Tomorrow is the best day of May because Bruce Dickinson's new solo record is being released. Tomorrow! Tomorrow! It's! Only! A! Day! Away! Bruce Dickinson gets more exclamation points than usual because I've been waiting for this record since last January. When I was lucky enough to catch Iron Maiden on the television last year, in Bruce's interview portion he talked about how he was working on his new record when he had a chance during the Iron Maiden tour.
In fact, he was talking about how he might have been spotted in a cafe in Canada, listening to his headphones and writing furiously. The dorky interviewer asked if he used a laptop and something else...maybe recording software and Bruce scoffed. He scoffed! He said he wasn't that modern. Bruce uses a notebook and a pen. I love him. Anyway, I've been waiting for this record for quite some time. If memory serves it was supposed to come out in October and then it was mysteriously bumped to a later release date. It couldn't be because Iron Maiden had a DVD coming out, could it? Would Rod Smallwood make Bruce push back his solo album for the good of the band? I don't care if Rod Smallwood put his foot down or not, he's still my favorite.
Although the idea of delaying a Bruce Dickinson solo album so it doesn't conflict with an Iron Maiden release makes no sense to me. It's not like solo Bruce Dickinson is going to cut into Iron Maiden's sales. I think the odds are very good that most folks who are excited about Bruce Dickinson's solo work would still put it below Iron Maiden on their shopping lists. Of course, since Iron Maiden would be high on LCG's list I can just go ahead and put Bruce at the top of mine.
Not that I've ever bought a Bruce Dickinson solo album myself, LCG likes to show up at my house and say things like, "Look! I got you Bruce Dickinson's Greatest Hits! The special edition!" In case he didn't want to break his bad solo album streak I reminded him a few weeks ago that Bruce had a new record coming out. We were at a record store that has no LPs and I was done looking at the band flyers so I started browsing the new release wall. I saw that Limp Bizkit has released their new album and as I was wondering if anyone cared I remembered to tell him about Bruce Dickinson.
Me: Bruce Bruce's new record comes out on the 24th.
LCG: Uh-oh. Do we have to get it at midnight?
Me: Yes.
LCG: I...was just kidding.
Me: Um. Oh. Okay. You don't have to come along. Actually, I don't have to get it at midnight.
LCG: What? You went out at midnight for Geoff Tate but you won't do it for Bruce Dickinson? Geoff Tate?
Me: Shut up.
LCG: Somewhere a toothy Englishman is crying.
Me: Okay! Fine! I'll come out at midnight but I still can't be up all hours listening to it.
LCG: Geoff. Tate.
Me: Look, if I want to listen to Bruce Dickinson that night I'll have to call the Pirate to see if he wants to drive around except he bought a house so now he's all grown-up and stuff and I don't know if he can come out and play at midnight anymore.
(Homeowners who eat Gummi Bears for breakfast: you don't have to email me. I happen to use home ownership as a mark of being a grown-up.)
So LCG thinks I should write a review as soon as possible but I don't think that's necessary. If it's a Bruce Dickinson solo album it's automatically bad and I automatically love it. End of story. I find his solo albums to be uneven and often embarrassing. This has baffled me for quite some time, because he is a wonderful singer and an excellent songwriter.
It never fails, every favorite song I have on every Iron Maiden record is written by Bruce. If it's not written by Bruce it's written by Bruce and Adrian Smith. I always pick Grant Hart over Bob Mould and I always pick Bruce Dickinson over Steve Harris, which LCG finds absolutely appalling. His favorite Iron Maiden songs are always written by Steve Harris. One time we went through each album, stated our favorite songs, and checked the liner notes. Every single time I was in Bruce's corner and he was in Steve's corner.
And for those of you about to point out that Bruce has no writing credits on the first two albums, let me point out that I do not acknowledge those records because of my severe Paul Di'Anno allergy. I acknowledge the songs if they are sung by Bruce on a live album but I will not listen to those studio albums. "Think of them as Steve Harris solo albums!" LCG says cheerily because he is such a Steve loyalist, but I won't. Paul Di'Anno turns my stomach.
Bruce Dickinson usually turns my head with his fabulous voice and catchy tunes (and leather pants) but the solo albums are never his best work. After much head scratching, I have figured out why. He needs Steve Harris. I was listening to Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son the other day and Bruce's work is fantastic. He kicks total ass and that is when I realized that he needs Steve Harris to challenge him.
Steve writes these crazy elaborate songs because he knows Bruce can pull it off. On a Bruce solo album he rarely flexes his vocal muscle. He sounds good, of course, but he isn't pushing his boundaries. And even though he is doing the songwriting, it's a different style than what he writes for Iron Maiden. I think that the songs he brings to Iron Maiden have to be his very best because of the Steve Harris challenge. You want to get a song on a Maiden record, it better good and well kick ass. If you ask LCG, the best song Bruce Dickinson ever wrote was Powerslave.
LCG: Know how you can tell?
Me: Because Steve named the record Powerslave?
LCG: Exactly. Steve isn't just going to name the record after any old Bruce song.
Me: Because Steve Harris can do whatever Steve Harris wants to do.
LCG: Damn skippy. It's his band.
Me: I know that's right.
When Bruce is left to his own devices, the results aren't quite as stellar. I don't mind. I love to love Bruce's bad solo albums and I cannot wait to get the new one. I think he should make more too, because if he gets the B material out of the way on his own he will continue to bring his best to Iron Maiden and I'll have double the recorded enjoyment.