BRUCE DICKINSON: Tyranny of Souls

Produced by Roy Z

Released: 2005

In the eyes of many of his fans, Bruce Dickinson’s solo work easily eclipsed just about everything Iron Maiden did since the beginning of the 1990s; certainly Accident of Birth and The Chemical Wedding were vastly superior to Maiden’s releases from the same period and when he rejoined his old friends there was some small sighs of despair that Bruce’s solo career was at an end. Seven years and three Maiden albums later, Tyranny of Souls relaunches that career for one of the greatest metal singers of all.

Taking things at his own pace, Dickinson spent a long time on this album and the end result is one of the most diverse recordings he has ever made. This time chief colloborator Roy Z handled all the guitar work, and his production lays on some fine crunch in that area, making for a nicely heavy sound. With that said, Tyranny of Souls is not a complete triumph. There are definite highlights, but there is also some too-familiar generic moments and overall it doesn’t match the heights that Bruce’s two previous solo efforts attained.

After the strange spoken word intro “Mars Within” that doesn’t seem to serve a purpose, “Abduction” kicks in as the opener proper, a nice melodic and catchy track but one that isn’t too far removed from Dickinson’s contributions to Maiden albums over the years. The next two songs are somewhat better, with that aforementioned guitar crunch and heaviness, and some stellar work from Roy Z. “Soul Intruder” is easily one of the heaviest songs Bruce Dickinson has ever recorded and “Kill Devil Hill” has a nicely sinister feel. Another highlight is “Devil On a Hog”, which has a surprisingly rocking Judas Priest feel to it and isn’t that far removed from the demon-on-a-Harley thing Rob Halford likes to sing about.

The real surprise however is right in the middle of the album. “Navigate the Seas of the Sun” is a stripped-back acoustic track that shows a remarkably mellow side to Dickinson’s normally histrionic vocals. While it suffers a little from lyrical repetition, this works far better than Dance of Death’s “The Journeyman” and raises the question of whether there should be more songs like it. The rest of the cuts aren’t bad but they don’t really stand out either; nevertheless, Tyranny of Souls is without doubt an above average release and maintained Dickinson’s strong record for quality solo efforts.

1. Mars Within


2. Abduction


3. Soul Intruders


4. Kill Devil Hill


5. Navigate the Seas of the Sun


6. River of No Return


7. Power of the Sun


8. Devil on a Hog


9. Believil


10. A Tyranny of Souls

Rating: 78%