The World of Solo Maiden

Eh, the Olsen stuff doesn’t mix well at all with the Skin/ToG stuff, IMO. I don’t think you can make that work as a coherent album unless you re-record the Olsen tracks to sound more in line with the others, like what happened with “Tears Of The Dragon”.
 
I think if you go into it with a Physical Graffiti mindset, where you can tell that the tracks were recorded at different times, it still works.
 
It was a bad idea in 1986, a bad idea in 1994, and still a bad idea IMO. The Physical Graffiti approach worked decently for Zeppelin because they had already done some experimenting with genre bending and had a backlog of unfinished material that they could cobble together into an album. Iron Maiden on the other hand really only does one thing (albeit exceptionally well). I feel like Bruce's solo career up to Accident of Birth was a gradual realization that Metal is what he does best. Those Balls to Picasso outtakes are just weak.

Besides, Physical Graffiti isn't a flawless album. There's a lot of excellent material there but it definitely shows that there wasn't a cohesive vision.
 
Mosh said:
Those Balls to Picasso outtakes are just weak.
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I really disagree, every time I hear them I find myself wishing they got a better due than just as bonus material on a re-release. To me they're some of the most interesting material Bruce ever did, and stuff like "The Breeding House" or the first "No Way Out" are strong stand-alone tracks and the Olsen material is a lot of fun, almost surprises me every time that I like them as much as I do.

Mosh said:
Besides, Physical Graffiti isn't a flawless album. There's a lot of excellent material there but it definitely shows that there wasn't a cohesive vision.
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I agree to an extent, but the expansive nature of it makes it the album I enjoy going back to the most. No Zep album is perfect.
 
Alive in Studio A + Alive at the Marquee Club

It's pretty nuts how much material we have for this period of Bruce's solo career - a studio album, bonus tracks with alternate takes, a "live in the studio" re-recording of previously released material, and a live concert recording. The last two are actually super enjoyable and I didn't find myself as bored with these songs as I expected.

For one thing, Bruce sounds way better while singing these tracks live. Gone are the issues seen on Balls to Picasso itself - suddenly the man has overcome all the obstacles and is soaring as ever before. "Tears of the Dragon", for instance, sounds fucking awesome now. I wish we heard this on the album proper.

Then there's the band. The Skunkworks ensemble has come together (the fourth band Bruce assembled from the era!) and they are really grooving with each other. I was shocked to hear how cool the rhythm section is here. I love Eddie Casillas and Dave Ingraham, but my goodness are Chris Dale and Alessandro Elena rocking out here. Lots of great parts all across the two records, and the style is a lot looser and a little more fun. It's like the material finally stopped taking itself too seriously.

Alex Dickson isn't quite as good as Roy Z, but he holds down the fort with style. The recording of "Fire" from Studio A is ten times better than the original studio version, particularly because of that sick comedown and build up they've extended in the instrumental section. The three classic Tattooed Millionaire tracks (title track, "Son of a Gun", and "'58") are also here and they're solid. The riff to "Millionaire" proves how killer it is even when not played by Janick. And I love the extended drum intro to "Hell No".

All in all, great stuff. It's cool to hear these songs come to life a lot better when everyone is loosened up and grooving with each other. And Bruce working the Marquee crowd during "Hell No" is fucking great. Fun stuff.
 
Diesel 11 said:
Adrian Smith and Project

After the more concise nature of the songs on Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, Adrian steps back a bit to a songwriting approach that Maiden had been using on Somewhere in Time. Alongside a host of characters that evolved out of The Entire Population of Hackney*, he takes a few steps outside of Maiden into the world of Silver and Gold, an AOR album that features some of his most interesting songwriting. Every song on here gets stretched to its limit, but at the same time they're more to the point than some of the stuff Maiden (particularly Steve) had been writing. H has always been the poppiest of the Maiden writers, and that's what made his songs sound so sharp amidst the more indulgent Harris tracks. Here he gets to lead a whole album of commercially-oriented rock, and the result is really fascinating.

For a start, Adrian is the lead singer here, and it's so cool to hear his voice in the spotlight. One thing that I'm sad Maiden never explored beyond "Wasted Years" and "Reach Out" is that dynamic between Bruce's soaring vocals and H's more earthy, rough-around-the-edges voice. He has to push himself harder than Bruce does, and that results in a pretty passionate performance. Then there are all the layers that the group has put together to make each song sound expertly crafted within their own little world - various guitars, keyboards, sequencers, this is a high scale pop-rock production and I really dig it. And the backing vocals are great as well (the highlight has to be Stevie Lange in "After the Storm").

The album's weakest strength is probably the quality of the material. You can tell that H's fingerprints are on these tracks if you've heard his work on Sometime in Time, but the message in a lot of these songs seems to be something like, "Push yourself harder, you got this, don't let anyone tear you down." (Also a theme Blaze will use a LOT, but that's a story for a different day.) This, coupled with the fact that each track is built around a pop chorus, means that while the layers are cool, the material feels a little cut-and-dry. The title track is a good example of this: the verses and especially the pre-chorus are awesome, but the chorus itself... it's fine, but I'd have been more interested in hearing the song develop in other ways. Still strong, though. Others aren't nearly as interesting (can't imagine anyone complaining about "You Could Be a King" or "Wishing Your Life Away" being cut completely from the album).

But the majority of the songs here have something going for them, whether it's the cool verses of "Down the Wire", where you can tell that Adrian would've fit right into Def Leppard had Vivian Campbell not gotten the job; or the fun jives of "Misunderstood"; or that catchy chorus to "Fallen Heroes". The two stand-out tracks, though, which rise above just being "solid stuff", are the ones that bookend the record. "The Lion" has a breathless pacing to it, an absolutely dynamite chorus, and leaves you wanting more. Then "Blood Upon the Ocean" is a pretty epic closing ballad, incorporating just about everything there is to love about '80s pop rock into a plea for the world to get along, featuring the perfect chorus to hold up your lighter to. It's cheesy, but it's so good.

Even if the material isn't up to the standards you expect from someone stepping foot outside the Maiden shadow, Silver and Gold is a really unique album from the world of Maiden and you can see that H is beginning to figure out where his calling truly lies. Steve is about to hit the brakes on the band's progression, but the momentum of SiT, Seventh Son, and Silver and Gold will fling Adrian far outside the boundaries of Iron Maiden.

*Just realized that I missed The Entire Population of Hackney in my list of projects to check out. I'll have to come back for that...

† † †​

Tattooed Millionaire

In direct contrast to the seriousness of H's first steps outside of the Maiden bubble, Brucie Bruce Bruce Bruce's first solo offering is anything but. Saving one Janick Gers from a future of teaching sociology, Mr. Dickinson and Company write and record an album in about two weeks... just 'cuz. Where Adrian's songs feel very thought-out with an attempt to flesh them out to their fullest potential, Tattooed Millionaire's tracks are short and to-the-point. The off-the-cuff nature of the record is one of its strongest aspects; I wonder if H felt a bit hurt that his more meticulous offering did worse than the one Bruce practically wrote in his sleep.

The songs here are definitely not the best that Bruce has ever written, but they're a little more fun than both Silver and Gold and No Prayer for the Dying (for which it acted as the direct blueprint, what with Steve nicking "Bring Your Daughter... to the Slaughter" for the Maiden record). The songs are very slick and stripped-back in contrast to Seventh Son, a style for which Janick was born for. As the sole guitarist, his contributions here are just about my favorite that he's ever done. There are some foreshadows of his chaotic style as part of Maiden ("Dive! Dive! Dive!" is a good example), but most of them feel a lot more thought-out and reigned-in, and honestly I can't fault a single one of his solos here. I guess when there's more pressure on you to deliver you come up with gold, but in the Maiden world where you're alongside great players like Dave and Adrian you don't have the need to outdo them.

Honestly having listened to Samson yesterday, this seems like a natural continuation of the sound of Shock Tactics. Bruce's rasp is back, but his voice has way more control than before. The sexual nature of a lot of the lyrics here also provides a bridge, though thankfully they're a lot less rape-y here. But working with Janick, who's a really good songwriter in his own right, means that the quality of the material, even in its worst moments, is better than most of the stuff that Samson slung along.

The best songs are easily the first three. "Son of a Gun" is a wonderful cowboy ballad with a really sinister vocal from Bruce. "Tattooed Millionaire" was the first Bruce solo song I ever heard, thanks to SiriusXM's Hair Nation (despite it being a rejection of the world of hair metal), and it still holds up, Def Leppard riff and all (that chorus is absolute bliss). "Born in '58" is another good ballad, with Bruce utilizing the world of his birth to bring to life a nostalgic track about how the old days were better (rose-colored glasses will be rose-colored glasses I guess). If the record consisted of nothing but tracks of this calliber, I think it would be thought of a lot more fondly in comparison to what he would do later on.

At the same time, the rest of the album isn't bad so much as it feels a bit more hollow than the first three. "Hell on Wheels" is the first glimpse into silly sexual territory, and it's fine; "Zulu Lulu" and "Dive! Dive! Dive!" are way more explicit, but also a little more fun, and I just can't hate them for simply being so gleefully obnoxious. "Gypsy Road" wants to hit the same highs as "Born in '58" but doesn't quite get there, being about a fucking roadway and all, but it's a fun sing-along if you forget about the fact that there's a racial slur in the title (though honestly "Zulu Lulu" is way worse). "All the Young Dudes" is an enjoyable cover, and I really like closing track "No Lies", particularly the chorus and extended wasteland outro. "Lickin' the Gun" will always remain the worst track on the album, feeling like utter filler from beginning to end.

Even if the album has shortcomings, it holds up really well as the kind of album you put on when you don't want to do too much thinking. Janick's guitarwork is awesome, Bruce's raspy voices is strong, and the songs don't stick around long enough for you to get sick of them. The good stuff on here is absolutely great, the bad stuff is really more just forgettable. I wouldn't say it's the weakest of his solo albums, but where all his other material had so much more effort put into it, I can't blame anyone who would claim that. At the end of the day, for me, this is just a silly little album that's super fun.

At this point in time, Bruce isn't searching to find his voice like Adrian is. That will soon change...
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:) Hey there!...

Reading through the thread. I know it's a bit "late" to ask this. But...

Looking for lyrics to three of the songs that Adrian Smith wrote/sang with The Untouchables. Specifically:

'Judgement Day'
'Singing The Blues'
and 'Big Trouble'

Been looking ALL OVER with NO LUCK!...

Any ideas on this??...
 
WorkingRocker said:
'Judgement Day'
'Singing The Blues'
and 'Big Trouble'
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AFAIK no lyrics have ever been published because those songs have never been officially released. They’re from “The Untouchables” period and have only been performed live, so unless you get a band member to provide you with the lyrics, doing your own transcription from the live tracks will be as good a source as any.
 
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