Bruce Dickinson – The Mandrake Project

In the beginning of his solo career, Bruce Dickinson did that, which is generally the main reason for members of successful acts to even go solo. Dickinson released his first solo album in 1990, while he was still a member of Iron Maiden. Tattooed Millionaire saw him focus more on Rock, with less of that trademark Maiden Heavy Metal.

A couple of years later he left Iron Maiden and in the course of four years released four rather diverse solo records. Balls To Picasso and Skunkworks, which were released in 1994 and 1995 respectfully saw Dickinson experiment focusing on more of an alternative rock and even grunge. And while those two albums are perhaps his strongest and most certainly his most interesting, Dickinson quickly realized that he was not gaining a new audience and his existing fans had a hard time embracing the change.

It’s also therefore that on his fourth solo record Accident of Birth he focused noticeably more on his Metal roots and even working with former Maiden guitarist Adrian Smith. He even went as far as getting Derek Riggs, the creator of Iron Maiden’s iconic mascot Eddie, to create rather dreadful artwork for the album. The result was an album with lots of very strong moments, especially when it comes to songwriting, but generally it felt rushed and uneven.

The follow-up, The Chemical Wedding from 1998, was anything but uneven. It was Dickinson at the top of his (Heavy Metal) game, delivering an album that his fans wanted now that he wasn’t in Iron Maiden. Everything about this album was spot on and while the experimenting was gone, Dickinson’s fifth album made just about everybody happy. Still, even on this tour he played small venues, often far from being sold out, as well. On the first tour after leaving Iron Maiden, Dickinson didn’t play Iron Maiden songs live – fast-forward a couple of years, and he was forced to include at least some of those songs. For instance, when he played Copenhagen on that 1998 tour he included “Powerslave”, “2 Minutes to Midnight” and “Flight of Icarus” in the setlist. And even with such strong album as The Chemical Wedding in the baggage, it was those Maiden songs that resulted in most enthusiasm in the crowd. At that point it seemed clear then that he’d be returning to Iron Maiden, especially knowing that things were not going that well with them and their new singer, the underrated, Blaze Bayley.

By 2000 Dickinson and Smith were back in Iron Maiden and the rest, as they say, is history. Since the return, he has released one more solo album, the 2005’s Tyranny of Souls, which in many ways felt like its predecessor’s baby brother.

Almost two decades have passed since, and the legendary singer is back with his sixth solo album. Entitled The Mandrake Project, the album sees Dickinson collaborating once again with Roy Z, who besides providing guitars and bass also handled duties as producer, engineer, and mixer. Drums were recorded by Dave Moreno, who also performed on Tyranny of Souls. His performance on that album and nonetheless his imposing track record speak for themselves, nevertheless one can’t help but think of just how good of a fit for Dickinson and Z was drummer David Ingraham.

So, with all that background story out of the way, it’s time to dig into The Mandrake Project. Even thou almost two decades have passed since the release of Dickinson’s previous album, sonically and stylistically the new album goes by similar principles like his previous two albums. This means this is a clean sounding, well-balanced Heavy Metal record, very much within Roy Z’s production comfort zone. Taking into the consideration the positive response those albums received when they came out, this choice makes sense. But also taking into the consideration the album concept, it would hardly work to go experimental like on Balls to Picasso or Skunkworks.

Dickinson’s passion for old English literature and poetry marks his solo work once again, so there is a dark theatrical quality to the material as well as a noticeable progressive approach. The flow of the album is fine despite shifting between classic Heavy Metal, Hard Rock and Progressive, mostly because of the overall production and the fact that those different inspirations are for the most part presented in chunks of few consecutive songs.

Throughout the album, Dickinson sticks to this formula, and it works, but overall, the album is a somewhat uneven ride. This is mostly noticeable when it comes to the quality of the material. The Mandrake Project shifts between very well bolted songs that suck the listener completely in and those which are just as well bolted but lack intensity and the overall quality.

Not that actually any of the songs are weak, but it does affect the overall experience of the album. When things align, however, then it becomes a textbook example of how to deliver dramatic Heavy Metal. The first single was a good example of that, as well as a good representation of the album. Even stronger examples of overall eminent delivery come in the form of bombastic “Many Doors to Hell” and simply flawless closing duo of “Shadow of the Gods” and “Sonata (Immortal Beloved)”. These two songs are such good examples of Dickinson, when he’s best, and all that despite him borrowing from title-tack off of The Chemical Wedding on those very songs. The core of songwriting on them is very strong, as is the flow and emotional level. There is even room for a few somewhat unexpected turns, especially in that epic closer, whose ending seamlessly wraps the song, and indeed the album, up in s gorgeous matter

Two decades might have passed since Bruce Dickinson’s previous solo effort, but on the follow-up, he picks up where he left off back then. He doesn’t explore bold new horizons, but he is playful and delivers that which he’s good at and, perhaps most importantly, that which fans expect of him. One could argue that the reason for releasing a solo record should be exploring something radically different from your day-job-band, especially at this point where he has been back in Iron Maiden for a long time and doesn’t necessarily need to please Maiden fans. Dickinson has created some of the most memorable solo material when he was out of his comfort zone, but the fact is that with The Chemical Wedding he has also created just about a flawless metal album. Nothing wrong with that either, especially when you are a master of your domain. The approach is rather similar to The Mandrake Project, but the result despite being rather strong doesn’t match the greatness of The Chemical Wedding.

www.themandrakeproject.com