Bruce Dickinson
Tyranny of Souls
Mayan Records
2005
Full Flight Bruce!
Bruce Dickinson is probably one of the busiest people in the world, his list of accomplishments and hobbies are endless, but most of all he is the man famous for fronting one of the biggest bands in the world, Iron Maiden. As well as this, Bruce Dickinson is an accomplished solo artist in his own right with the air raid siren releasing his latest solo album ‘Tyranny of Souls’ in 2005.
‘Tyranny of Souls’ was released between Maiden’s ‘Dance of Death’ and ‘A Matter of Life and Death’ and was written during the former’s world tour. This has no affect upon the album with ‘Tyranny…’ giving not only an insight into Dickinson’s writing away from Steve Harris influence, but also how well the man can work under the pressures of the likes of Iron Maiden; tracks such as ‘Abduction’, ‘Kill Devil Hill’ and ‘Power of the Sun’ all show Bruce Dickinson is full flight. Furthermore, the album is enhanced by Dickinson’s love of history, literature and Sci-Fi through the beautiful ballad and possibly the best track on the album, ‘Navigate the Seas of the Sun’ and the Macbeth inspired title track.
The credit cannot go to Dickinson alone, Halford guitarist and esteemed producer Roy Z eloquently bounces off Dickinson with some meaty heavy metal riffs showing that Dickinson is easily capable of singing outside of his Iron Maiden-esque twin guitar comfort zone. Sadly, it has been 13 years since Bruce Dickinson gave us a solo album, but just like ‘Accident of Birth’ and ‘The Chemical Wedding’, ‘Tyranny…’ completes a trio of albums that will be remembered as the best albums that Iron Maiden never released.
82/100
Adam McCann/MHF Magazine
