BRUCE DICKINSON!!!

Accident of Birth




    Track Listings

  1. FreakBruce's new solo album
  2. Toltec 7 Arrival
  3. Starchildren
  4. Taking the Queen
  5. Darkside of Aquarius
  6. Road To Hell
  7. Man of Sorrows
  8. Accident of Birth
  9. The Magician
  10. Welcome to the Pit
  11. The Ghost of Cain
  12. Omega
  13. Arc of Space
Recent Releases By Bruce Dickinson:
Iron Maiden - Brave New World (2000)
Bruce Dickinson - The Chemical Wedding (1998)
Bruce Dickinson - Accident of Birth (1997)		 Related Releases (members):
Ayreon - Flight of the Migrator II (2000)
Iron Maiden - Somewhere in Time (1986)
Iron Maiden - Seventh Son of a Seventh Son (1988)

 

"The truth is never clear... until it clobbers you over the head. That's what happened when I decided to make the ultimate metal record. My favorite stuff, legends, sci-fi, fairy stories, dark deeds of the occult, set to slamming riffs, soaring vocals and great tunes."

"We are Starchildren...coming out of nowhere, and to nowhere return.
Starchildren...a hundred million souls snuffed out in one breath."

That is in Bruce's own words...and they are very true. I only recently discovered his work, and then with Iron Maiden. But Accident of Birth is one of the greatest metal cd's to be released in the 90s, or of all time for that matter. It is SUPERB. The lyrics are extremely clever, and remind me of Ronnie James Dio's work. The killer song Starchildren, which I believe is about a black hole, is very much like a Dio tune. The powerhouse vocals and everything.

"We believe in heaven, we believe in angels
With arms of purest white to hold us, catch us when we fall."

 

Darkside of Aquarius is another song that just kicks all ass. I absolutely love it, and will be the first to say that it is one of the best songs of the year. The lyrics are chilling, and Bruce's voice sounds like a cross between Graham Bonnet and Mark Boals with Ronnie James Dio's power. Simply breathtaking. It made my heart skip when I heard it, it was that good. It is one of those heavy metal, kill em all epics. Accident of Birth, the title song, is another one of those, and the guitar riff that kicks it off is very dark and the drums and bass combined nearly pound your ear drums out, and Bruce's voice kicks in, and you wonder if your head is going to explode from the assault of sound. That is what makes a great metal song.

"Cover your eyes with the velvet hands of darkness
Cover your lips with the wicked tongue of silence."

Road To Hell is a hard rocking song that reminds me just a little like Maiden. The lyrics are awesome, in fact, this entire cd has powerful lyrics, lyrics to match the power of Bruce Dickinson's voice and Adrian Smith's blazing guitar riffs. Road To Hell also has this really cool riff near the beginning of the song that is really cool, and the rhythm guitar is addictive. Man of Sorrows is an awesome ballad-like song, with a very sorrowful sound to it (like you couldn't tell from the title). It has some really nice piano in the background and is beautiful because of Bruce's expressive voice taking the spotlight with the background music supporting it perfectly. The guitar fades in and out hauntingly right before it breaks out into a gorgeous solo, with violin supporting it. Its not overdone, and each note seems to be right where it should be, only enhancing the song. Some guitar solos seem like they were tossed in just for good measure, but not on this cd. Everything is in its place and not necessarily the highlight of the song. And I like that.

"Here come the riders, as the wheel of dharma's running out of time
Here come the riders as the revolution's stepping into time
The dark side of Aquarius has robbed us of our souls and minds."

The Magician is an ok song. I have not listened to it as much as some of the others, and it is catchy, but compared to something as fantastic as Darkside of Aquarius it seems to fall short, by a few miles. However, I didn't care for Welcome to the Pit much on the first few spins in the cd player, but now I adore it. It has that heavy bottom end that metal fanatics live and die for, and the lyrics that the intellectual metallers love. The chorus is wonderful, it is one out of many catching elements of this song. The Ghost of Cain is super cool too, I heard it a couple of times and couldn't believe that it was so good. Usually an album has a few throw-away tunes on it, but not this, Bruce has given us a 100% super cd, one that I guarantee that you will play again and again. The Ghost of Cain begins with a great guitar riff. It is the first thing that leaves an imprint in your mind about this one. This one has a catchy chorus too, and a great drum solo that kind of reminds me of the end of a Deep Purple song from the 80s.

"Our skeletons rise through the veil of blood
Who summons us now from our graves, we are the dead
The shriek of death in your eyes
The hawklord and the beast enter your room
The wraiths of night caress and whipser softly now."

Omega starts out really pretty, acoustic and almost like a ballad, and then Bruce really puts the power in the voice and then fades back into the gentle yet eerie and haunting song, then the guitar solo kicks in and blows the entire thing wide open. It comes as quite a surprise. Unpredictability is a quality that is great in music. Arc of Space is another acoustic sounding song, and this one is quite a pretty one from start to finish, and Bruce keeps us mesmerized with his vocal performance. Adrian's guitar is also wonderful, but Bruce Dickinson...well this is his show...and that is the main point of interest. How he sings each verse. Freak the first song on the album, is a commerical sounding metal song, also sounding a bit like a Maiden tune, but just a little tiny bit.

"Slowly bleeding, watch the vortex feeding
Like a swirling vulture on your face
Every hour the unseen rays devour
Your screaming eyes cry out but they are blind"

Toltec 7 Arrival leads right into the epic Dio-ish, already mentioned, Starchildren. Its one of my favorites from this cd, and the dark guitar riffs echo the dark feeling of the song, and the not-of-this-earth attention demanding vocals. The lyrics are super and intriguing. This is the kind of song that keeps metal interesting. Taking the Queen is acoustic and soft and at other times, is powerful and heavy. This song demands your attention, and it leads directly into my favorite, Darkside of Aquarius in fact, they share similiar melodies, and is almost like the second part of Taking the Queen.

"Feel our bodies breathing, as you try to stop believing
There's nothing you can do about your shadows
You can't fight us, you are like us
And your body will betray you
Lay down and die like all the others."

 

To quickly wrap up what the excellent Accident of Birth is all about...just let me say that it is certainly one of the best releases of the year, and a MUST HAVE for any Iron Maiden, Adrian Smith, Bruce Dickinson, or heavy metal fan's collection. I am completely addicted and in love with this cd, and I think any metal fanatic will feel the same as I do.

(all text above, Copyright 1997 by Alanna Evans.   Kept as it originally appeared on RainbowFlame's Metal Domain in late 1997.)

 

Additional Notes, Comments and New Rating :

Update for 2000: 3 years later, "Accident of Birth" is still every bit the classic it seemed to be upon its first release.  Its staying power is nothing less than incredible, with songs like the celestially capitvating "Starchildren" and the medieval haunting majesty of "Taking the Queen".  Bruce's voice was in one of its finest forms, and backed with such a spectacular display of metallic musical mastery, this release whips everything Maiden ever did hands down.  The addition of Adrian Smith on guitar, and Roy Z co-writing these smash tunes, and producing, just add more magic to the album.  Those in doubt, only have to listen to believe.   "AOB" is truly an album of epic porportions.

New Rating - 9.5
by Alanna Evans
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