The amazing Bruce strikes again!
It has been over 5 years since Bruce Dickinson released his last solo effort 'The Chemical Wedding' which was highly rated by many of his and Iron Maiden's fans. Will he be able to follow up his last heavy offering? Yes!
Opening with dark intro 'Mars Within' you begin to think that this will be a heavy, gloomy offering. 'Abduction', the first single from the album is an up-tempo, modern metal song. When the first riff kicks in, you must remind yourself that you are listening to Bruce Dickinson, not a Lamb of God record.
'Tyranny of Souls' is the third instalment of his metal trilogy, following up 'Accident of Birth' and 'The Chemical Wedding'. There has been much discussion between fans as to whether this album will be as good as them. It is certainly easy to say that it is as good as the previous two- but is it better? It has the heaviness of 'The Chemical Wedding' and the melodic parts of 'Accident of Birth', but there appears to be one thing missing from this album...The lack of epic songs. The last album had seven-minute offerings such as 'Jerusalem' and 'Gates of Urizen', but this album sadly has no song that lasts over five minutes. The closest thing on this album would have to be 'Navigate the Seas of the Sun', which sounds like Bruce's answer to Maiden's 'Journeyman'.
You would usually thing that lack of long songs from a singer who fronts the best band on the planet would affect the quality of the album, but the funny thing is...You don't actually notice it! The mouth-watering solos, brilliantly sung choruses and brilliant riffs seem to carry you off on an amazing journey.
Bruce Dickinson shows his love for flying in the song, 'Kill Devil Hill', which is about the Wright brothers. He manages to sing without it seeming cheesy at all. 'Devil on a Hog' is the only song on the album that could be considered filler because it doesn't fit on the album; many people have commented that it sounds like it would at home on Bruce's debut album 'Tattooed Millionaire' which has more of an 80's rock sound. 'Power of the Sun' is a brilliant offering, displaying one of the most memorable and catchy choruses on the album, next to 'Kill Devil Hill' and the title track. Towards the end of this album you begin to wonder if the closer will be memorable like the previous albums and by god is this one hell of a closer! Opening with a line from Macbeth it may sound cheesy, but this is one of the most powerful songs on the album- no doubt about it!
'Tyranny of Souls' is definitely one of, if not the best album Bruce Dickinson has released, this is the best album of 2005 so far and possibly may be the best by the end of the year. But the question you may ask yourself is, "Will he be able to follow this amazing album up?"