Customer Reviews

Skunkworks

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Skunkworks seems to bring out mixed sympathies in people; a bit like Iron Maiden's X Factor in that respect. People who are aware of and like Bruce Dickinson's solo work (and lets face it, it's terrific; arguably superior to a fair amount of Iron Maiden stuff) usually cite The Chemical Wedding and Accident of Birth as archetypical Bruce, and that would be correct. Skunkworks is not like Accident or Birth or Chemical Wedding; it contains a lot of quality tracks, but in a different style.

If I could classify Accident of Birth and Chemical Wedding (I have not yet heardy Tyranny of Souls, but I hear it's like the Chemical Wedding in style), I would call them Metal albums. Skunkworks is more of a 'rock' album, though not in the same way as tattooed millionaire. IT isn't as heavy as the albums that followed it, but there is nothing wrong with that

Skunkworks is a great album with lots of wonderful tracks; I wish Bruce's live setlists gave it more attention. There is almost a 'concept' to this album, Bruce seems to sing predominantly about science and space; yet there is no 'corny' aspect to it, and it certainly is not like being at school. Songs like 'Space Race' and 'Solar Confinement' have a wonderful, warm guitar sound, almost otherworldly, and incredible verses choruses.

Back from the Edge has a very interesting time signature, great chorus and easy to like. This is much the case with the album itself; I didn't find it hard to love the songs here. Dreamstate is a slower, arpeggio'd track, but equally good and a nice tempo change from the faster songs like Space Race and Back from the Edge

Octavia and Inertia are also great songs, with thoughtful lyrics and wonderful choruses. I particularly like the guitar work on Inertia.

There are no bad songs on this cd; Headswitch and I will Not Accept the Truth are probably the weakest tracks, but still good to listen to and not lacking enough to prevent the whole album from being a great listen. Meltdown and Inside the Machine also have great choruses (love the drums in the former), and Innerspace has a nice uplifting feel to it; very optimistic. Strange death in Paradise is a good way to end the album, a more pessimistic and yet sonically uplifting song; with an ending that shows off Bruce's great range and tone.

Overall, I can't understand why this album isn't given Five Stars by everybody. IT may be a matter of personal preference, some believe that Skunkworks deserves less than Five because Chemical Wedding and Accident of Birth were so good, but that doesn't follow necessarily. They are certainly worthy of Five Stars, but so is Skunkworks. Compared to all the many albums out there in the world, Skunkworks is a wonderful CD with enough great songs to justify a mark of Five. IF you like Bruce, you should love this album (my favourites being Space Race, Solar confinement and Back from the Edge)

BUY IT NOW

Unless you are quite the yougster, this album should have been heard long before Mr. Dickinson's rebirth with the Roy Z/"H" solo material and therefore should be judged not against them but with the artist's first two solo albums.Gone are the novelty songs,childish lyrics and rote instrumentation but more remarkably, Bruce does not try to make an Iron Maiden album but ventures into uncharted territory without abandoning the hard rock genre. Consequently, I still listen to this album as much as any other of Bruce's non-Maiden works because it is mature,heavy,catchy as hell and an utter original.The choruses are soaring and unforgettable and the album's production has a clarity that truly enhances the listening experience. The tracks are disparate yet possess an undeniable cohesiveness ranking this as a major work.If you don't see what I mean try listening again with an open mind.Then you will see what I mean.You can thank me when you see the light.

All the complaints about this record are so unbelievably invalid.

Of course, it DOES NOT sound like "Accident of Birth," it DOES NOT sound like "The Chemical Wedding."

I think it's better...

Jack Endino's production wipes the floor with Roy Z's lame, pedestrian GuitarCenter-dork production.

This record doesn't sound like Rush, or Iron Maiden...what does it sound like? I'll tell you. And I CAN'T BELIEVE all these reviews are too blimey stupid to make this connection...it sounds a lot like King's X. Yes, King's X. There IS a little hint of Soundgarden in there, but also a nod to Pink Floyd (in more than just Storm Thorgersen's cover art), early NWOBHM and Ian Gillian's solo work from the early 1980s. (does anybody who's reviewed this know who HE is and WHAT those records sound like?)

Highlights for me would be, "Back From the Edge," "Solar Confinement," "Headswitch," and the most-King's X-like track, the closer, "Strange Death In Paradise."

A nice mix of (the good) '90s heavy rock, '70s hard rock, NWOBHM, and something not quite as tangible.

Bruce's most "honest" album.

Bruce is definitely in for the long haul, and undeniably in it for the music. Even the cover booklet is thoughtful and provocative. If you like Bruce's voice, then this is a great album. He has obviously worked hard to produce a high quality Rock gem.
Maiden fans are ,I think, some of the strongest and most vocal fans of many bands. Bruce , the air-raid siren, Dickenson is a brilliant vocalist, and hopefully has many productive years ahead with both solo project and ( I hope) with MAIDEN projects. A Brilliant Project, and after having heard CHEMICAL WEDDING previously to this, a nice heavy piece of work.
ENJOY

Things that make you go hmmmm... "Skunkworks is an odd album. I would'nt say that it is bad, but, it's not one of my favorite Bruce albums. However, a good select few are definitly worth the listen. Such as "Inside the Machine" and "Space Race". I think Bruce was really getting into flying airplanes and the music and lyrics kind of reflect that. We must remember that Bruce was doing exactly what he wanted to do with this record. He always wanted to try different things and I commend him for that. To get to the point, die-hard Maiden fans who are completists with thier CD collections should, of 'course buy it.

1996 marked quite an interesting year in music. Korn had released their abysmal follow-up "Life is Peachy", Sepultura released the Slightly-nu-metal-with-tribal-elements "Roots" (sometimes known as "The Roots of Sepultura"), and Metallica had released their disaster of an album named "Load". And here, Bruce Dickinson released the alternative/grunge-ish "Skunkworks".

Lots of people have panned this album for being not as hardcore as his other ones, though generally I think it's a fantastic album, and a heavily underrated masterpiece. In fact, it's an album I have an addiction to right now! There's lots of great stuff to be heard here, and lots of great lyrics.

"Space Race" starts off the album on an alternative note, and is a great start to what is a fantastic album. "Back From the Edge" is a slightly more upbeat song, and is very typical Bruce. The first single comes next, entitled "Inertia". It's a slightly slower song, but in a good sense. It has a slow start, then gets into a more alternative type song. I must say, the video is quite odd, and I am not fond of the whole "Bruce decapitating himself" bit! "Meltdown" is a great, sort of Soundgarden-ish tune that reminds me a bit of "Spoonman" by Soundgarden.

"Solar Confinement" is a catchy number, and despite the chorus being repetitive is quite singalong-able. "Dreamstate" is a slow-in-the-verses and heavy-chorus song, and one of the best songs on the album.

The best two songs though are "Inside The Machine", a fast paced and catchy tune with a singalong-able chorus, "Headswitch", a song that is very grunge-ish. I like how Bruce sings in the lower octave, it sounds very sinister. "Meltdown" follows, and is a very cool song, despite the chorus being a tad repetitive. The last song, "Strange Death in Paradise" sort of ends the album on a weak note, though the lyrics are pretty cool. Maybe I need to let this one sink it's teeth into me a bit more, I'm not sure.

In short, you either love it or you hate it. I am on the love side, and if you really let it grow on you, you will be listening to this for days!

Bruce will always be know as the front for Iron Maiden. Yet, Skunkworks, is where you will find his dynamic voice used to the max. The sad thing is people will be extremely bias because it is not heavy metal. Who cares, grab this gem, and realize that the Air Raid Siren has range and it is evident on this cd! This cd is by far better than Iron Maiden's Dance of Death!!

I checked this out when it first came out, and I liked it from the get-go. I hadn't heard anything like it before, even though I had been an Iron Maiden fan for years. It didn't sound like Rush to me -- as one of the other reviewers said it was the closest thing to being. What really impressed me -- other than the fact that I liked the whole album -- was that it was a work of true inspiration and not something produced just because the record producers said, "That other album earned us a cool million -- make us more like the last one." This must have been a gamble, and it was a good one. I like this one a lot more than Balls to Picasso and Tattooed Millionaire (now _those_ suck!). At the time, I really liked the fact that I was hearing what sounded like a concept album about space travel existentialism. I kept wondering if I heard the hints of some Niven and Pournelle short stories in there somewhere. It was a real breath of fresh air when all of the Tucson radio stations were distancing themselves from rock and metal (instead choosing to overplay Weezer and Green Day). Dickinson kept true to himself, and for that, I was thankful!

This was actually the first Bruce album I heard and it blew me away, he picked up some excellent musicians Alex Dickson does great on writing the music with Bruce, Chris Dale knows how to nail the bass and does superb. Allessandro Alena is an excellent drummer hes very fast and raw and knows his stuff. Of course Bruce is always looking for top musicians when making an album. They tried a little bit of a switch not musically because the music is true metal with some hard rock, but the lyrics are very transcending like science and nateure itself its really incredible. The lyrics are extraordinary and very original.
Space race-Excellent opening a smooth paced song and i luv how he sings the chorus.
Back from the Edge-May be my favorite off the album, raw fast and even a sad song, in the mid part of the song its like u can feel Bruce's cries.
Inertia-The beginning is very cool and the lyrics are top notch.
Faith-A very heavy tune excellent i luv how the chorus goes again and the solo is awesome.
Solor Confinement-Terrific the opening lead solo rocks, really an excellent jamming song.
Dreamstate-Very smooth and when the heaviness comes in, it surprises u, and the smooth fast clean guitar sound is so perfect.
I will not Accept the truth-An ok song, sometimes it gets alittle annoying hearing him repeat the chorus over and over again.
Headswitch-Awesome song, maybe the heaviest on here aside from faith and the lyrics are very very odd, great tune, and Alex nails the solo down.
Meltdown-Opening of drums is awesome, once again i luv how he sings the chorus, slow and heavy tune.
Octavia-Awesome song, the lyrics are cool and the closing in the song is extraordinary.
Innerspace-cool tune, awesome lyrics,another good fast jammer.
Strange Death in Paradise-Awesome,effective,slow,deep song, the lyrics are incredible and it is just really an awesome tune.

Aside its a great album and i think everyone who luvs Bruce's work or just real music in general will luv this its great. Dont just take my word for it go check it out urself.

Well i love this album, its great, most of the musics sounds like a alternative-bruce dickinson, it was a good step in his carrer, although i do prefer accident of birth/chemical wedding