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Class 6(66)
Bruce Dickinson: The chemical wedding
13/03/09 || Global Domination
Released: 1998
Introduction
“The Chemical Wedding” is that overwhelmingly classic record I reckon Iron Maiden failed to deliver in the barren decade of the 1990’s. It is inevitable to compare the respective fortunes of Maiden and Bruce Dickinson during those years. Hindsight being a bitch and all, we can safely declare the Bruce winner on almost all counts. Both “No Prayer for the Dying” and “Fear of the Dark” were flawed in various ways, and the less we talk about the Blaze albums, the better. In contrast, Bruce’s solo albums away from the Irons are solid work. Of course, considering what they were intended to be. “Tattooed Millionaire” and “Balls to Picasso” are closer to being bluesy hard rock with metal overtones, and pretty decent at that. Now, “Skunkworks”, “Accident of Birth” and “The Chemical Wedding” in particular, mark the return of Bruce to the traditional heavy metal frame, and with time have turned out to be absolute must listens. The 90’s weren’t exactly golden years for the genre, but I’d go as far as saying that Bruce Dickinson and Rob Halford did their best to keep it alive.
Songwriting
9. Exciting, dynamic and heartfelt above all. Bruce is almost as great a songwriter and epic storyteller as he is a vocalist. The songs of “The Chemical Wedding” are mostly pure, guitar driven heavy metal with some folksy influences sprinkled over, and the spectral presence of William Blake and his esoteric poems providing a helping hand in the inspiration department. Lots of mystically enticing melodies abound, catchy and energetic. There’s not a single subpar song here, all are excellent, and some utterly brilliant like the title track, “The Tower”, “Killing Floor”, “Book of Thel” and “Trumpets of Jericho” and beautiful closer The Alchemist”.
Production
8. The production job from Roy Z is pretty damn good. Every instrument is allowed a good deal of power and a clean overall sound. The guitar sound deserves special mention, having a very palpable sharpness and bite.
Guitars
9. Smith/Murray is one of the, if not the greatest guitar pair of heavy metal history, allowing room for all sorts of opinions. Smith/Roy Z is not quite as legendary, but fucken awesome too. The veteran maestro Smith is complemented quite elegantly by the proficient young gun Roy Z, and both perform with admirable energy and panache. Brilliant riffs and flashing solos are spread all over the songs, with some being highly memorable, like the spectacular solo trade-off they indulge in the mid-sections of “The Tower” and “Gates of Urizen”, the fine acoustic work in “Jerusalem”, and the aggressive, epic riffs of “The Tower”, “Killing Floor” and “Trumpets of Jericho”. It wasn’t a big surprise that Maiden invited back Adrian and Bruce after their collaboration proved to be such a success in “Accident of Birth” and here.
Vocals
10. Why do we bow the mighty Bruce Dickinson, in my humble opinion the greatest vocalist of all time in the history of metal? Simply put, there are very few metal singers out there that can express themselves with such clarity and power. At this point in his career, Bruce had calmed down a bit his outrageous high tones, and added more melodic nuances to his voice, resulting in what is possibly his most complete performance ever. Everything the lyrics want to portray, Bruce reinforces with extraordinary accuracy and passion: ominous in “King in Crimson”, mysterious in “The Chemical Wedding”, ironic and dangerous in “The Tower” and “Killing Floor”, and so it goes. Sincerely, Bruce here is almost just as good as he was on “Seventh Son of a Seventh Son”, and equally deserving of top marks.
Bass
8. Very competent, sometimes even flashy and upfront bass playing by this Eddie Casillas guy. He lays down some nice heavy grooves and pretty much covers all the bases here.
Drums
7. Solid, steady work. Dave Ingraham, a member of hard rock outfit Tribe of Gypsies just like Casillas and mastermind Roy Z, does a very credible job of bashing the skins. Doesn’t reach the heights of Nicko McBrain at his best, but does more than enough to keep the tempo and groove of the songs perfect.
Lyrics
10. Bruce really excelled when he put pen to paper for these lyrics. This is epic, mystic and poetic. William Blake’s works were cited as inspiration, and as a matter of fact “Book of Thel” is the title of one of his poems. There are excerpts that deserve to be remembered here, like…
Floating in the endless blue
My seed of doubt I leave to you
Let it wither on the ground
Treat it like a plague you found
All my dreams that were outside
In living color, now alive
And all the lighthouses
Their beams converge to guide me home
…from the title track. Stuff like this makes me wonder what would happen if Bruce were given more license to flex his writing muscles in the Maiden setup.
Cover art
8. Another nod in the direction of Blake, the cover is one of his paintings with altered colors, elegant and sinister. Classy choice indeed!
Logo
7. Simple font, done in white, nothing fancy.
Booklet
8. The usual info, band pictures and lyrics, all presented in a very nice, esoteric package.
Overall and ending rant
9. “The Chemical Wedding” could be rightly considered the second best heavy metal record of the 1990s. I at least would be hard pressed to name too many other worthy candidates to the accolade, since the first is belongs so indisputably to Judas Priest’s “Painkiller”. Bruce pretty much outdid himself here, and it remains to be seen, after all these years that he’s been back with Maiden, if he’ll ever have the time to put this much craft into another release again. 2005’s “Tyranny of Souls” was decent work, but it falls short of the standards set here. All things said and done though,, “The Chemical Wedding” is a great album that deserves all the praise it has received through the years, and definitely belonging into any metal hall of fame, make sure you check it out!