I saw that on Twitter! I’m gonna have to check it out soon. I did listen to your Tattooed Millionaire podcast though, and I enjoyed it, especially because of all the audio clips and comparisons with other songs. And yeah, there are some big similarities, but that doesn’t stop me from enjoying the album; rather, I like how the same idea can be worked to make different songs and succeed at both times, like “Son of a Gun” and “No Lies” do with “Wasting Love” and “Bring Your Daughter...”
I don’t mind Bruce’s rasp much because I think it’s an element of his voice that he can succeed in very well. The verses of the title track bring out the slashing lyrics and help the pre-chorus and chorus to shine even better. It’s easily one of my favorite songs ever, and Bruce-wise, just behind “Trumpets of Jericho” and “Chemical Wedding”. “Son of a Gun” and “Born In ‘58” are also very good, the first of which is a stormer with a lot of acoustic bits mixed with electric that kind of bring a ‘wild west’ aspect to the song. The latter is a really personal affair for Bruce and it’s definitely one of his signature songs.
“Hell on Wheels” and “Gypsy Road” aren’t as good, but the first is pretty fun overall and the second is a nice little ballad. The album does pick up again with “Dive! Dive! Dive!” - you guys gave it some very scathing comments which are understandable, but I don’t quite agree, lol. I don’t really mind songs about sex if they can do something interesting, and I think this one does that. The “oh-oh-oh-oh-oh”s are great, the chorus is really fun, and the music keeps it ‘bopping’ for lack of a better word. I enjoy it mostly for the fun factor, but I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that others don’t, lol.
“All The Young Dudes” sets in a downward spiral for the album. It’s a good cover and I’d rather hear it than the original, but neither songs do much at all for me. “Lickin’ The Gun” and “Zulu Lulu” are underwhelming. The first is throws together a terrible chorus and can’t bail itself out with the verses, and the second is another sex song which, unlike “Dive! Dive! Dive!”, has almost nothing interesting about it. The chorus gets annoying and the music is very... I don’t even know. Luckily the album ends with a pretty great song in the form of “No Lies”, which despite being a bit of a “Bring Your Daughter...” rip-off, still manages to work by itself. Great build-up, great chorus, cool verses, nice instrumental section. I think the ending is a bit abrupt but it isn’t bad. Just takes some getting used to.
Overall I like the album a lot. It’s clearly not on a Chemical Wedding level but it doesn’t have to be. It was just written for fun, more or less, and that shows because it’s overall a very fun album, “Lickin’ The Gun” and “Zulu Lulu” excluded. The sound is very good and just has a nice feel to it, IMO. Some of Janick’s best playing and definitely Bruce’s rasp done best.
As an addendum, the B-side songs aren’t really good. I like “Winds of Change” (repetition be damned
), but “Darkness Be My Friend” does nothing for me and “Ballad of Mutt” is outright terrible.
I dunno if it interests you, but the Bruce discography ranking was a very interesting eye-opener into what people liked from Bruce:
https://forum.maidenfans.com/thread...-countdown-commences.70878/page-9#post-737242
Anyway, I hope you go through the other albums too because this one was interesting and got me thinking about why I liked it and I’d loved to hear your takes on everything else, building right up to The Chemical Wedding. At any rate, great podcast and I can’t wait (actually I’m rather scared) to hear your TXF one. Cheers!
