Bruce Dickinson

Skunkworks (Castle)
by Chaz Thorndike

Mr. Warbling Voice plays rock. He’s still got the bellowing from the Iron Maiden heyday, he still has that ’80s trademark vibrato, but he’s singing reasonably contemporary rock. The album was produced by Jack Endino (Soundgarden, Green River, L7, Nirvana), and it has, like, a coupla rock ballads on it. It also has foot-stompin’ guitar jams. It ends with one of those pretentious dreamscape odysseys. The arty layout requires you to hold the CD booklet up to a mirror to read the lyrics. I’m neither that curious, nor that eager to catch a glimpse of myself studying his lyrics.