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Released 1990:
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Tattooed Millionaire, to me, was solid rock album. It in no way can be compared to anything Bruce had done with Iron Maiden, since the styles were different. This also was the introduction to Janick Gers, to maiden fans. Bruce's solo career was started when someone involved with the NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET approached him to write a song for the movie, hence "Bring your Daughter..." When asked if he had any other material for a solo album, Bruce said yes, though he didn't. So Janick and Bruce quickly wrote 10 songs which make up this album. This solo tour had been his biggest solo US tour ever, until the AOB tour. And at the end of the tour, in LA, the rest of the Maiden guys joined Bruce and Janick on stage to perform "2 Minutes to midnight," "The Trooper," and some other song, which I have forgotten. In my opinion, "Born in '58," is the best song on the album, with "Son of a gun," and "Tattooed Millionaire," a close second. Overall I would say this album is good, nothing fancy or flashy |
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Released 1994:
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This was Bruce's first real solo effort since leaving Maiden, in my opinion. Tattooed Millionaire was like a fun thing to do. This is also the start of the Roy Z./Bruce relationship. The song writing is okay. There are some cool guitar and vocal parts but some of the lyrics are weak in content. For example, "1000 points of light," "Hell no." These songs sounded a lot better live than they did on the album. Though there was a short US tour, to say the least, I think Bruce had a good starting point for his solo career. Bruce did reportedly received a fax from Steve Harris the day of its release saying good luck. |
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Released 1995:
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I wasn't real hip on this when I heard about it, but after I bought it I thought it was really good. The songs actually came to life. The had a much harder edge than the album. This introduced the coming of Skunkworks. This was to be Bruce's band now (We all know how long that lasted). I was impressed with Alex Dickson's guitar playing. He played the material his way, which I think was important. After listening to this over and over I got the feeling that this band was blending well together. I saw a real future with the new group. |
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Released 1996:
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What a shock this was!! Bruce, the voice of Metal, goes semi-alternative. I thought the world was ending. Well, I was wrong, for the first time. This album is still one of my favorite ones I own. Every song is different. Each has its own identity. The lyrics are brilliant the music is brilliant and the production was top notch. The only draw back was the lyrics. The only way to read them was to hold them up to a mirror, but who does that?. There is no weak point to this at all. My only wish was to have seen them in New York City on there massive 3 city tour. Sure, I would love to see the live video they released, but for $70. No thanks!! Just for a video. I would hope I would be able to record a song with him for that much. |
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Released 1996:
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This was real cool, especially since there was a live version of, "The Prisoner." The sound was good, but it wasn't perfect prodcution. Anyone involved in the music business would know that nothing is ever perfect. I did miss the Adrian solo in, "The Prisoner," but with only one guitar and Alex's own style it turned out good. "Faith" sounded very heavy and its simple but heavy opening is still one of my favorites. Bruce sounded great as well as the rest of the band. But, this was not to be, as the band broke up after the tour. The rest of the band formed into Sack Trick, while Bruce decided to go back to his roots. |
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Released 1997:
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Bruce's return to the throne. Bruce is reunitied with Adrian Smith and Roy Z and the Tribe of Gypsies. When I heard the news of Bruce and Adrian back together I knew the potential was limitless. I received an advance copy sometime in April and I was a little disappointed at first. I thought the music sounded so out dated and too much like bad Judas Priest that I was down on it. I continued to listen to it and it started to grow on me. I thought the only weak songs were, "Man of sorrows," "Welcome to the pit," and "Ghost of cain." Unfortunately the latter two were cowritten by Adrian, which really disappointed me, since he is one of my all time favoritie guitarist. There are alot of strong songs on this album, like "Freak," Taking the queen," and Arc of space," just to name a few. But, the production is weak. Roy Z could have done alot better. It was good to see Derek Riggs employed again, as well. I think that this and Sunkworks are his best works. I could not say whether or not AOB is better than SW, but only time will tell. |
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Release 1998:
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When Bruce said this was going to be heavy, I had no idea it would be like this. Usually when bands say "the next record is going to be so heavy," it a farce. It’s either not heavy at all or it is so heavy that nothing is audible. The Chemical Wedding is very heavy, ultra heavy, super heavy or any other adjective you would like to add, but it is heavy in every since of the word and the songs on their are his best yet. Though AOB was an incredible, there were a couple of weak songs, in my opinion. On CW, there are no weak songs. Musically, it can’t get any better. Roy’s innovative licks and ability to get the best out of Bruce coupled with Adrian’s classic guitar mastery have taken Bruce to the next level, so to speak. Lyrically, CW is a concept based William Blake’s works on Alchemy. |
| .The lyrics are the only negative aspect of the CD for me. I am not a fan of occult based lyrics, however the music alone can carry this CD. Bruce has a knack of leaving you wanting more and this CD is no different. Bruce sings with a lot of emotion, at times, and manages again to keep the music fresh. From a production stand point, Roy Z. has well improved. I was not entirely happy with his effort, from a producers aspect, on AOB, but on CW he far exceeds my expectations. Bruce has never sounded as good, though nothing will ever surpass SSOASS, as long as I live. I was a bit disappointed that Adrian on co-wrote two songs as the rest were written by Roz and Bruce, with the exception of "Book of Thel," which was also written by Eddie Casillas.On a scale of 1-10, I give this an 11. |
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Release 1999:
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I must start out by saying that the Brazilian fans are incredible. They certainly made for a good live album. I am also very impressed with Scream for me Brazil. The sound quality is good. I do wish I could hear the bass a little more in some parts and the guitar tone is low in spots but I would imagine that is due to the bass strings on the guitar. There is a good mixture of crowd in with the songs and just when I thought The Chemical Wedding was heavy this was even heavier. This album really captures the vibe of the show and almost makes up for not seeing this tour. Highlights are with out a doubt Tears of the Dragon, The Tower & Chemical Wedding. This is a must buy for any Dickinson fan. |
