Balls to Picasso [Import]

Balls to Picasso [Import]

Track Listings

1. Cyclops

2. Hell No

3. Gods Of War

4. 1000 Points Of Light

5. Laughing In The Hiding Bush

6. Change Of Heart

7. Shoot All The Clowns

8. Fire

9. Sacred Cowboys

10. Tears Of The Dragon

Editorial Reviews
Product Description
Reissue of the former Iron Maiden vocalist's second solo outing, originally released in 1994 & out of print for years. Contains all 10 of the cuts that first appeared on it, including 'Tears Of The Dragon' & 'Shoot All The Clowns'.

Tracks:

Cyclops
Hell No
Gods of War
1000 Points of Light
Laughing in the Hiding Bush
Change of Heart
Shoot All the Clowns
Fire
Sacred Cowboys
Tears of the Dragon

Tracks:

Fire Child [*]
Elvis Has Left the Building [*]
Breeding House [*]
No Way Out...to Be Continued [*]
Tears of the Dragon [Acoustic Chillout][*][Version]
Winds of Change [*]
Spirit of Joy [*]
Over and Out [*]
Shoot All the Clowns [12" Extended Remix][*]
Laughing in the Hiding Bush [Live][*]
Post Alternative Seattle Fall Out [Live][*]
Shoot All the Clowns [7" Remix][*]
Tibet [*]
Tears of the Dragon [First Bit, Long Bit, Last Bit][*][Version]
Cadillac Gas Mask [*]
No Way Out...Continued [*]

Customer Reviews:

Bonus Disc is Classic.......2007-01-25

Having heard just a few songs from Bruce's solo career before, nothing really grabbed me until I picked up Tyranny of Souls months ago. I loved it. When his live DVD with several concerts on it came out, I bought it and was surprised how much I liked his earlier stuff live. I bought this album and was a little dissapointed with the main album as I was the first time I heard some of the songs, they did not just grab me. However, I put in the 2nd cd and was blown away. This should have been the A material. The accoustical version of "Tears of the Dragon" is masterful. Even "Elvis has Left the Building" where he uses nothing but a megaphone has phenomenal music. If nothing else, buy this album for the bonus disc. 13 of the 16 tracks on the bonus disc, I listen to on a regular basis now. It is completely worth getting the whole package.

Buy It !!!!!! One of my favorite CDs ever!!!.......2007-01-17

Although I am 45 years old and saw Iron Maiden on their first US tour, I never became a fan and never owned any Maiden stuff until relatively recently. After all these years I finally have become a big Maiden fan. After buying several Iron Maiden CDs, including their two most recent, I decided to buy some solo Bruce Dickinson.

The first solo album I bought was Tyranny Of Souls. I like it and listen to it from time to time, but I would not say that it is one of my favorite albums. I did like it enough to buy a second Bruce Dickinson album. Balls To Picasso would be next. This is one of my all time favorite albums ever, at least for now. The bonus CD of B-Sides, demo and alternative versions is just as good as the original CD, if not better. If I had bought Balls To Picasso back in the days of vinyl, I would have worn out both CDs in a hurry.

In short, in my opinion Balls To Picasso is the best Bruce Dickinson music I have bought to date and remains one of my favorite and most listened to CDs.

My first BD album and one of my newest CDs.......2006-04-27

Back in '94-ish, I heard about BD's solo career and this particular album, "Balls to Picasso". At that time, I was still buying cassettes, hell, I bought cassettes up until about 2000. Anyway, with the recent remastering and re-issuings of all the of the Iron Maiden albums, I decided to rebuy up that entire catalog of their studio albums on CD. By doing so, I got to thinking about BD's solo albums. Like I said, back in the day, I bought three of them on cassette, the other two being "Accident of Birth" and "Chemical Wedding". Somehow I missed "Skunkworks" and never could find "Tatooed Millionare".

Now that I'm fully transfered over to CDs, I have rebought some of my all-time favorite band's catalogs. Iron Maiden being one, Metallica, Megadeth, and another new one Iced Earth being another. Well, recently, I got into the mood of listening to my Maiden collection, started to really get into the sound again and decided I'd buy BD's solo stuff again. As of this writing, I have'em all with "Tattoed Millionare" still on backorder. (Still can't seem to get that one! LOL!)

Anyway, these new remastered and extended deluxe versions (released at the same time of his new album "Tyranny of Souls" in 2005) of BD's albums are freakin' brilliant. Only listened to all of Skunkworks, Accident so far, and I'm in the process of listening to Balls, but there's one thing I have definately noticed...the demo or alternative versions of the songs that are on the bonus discs are usually better than the cuts that made the original album.

One such cut is the "Tears of the Dragon (First Bit, Long Bit, Last Bit)". If I'm not mistaken, reading from the new liner notes, this was the original version that was supposed to be on the album before Bruce settled with "Tribe of Gypsies" as his backing band on this album. In it, he uses some orchestra background sounds and this more complex arrangement was shot down as such by incoming guitarist Roy Z in favor of the one that appears on the regular album. It's kind of a shame, IMO, because this original version is a superior version and it would have truely been the epic that it was hyped as. Running in at just over 8 minutes, it's really something special to listen to.

With regards to the rest of the album, the original album sounds great. The remastering job is superb as it is on all of these expanded edition CDs. And of course the bonus discs are equally spectacular. Both in content and sound quality.

If you have the older versions, you might want to consider picking up these new ones for the improved sound and additional tracks. They're a bit expensive here at Amazon, but they're well worth it if you price shop a bit. As far a packaging goes, that aspect is nice too and each expanded version comes in a slipcase which adds to the collectibility as well.

tears of the dragon...for you and me!.......2005-10-14

wow!ive been missing some damn fine music!just picked up the re-masters for "balls" and "accident",used and in primo shape for 9.99 a piece!never heard any of bruce's solo stuff,this is amazing work!cant wait to play "accident".what a great vocalist!

My Opinion.......2005-09-14

Some points about this album-
1. It does not sound like Iron Maiden
2. This is a great album - sweet/scorching guitar, intense vocals, and interesting percussion
3. 2 disks (130 minutes!!!)
4. I wish that I had purchased this album years ago, for nothing since then (of this genre) sounds this good

Enjoy!

Average customer rating:

Great Release by one of the Greatest Singers in Rock History
Great album
Bruce finds his voice as a solo artist
Great Album
Weird title but very nice album

Balls to Picasso
Bruce Dickinson
Manufacturer: Proper Us
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Rock | Styles | Music

General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

Pop Metal | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

Hard Rock | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Skunkworks
Skunkworks - autographed
Accident of Birth
Tattooed Millionaire
Death on the Road - 2003 Tour (3pc)

ASIN: B00005QK37
Release Date: 2001-11-06

Tracks:

CYCLOPS
HELL NO
GODS OF WAR
1000 POINTS OF LIGHT
LAUGHING IN THE HIDING BUSH
CHANGE OF HEART
SHOOT ALL THE CLOWNS
FIRE
SACRED COWBOYS
TEARS OF THE DRAGON

Customer Reviews:

Great Release by one of the Greatest Singers in Rock History.......2005-12-18

This album is maybe the best release by Bruce after he left Maiden. THIS IS NOT HEAVY METAL. It's hard rock but still, it kicks ass. Bruce is a different singer from the Maiden years. Lucky for us he carried the change over Maiden a second time with Brave New World and Dance of Death. So we have a new Bruce Dickinson with the same classic line up awesome. The album is completly flawless. Great guitar riffs and vocals make this a must for any hard rock/heavy metal fans. Before I start rambling I'm going to go through the songs.

Cyclops- Nice way to start of the album. The intro is killer with the wierd effects on the guitar. THen goes to a pick slide and a great guitar riff. The chorus is great, it almost sounds like classic Maiden(almost). Overall it's a great song 10/10

Hell No- This song is my second favorite song on the album. A cool guitar intro goes into some killer vocals. I also love the pre chorus with the pinch harmonics. The chorus is insane. Great guitar but the vocals are what make this song kick ass even more. 10/10

Gods of War- Yet again another Dickinson Masterpeice. Starts out with a cool drums intro. Then an awesome guitar riff with Bruce singing "OHHHHHHHH". Then the tempo slows down and Bruce sings quietly. The chorus has the same riff and tune as the intro but Bruce actually says words. 10/10

1000 Points of Light- Another killer song. THe guitar riffs are insane. The verse contains an awesome guitar riff. Bruce's vocals are not the same as any other song on this album. But they changed for the better. The chorus is great because in the background you can hear a faint acoustic guitar playing. Amazing. 10/10

Laughing in the Hiding Bush- One of the heavier songs on the album. The verse is really cool and then burst into an awesome guitar riff leading into the chorus where Bruce sings in his sometimes raspy voice(like on No Prayer for the Dying and Fear of the Dark). Great song. 10/10

Change of Heart- A semi ballad. It has some beutiful guitar riffs in the intro. Then goes to a nice slow verse. The chorus is also pretty slow but it is still great. The guitar solo is really pretty. A great song. 10/10

Shoot All the Clowns- Killer song. Really heavy and fast. Maybe the most unique songs on the album. Bruce sounds exactly like he did in the song Tailgunner. Really raspy vocals but it is still the most up beat on the album. I really like this song but the intro sucks 10/10 anyway.

Fire- Pretty cool guitar riff to start of the song and a killer bassline thats to damn quiet. I like Bruce's vocals during the chorus. The guitar is amazing in this song. Great track. 10/10

Sacred Cowboys- Great riff sounds like a thrash metal song then Bruce screams sounding like Brian Johnson from AC/DC. The verse is so cool. Bruce talks in monotone. God knows what the hell he was saying. Then it goes into a killer prechorus. The chorus sounds like one from Dance of Death. It's extremely catchy. Great song. 10/10

Tears of the Dragon- My favorite song on the album and a killer way to finish up the album. Great acoustic riff that stays the same for about two minutes. This song is just great. The chorus has incredible vocals. At about three minutes it goes to a killer guitar solo. THis song is as epicc as Hallowed be Thy Name or Rime of the Acient Mariner. Great six minute gem. 10/10

This album is Bruce's best of his career. Not a single bad song on the album. It's a very relaxing album. There ar not too many fast heavy songs but change is good. This album is completely different from Iron Maiden. Do not buy unless you have heard any of his solo stuff before. I would recommend Powerslave by Iron Maiden, Hall of the Mountain King by Savatage, Steelheart by Steelheart(that guy has some pipes), or The Divine Wings Of Tragedy by Symphony X. Rock on and UP THE IRONS

Great album.......2004-06-19

Not Bruce's best, but still a great and solid album

My favorite tracks are: Cyclops, Gods of War, Change of heart, Tears of the dragon :)

Bruce finds his voice as a solo artist.......2004-06-04

Balls To Picasso (1994.) Bruce Dickinson's second solo album.

Bruce Dickinson released his first solo album while he was still in Iron Maiden. He must have enjoyed making it, because just a few short years after recording it, he dropped out of the metal legends to focus solely on his solo stuff! His first solo album was excellent, even if the sound was drastically different from Maiden. For his second solo effort, he recruited an entirely new solo band - and changed his sound drastically once more. Read on for my review of 1994's Balls To Picasso.

This album sounds nothing like Iron Maiden. This album sounds nothing like Tattooed Millionaire, Bruce's first solo album. And yet, this is a damn fine album! With this album, Bruce bid farewelll to the sound of Maiden and the melodic hard rock stylings of his first solo album, and set out to create something entirely new. What Bruce went for on this album is the sound that so many American rock bands were going for in the nineties - a sort of grunge/metal fusion sound. Bruce had never attempted this style of material before, yet on this album he manages to pull it off VERY well. One of the true highlights of the album is that it introduces the world to Roy Z., Bruce's solo guitarist. This guy has his own way of doing things, and he does a damn good job. There are a number of excellent songs to be found on this album. The lengthy opener, Cyclops, will grab the listener's attention and keep a hold of it all the way through. Laughing In The Hiding Bush would go onto become one of Bruce's biggest solo hits, and rightfully so - it's damn fine! Shoot All The Clowns and Tears Of The Dragon also tend to get praise from Bruce's fans on a regular basis, and it's only natural that they do - these songs rule! Like any Bruce Dickinson solo album (or any album by any artist, for that matter), there are a number of underrated masterpieces present as well. It saddens me that so many fans tend to overlook Hell No and 1000 Points Of Light - These are some of the best songs Bruce ever recorded. From start to finish, Balls doesn't contain a single weak track.

Currently (as of June 3, 2004), this album is out of print in America, meaning if you want it, you're either going to have to do some major hunting for the domestic version or shell out extra cash and get an import version. If you're going to get an import version, though, keep your eyes peeled for the version that contains bonus tracks not found on the American release.

Balls To Picasso is the album that marked Bruce Dickinson's "coming of age" as a solo artist. Tattooed Millionaire was a good album, but no one can deny that it lacked the signature sound that would make Bruce's solo years so entertaining. Do you like Bruce Dickinson? Do you like nineties-style grunge/metal-style songs? If you answered yes to either of these questions, Balls To Picasso belongs in your music collection. Just remember though, this is NOT Iron Maiden.

Great Album.......2004-05-23

A lot of mainstream reviews slag this album as a one track album and I even initially asked if one track saves an entire album (and when that track is Tears of the Dragon, it can save ANY album). However, after some time, I've let it sink in and man has my opinion changed. This is truly a great album. First, a myth. Contrary to Dickinson lore, this album was not recorded twice, or even three times. Bruce had an album he recorded beforehand with Keith Olson, which was Bruce's attempt to go Dream Theater, but after meeting Roy Z he opted to write more tracks. Those tracks did not fit the Olson produced album (they can be found in the various Balls to Picasso singles released in 1994), so Bruce junked nearly the entire album and recorded a new one with Roy Z and the Tribe of Gypsies with Shay Baby as the producer. The only song that was saved from the Olson sessions was in fact, Tears of the Dragon.

What many fans have issues with is this was Bruce's first real album away from Maiden, and following what he did on Tattooed Millionaire, he chose not to utilize the gallop-march beat, gothic, historical, or religious themes and overtones that characterize Iron Maiden. Bruce has an amalgamation of various hard rock and metal styles.

Cyclops: The openor is about being a celebrity, cyclops being a metaphor for a camera's eye. A good, critical, biting criticism toward the media. Alternatively, it could be about the idea of Big Brother is watching you...

Hell No: Okay, to steal a line from allmusic.com, this song is a freaking mess. This could be Bruce being defiant or something, frankly the lyrics are too cryptic and if it is about standing up to authority, he did it better on Broken (on his Best of album). But every great albums has the song the personal reviewer doesn't like.

Gods of War: Bruce's way of saying what Steve Harris did in Afraid to Shoot Strangers, war is started by politicians and finished by those who really don't want to be apart of it. Great song.

1000 Points of LIght: A song that stands the test of time. Critical of every major revolutionary group because in the end, they all stray from their ideals, hence the lies. "And the Freedoms you profess to hold, would bring the dead back from the cold."

Laughing in the Hiding Bush: Bruce's son Alex gets writing credit as he came up with the title. It's about the weird, unusual, and sometimes messed up things kids think of and how in the end those weird, unusual, and messed up things are ideas derived from things we as parents teach them.

Change of Heart: A ballad that could be about two lovers or even as low as two friends (Steve Harris?) who cannot see eye-to-eye anymore, nor reach any agreement or compromise because the other won't budge. This is about as far from Iron Maiden as Bruce could go and he did an excellent job.

Shoot All the Clowns: I hear this song and I think Guns 'N Roses, Welcome to the Jungle, and Axl Rose. That's the vibe and feel Bruce has got going and honestly the little rap section people think he does sounds more like Bruce doing an Axl Rose impersonation. Not that it's a bad thing, it's humorous. Pretty vague song but the clowns could be politicians, hypocrites, religious freaks, and ... mothers-in-law?

Fire: No clue, no comment. Have heard it, just one of those tracks that that you go "what?"

Sacred Cowboy: Bruce at his satirical, biting, and irreverent best against popular culture. He should know, he's been on the outside looking in since day one. He criticizes society's need to worship created cultural icons who are really no heroes. "Where is out John Wayne, our sacred cowboy now?"

Tears of the Dragon: The first song of his solo career where Bruce stood up and said "I DON'T NEED IRON MAIDEN OR STEVE HARRIS TO WRITE GREAT LYRICS, I CAN DO IT MYSELF!" Grant it, he wrote Revelations and Powerslave while in Iron Maiden by himself, here it takes on a new meaning. He did it on his own without the Iron Maiden boys, and showed he could write a song that rivals Steve Harris's best. A song about change and as Bruce said "It's about being scare of change... the unknown." A song where you realize you have to dive right in to the change, even when it'll be painful, rough, and scary and ride it out. "I throw myself into the sea, release the wave, let it was over me, to face the fear I onced believed, the Tears of the Dragon for you and for me." My number two favorite song of all-time (my top five being Simon and Garfunkel's Bridge Over Troubled Water, Bruce Dickinson's Tears of the Dragon, Iron Maiden's Paschendale, Black Sabbath's Heaven and Hell, Metallica's The Unforgiven). If you don't like this song, I don't know how you can like music.

A great album, listen for yourself. You may love it or hate it, but don't listen to mainstream reviews who expect one and only one thing from artists, too sound the same. Even when Bruce went back to straight metal, he didn't sound like Iron Maiden. This album has your timeless tracks with Tears of the Dragon and Change of Heart; your tracks that become more significant over time with 1000 Points of Light, Sacred Cowboy, Cyclops, and Gods of War; your fun tracks with Shoot All the Clowns and Laughing in the Hiding Bush; and your I'm not sure what he was going for and doing tracks with Hell No and Fire. It's worth repeating, it has Tears of the Dragon, a reason enough to buy this album.

Weird title but very nice album.......2004-02-20

As a long time Maiden fan and a big fan of Bruce Dickinson's "Accident of Birth" and "Chemical Wedding" albums (both of which are superior to a lot of Maiden's post 1990 output), I was slow to purchase "Balls to Picasso" because I hadn't heard much about it that was all that positive and because the cover looks rather low-rent and the title is kind of off-putting. Shallow reasons, I'll admit but there you go.

When I did finally pick this up I was VERY pleasantly surprised from the first track all the way through. This isn't really metal, per se. It's hard rock in spots, alternative rock in spots, and even a little bit experimental. It's hard to categorize well, but I think even a lot of non-metal fans would appreciate it due to the great songwriting and genre stretching feel of it. Maiden die-hards who expect only true metal from Dickinson might be disappointed. But anybody with an open mind should get a big kick from these great tunes.

Roy Z does a great job on the the guitars. The Adrian Smith type lead lines aren't here, but Roy Z is no slouch at all, displaying a bit of blazing speed in short bursts and playing very tastefully. Also the album employs varied rhythms to it with even some latin type feels here and there in addition to hard rocking drumming.

Bottom line is I still don't like the title but the music speaks for itself. Even if Bruce had not returned to Maiden, I could be happy if he continued to produce great albums like this one, "A.o.B." and "C.W."

Balls to Picasso
Average customer rating:
Balls to Picasso
Bruce Dickinson
Manufacturer: Jvc Victor
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music
Pop Metal | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music
Hard Rock | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music
Hard Rock & Metal | Imports | Stores | Music
ASIN: B00004U8UI
Release Date: 1997-04-23

Tracks:

Cyclops
Hell No
Gods Of War
1000 Points Of Light
Laughing In The Hiding Bush
Change Of Heart
Shoot All The Clowns
Fire
Sacred Cowboys
Tears Of The Dragon

Album Description

1997 Japanese reissue of the second solo album (1994) by Iron Maiden's former vocalist with three hidden bonus tracks: 'Tibet', 'Cadillac Gas Mask' and 'Winds Of Change'. 13 tracks total. A Victor release.

Average customer rating:

Balls to Picasso
Bruce Dickinson
Manufacturer: Silverline
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Rock | Styles | Music

General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

Pop Metal | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

Hard Rock | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00069FK78
Release Date: 2004-11-23

Tracks:

Cyclops
Hell No
Gods of War
1000 Points of Light
Laughing in the Hiding Bush
Change of Heart
Shoot All the Clowns
Fire
Sacred Cowboys
Tears of the Dragon

Album Description

A DualDisc is a two-sided disc made up of a CD on one side and a DVD on the other, DualDisc's breakthrough technology allows one disc to have it all. A full album on the CD side. All sorts of special material on the DVD side, including the full album in a 5.1 Surround Sound, exclusive video content and lyrics. DualDisc work wherever you play CD's and DVD's, including car stereos, PC's DVD Players, game consoles and CD players.

Average customer rating:

Balls to Picasso
Bruce Dickinson
Manufacturer: Sanctuary
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

Pop Metal | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

Hard Rock | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

Hard Rock & Metal | Imports | Stores | Music
ASIN: B00091SMIM
Release Date: 2005-06-14

Tracks:

Cyclops
Hell No
Gods of War
1000 Points of Light
Laughing in the Hiding Bush
Change of Heart
Shoot All the Clowns
Fire
Sacred Cowboys
Tears of the Dragon

Tracks:

Fire Child [*]
Elvis Has Left the Building [*]
Breeding House [*]
No Way Out...to Be Continued [*]
Tears of the Dragon [Acoustic Chillout][*][Version]
Winds of Change [*]
Spirit of Joy [*]
Over and Out [*]
Shoot All the Clowns [12" Extended Remix][*]
Laughing in the Hiding Bush [Live][*]
Post Alternative Seattle Fall Out [Live][*]
Shoot All the Clowns [7" Remix][*]
Tibet [*]
Tears of the Dragon [First Bit, Long Bit, Last Bit][*][Version]
Cadillac Gas Mask [*]
No Way Out...Continued [*]

Average customer rating:

Bruce Dickinson shines in this sophomore effort!

Balls to Picasso
Bruce Dickinson
Manufacturer: Polygram Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Rock | Styles | Music

General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

Pop Metal | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

Hard Rock | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Skunkworks
The Chemical Wedding
Accident of Birth
Tattooed Millionaire
Tattooed Millionaire

ASIN: B000001E5F
Release Date: 1994-07-26

Tracks:

Cyclops
Hell No
Gods of War
1000 Points of Light
Laughing in the Hiding Bush
Change of Heart
Shoot All the Clowns
Fire
Sacred Cowboys
Tears of the Dragon

Customer Reviews:

Bruce Dickinson shines in this sophomore effort!.......2007-03-13

If you are looking for an Iron Maiden-esque cd, this is not the one for you. However, this brain-child from Bruce Dickinson is amazing in its own way. It's a fusion of punk rock, hard rock and metal in a very unique and satisfying way. The track Gods of War soars with the epic vocals that made Bruce so famous, while tracks like Laughing in the Hiding Bush and Shoot All the Clowns are infused with the punk attitude that helped create Heavy Metal. Even the slower songs like Change of Heart and Sacred Cowboys have catchy hooks that will keep you humming. The best of this cd is saved for last though with the epic Tears of the Dragon. My favorite song, leaning again towards Bruce's metal background and powered throughout by his mesmerizing vocals. I was completely surprised by this cd, not that I didn't expect Bruce to put forth an amazing product, but by its originality, scope and brilliance.

Average customer rating:

Try it...
If you did not buy it, you should !
Why not released in the US?
A excellent CD that rivals Accident of Birth.

Balls to Picasso
Bruce Dickinson
Manufacturer: Airra
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

Pop Metal | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

Hard Rock | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

Hard Rock & Metal | Imports | Stores | Music
ASIN: B00000J9R8
Release Date: 1999-05-17

Tracks:

Cyclops
Hell No
Gods of War
1000 Points of Light
Laughing in the Hiding Bush
Change of Heart
Shoot All the Clowns
Fire
Sacred Cowboys
Tears of the Dragon

Album Description

Reissue of the former Iron Maiden vocalist's second solo outing, originally released in 1994 & out of print for years. Contains all 10 of the cuts that first appeared on it, including 'Tears Of The Dragon' & 'Shoot All The Clowns'.

Album Details

Reissue of the Ex-iron Maiden Vocalist's 1994 Second Solo Release.

Customer Reviews:

Try it..........2000-01-08

The incredible vocalist of Iron Maiden (1982-1994/1999-? ), proved himself as one of the best man in heavy metal music through out his solo career and also showing that he is a very talented song writer. The man of Air Raid Siren dissappointed everyone expected dull solo albums after his temprory retirement from Maiden by producing three very good solo albums, Balls to Picasso (1994), Accident of Birth (1997) and The Chemical Wedding (1998) as well as a live album Scream for me Brasil (1999). There are other works of this busy man like Alive in Studio A ( not very satisfactory for Bruce as he admited ), Skunkworks but the former three plus one albums are something that the 1990s heavy metal should be all about.

Starting with Balls to Picasso, Bruce and the Tribe of Gypsies ( Roy Z contribution to all albums is vital. The guitarist is just perfect and besides he help Bruce through the production, song writing stages of the later albums too. Bruce is so pleased with his performence that after 2000 Maiden album he will probably work with Roy Z on his solo projects.) did a very good job. The solo in Cyclops by Roy Z is very attractive. Also Bruce seemed to decide the way he will choose during his solo career by performing nearly every type of songs. Acoustic Change of Heart is like Whitesnake song, different vocals of Sacred Cowboys and fast reading from Bruce in Fire is what he never did with Iron Maiden. Gods of War resembles Def Leppard but to save the best for last Tears of the Dragon is a song that is just perfect. Lyrically and musically this song is a reason for buying the album. Like a Fear of the Dark from Steve Harris he choosed the song to close the album with perfection. By the way I dont know why but Side 2 opening track Laughing in Hiding Bush is a song I like very much. He also put these two songs in the live album in 1999.

If you did not buy it, you should !.......1999-10-01

This second opus of Mr Bruce is nothing but excellent. The lyrics and the music are powerful and the voice performance a pure "chef d'oeuvre". Mr Dickinson knows how to sing and share it with us for our great pleasure.

Why not released in the US?.......1998-07-30

This is my favorite Bruce Dickinson CD. It is rough, fast, and moving. There are really heavy pieces that just make my feet tap like crazy, and some pieces that are longer and more intricate. All in all a great CD. The only confounding thing is the fact that it seems to not have been released in the US (I bought mine in Canada)...If you can afford to get "Balls", do it, it is very good.

A excellent CD that rivals Accident of Birth........1998-07-08

Balls to Picasso is fast, heavy, and mellow all at the same time. I will admit it did take time (a day or two) to really start to enjoy, but after listening to it closely it is almost as good as his recent album Accident of Birth (which is my favorite album of all time.) So if you like Accident of Birth, this is a must have!!!