Released: 1997
Tracks: Freak; Toltec 7 Arrival; Starchildren; Taking the Queen; Darkside of Aquarius; Road to Hell; Man of Sorrows; Accident of Birth; The Magician; Welcome to the Pit; The Ghost of Cain; Omega; Arc of Space
Best track: Darkside of Aquarius
Tracks to skip: Man of Sorrows, Magician & Ghost of Cain are frequently skipped
This was the album that brought me back into the fold, as it were. I went through the story briefly in the
Skunkworks review, so here’s the rest of it. Balls to Picasso was a disappointment and Skunkworks was outright bad (or so I thought) when I first heard it. So, I pretty much wrote Bruce Dickinson off and submerged myself in lots of new music like King Crimson and Phish. I heard that Bruce was bringing Adrian Smith back for his next album and it was going to be ‘heavy’ again. My thought was, wonderful, he knows he’s made crap for the past few years, basically since he left Maiden, and now he’s going to try to play ‘metal’ again and try to salvage his fan base, but it’s a pretty pathetic move. So yeah, I’ll admit it; I had no faith in Bruce. I should’ve. My friend Brian (to his credit, never wavering in his faith) picked this album up and told me that I
HAD to get it. I was still apprehensive, so I listened to a track to see how it sounded. I heard a bit of Road to Hell and wouldn’t ya know it, Brian was right and Bruce Was Back. The next day I bought the album and was floored by how damn good it was. I think the reality of the necessity for this album is a little different from my version. Bruce did indeed see his following drop off with Skunkworks so he decided to put out something that would not only wake up the metal community, but also show to his former bandmates in Iron Maiden that they could not compete with him. I honestly think this was Bruce’s answer to Maiden’s X Factor which isn’t really so hot. Bruce blew them out of the water and everyone knew it.
For me, this is how Maiden should sound now and how they should have sounded in the mid-late 90’s. It’s definitely in the classic style of metal that Maiden is known for, but updated with heaviness that Maiden had not attempted before. From the first 5 seconds of Freak, Bruce shows that he’s not messing around on this album. Freak is a powerhouse that doesn’t let up and reminds you that Bruce Dickinson still has it. Bruce joined forces with his writing partner from Balls to Picasso, Roy Z, brought in a new rhythm section of Eddie Casillias (bass) & David Ingraham (drums), and found the missing link to the whole thing, Adrian Smith. Growing up listening to Iron Maiden, Adrian Smith was always my favorite guitar player of the group. Dave Murray is a great musician, but Adrian’s songs and his solos and his overall playing was possibly the best part of that band. Adrian put out his ASAP solo album in 1989 and he made a brief appearance on Maiden’s Live at Donnington show in ’92, but otherwise we hadn’t heard anything from him until Accident of Birth came out. His playing on this album is the tastiest part and is also a smaller example of what the whole sound of this album is about: updated and modern, but still classic. All of Adrian’s guitar solos on here are excellent, but his solo on Omega (which is a fantastic song anyway) is quite possibly the best he’s ever done. It just floors me how much emotion and power he can get out of a hunk of wood with strings on it. Adrian also contributed two compositions to the album, Road to Hell & Welcome to the Pit. Both are good songs and further expand what kind of songs he’s capable of writing.
Speaking of songwriting, they didn’t show it too much on Balls to Picasso, but Bruce and Roy Z form a lethal songwriting partnership on this album (and from this point forward, honestly). Freak, Taking the Queen, Darkside of Aquarius, Omega and Arc of Space are some of Bruce’s best songs, and that’s really saying something. I love Omega a lot, and the guitar solo is definitely the best part of this album, but as an overall song Darkside of Aquarius is the best one on here. The track absolutely kicks ass and goes to many different places including a wonderful medieval section in the middle. No, it’s not like Stonehenge! The first half of the album just rocks (Freak through Road to Hell) and the last two songs are stellar, but there is a dip in quality in the middle. Accident of Birth is a cool song, as is Welcome to the Pit, but depending on my mood I skip Man of Sorrows (semi-cheesy piano ballad), The Magician (total cheese) and Ghost of Cain (sorta decent). Man of Sorrows has a great solo from Adrian, but listening to the rest of the song is pretty torturous. OK, yes, I know about the lyrics to it. A lot of the lyrics on this album (Man of Sorrows and the title track specifically) are really a kind of therapy for Bruce; he’s clearly working out some stuff that’s been boiling up in him since he was a kid. As a song though, Man of Sorrows is pretty cheesy. So, what we have on this album is a few songs of cheese, but the rest are solid, heavy, intense and just great. This is a great album and I like it a little more than Skunkworks, but I think I’ll give it the same grade. It’s not quite a 98, but it’s most definitely a great album and a wonderful return to form for Bruce.
Rating: 97
*****
In 2005 all of Bruce’s albums were remastered and reissued with a bonus disc of all B-sides associated with the particular album. For Accident of Birth the 2nd disc is only demos and different versions of the same songs on the album. So, unless you want the Spanish version of Man of Sorrows (so comical, and horrible), this particular reissue is useless.
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