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General => General Music Discussion => Topic started by: GuineaPig on May 29, 2009, 06:58:27 PM
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I haven't seen any discussion of the Iron Maiden frontman's solo work on these boards, but it is downright fantastic. The Chemical Wedding is my all-time favourite album, and to me is the absolute standard for all modern metal. My favourite song by him, and of all time, is the incredible Jerusalem.
I'd recommend to anyone who likes metal to check out The Chemical Wedding and Accident of Birth.
What does everyone else think of his work? Especially his more divisive, experimental works (Skunkworks, anyone?).
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I would agree with Chemical Wedding and Accident of Birth are fantasic albums. I even think Tyranny of Souls is a solid album. I need to listen to these albums more.
I don't have anything else of his (other than the 2-Disc 'Greatest Hits' CD, which has some nice treats, like 'Broken' and a 'Man of Sorrows' demo).
Crube FTW!
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Chemical Wedding, Accident of Birth and Tyranny of Souls are all really solid albums, especially the first one. I'm also a big fan of Balls to Picasso which has a couple of dull tracks but is mostly great. I also don't get the hate for Skunkworks - it has a couple of weak songs but some really cool stuff that's just different to everything else.
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I have only heard Accident Of Birth, The Chemical Wedding, and the collection The Very Best Of.
Accident Of Birth is my favourite of those, and it sounds more like Iron Maiden than Iron Maiden did during the same period. I have to check out more of his solo work.
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Love his solo stuff. The Chemical Wedding with the 3 bonus tracks is one of my favorite albums of all time. Return of the King is my favorite song followed closely by Silver Wings and Omega.
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Great choices. Another song I don't know if many have heard but is actually one of my favourite Bruce tracks is "Wicker Man". Not the Iron Maiden one, his solo version which was written during Accident of Birth, recorded during Chemical Wedding, put only released as part of the bonus disc of his greatest hits. Such an amazing song, I really can't see how it didn't get put on either album.
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Bruce’s solo work is great. I’d been a lifelong Maiden fan, and I liked Bruce well enough, but when I heard Balls To Picasso for the first time, it really hit me. This guy is really great. Especially when first compared to The X Factor, I really though Bruce won that round. Obviously Roy Z had an enormous impact, as the Band Of Gypsies really provided a stellar backdrop to Bruce’s style. It had a real current and fresh feeling to it.
I think Skunkworks is very underrated. Everyone needs to go back and check it out. But as mentioned, the 2 best are probably Accident At Birth and the brilliant Chemical Wedding. I’m not so much of a fan of Tryanny Of Souls. I just think it totally pales to Chemical Wedding.
I got to see Bruce twice. The first time was 7/22/90 on the Tattooed Millionaire tour (with Jannick!), and then again on 9/28/97 on the Accident tour (with Adrian!).
My Top 10 Bruce songs are:
1. Tears Of the Dragon
2. Born In ‘58
3. Accident At Birth
4. Darkside Of Aquarius
5. Book Of Thiel
6. Sacred Cowboys
7. A Chemical Wedding
8. No Lies
9. Back From The Edge
10. The Tower
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1. Jerusalem
2. Book of Thel
3. Tears of the Dragon
4. Trumpets of Jericho
5. Darkside of Aquarius
6. Accident of Birth
7. Omega
8. The Alchemist
9. Power of the Sun
10. Arc of Space
And here's a treat: Bruce and co. playing Tattooed Millionaire on the Chemical Wedding tour!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GS9E199LmgM
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Good point about Skunkworks TAC.
Tyranny of Souls is a lot about flight, aerospace and spaceflight. I love the idea of that, you can see in some of the lyrics he tries to create the feel of somebody looking out to the sky and wanting to master it. Kill Devil Hill is a good song.
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Good point about Skunkworks TAC.
Tyranny of Souls is a lot about flight, aerospace and spaceflight. I love the idea of that, you can see in some of the lyrics he tries to create the feel of somebody looking out to the sky and wanting to master it. Kill Devil Hill is a good song.
It sure is. I very much like Tyranny of Souls. I wish Bruce did a solo tour for this album (which I dont believe he ever did) during this long break that Maiden are on now.
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jerusalem is indeed a great song...I love his solo stuff
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I'll have to give Tyranny Of Souls a spin this week.
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Good point about Skunkworks TAC.
Hey, I made that point first! :angry:
And I have to say, I prefer his solo work to Iron Maiden. I like Maiden and they have some absolutely classic stuff, but I just find his solo stuff has more power, emotion and diversity.
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Good point about Skunkworks TAC.
And I have to say, I prefer his solo work to Iron Maiden. I like Maiden and they have some absolutely classic stuff, but I just find his solo stuff has more power, emotion and diversity.
This.
I actually heard a rumour that H and Bruce were collaborating again for a new solo album... but there's nothing to back it up. Let's just hope.
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And I have to say, I prefer his solo work to Iron Maiden. I like Maiden and they have some absolutely classic stuff, but I just find his solo stuff has more power, emotion and diversity.
I'm not sure I'd go that far, but you are right. He's clearly a great artist, who is actually bound by what Maiden does. I hope he does continue his solo work.
It's no wonder that since Bruce came back, Iron Maiden has been more dynamic than they have ever been. BNW-DOD/AMOLAD is as strong a 3 record run as they have ever had. I don't think things like Dream Of Mirrors happens without Balls To Picasso, etc...
Has anyone read his book, Lord Iffy Boatrace? I remember buying it at during the 91 tour. I haven't read it since. I think it's time to dig that one up as well.
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And I have to say, I prefer his solo work to Iron Maiden. I like Maiden and they have some absolutely classic stuff, but I just find his solo stuff has more power, emotion and diversity.
I don't think things like Dream Of Mirrors happens without Balls To Picasso, etc...
Well, actually it does. Dream of Mirrors was written during the VXI sessions, and Blaze was pissed because he didn't get a writing credit for the lyrics.
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His solo stuff is for the most part quite exceptional. Accident of Birth and Chemical Wedding are fantastic albums, Tyranny of Souls is really good, and the others can be inconsistent, but there are a lot of great tracks on all of them. His solo work basically tears to shreds everything Maiden was doing at the same time.
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And I have to say, I prefer his solo work to Iron Maiden. I like Maiden and they have some absolutely classic stuff, but I just find his solo stuff has more power, emotion and diversity.
I don't think things like Dream Of Mirrors happens without Balls To Picasso, etc...
Well, actually it does. Dream of Mirrors was written during the VXI sessions, and Blaze was pissed because he didn't get a writing credit for the lyrics.
Gotcha! I think I remember that.
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9. Power of the Sun
This is a GREAT song. Really the standout track on Tyranny Of Souls.
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His solo stuff is for the most part quite exceptional. Accident of Birth and Chemical Wedding are fantastic albums, Tyranny of Souls is really good, and the others can be inconsistent, but there are a lot of great tracks on all of them. His solo work basically tears to shreds everything Maiden was doing at the same time.
I pretty much agree with this even though I really liked the X Factor, but Bruce's solo was really that good.
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Chemical Wedding :metal
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He does a great Black Widow on Humanary Stew:A Tribute To Alice Cooper.
(and Ronnie James Dio does a wicked Welcome To My Nightmare)
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Ah yes I remember hearing 'The Tower' on the radio way back when and thinking it was tons better than what Maiden was putting out at the time, although very Maidenesque. I love AOB, CW and TOS. I just recently got Anthology and its not too bad. The stuff with Jan is fun to watch as well as the Skunkworks show (Bruce with neck length hair lol), but the bad quality of the Scream for me Brazil show grinds my gears eh. Wish there was a good quality release of a show from that tour.
1. Omega
2. Laughing in the Hiding Bush
3. Arc of Space
4. Chemical Wedding
5. The Alchemist
6. Machine Men
7. Cyclops
8. Devil on a Hog
9. Accident of Birth
10. The Tower
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What was that song off Skunkworks called - "Inside my Machine" or something? It's about inseminating his wife - fantastic!
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I always thought that the 'throw some scary tarot cards' line in Darkside of Aquarius (Accident of Birth) was making fun of 'you take the tarot cards/and throw them to the wind' from Maiden's Judgement of Heaven (X Factor). Does anyone agree? I also think 'Machine Men' is a bit of a slant on Maiden ('Iron in the soul blah bleh'). I find it all very interesting. :P
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I know Bruce was a little bitter over Maiden. I remember hearing something about him getting pissed at Nicko calling his solo band the "greatest Maiden cover band".
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I know Bruce was a little bitter over Maiden. I remember hearing something about him getting pissed at Nicko calling his solo band the "greatest Maiden cover band".
:lol wouldnt of helped when that critic dude called Chemical Wedding "the best Maiden album since Seventh Son"
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I know Bruce was a little bitter over Maiden. I remember hearing something about him getting pissed at Nicko calling his solo band the "greatest Maiden cover band".
:lol wouldnt of helped when that critic dude called Chemical Wedding "the best Maiden album since Seventh Son"
hahaha, never heard that before, but that is really funny and pretty much true.
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Dream of Mirrors is one of the stand out tracks from BNW for me. For the comeback albums I think I'd even put BNW ahead of AMOLAD but behind DOD.
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Yeah, I love Dream of Mirrors. I think I'd go BNW, AMOLAD and then DOD
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I'm afraid I'm going to have to end this thread here by posting this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FP9GWmyz5xI (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FP9GWmyz5xI)
:metalol:
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Oh my god what the hell was that?! :lol
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I think they did on the 2002 tour too :D
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I think they did on the 2002 tour too :D
Why why why?
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hahahahaha :rollin
thats great
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Read this on the NME website today
Sharon Osbourne on Bruce Dickinson: "[He] has a chip on his shoulder. The bottom line is, it’s not my fault that his solo records are shit." (Attitude, 2005)
:yeahright
I don't know about you, but I'd take Bruce's solo work over Ozzy's anyday.
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My Lord, words cannot the express the lol I have just witnessed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpzagTKnHwI&feature=related
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I hope we get some more Bruce solo material personally.
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Such an amazing discography. My love for Chemical Wedding, Accident of Birth is immense. 2 of the best metal albums....well.....ever.
Also, Skunkwork is simply magnificent. My studio album rankings;
1. Chemical Wedding
2. Accident of Birth
3. Skunkworks
4. Balls to Picasso
5. Tyranny of Souls
6. Tattooed Millionaire
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I have a somewhat different ranking then others, mine would be:
1. Tyranny of Souls
2. Skunkworks
3. Chemical Wedding
4. Accident of Birth
5. Tattooed Millionaire
6. Balls to Picasso
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I have a somewhat different ranking then others, mine would be:
1. Tyranny of Souls
2. Skunkworks
3. Chemical Wedding
4. Accident of Birth
5. Tattooed Millionaire
6. Balls to Picasso
Interesting, I thought Tyranny was good, just didn't have the longevity that the others have IMO. I guess we can agree on one thing, Skunkworks is brilliant.
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Ye, i really love Skunkworks.
It's probably the most unique Bruce album sound-wise, even though most of the fans thinks its a B-side type of album.
I do think it has brilliant songs though. ;)
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Ye, i really love Skunkworks.
It's probably the most unique Bruce album sound-wise, even though most of the fans thinks its a B-side type of album.
I do think it has brilliant songs though. ;)
Pffft...B-sides. Having said that, Armchair Hero, Re-entry, God's Not Coming Back are all amazing B-sdies from that album.
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I would go with..
1. Accident At Birth
2. Chemical Wedding
3. Balls To Picasso
4. Tyranny Of Souls
5. Skunkworks
6. Tattooed Millionaire
But I actually love them all!
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But I actually love them all!
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Such an amazing discography. My love for Chemical Wedding, Accident of Birth is immense. 2 of the best metal albums....well.....ever.
Also, Skunkwork is simply magnificent. My studio album rankings;
1. Chemical Wedding
2. Accident of Birth
3. Skunkworks
4. Balls to Picasso
5. Tyranny of Souls
6. Tattooed Millionaire
That's pretty much my ranking as well! Although depending on my mood I'd sometimes swap Balls to Picasso and Tyrrany of Souls, they're both pretty evenly matched.
The only one I find less interesting is Tattooed Millionaire, but the rest are all great.
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Such an amazing discography. My love for Chemical Wedding, Accident of Birth is immense. 2 of the best metal albums....well.....ever.
Also, Skunkwork is simply magnificent. My studio album rankings;
1. Chemical Wedding
2. Accident of Birth
3. Skunkworks
4. Balls to Picasso
5. Tyranny of Souls
6. Tattooed Millionaire
That's pretty much my ranking as well! Although depending on my mood I'd sometimes swap Balls to Picasso and Tyrrany of Souls, they're both pretty evenly matched.
The only one I find less interesting is Tattooed Millionaire, but the rest are all great.
Pretty much agree with you here too. Balls and Tyranny are a juggle depending on the day. I like TM, it has No Lies, Son of a Gun, 58 and the title track, but some tracks are just slightly embarrassing, a fun listen no doubt, yet embarrassing. SOAG and the title track are two of his best tracks though.
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Pretty much agree with you here too. Balls and Tyranny are a juggle depending on the day. I like TM, it has No Lies, Son of a Gun, 58 and the title track, but some tracks are just slightly embarrassing, a fun listen no doubt, yet embarrassing. SOAG and the title track are two of his best tracks though.
I'd say the title-track and Born in 58' are the best on it. :)
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Dude, no way. Best track off it is Dive Dive Dive.
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My Lord, words cannot the express the lol I have just witnessed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpzagTKnHwI&feature=related
Holy shit! How is it possible to sound so much like him? Thats amazing!
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My preference at the moment:
Tyranny of Souls
Chemical Wedding
Accident of Birth
Tattooed Millionaire
Balls to Picasso
Skunkworks
Live in Studio A
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Live at the Marquee is the win.
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I also love his solo stuff, but only have the "big three" albums (The Chemical Wedding, Tyranny Of Souls, and Accident Of Birth). Does anyone know if he plans on touring his solo stuff after Maiden down the road?
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I also love his solo stuff, but only have the "big three" albums (The Chemical Wedding, Tyranny Of Souls, and Accident Of Birth). Does anyone know if he plans on touring his solo stuff after Maiden down the road?
Doubt he'll ever tour solo again. Go and get his Anthology DVD, has three live concerts from his solo career. Well worth it.
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Yeah, good DVD set.
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I don't know about you, but I'd take Bruce's solo work over Ozzy's anyday.
Well, I'd say Bruce's discography is certainly more consistent, but I wouldn't discount Ozzy's set so quickly.
Blizzard Of Ozz, Diary Of A Madman, Bark At The Moon, No More Tears, and Ozzmosis are all great albums...
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I thought the same of Halford, but as you can see, his solo band is touring this Summer. Give it time. I'm sure he'll continue to make solo records and I'll bet he'll wanna hit up audiences in a more intimate setting. Theater sized I'll bet. I'll even go so far as to bet that when the touring cycle for FF ends, around late '11 going into '12, my guess is he'll settle down and get together with Roy and get something going.
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I hope so!
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I love Accident of Birth, Chemical Wedding and Tyranny of Souls, so I decided to give Skunkworks a listen.
It's pretty good stuff, but for some reason the whole album is giving me a Devin Townsend vibe... the cover, lyrical themes and sound. Even the song titles look like they could be from a Devin Townsend Project album:
1. "Space Race" 5:55
2. "Back from the Edge" 4:28
3. "Inertia" 3:40
4. "Faith" 3:39
5. "Solar Confinement" 4:02
6. "Dreamstate" 4:41
7. "I Will Not Accept the Truth" 3:50
8. "Inside the Machine" 3:17
9. "Headswitch" 3:28
10. "Meltdown" 6:17
11. "Octavia" 3:17
12. "Innerspace" 3:28
13. "Strange Death in Paradise" 6:17
Shit... listen to "Strange Death in Paradise". The weird thing is, this album came out before most of Devin Townsend's solo work.
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That's a heck of a bump, LV..and a good one too! I love Skunkworks!
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Best track off Skunkworks is "I'm in a Band with an Italian Drummer" :lol
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I really like Skunkworks, and have no idea why it was so unpopular at the time.
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The weird thing is, this album came out before all of Devin Townsend's solo work.
Skunkworks - 1996
Ocean Machine - 1997
I need to go back and listen to this album again, it rivals Tattooed Millionaire for least listened Dickenson solo album.
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Skunkworks is a top 3 Dickinson album. It's amazing.
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Im not the biggest Skunkworks fan, but its funny that its brought up becausd I had a dream last night that my girlfriends family was singing the chorus to Solar Confinement and how awesome I thought that was.
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Skunkworks is a top3 Bruce Dickinson-album for me too.
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Best track off Skunkworks is "I'm in a Band with an Italian Drummer" :lol
No.
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I really like Skunkworks, and have no idea why it was so unpopular at the time.
It seemed like a reaction to Iron Maiden still i think to some.
He was allegedly going through a lot of issues in his life and this seemed to be experimental.
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Bruce wanted to try and shake the solo image and just immerse himself in a regular band situation. Unfortunately it didn't work. It is however a top 3 Dickinson album.
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I really need to re-listen to Skunkworks, I came to after Accident of Birth and Chemical Wedding and consequently gave it a hard time for being so oddly experimental. But given that Accident of Birth and Chemical Wedding are two of my favorite CDs PERIOD, perhaps that's to be expected. Should give Skunkworks another shot though, and be fair to it.
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I'm thinking about running a Bruce Dickinson solo stuff survivor, but I wonder if there is enough interest, I'd like to see at least six people voting per round. Zantera, wolfking, ariich, TAC, I'm looking at you. :smiley:
Anyone into it?
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Yeah sure, sounds cool.
His solo discography is pretty awesome, while I haven't listened to some albums in ages, Tyranny of Souls and Skunkworks are albums I have very fond memories of.
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I'm thinking about running a Bruce Dickinson solo stuff survivor, but I wonder if there is enough interest, I'd like to see at least six people voting per round. Zantera, wolfking, ariich, TAC, I'm looking at you. :smiley:
Anyone into it?
Yes go for it.
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I'm in a Band with an Italian Drummer came on the ipod in the car the other day and my gf thought it was the funniest thing ever.
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I'm so in!
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I'll participate, although I'm not really familiar with all his stuff.
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I'm in!
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Great, guys, thanks for wanting to participate. I'll start it tomorrow, hopefully. :metal
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Damnit I thought maybe there was news or something. I don't really follow or do survivors other than MOTY, so don't count on a lot of particiaption from me.
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I dont know much about survivors, but I do know Bruces discography fairly well although i havent listened to his stuff in awhile.
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Damnit I thought maybe there was news or something. I don't really follow or do survivors other than MOTY, so don't count on a lot of particiaption from me.
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I am in for sure!!
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BD survivor??
(https://fim.413chan.net/art/src/131355571952-FUCK_YES.jpg)
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FUCK YEAH!
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Chemical Wedding, Accident of Birth and Tyranny of Souls are definitely worth getting. In fact, I just recently spun them. I prefer them in that order, with my favorite track out of all of those albums being "Book of Thel"
Such a bad-ass main riff. :metal
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Just listened to Eternal. What an great song from an great album. Wonder why it wasn't put on - space limitations?
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Eternal is the Japanese bonus track of TOS.
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Definitely a bonus!
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I was just thinking about giving Accident of Birth and Chemical Wedding a listen yesterday, and then this thread comes back.
I'm taking it as a sign! :metal
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I haven't listened to any of his solo stuff in quite some time, but I do love Accident of Birth, Chemical Wedding and Tyranny of Souls.
Favorite Track: Book of Thel
That main riff is just so :metal
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Eternal is the Japanese bonus track of TOS.
Just saw Scream for me Sarajevo and they played that song at the end and since i've never heard it, I thought it was a new single since Spotify had it as a single. :P
Anyway, the doc was great and pretty emotional. I thought it was great hearing the bands stories and how they first went into it as a crazy off-side gig and instead it slowly evolved into a life-changing experience for everyone.
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That was probably the best chapter in his autobiography.
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Eternal is the Japanese bonus track of TOS.
Just saw Scream for me Sarajevo and they played that song at the end and since i've never heard it, I thought it was a new single since Spotify had it as a single. :P
Anyway, the doc was great and pretty emotional. I thought it was great hearing the bands stories and how they first went into it as a crazy off-side gig and instead it slowly evolved into a life-changing experience for everyone.
I picked up that DVD but yet to watch it.
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I will shamelessly plug a note I just recently placed on the 'Queen' thread:
Here's one for the Iron Maiden fans……with the recent passing away of Montserret Caballe, I came across a listing of a 'Friends For Life' LP listing from '97. Went to youtube and heard Ms. Caballe and Bruce Dickinson doing 'Bo Rhap'. Give it a try. It is 'different' to say the least. I don't care for 99% of Beatles and Queen covers, but we enjoyed it (more than a couple of times)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAXHmAOPvrw