Bruce's Solo Discography Ranked - The Complete List

Skunkworks
Space Race 8
Back from the Edge 8
Inertia 8
Faith 7
Solar Confinement 6
Dreamstate 6
I Will Not Accept the Truth 6
Inside the Machine 7
Headswitch 6
Meltdown 7
Octavia 5
Innerspace 7
Strange Death in Paradise 7

Average: around 6.8

This is the first Bruce solo album that has a definite tone maintained all throughout. It’s not incredible, as it lacks some really great standout songs, but it’s definitely enjoyable and quite consistent too. One of its main problems is repetition, that hurts various tracks quite a bit, e.g. Solar Confinement and I Will Not Accept the Truth. I wouldn’t call it a disappointing chapter, but he woul go on to release much better albums.

Bonus tracks
I’m in a Band With an Italian Drummer 3 (although I find it somewhat funny as an Italian)
Rescue Day 7
God’s not Coming Back 6
Armchair Hero 6
R 101 4
Re-Entry 5
Americans are Behind 6
 
Diesel 11 said:
Just a friendly reminder in case you forgot again. :p
Click to expand...
I didn't. :D

It's just that I've been listening to the first 2 albums more than I listened to the other 4 so I can more accurately rate them (since I like them considerably less than the others, and the more I listen to them, the less my immediate personal taste gets in the way). I'll get my ratings done soon. :ok:
 
Balls To Picasso
  1. "Cyclops" - 8/10
  2. "Hell No" - 7/10
  3. "Gods of War" - 7/10
  4. "1000 Points of Light" - 8/10
  5. "Laughing In the Hiding Bush" - 9/10
  6. "Change of Heart" - 7/10
  7. "Shoot All the Clowns" - 8/10
  8. "Fire" - 8/10
  9. "Sacred Cowboys" - 9/10
  10. "Tears of the Dragon" - 10/10
This album is boring. The songs, individually, are all very strong, but listening to all of them together can be quite a chore.

Bonus tracks:
  • "Fire Child" - 8/10
  • "Elvis Has Left the Building" - 4/10
  • "The Breeding House" - 10/10
  • "No Way Out...To Be Continued" - 5/10
  • "Over and Out" - 2/10
  • "The Post Alternative Seattle Fall Out" - 6/10
  • "Tibet" - 1/10
  • "Cadilac Gas Mask" - 5/10 => reminds me a lot of Alice Cooper stuff, which is good, but ultimately goes nowhere;
  • "No Way Out...Continued" - 6/10
Only 1 album to go!
 
Accident of Birth
Freak- 8 - Lyrics aren’t great but the music really is.
Toltec 7 Arrival- 6 - 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.
Starchildren- 8 - Catchy and well built.
Taking the Queen- 9 - A really amazing vocal performance paired with great lyrics. The result is an awesome emotional yet hard hitting song.
Darkside of Aquarius- 10 - Amazing from start to finish. Great solos too, partly thanks to the man himself Adrian Smith.
Road to Hell- 10 - Best song on the album in my opinion. Much simpler than the previous one, but incredibly effective.
Man of Sorrows- 9 - A great sad ballad, definitely better than the Maiden song (even though I like that one too).
Accident of Birth- 9 - Bruce manages to turn an extremely dark and personal subject matter into a great metal song.
The Magician- 6- Much sillier than the rest of the album. Vocal lines before the chorus feel a bit forced.
Welcome to the Pit- 7- Good song, but not incredible.
Omega- 8- Great instrumental part and a fantastic delivery from Bruce.
Arc of Space- 6- Good lyrics and vocal, but the song is wuite frankly a bit boring.

Average: 8.0 (8.2 without Toltec 7 Arrival)

Bonus: Ghost of Cain- 8- Great for a bonus track, better than some songs on the album actually.

A great return to metal. The section from Taking the Queen to the title track is incredible. After that, the album loses a bit of its momentum, but the end result is still amazing. The following album is even better though.
 
The Chemical Wedding
King in Crimson 9- Right from here you can understand the heavier direction of this album, and it’s definitely a successful one. Great opener.
The Chemical Wedding 9- Would probably be a 10 if the chorus wasn’t repeated as much. Great riffs and solo.
The Tower 9- The comparison to Wrathchild is pretty obvious and, just like that song, this one is very groovy and enjoyable. Just like the on title track though, there’s a bit too much repetition.
Killing Floor 8- Another very heavy song, by Bruce’s standards at least. Parts of it, like the pre-chorus, are a bit strange, but they work, something not uncommon on this album.
Book of Thel 10- Probably Bruce’s best as a solo artist. (I still prefer Powerslave, which is unsurprising since it’s probably my favouite song). Every single bit of this song is awesome and perfectly placed, riffs, vocals, lyrics, solos, bass, drums, etc. Not much else to add really.
Gates of Urizen 8- A lighter tone song, but still very enjoyable.
Jerusalem 9- The best section is the instrumental one, but the rest of the song is very good too. The “Let it rain”part is really awesome.
Trumpets of Jericho 8- My least favourite song on here, although that doesn’t mean much on such a high quality album. After a great buildup, the chorus is a bit of a letdown for me, while still being decent.
Machine Men 10- I really really love this one. The chorus and guitar leading to it are pure gold, and so is the solo. It’s fairly weird but it’s still a fantastic song to me.
The Alchemist 10- Another fantastic chorus and a great composition all around. Solos are great once again and the choice of ending with the title track’s chorus, while bold, works perfectly.

Average: 9.0

Bonus tracks:
Return of the King 9
Real World 7
Confeos 7

Absolutely magnificent album. I know the music industry isn’t fair at all, but I’d still expect an album like this one to get more recognition considering the success of Maiden. I don’t have much to add to what I said about the songs individually, except that the album is one of the most consistent I’ve ever heard, while still having amazing songs.
 
Tyranny of Souls
Mars Within 8- Not really a song on it’s own, but it’s still really good.
Abduction 10- By far my favourite on the album.
Soul Intruders 8- Don’t love the pre-chorus that much, but the rest is very good.
Kill Devil Hill 9- Yet another great song about aviation penned by Bruce.
Navigate the Seas of the Sun 8- Not really my type of music but it definitely sounds great. The title is definitely repeated too many times though.
River of No Return 7- Not much special about this one, still decent.
Power of the Sun 8- Great chorus and a good song overall.
Devil on a Hog 7- Just like River of No Return
Believel 6- I really love the chorus riff, but the song isn’t the greatest overall
Tyranny of Souls 8- Heavily lifted by an amazing chorus.

Average: 7.9

Bonus:
Eternal 8

Overall a nice album, definitely not as good as the previous one but that was to be expected. Wish Adrian was on it though.

The Best of Bruce Dickinson
Broken 8- When was this recorded? Am I crazy in hearing some Pantera on this one?
Silver Wings 8
Wicker Man 7
Acoustic Song 8
Midnight Jam 7
Dracula 6
 
Thanks for taking the time to go through this, @GiovaOfficial !

I’ll be keeping this open for a little longer; maybe by the end of my school year (two weeks left including this one) I’ll tally it up and get this show on the road.
 
Final week, guys! I plan to close this Friday afternoon, tally up the votes Saturday, and possibly start the countdown Sunday or Monday. Please get any you have left to submit in as soon as possible!
 
Tattooed Millionaire
  1. "Son of a Gun" - 5/10
  2. "Tattooed Millionaire" - 10/10
  3. "Born In '58" - 7/10
  4. "Hell On Wheels" - 8/10
  5. "Gypsy Road" - 9/10
  6. "Dive! Dive! Dive!" - 8/10 => I seem to like this one more than most people;
  7. "All the Young Dudes" - 10/10 => the song for itself doesn't deserve such a high score, but since it played an enormous part in my childhood, I couldn't give it less;
  8. "Lickin' the Gun" - 8/10 => another one I find to be underappreciated and enjoy much more than others;
  9. "Zulu Lulu" - 8/10 => same here;
  10. "No Lies" - 6/10
Wow, this album is much better than I remembered! May have climbed up one or two spots on my list. Let's see:
  1. The Chemical Wedding (well... duh)
  2. Accident of Birth
  3. Tyranny of Souls
  4. Tattooed Millionaire
  5. Balls To Picasso
  6. Skunkworks
Huh... I honestly didn't expect Skunkworks to fall down all the way to the bottom. It's not bad, it's just that Tattooed Millionaire and Balls To Picasso ended up being better than I remembered them to be.

Now, let's check the bonus tracks:
  • "Darkness Be My Friend" - 5/10
  • "Winds of Change" - 7/10
  • "Bring Your Daughter...to the Slaughter" - 6/10 => Maiden's version is much better;
  • "Ballad of Mutt" - 2/10 => it's terrible, but at least Bruce sounds like he's having a good time.
 
Last edited:
Man, you’ve really got a vastly different opinion of TM than most people. The only things I think I agree with is that the title track deserves a 10 and Dive! Dive! Dive! is underrated. :D
 
The albums:
  1. The Chemical Wedding - 10/10
  2. Accident of Birth - 9/10
  3. Tyranny of Souls - 8/10
  4. Tattooed Millionaire - 7/10
  5. Balls To Picasso - 6/10
  6. Skunkworks - 6/10
 
The albums:
(as a teacher, I don't find much relevance in marking anything with a number if the assessment criteria are subjective ;) )

1. Accident of Birth
2. The Chemical Wedding
3. Skunkworks
4. Balls To Picasso
5. Tattooed Millionaire
6. Tyranny of Souls
 
It's been over a month since this whole thing began, and today it finally comes to a climax. I'm going to bed, but sometime later today the polls will close and the real fun will begin.

Stragglers, you have mere hours left! :P
 
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