Customer Reviews

Accident of Birth (Dlx)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a great album, though not quite as good as Bruce's next solo project the masterpiece "The Chemical Wedding".

But it does see Bruce returning to more of a straight ahead metal sound rather than the experimental hard rock tendences on his his previous 2 underrated solo projects "Balls to Picasso" and "Skunkworks".

Accident of Birth was most notable however in that ex-Iron Maiden guitarist Adrian Smith who left the band in 1990 (3 years prior to Bruce leaving the band) joined in on guitar duties with producer/guitarist Roy Z. and this album benefits from it. These guys make a mammoth guitar duo and even though I'm really glad that Bruce re-joined Maiden eventually in 1999 (along with Adrian), I also kind of wish they would just quit Maiden and do a band with Roy Z. full time instead.

The strange thing about this re-issue is that for whatever unknown reason they moved the track "Ghost of Cain" from disc 1 of the original American release to the extra disc 2.

Maybe if was meant to be a throwaway track on the original release or whatever but I don't know why they just didn't leave it on the main CD as it's a great song and was part of the original CD track listing.

Strange...........

the other stuff on Disc 2 is mostly just rarities and demos...nothing too special.

If you have the original CD, don't bother with getting this one as the sound is exactly the same and the extra stuff doesn't warrant a new purchase.

But since Bruce's 90's solo output has been out of print for a while, anyone who either wasn't aware or wasn't able to find his solo stuff from that period would do wise to pick all 4 of them up as they are great albums.

I hate to commit blasphemy, but Accident of Birth ranks right up there with Number of the Beast and Piece of Mind.

Adrian Smith returns to his rightful place at Bruce's side; Roy Z stuns with awesome guitar talent; and they're backed by Ed Casillias (bass) and Dave Ingraham (drums) who keep head banging, foot stomping time all the way through this disk.

Man, I'll never forget the first time I threw this disk into my player back in 1997....It begins with a rocker called Freak that immediately makes the statement that Bruce and Adrian are back and that they clearly were the backbone for the driving 80s Maiden years.

Anthem choruses. Pounding, heavy, melodic, clearly sung metal. Welcome Home, Bruce. It's Been Too Long. We've Missed You.

I admit that I was apprehensive prior to my first listen based on Bruce's Skunkworks, Balls and Millionaire solo stuff that was far below expectation. But that apprehension was quickly reversed to excitement after the first track on Accident of Birth. And there was no let down...tracks 2 - 13 indeed kept the momentum going with standout tracks Starchildren, Darkside of Aquarius, Road to Hell, Accident of Birth, The Magician and The Ghost of Cain.

Maiden fans had cause to rejoice in 1997 over Accident of Birth. And last year the re-release of Accident remastered with bonus material revitalized this great CD.

Unfortunately the effort has not been matched with any of Bruce's subsequent solo releases. But the good news is that Bruce and Adrian are back with Maiden and Maiden's 2000 reuniting release Brave New World is also right up there with any of the Maiden disks and Accident of Birth...but that's entirely another story for another review.

Buy Accident of Birth.

Footnote: That funny looking little guy's name on the CD cover, according to Bruce's website back during the release of this disk, is Edison...clever, no?

Dickinson delivers another stunning collection of songs and shows the world why Iron Maiden has never be the same without him. Brutal, electrifying, heavy, numbing, adventurous, brilliant. Dickinson's song writting and vocal talents bleed through on every track.

The bonus cd give listeners an insight to the evolution of a handful of songs with demo versions, and for Man Of Sorrow there is an orchestal, a radio edit, and a spanish version which shows how many different directions this song can go and still hold up.

Great job of remastering, great packaging, cool new art work. A must for any metal head.

known for his distinctive vocals of Iron Maiden, Bruce's previous solo works had been outings in some interesting but rather flat experiments in alternative rock. but with Accident Of Birth, he returns to the sound that best suits his air raid siren of a voice. the guitar team of Adrian Smith and Roy Z is the perfect frontal assault to match the solid backdrop of the bass and drums. their seems to be alot more of an influence of old hard rock bands like Rainbow or Deep Purple on this album, compared to Maiden's strong galloping metallic sound. these songs reveal a powerful and strong unit that would go on to make an even better follow up, the great Chemical Wedding album. i wouldn't recommend getting your hopes up if you are looking for some hidden treasures in these b-sides represented here on disc 2. there is nothing here that is particularly memorable, which is ok, because the original album alone holds enough power and strength to justify the purchase. one more thing i do not like about this re-issue is the fact that they used a different cover art than the original. the new artwork looks like a goofy outtake from the Aliens film, showing the crazed puppet popping out of a belly. haha--yea, we get it.."accident of birth" eeerggh. cool album title...but we didn't need that stupid art to prove the meaning. way too tacky, in my opinion and the original was just far more superior. but oh well...what can ya do?

I wish I had known a long time ago that Bruce was making solo stuff. I loved Maiden as a teen and have just started revisiting it recently as a middle aged bald guy ( and NO we'll not venture to look into the psychology of all that). In my searching I found Bruce's solo work and was quite blown away at how good it tends to be. Not only good, but very modern sounding in ways. Sometimes as I listen to it I think I may even like it better than Maiden. I guess it depends on the mood, but it is excellent and dynamic and just plain rocks. Buy it!

A great album from Iron Maiden's former, and soon to be present, lead singer. Bruce left Maiden in the early 90's to pursue a solo career (but returned to Maiden in 1999, where he still is today), and this album is one of the best he put out. It is definitely better than anything Iron Maiden put out between Seventh Son (1988) and A Matter of Life and Death (2006). If you're a Maiden or a metal fan, buy this album and you won't be disappointed. The album was cowritten by Bruce and guitarist/producer Roy Z and guitarist and Maiden bandmate Adrian Smith. Roy Z and Smith deliver the guitar goods, Bruce's voice is in top form, and together they deliver one great song after another. For me, this album is tied with Tyranny of Souls for Bruce's best solo album. Also check out The Chemical Wedding, which is excellent as well. All three are far better IMO than the Maiden's Fear of the Dark, No Prayer for the Dying, the Blaze-era Maiden, an arguably better than Maiden's Brave New World and Dance of Death. This version contains additional liner notes as well as a second CD containing one bonus track as well as demos of some of the songs, and various versions of the haunting Man of Sorrows.

'Accident of Birth' isn't nearly as good as Dickinson's next album, 'Chemical Wedding', would be, but it's still a very solid, classic metal album. Nothing new, perhaps, but they do what they do well.

One of 'Accident of Birth's bigger problems is the crappy production. It's clear, plenty clear, but it just doesn't have much punch, so the rockers don't hit as hard as they should. You've certainly heard worse, but considering who recorded this and when, it really should be better.

Dickinson's work here is indeed fairly reminiscent of the old IM material, but he still finds a fairly distinct voice, cutting down on the dual harmonies a lot and severely downplaying the importance of the bass guitar. Thus, the album doesn't have the sorta killer instrumental breaks you find on pretty much all the IM albums, but the core songs are almost universally solid. Furthermore, Dickinson's vocals are as good as ever, and he's allowed a bit more range here, with some straight up ballads. (Rather than power-ballads.)

The album opens with 'Freak', a solid, catchy rocker, if not an altogether remarkable song which is followed by 'Starchildren' a slighly better, more epic track. The album really comes alive with 'Darkside of Aquarius'. Great, unforgettable vox in the first half and the final section has just got an awesome stomping groove, kinda the IM gallop slowed down to half speed. Strangely enough, 'Accident of Birth' actually gets better as it goes along, with the final 6 songs all being particularly strong. 'Man of Sorrows' is a terrific, brooding ballad which is followed by the title track, and very dark, nasty song with another great groove. 'The Magician' is a poppy, fun and energetic track which is paired with 'Welcome to the Pit', a very moody song, but with an instantly memorable, soaring chorus. The album closes with 2 consecutive ballads, both very good, though the closer, 'Arc of Space' is the better of the two. It's just a sparse, beautiful track with strings and acoustic guitars which is even moving in spite of the bizarre subject matter. Definitely a good way to got out.

Anyway, 'Accident of Birth' is unquestionably worthwhile for any Dickinson or Maiden fan. It's got a couple weaker tracks and doesn't entirely hit its stride until the midway point, but it's still a very good album all around.

This is the music that when I think of Metal,this is how it should sound.Just straight forward good Hard Rock!When I play this for my friends they just say Damn! these guys are jammim!even the ones who like R&B.Good S**T !! Chemical Wedding is Next! Peace.

I love this CD. You will find well written songs with Smith and Roy Z tearing it up. Bruce is at peak form and the CD has great pacing and production. Sounds the same as the old release, though. Anyway, Starchildren rocks with a great bridge before the chorus. Darkside builds up to a great finish with Bruce moving the "Wheels of time around". The song I like least is Taking the Queen, but I love the solo and the vocals fit the mood well. So I guess you can see how much I like this CD. Other top tracks are Magician, Ghost of Cain, (which as a previous poster stated, was on the 1st CD) and Accident of Birth. Check out the heavy plodding guitar on this track. Yes! Real metal does survive! And the Arc of Space and Time is just an awesome closer. Go get Accident of Birth now! PS.- Why don't you pick up Chemical Wedding while you're at it? You can thank me later.

Normally I hate remasters since they always sound worse due to added compression, but the Bruce Dickinson discography luckily sounds just as good as the original releases. Accident of Birth is an excellent album and has been getting heavy rotation on my CD player. It's a 5 star album and this is a 5 star reissue. So why is only 4 stars?

Because they messed up big time by putting Ghost of Cain on disc 2. I know this is just a minor error but on the original reissue it came after Welcome to the Pit. Here it's on Disc 2 all of a sudden. Anyways that aside it's a total 5 star reissue, and the Spanish version of Man of Sorrows is excellent.

On a side note- If you disagree with a certain part of my review or if I make a typo, PLEASE comment on it, and don't vote "No". It's pissing me off. If you disagree with it completely, then you can vote no. But otherwise... you know.