amount of the written material, he could have easily putted more songs to the album (2 more - one fast and one TCW-like), and a bonus one too (he should have done it after all these years), but I guess he wanted to save some songs for the next album and maybe followed the concept of the story in some way. He probably felt that the album's backbone was there, and Eternity is definitely part of. I'm very grateful that a version of the song with solos exists, but it will always be more of a Maiden song for me, probably because it was released first as such. Sonata and Rain could have been bonus songs, especially in some of his other albums.

I'm really curious if they'll try Sonata live, it could change some opinions. It's a too specific song, so I'm not sure if he has to play it.

Great points, especially about Eternity being a bonus song. I consider it a Maiden song for the same reasons, though I prefer Bruce's because--as much as people hate the production on Mandrake--at least it doesn't sound as horribly muddy as the BoS version does. It sounds pretty great to my ears, at least.

As for Sonata live, I guess it depends on if Bruce read any of the feedback Mandrake got. If there's one song that's universally agreed upon to be the weak point of the album, it's Sonata. I'm normally one who's up to hear a live version of just about anything, but after so long hoping the song'll grow on me, I've given up. It's not that far off from Midnight Jam, which is equally meandering and kinda pointless. I mean, Sonata had been laying around and considered unusable by both Bruce and Roy, and it reportedly took Roy a lot of tinkering and editing to get it to the version we got, which still wasn't very good.

Other than that one song, though, I do like the album quite a bit, and am hopeful for the next album.

 

[rockerman]

TMP is my most favorite album by Bruce with Sonata being my favorite track. In fact, I wish he would do an entire album with the “rock opera” feel of Sonata.

 

[Vaenyr]

TMP is my most favorite album by Bruce with Sonata being my favorite track. In fact, I wish he would do an entire album with the “rock opera” feel of Sonata.

I wouldn't be opposed to that, actually. I dislike how Sonata turned out, but that's because I would've wanted a bit more editing and a couple of songwriting sessions to tidy up the structure and lyrics. The "let's keep the majority of the first and improvised take" doesn't make for a particularly exciting song, in my opinion.

The overall idea of such a song, and story-telling like that, could work great as a concept album and I'd be interested to see what Bruce could come up with, if he went in with a bit more planning.

 

[Kalata]

As for Sonata live, I guess it depends on if Bruce read any of the feedback Mandrake got. If there's one song that's universally agreed upon to be the weak point of the album, it's Sonata. I'm normally one who's up to hear a live version of just about anything, but after so long hoping the song'll grow on me, I've given up. It's not that far off from Midnight Jam, which is equally meandering and kinda pointless. I mean, Sonata had been laying around and considered unusable by both Bruce and Roy, and it reportedly took Roy a lot of tinkering and editing to get it to the version we got, which still wasn't very good.

Not here, but I think Sonata is usually considered one of the highlights from the album, no? I think they wouldn't have add it to any album, TMP probably felt right, especially because of the storytelling aspect of the album and comic. Shadow would have been enough for an impression, methinks. Maybe in the place of Nightmares?
Sonata's idea is cool, but for 10 minutes, slow and with no tempo changes, always will be an issue. It's interesting ofc, but it's not what I want from Bruce. Rain too.

Other than that one song, though, I do like the album quite a bit, and am hopeful for the next album.

I can say the same, although for me it will always be an ''unfinished'' album. Also Bruce could have done more takes. Eternity is elevated by the solos, but he shouldn't have putted it, even though it's one of the best songs he ever wrote. It feels like an album imo, not just a collection of different songs. I think every future solo album of his will be like TMP, more or less. Different styles and approaches, not his traditional AOB-TCW-TOS style for the most part. I feel that's what Bruce likes now. If I have to choose, I will always choose the latter. Ofc it depends on how good the songs are, but making the next album TMP 2.0 with just more keyboards, I don't think it would have the same impact, to say. Let it be unique. Something really heavy, dark and fast- for sure. More metal than rock. And it would probably be more impressive.

TMP is my most favorite album by Bruce with Sonata being my favorite track.

That's cool to hear.

Great points, especially about Eternity being a bonus song. I consider it a Maiden song for the same reasons, though I prefer Bruce's because--as much as people hate the production on Mandrake--at least it doesn't sound as horribly muddy as the BoS version does. It sounds pretty great to my ears, at least.

The production, even the drums sound, fits the vibe of the album, have to admit that. But live the songs are better.

 

[Belshazzar]

TMP is my most favorite album by Bruce with Sonata being my favorite track. In fact, I wish he would do an entire album with the “rock opera” feel of Sonata.

Wow! I'm the polar opposite. My opinion is that the album feels like what it mostly is - a collection of unused material from over a period of years. The change in Bruce's voice, with his unfortunate slight lisp and drawled annunciation on the most recently recorded tracks (especially noticeable in Rain on the Graves) in contrast to some of the other songs, stands out and makes it feel like a "B sides" compilation to me. The lazy editing doesn't help, with some songs inorganically transitioning between parts with a noticeable jolt. Resurrection Men again sounds like what it is, a song Bruce wrote with an awful middle section added by Roy that sounds like he was actually trying to make the song worse.

One track being a Maiden track and one being what is essentially a jam, hammer home the disparate feeling of the album as a whole. Then there's the awful production.

The fact that some outlets (erroneously) called this a concept album is laughable.

That's my opinion

 

[Vaenyr]

Resurrection Men again sounds like what it is, a song Bruce wrote with an awful middle section added by Roy that sounds like he was actually trying to make the song worse.

I agree with most of your points, but this surprised me. The slower-paced middle part that plays around with the IESF lyrics is probably my favorite part of the song. The weirdly dissonant verses and the simplistic chorus on the other hand annoy me, so the middle part is one of the few good parts of the song, imo. Interesting how tastes can differ!

And yeah, the record was marketed as a concept album, and IIRC we ended up getting a grand total of 3 songs that deal with the concept, while the rest is about different, unrelated topics. Couple that with the focus on the comics (are those finished? Are we still waiting on volumes? Feels like they marketed the first entry and then forgot this project existed) and it is super strange how everything connected to this album was handled.