Bruce Dickinson, The Chemical Wedding (Air Raid-1998)
Ahh yes old Brucie is back. And the follow up to 1997s great 'Accident of Birth'. That album was a great come back to the metal world for Bruce as he was toying with the classic rock area for a while. Again produced by Roy Z it is crystal clear and having at the time a former Iron Maiden guitarist in Adrian Smith you know it will be good.
But it was way better than that, so much so this album really did put Bruce back into the eyes of the music press all around the world. When released it didn't have as much press at the previous album but I think that was for a reason, to make the press listen.
The cover is The Ghost of a Flea by William Blake. The Painting was done on a small hardwood panel but musically this album is not small at all. First track 'King in Crimson' reminds me of classic Dio mixed with a more extreme death metal style. Big drums and guitars. The bass kicks in and takes your head off. Then Bruce starts his classic singing style, he needs good lungs for this one as to get over the band he needs them.
Bruce said every track was written like the artwork, a small frame depicting an emotion. The first was about fear (so that's why it is so loud) second track 'Chemical Wedding' is about tragedy and you do feel it with Bruce's voice dipping and almost just talking to you. The music is simple and mixes some loud guitar parts with some nice harmonies that are used to help depict tragedy.
Track three 'The Tower' brings in that guitar player, Adrian Smith is considered the backbone of Maidens sound. More so as when he left the band really went on a downward spiral (He went in 1988) and Maiden albums never sounded the same till his return. Here is the track that proves what has been missing. Theme here is union and what a union of Bruce, Adrian and Roy Z. An idea was made to have bass strings on the guitars, and they did. This song just blasts the speakers out the house, big loud and heavy. Again all very simple with nice little lead guitar parts that flow between the vocals. Telling a story and keeping the great Blake theme going. The song goes into a fantastic solo that shows what we have all missed. the solo is more than a solo, not showing off just the guitar player but the drummer, bass, producers and the studio engineer. It is stunning and up there with the best.
'Killing Floor' starts off and nails the bass guitar sounding riffs so well you could let it go on. And it does. With Bruce shouting "Satan, has left his killing floor" the song feels bluesy and builds up all the time, riffing and interluding to a fantastic end.
'Book of Thel' opens up with some nice clean bass and the album really changes here. The clean bass builds into a nice big full band assault and Bruce again nails it. This song is so spooky and the lyrics just grab you by the throat. Verse two is worth the album alone! It grabs you and will not let you away. This is what metal is and what sabbath wanted scary doom maiden music. The band play so well here knowing when to slow down and/or speed up as if you are in a horror movie. The piano and spoken word narration at the end is so eerie you may just as well check over your shoulder.
'Gates of Urizen' takes back to a classic rock style, no that is unfair as it is more of an operatic feel. It is very melodic and would easily sound great with just an acoustic guitar. but musicians as good as this they make it better.
'Jerusalem' has that classic folk sound to it. I think Bruce and the band have a great sense of humor and all traces of Stonehenge disappear from your thoughts quickly. Building up with mainly vocals and some nice melodic guitar.
'Trumpets of Jericho' and 'Machine Men' offer up the great sounding big hitting guitar from earlier. Still catchy and still kicking you about the room. More nice melodic parts here and great guitar work. You can really feel the guitar sound more in later tracks and it is very addictive.
Final track 'The Alchemist' takes you on a journey of the whole album. Ending as the first started in fear. But uses a more disorientated feel to confuse and scare you. The vocals change from singing to melodic harmonies to shouting just adding to the fear and feel.
Black Sabbath started this in 69 and it is rare an album can scare you or at least make you feel the eeriness. You listen to this and you feel like you are back in the 1800s and watching William Blake working on a poem or piece of art. What is weird is Blake's work for the best part when he was alive was ignored. Or more so was considered crazy and blasphemous. Even after he died some of his work was destroyed due to it being considered politically radical. Much like Blake's work this album has slipped by the mainstream for too long. And with that Iron Maiden fans who have never heard it. They are the last people that should hear this as they have had there chance.
This is more than just a music album, it is a history lesson, a lesson in story telling and above all a lesson in metal.
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