Customer Reviews

Accident of Birth

5 star:		(57)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

THE BAND: Bruce Dickinson (vocals), Adrian Smith (guitars), Roy Z (guitars, mellatron, piano), Eddie Casillas (bass), David Ingraham (drums & percussion).

THE DISC: (1997) 13 tracks clocking in at approximately 58 minutes. The digitally remastered version (2005) contains 9 bonus tracks - 1 new track, and 8 demo or radio edits. Included with the disc is a 14-page booklet containing pictures of Bruce (2 with Adrian), the players, song titles/credits & lyrics, and thank you's. Recorded at Silver Cloud and Sound City Recording studios in Los Angeles, CA. All songs written by Dickinson and Roy Z (except "Welcome To The Pit" & "Road To Hell" by Dickinson and Smith). Illustration from long time Iron Maiden collaborator, Derek Riggs. Label - CMC International Records.

COMMENTS: To date, Bruce has half a dozen or so solo albums... and "Accident Of Birth" is still my favorite. Roy Z is the man behind the production - brilliant sound, as well as his guitar and piano playing. Adrian Smith has confirmed that he belongs with Dickinson wherever he goes. Confirmation that Smith is/was one of the driving forces with Dickinson in one of Britain's finest metal acts ever - Iron Maiden. "Accident" starts of with one of my all-time favorite Bruce tunes (with Samson, Iron Maiden or solo)... "Freak" - it's hard driving, fast paced and in your face - truly a great beat with storied lyrics. Other stunning tracks include the acoustic "Taking The Queen" (another great story being told), the heavy 6+ minute "Darkside Of Aquarius", "Man Of Sorrows" with its piano and orchestra arrangements, as well as the title track - one of the heavier tracks on the disc. The album closes with two stellar tunes featuring some amazing acoustic, spanish and electric guitar work - "Omega" and "Arc Of Space". This is one of those albums that contains no filler... I can let this play all the way through and enjoy every track. A classic (5-stars).

On ACCIDENT OF BIRTH Bruce Dickinson returns to Iron Maiden territory without copying their exact style. In fact, AOB sounds like a mid 90's updating of the classic Maiden sound. "Starchildren," "Darkside Of Aquarius," and "The Magician" all have the classic Maiden blending of power and melody, and all sound fresh and exiting - not at all dated. Maybe that's the best thing about this album; it sounds timeless. Adrian Smith's contributions are a welcome treat as well, but this album is Bruce and Roy Z's show. And what a great show it is. All Maiden fans should own this one.

If you're a fan of Iron Maiden's music and you don't have this, you owe it to yourself to pick up this album, and it's follow up, "The Chemical Wedding." These two albums contain some of the best Heavy Metal music released during the late 1990's. Had the Hard Rock/Heavy Metal genre not fallen out of commercial favor during this period, you'd have heard more about this album.

This is Bruce Dickinson's fourth solo album (the fifth if you count "Live From Studio A"), and I think it's probably his best. I especially like that he teamed up with Adrian Smith, lending a heavy amount of credibility in the guitar department.

Bruce has said that "'Accident of Birth' is about a family from Hell. Except they're in hell and one of them has accidentally been born, and they want him back and he doesn't want to go. For all the same reasons that you wouldn't want to go back to your family if they're a pain in the rear, he doesn't want to go back to his family. Ok, so they're in Hell, that makes a little difference too."

Any of these songs would have been great additions to the Iron Maiden catalog. Had this been released as an Iron Maiden album, it would probably rank as one of their best. My favorites are "The Magician," "Welcome to the Pit," and "Taking the Queen." Great guitar playing, and excellent songwriting make this one of my favorite albums.

Accident of Birth (1997) is Bruce Dickinson's third studio outing, and at this point in time, arguably his best. With fellow former Iron Maiden member Adrian Smith on guitar, along with Roy Z (who also produced Accident of Birth) Bruce has a killer axe combo that makes this album really great. Let's get to the songs...

Freak - 100% The second you hear the intro riff to "Freak" you realize that this album is not going to sound like any of the previous Bruce Dickinson solo albums. His albums before this (Tattooed Millionaire, Balls to Picasso, and Skunkworks) explored styles that were new to Bruce, but still retained a metal edge (most of the time). Accident of Birth, however, kicks off with one of Bruce's heaviest songs at that point! Easily heavier than what he was doing in Maiden, before departing. Freak is a great opener with a catchy chorus.

Toltec 7 Arrival - This is an intro to Starchildren, and is only 37 seconds long... doesn't really need a review.

Starchildren - 95% Accident of Birth continues its heavy metal assault, with great results.

Taking the Queen - 100% Acoustic intro... we've calmed down a bit now. Great bass line in the intro. This song smashes into some heavy guitars a little ways into it, and throughout the whole thing Bruce sounds amazing. Easily one of the best songs on this album.

Darkside of Aquarius - 100% The end of "Taking the Queen" is the intro for "Darkside of Aquarius" This is another highlight of the album, with a soft intro that just slams into fast-paced guitarin'. This song continues the heavy assault of Accident of Birth. This song is extremely enjoyable, and I'm sure you'll find yourself listening to it a lot.

Road to Hell - 90% While this a major highlight for most folks, I don't think it's quite as great as the other songs on Accident of Birth. Some quality input from Adrian Smith though.

Man of Sorrows - 100% If you are a non-believer in the vocal talent of Bruce Dickinson, do yourself a favor, and listen to "Man of Sorrows." This is definitely a candidate for one of his best vocal performances ever; the emotion he manages to convey makes this song an excellent addition to Accident of Birth (even if it doesn't continue the heavy metal assault as much.)

Accident of Birth - 100% The title track! An obvious highlight. Bruce has said that around the time of this album his mother told him that he was the result of a failed abortion; he shouldn't have been (an accident of birth, if you will.) How anyone can cope with hearing something like that, especially at a later stage in your life... is really beyond me, and Bruce does sound a touch angry on this song. This is probably the heaviest song on the album, and features some great guitar work from both Smith and Z.

The Magician - 85% This is a decent track, but not one of my favorites.

Welcome to the Pit - 85% Pretty much what I said for "The Magician."

The Ghost of Cain - 100% A great guitar intro! I love this song, it's a little bit different form most of the material on Accident of Birth, but certainly good. More great work from Bruce, and a great chorus. This is an underrated highlight from Accident of Birth...

Omega - 100% Bruce has a gentle side. This song is another highlight (OK... this entire album is a highlight!) But still, it's got some interesting writing from Bruce, along with another stellar vocal performance. "Take a look at your burning sky." Great song!

Arc of Space - 100% Acoustic. Great guitar work. Soaring vocals. What a way to end one of Bruce's best albums of his career. Amazing.

Accident of Birth is easily one of my favorite works to feature Bruce Dickinson. When I first started listening to Iron Maiden, it took me at least 3 months just to tolerate Bruce's voice. I just could not stand it. Overtime, I grew to really appreciate his voice and talent, and absolutely love his solo work. He sounds so such more energized here than on his last two efforts with Maiden. While I'm glad to have him back in Maiden these days, I'm glad he hasn't given up his solo career.

You can't go wrong by picking up this album!

Accident of Birth perfectly encapsulates everything that heavy metal should be. Fine musicianship, soaring vocal deliveries, fervent aggression, and enthusiastic performances brimming with intensity. The follow-up to "Tattooed Millionaire" and "Balls to Picasso," AoB is more of an overtly fiery metal album, with better, more intense arrangements yielding stronger results on the whole. TM and BtP were good, but more in the vein of hard rock sensibilities and not exactly what one expects from Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson. I find AoB's musical approach more interesting and better in the end.

Bruce's panache for writing brilliant lyrics based on mythological tales and historical elements are intact here. More importantly, Bruce's phenomenal vocals are better than ever. They retain the utmost intensity of his finest days with Maiden but have developed considerably, becoming more visceral and husky. Songs are gritty and harrowing, and this album shows that Bruce's songwriting was clearly on a roll. Over the course of an hour, this album covers plenty of ground. The album ends with the beautiful elegy "Arc of Space," with nylon string guitar, violin, and cello, a touching song from an artist you wouldn't expect to write something like this. But it's wonderful. Bruce's reunion with Adrian Smith was definitely a good choice. Smith adds an important melodic element that makes the songs so much better.

A great album; it really shows you how good heavy metal can be.

STUNNING.."Accident of Birth" can be summed up with just that one word. This is one of the most amazing CD's that I have ever listened to. From the awesome beginning of "Freak" & "Starchildren" to the powerful closing of "Omega" & "Arc of Space" this CD is overflowing with Bruce's typical Air-Raid Siren vocals and crushing riffs by Roy Z and one-time, and Thank God again, Maiden mate Adrian Smith. While the Blayze Bailey-led Maiden were busy in the mid-90's toning their sound down and changing the classic Maiden style with almost disastrous consequences, Bruce got back to basics with "Accident of Birth"; this CD does not "grow on you", it takes you by the nuts and brings you along for an incredible ride. With this release Bruce seemingly threw down his gauntlets to all other metal/hard rock bands and said "Top this.."; in this day and age of Nirvana & Pearl Jam clones, this album is both refreshing and necessary. I was able to see Bruce & Adrian on the supporting tour for this album, and if you think this album is awesome, it was nothing compared to seeing them perform these instant classics live.

Man! It's 16 years I bought "The Number of the Beast" and heard Bruce Dickinson's voice for the first time. After having listened to "Accident of Birth" I realized that the Beast left Iron Maiden... but it's still on the road! It's surely Dickinson's best solo album.

This albums rates 5 stars all the way. One of the heaviest albums put out by Bruce. Didn't care for his earlier solo efforts. I think his reunion with Adrian Smith and the assistance of Roy Z. helped to focus his writing and bring out his strengths. Roy Z is in a class by himself. With this album, "Chemical Wedding" and Rob Halford's "Resurection" he has shown to be one of the top producer/songwriter/guitar players currently. Stand out tracks on this one are "Darkside of Aquarius", "Road to Hell" and "The Ghost of Cain." While Iron Maiden was floundering with junk albums like "Virtual XI" and "The X Factor" Bruce came out with the 1-2 punch of this album, "Accident of Birth" and "The Chemical Wedding." This is the album Maiden wished it had made. This one is a keeper.

Accident of Birth is an excellent album. Most people seem to agree that the best solo albums Bruce ever did are Accident of Birth and the Chemical Wedding, and rightly so. This album is full of superb muscicianship. Roy Z is a very talented guitar player and of course, Adrian Smith is an excellent guitar player and song writer known for his role with Maiden. In this album, Bruce re-finds his powerful voice that he had lost in the early 90's.

Accident of Birth has a unique sound. It has a nice mixture of fast rockers and softer ballads. Accident of Birth does have some Maidenesque feelings in it, but yet, it is able to hold it's own individual sound. This album also has a nice progressive touch to it, which is a good thing.

Every song is enjoyable and nothing resembles a filler. My personal favorite tracks are Starchildren with it's catchy riffs and chorus, Darkside of Aquarius with it's nice soft buildup that leads to a sweet Adrian Smith solo, Omega, with it's soft acoustic opening that explodes into the heavy chorus, and Arc of Space which is a nice soft acoustic song. I love the little acoustic guitar solo in it.

To condlude, Accident of Birth is a great album. It's definetaly worth a purchase. Chances are that if you are reading this review you are probably an Iron Maiden fan, and if you are you will find this album very easy to fall in love with.

After yet another ghastly 'title' to a review, if you've made it this far I'll now give you some substance.

Accident of Birth is considered by many to be the first excellent record that Bruce produced in his solo career. Not having heard Balls to Picasso, I personally think Skunkworks was the first excellent one. BUT that being said, Accident of Birth is probably the first of 'golden years Bruce', and if you don't care about my personal views, then I can assure you that basically everybody else also loves Accident of Birth and rates it very highly

After the Skunkworks project (Bruce initially tried to create a new 'band', but the record label wouldn't put the album out unless it had Bruce's name on it), Bruce returned to work with Roy Z on this album. Released in 1997, it's almost impossible to fault, and debating whether Accident of Birth or the Chemical Wedding was better seems to be a regular pasttime among Bruce fans.

There's a lot of variety on this album, the longest album that Bruce did. It contains some 13 tracks without ANY filler. There are a few 'faster' rockers, like Freak, The Magician, Road To Hell, and the title track. These are all great songs with some awesome singing from Bruce

There are also the more progressive 'taking the queen' and 'omega', which continue the trend of great songs but showcase more variety to Bruce's voice and style. Man of Sorrows is a piano-focused track that works very well, Bruce composing a song about the puzzling character that was Alistair Crowley

We also have 'slower', heavier songs such as Starchildren and Welcome to the Pit. I love these songs. Some are critical of Welcome to the Pit but I can't see why. The style on that song seems to foreshadow the later sound on the Chemical wedding (i.e. combining overdriven guitars with phase-effects)

THe centrepiece of the album is probably the incredible Darkside of Aquarius. It's hard to describe this song; it is progressive but also very powerful. Bruce does some awesome singing in this song, and the guitar work from Roy and Adrian is superb.

The reissue of this album also includes the song 'Ghost of Cain'. This is another great song that I can't fault.

Finally, the album ends with the beautiful, acoustic 'Arc of Space'. Bruce really saves the best till last and this is probably my personal favourite on the album. Its very atmospheric with a great spanish acoustic solo by Roy Z.

Overall, this is a wonderful album that makes a great compliment to Chemical Wedding. I personally bought the two (AoB and CHemical Wedding) at the same time on Amazon (Bruce solo stuff is really hard to get at record shops) and I spent many a day with one of these two albums in my player. BUY IT. Also consider getting Skunkworks if you're open minded, it's really a very good album. And get tyranny of souls too.