Bruce's Solo Discography Ranked - The Complete List

[Diesel 11]

81: Rescue Day
Average Score: 5.74/10
Bonus Tracks 13/31

More Skunkworks stuff. As a whole the bonus material isn't bad, but Bruce has made some extraordinary stuff - these hence become average. As a little note, we're still going to be seeing a great deal of bonus tracks, but starting with #80 album tracks are going to become more prominent. I'm kinda glad, because some of these songs have little I can speak of since I've covered a lot already. "Rescue Day" is, according to voters, decent but not special. Yep.

Choice comments:

Strong enough.

Brilliant bonus track; not as easily accessible, I guess.

Votes:

Spoiler

10 - 1
9 - 0
8 - 2
7 - 7
6 - 1
5 - 4
4 - 0
3 - 1
2 - 2
1 - 1

Overall:

Spoiler

81 - Rescue Day
82 - No Lies
83 - Re-Entry
84 - Midnight Jam
85 - Over And Out
86 - Dracula
87 - Cadillac Gas Mask
88 - Tibet
89 - Elvis Has Left The Building
90 - Americans Are Behind
91 - Lickin' the Gun
92 - R 101
93 - Ballad of Mutt
94 - Zulu Lulu
95 - The Post Alternative Seattle Fall Out
96 - I'm In A Band With An Italian Drummer

Albums:
Tattooed Millionaire 3/10
Bonus Tracks 13/31

 

[Diesel 11]

80: Dive! Dive! Dive!
Average Score: 5.75/10
Tattooed Millionaire 4/10

And for our estimated colleague Mr. Jer, here comes another song he considers "dreck"... and I actually really enjoy, dammit why is it low? I get the lyrics are very un-Bruce and too raunchy for some, but he really pulls it off, and I love how he equates one's acts in bed with submariners. Really cool. Then, of course, while I'm rather sad about this, our Jer is wiping the sweat from his brow and saying to himself, "Thank god! It left before Skunkworks hit!" Well, unfortunately the very next song will be a track from Skunkworks and the first non-TM album song in the list. Can you guess what it is?

Choice comments:

Dive! is a funny song.

Do you think anyone really feels the need to point out that "Frankly Seaman Staines, I don't give a damn." Is not among the most profound lines Bruce ever wrote?

I know a lot of people hate this one, but I love it. Sex-driven but written from a submariner's perspective. Fun jam!

Dreck.

I seem to like this one more than most people.

Votes:

Spoiler

10 - 0
9 - 1
8 - 3
7 - 4
6 - 3
5 - 6
4 - 0
3 - 1
2 - 1
1 - 1

Overall:

Spoiler

80 - Dive! Dive! Dive!
81 - Rescue Day
82 - No Lies
83 - Re-Entry
84 - Midnight Jam
85 - Over And Out
86 - Dracula
87 - Cadillac Gas Mask
88 - Tibet
89 - Elvis Has Left The Building
90 - Americans Are Behind
91 - Lickin' the Gun
92 - R 101
93 - Ballad of Mutt
94 - Zulu Lulu
95 - The Post Alternative Seattle Fall Out
96 - I'm In A Band With An Italian Drummer

Albums:
Tattooed Millionaire 4/10
Bonus Tracks 13/31

 

[mckindog]

All the songs so far deserve to be down here because they aren’t worth listening to again.

Except No Lies. That’s a solid track with a nice groove and a memorable chorus.
Shocked to see it where it is.

 

[Mosh]

No Lies probably has the most to offer musically out of the TM tracks but something about it has never clicked with me. Maybe it’s too smart for the album it’s on, idk.

 

[Jer]

I love how he equates one's acts in bed with submariners. Really cool.

Well, unfortunately the very next song will be a track from Skunkworks and the first non-TM album song in the list. Can you guess what it is?

I'd guess "Dreamstate". If it's not that one, then I'd venture "I Will Not Accept The Truth".

 

[Diesel 11]

79: Headswitch
Average Score: 5.8/10
Skunkworks 1/13

Skunkworks joins the race to #1 and becomes the second album to get a song into the countdown. "Headswitch" seems generally deemed its least memorable track, so I don't think it's too surprising to see it join first. This album as a whole has some very interesting, sometimes weird rankings, and there's a lot I personally didn't expect to see until I, er, "crunched the numbers". Fun times ahead. Plow on!

Choice comments:

A fave.

I find Headswitch the least good track. It's very Soundgardenish (that's not a bad thing!) but I can't find much to enjoy.

Good.

Votes:

Spoiler

10 - 1
9 - 1
8 - 3
7 - 3
6 - 4
5 - 3
4 - 2
3 - 1
2 - 0
1 - 2

Overall:

Spoiler

79 - Headswitch
80 - Dive! Dive! Dive!
81 - Rescue Day
82 - No Lies
83 - Re-Entry
84 - Midnight Jam
85 - Over And Out
86 - Dracula
87 - Cadillac Gas Mask
88 - Tibet
89 - Elvis Has Left The Building
90 - Americans Are Behind
91 - Lickin' the Gun
92 - R 101
93 - Ballad of Mutt
94 - Zulu Lulu
95 - The Post Alternative Seattle Fall Out
96 - I'm In A Band With An Italian Drummer

Albums:

Spoiler

Tattooed Millionaire 4/10
Skunkworks 1/13
Bonus Tracks 13/31

#6: Tattooed Millionaire
Average Score: 6.06/10
Released 8 May 1990
Dickinson / Gers / Carr / Del Rio

I love this album a lot. It's his second worst, but that isn't saying much when every album, for me, is a 9 or higher. I don't think it deserves being at the absolute bottom, but some of these songs are quite suspiciously loose. Then again, it's a purposefully cheesy, purposefully joke, fun kinda album, which I like, but the vibe doesn't work for others. I doubt anyone would have expected it to be higher than dead-last, but I wish it weren't so... dammit Bruce, why are you such a great musician!

Choice comments:

I really dislike Tattooed Millionaire.

I like all Bruce albums except Tattooed Millionaire.

I'm very fond of this album. For a long time, this and Balls were the only Bruce albums I had heard so I had a lot of time to listen to and appreciate them. My early experience with Metal was also primarily late 80s glam stuff and this sort of thing Bruce was doing here wasn't too far off. My tastes have changed since then, but there are some glam metal albums that I can still enjoy and I think Bruce did that sound a lot better than most of the true glam metal acts. Underneath the glossy production and big choruses, there's a real knack for songwriting and some good playing from everyone. Some of the songs on here are really high quality, but there's also some filler.
Obviously Bruce would go on to do bigger and better things, but I'd say this album is at least still better than Skunkworks. It's definitely not bad, just not one to come back to often and overshadowed by far better albums.

Another thing about this album is that Bruce really wears his influences on his sleeve. There's an AC/DC styled song, an Aerosmith styled song, a Mott the Hoople cover.
Bruce's new vocal style also fits the material reasonably well.

'tis not a very good album this.

Agree that Tattoed is a bad album. Bruce's worst for sure.

It's definitely below average. Everything here is definitely better than half of Virtual XI.

With his solo album, I felt Bruce went a completely different direction from Maiden and I just couldn't comprehend him singing such bizarre pop trash.

... but "Tattooed Millionaire" is the most fun !

Tattooed Millionaire has some silly stuff on it but is still not bad as a "fun" album, the title track Son of a Gun and Born in 58 are good tracks, as is the b-side Darkness be my friend.

I see your point about that the fact that he perhaps poured his heart out more on other albums.

But on Tattooed Millionaire he had to tell himself and a very successful band in Iron Maiden that he had other creative ideas and that he couldn't fulfill/see them being arranged together with Steve Harris and co. Which at the time must have been a very difficult thing to do since Maiden were still a very successful band coming off headlining Donington 1988 and the No Prayer album still in the works. Releasing that studio album in 1990 was definitely a foreshadowing of his departure a few years later. Putting that album out made Bruce cast a reflective light over his entire career and what he was doing in Maiden and ultimately led him to decide that he wanted to be doing more solo work and not stay in Maiden.

Wow, this album is much better than I remembered!

Votes:

Spoiler

10 - 0
9 - 0
8 - 1
7 - 6
6 - 8
5 - 1
4 - 1
3 - 0
2 - 1
1 - 0

Overall:

Spoiler

#6: Tattooed Millionaire

 

[Jer]

79: Headswitch

Huh. Definitely near the bottom for that album, but I wouldn't have put it last. And it's still better than "Hell On Wheels", IMO...

 

[Mosh]

dammit Bruce, why are you such a great musician!

 

[Diesel 11]

78: Confeos
Average Score: 5.85/10
Bonus Tracks 14/31

Did I speak too soon? There's a few more bonus tracks coming now before we reach another album track. That said, we're jumping ahead a bit this time. Most people consider AOB / TCW / TOS to be Bruce's three greatest albums, and the lowest ranked song from those eras is "Confeos". Which kinda makes sense. A TCW bonus track, this one is more of a throw-back to some of his previous bonus tracks, and is sillier than anything else from this time period. Obviously doesn't fit well on the album, and I'm pissed that the remaster took the spoken word ending of "The Alchemist" and added it to this one. Otherwise it's an enjoyable song, not outstanding, but fun to come on. In my opinion, it's "Zulu Lulu" done right. Ah well. The next track from The Chemical Wedding and its extras will be appearing a bit further down the road. As a whole, those are outstanding. "Confeos" is merely decent.

Choice comments:

Confeos is an absolute disaster. I'd rather have 4 minutes of silence on the CD than that crap.

not for me, mate. it doesnt fit in album concept but it is very interesting

I've never been a fan of the Chemical Wedding bonuses except Confeos (just because Bruce sounds really cool on it and it's catchy as hell).

Heh, Confeos is the track I like least on TCW.

I could live without Confeos.

Votes:

Spoiler

10 - 1
9 - 0
8 - 5
7 - 4
6 - 3
5 - 2
4 - 1
3 - 1
2 - 1
1 - 2

Overall:

Spoiler

78 - Confeos
79 - Headswitch
80 - Dive! Dive! Dive!
81 - Rescue Day
82 - No Lies
83 - Re-Entry
84 - Midnight Jam
85 - Over And Out
86 - Dracula
87 - Cadillac Gas Mask
88 - Tibet
89 - Elvis Has Left The Building
90 - Americans Are Behind
91 - Lickin' the Gun
92 - R 101
93 - Ballad of Mutt
94 - Zulu Lulu
95 - The Post Alternative Seattle Fall Out
96 - I'm In A Band With An Italian Drummer

Albums:

Spoiler

Tattooed Millionaire 4/10
Skunkworks 1/13
Bonus Tracks 14/31

 

[mckindog]

Confeos is a standard bonus track, as opposed to all the silly piffle that has so far dominated this countdown. It’s got some interesting elements, but it’s not good enough to be an album track.

 

[Diesel 11]

77: Darkness Be My Friend
Average Score: 5.88/10
Bonus Tracks 15/31

In many respects this song has a lot going for it. It's very short, it sets a tone and has an ongoing mood throughout. There's a lot to like, but in the end it's merely an average song. For me it falls apart with the line "Nothing lasts forever, but the certainty of change...." It's a good line but it, er, doesn't rhyme. Which bugs me. I dunno. For whatever the reason, the voters have sent this one to the upper limits of the average category and I agree with you. It's in an appropriate slot.

Choice comments:

A short passionate number.

Certainly, it's also a simple song (and fragile!) but I think it has more depth. It landed deservedly on the extra disc of Bruce's "The Best of..."

Darkness Be My Friend is more of a lullaby.

Darkness be my friend such a nice little song.

Silver Wings is out, Darkness Be Friend is still in?
Tempted to use the F word...

"Darkness Be My Friend" is not among his best songs in my opinion.

The oddity of hearing him do a Simon & Garfunkel thing on Darkness Be My Friend makes it interesting enough to keep around for now.

Votes:

Spoiler

10 - 0
9 - 0
8 - 2
7 - 7
6 - 2
5 - 2
4 - 2
3 - 1
2 - 1
1 - 0

Overall:

Spoiler

77 - Darkness Be My Friend
78 - Confeos
79 - Headswitch
80 - Dive! Dive! Dive!
81 - Rescue Day
82 - No Lies
83 - Re-Entry
84 - Midnight Jam
85 - Over And Out
86 - Dracula
87 - Cadillac Gas Mask
88 - Tibet
89 - Elvis Has Left The Building
90 - Americans Are Behind
91 - Lickin' the Gun
92 - R 101
93 - Ballad of Mutt
94 - Zulu Lulu
95 - The Post Alternative Seattle Fall Out
96 - I'm In A Band With An Italian Drummer

Albums:

Spoiler

Tattooed Millionaire 4/10
Skunkworks 1/13
Bonus Tracks 15/31

 

[Diesel 11]

76: God's Not Coming Back
Average Score: 5.89/10
Bonus Tracks 16/31

More Skunkworks stuff. This is the second-highest ranked "average" song - we've got one more song with a 5 and then it's into 6's range. It marks the entrance of yet another album, and no, it's not BTP. Actually, it's the first of the songs from Bruce's "Big 3" (or last three, if you somehow prefer an earlier album). Any guesses as to what it'll be? Anyways... "God's Not Coming Back" is just an average song. Yep.

Choice comments:

This song is so average that I can't find a single quote for it.​

Votes:

Spoiler

10 - 1
9 - 0
8 - 2
7 - 5
6 - 5
5 - 3
4 - 0
3 - 1
2 - 1
1 - 1

Overall:

Spoiler

76 - God's Not Coming Back
77 - Darkness Be My Friend
78 - Confeos
79 - Headswitch
80 - Dive! Dive! Dive!
81 - Rescue Day
82 - No Lies
83 - Re-Entry
84 - Midnight Jam
85 - Over And Out
86 - Dracula
87 - Cadillac Gas Mask
88 - Tibet
89 - Elvis Has Left The Building
90 - Americans Are Behind
91 - Lickin' the Gun
92 - R 101
93 - Ballad of Mutt
94 - Zulu Lulu
95 - The Post Alternative Seattle Fall Out
96 - I'm In A Band With An Italian Drummer

Albums:

Spoiler

Tattooed Millionaire 4/10
Skunkworks 1/13
Bonus Tracks 16/31

 

[Number 6]

I don't even remember voting for that.

 

[Diesel 11]

I don't even remember voting for that.

You gave it an 8.

 

[Number 6]

You gave it an 8.

Oh, yeah! I don't have many memories of Skunkworks.

 

[Jer]

Oh, yeah! I don't have many memories of Skunkworks.

It's a B-side from that era, not an album track.

 

[Jer]

Actually, it's the first of the songs from Bruce's "Big 3" (or last three, if you somehow prefer an earlier album). Any guesses as to what it'll be?

Assuming it's not one of the brief intro tracks, I'd put my money on "Devil On A Hog".

 

[Number 6]

It's a B-side from that era, not an album track.

It was a part of Skunkworks in the polls. I listened to the albums and B-sides all together.

 

[Diesel 11]

75: Toltec 7 Arrival
Average Score: 5.95/10
Accident of Birth 1/12

The first track from the last 3 (or best 3, if you're in my way of thing) Bruce albums comes in the form of this half-a-minute track which forms as a bridge between "Freak" and "Starchildren". It's a nice opening three-way, IMO. That said, T7A isn't really a song, so it's understandable that it isn't high up. I gave it a three myself on that basis, even if I do enjoy it a lot. That said, the voting is all over the place here. The only thing no one voted for was a 1, which makes sense; I don't think anyone hates it. Last song in the "5" category, henceforth we'll be dealing with 6's (all the way...?).

Choice comments:

a song that once creeped me out too was Toltec 7 Arrival by Bruce Dickinson. When you feel daaamn sleepy and tired, try listening toit without going "WTF" all over the place

Toltec 7 Arrival is majestic.

It's gorgeous.

I mean, it's not really a song. Still better than a lot of others though.

Very hard to rate since it’s not really a song. Opted for a 6 because it works, even though it feels a bit unnecessary.

Votes:

Spoiler

10 - 1
9 - 1
8 - 1
7 - 6
6 - 2
5 - 7
4 - 1
3 - 1
2 - 1
1 - 0

Overall:

Spoiler

75 - Toltec 7 Arrival
76 - God's Not Coming Back
77 - Darkness Be My Friend
78 - Confeos
79 - Headswitch
80 - Dive! Dive! Dive!
81 - Rescue Day
82 - No Lies
83 - Re-Entry
84 - Midnight Jam
85 - Over And Out
86 - Dracula
87 - Cadillac Gas Mask
88 - Tibet
89 - Elvis Has Left The Building
90 - Americans Are Behind
91 - Lickin' the Gun
92 - R 101
93 - Ballad of Mutt
94 - Zulu Lulu
95 - The Post Alternative Seattle Fall Out
96 - I'm In A Band With An Italian Drummer

Albums:

Spoiler

Tattooed Millionaire 4/10
Skunkworks 1/13
Accident of Birth 1/12
Bonus Tracks 16/31

 

[Number 6]

6's (all the way...?).