Bruce Dickinson

Accident of Birth (CMC)
by Dave Bone

I know that Bruce Dickinson releasing a metal album now is like hearing a geriatric rehash war stories, but his are worth sitting down for. The eighties secured him a throne in the triumverate of metal demigods alongside Ozzy Osbourne and Judas Priest’s Rob Halford. His first album with Iron Maiden,Number of the Beast, broke them in America and began to enlist swarms of hair farmers into their metal militia. Piece of Mind,Powerslave and others became the soundtrack for the collective frustrated teen and echoed throughout the world’s largest arenas and international stadiums. Snicker you might, but respect you must.

The tattooed millionaire fans the stench of his brief alternative pose from Skunkworks and joins the inquistion once again to prove that he owns the copyright to the operatic metal vibrato. Accident of Birth looks back on Iron Maiden’s material and dips into each era. “The Wizard” has the Number of the Beast written all over it while “The Ghost of Cain” shows the scars of Fear of the Dark. Songs like “The Road to Hell” and “Accident of Birth” should be classics but were born too late to be considered so. The musicians capture the essence of their Maiden counterparts while maintaining touches of their own but it makes the listener nostalgic for the drum-riser-jumping bassist Steve Harris and the crazy antics of drummer Nicko McBrain. One person you won’t miss is ex-Maiden guitarist Adrian Smith, who joins back up with Bruce and puts his guitar hero gloss on the record. The man who also had a hand in executing Maiden’s conceptual vision, cover artist Derek Riggs, creator of Eddie, also did the artwork.

The look. The music. It’s all there. But it is a solo record and we know where Bruce should be. Without Iron Maiden behind him on stage, he’s a stranger in a strange land. While some might pshaw Bruce and his metal record (think of him as a Lenny Kravitz of sorts), it’s as close as you’re going to get to hearing the underfed growl of monster arena metal anytime soon.