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Rating: Who doesn't know Bruce Dickinson, the charismatic singer of the most well-known and, for better or worse, most talked-about heavy-metal band: the Iron Maiden? Well, after over 10 years of honorable service in the ranks of the Iron Maiden, good old Bruce decides that it's time for a change of scenery and to try new things; perhaps due to the deteriorating relationship with the historical leader Steve Harris, perhaps due to the criticisms that rained down on the group following the release of the two albums after the end of the group's "golden years"... or maybe it was also the excitement and new energy he got from composing the soundtrack for the film "Nightmare on Elm Street 5," which then culminated in the release of a real album (the decent "Tattooed Millionaire").
The fact remains that, in 1993, at the conclusion of the exhausting "Fear of the Dark Tour" with the Maiden, Bruce packs his bags and says goodbye to everyone, initially taking a "period of reflection" and then embarking on this new solo adventure; he recruits as companions the talented guitarist Roy Z and his band, the "Tribe of Gypsies," and in 1994 releases his second solo album, "Balls to Picasso."
An album that, despite the preparation of the band members, is nothing exceptional: Bruce's real masterpieces would come a few years later... it's not bad music or bad songs, but simply the album doesn't have a well-defined personality: to complex and elaborate songs like the opener "Cyclops", which gives hope for the quality of the entire platter, are contrasted by decidedly weak and lackluster tracks like the bland "1000 Points of Light" and "Fire". Moreover, the pieces seem disconnected from one another: some still appear tied to the more purely metal template in the Maiden's vein, while others venture into different and slightly more varied territories: this is the case with the melancholic ballad "Change of Hearts", with its almost jazzy flavor (it's worth noting that Bruce knows how to compose slow pieces well...), or the unusual but captivating "Sacred Cowboys", where the singer engages in a sort of rap in the verses, before reaching a more conventional and very catchy chorus!
The CD is a succession of highs and lows: in addition to the aforementioned ones, notable are the epic "Gods of War" and the rather banal "Hell No", which seems composed almost exclusively to be performed live, due to the middle part where Bruce incites a phantasmagoric crowd to join him in chanting the song's chorus (of course, singing "Fear of the Dark" is another thing entirely, but be as it may...); there's also room for the cheerful "Shoot All the Clowns". The album's peaks are found in "Laughing in the Hiding Bush", where, interestingly, Bruce's son is also among the authors: a piece with sharp riffs, and rightfully so, will be a constant in the numerous tours that will see Bruce traveling all over the world, with the audience warmly participating and shouting the rousing refrain at the top of their lungs; the true gem, however, is in the last position, fortunately closing with a great finale: the majestic ballad "Tears of the Dragon", perfect in every part, from the subdued acoustic guitar intro to its melancholic verses, reaching the splendid chorus, impossible to forget once memorized; also noteworthy is Roy Z's work, at times delicate in accompanying Bruce's voice, at other times more decided in the instrumental section where he also stitches an excellent solo, which then fades into almost folk atmospheres. A piece that's a top score, perhaps not very original, but that alone raises the overall quality of an album that's a bit rough around the edges: perhaps Bruce wanted to take too many risks and maybe he hadn't yet clearly decided on the direction for his new career away from the "Maiden house," as the following "Skunkworks" would later prove, light years away from anything done before by the singer, only to return to more congenial (and profitable) territories with the subsequent masterpieces "Accident of Birth" and "Chemical Wedding"; here, with "Balls to Picasso," we're still halfway: certainly not a masterpiece, but not an album to discard either.
Decent, nothing more...
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Cyclops (07:58)
We all have secret lives, in our secret rooms
Living in our movies, humming our own tunes
Living life in camera, when the night is closing down
Sliding into darkness, you could be like me
Where are you going? What are you doing?
Why are you looking at the cameras eye?
Where are you staying? why are you leaving?
We watch you breathing through the cameras eye
We all make up our faces, the make-up of the clown
Happy leaving traces of our childish background
Pointing at the sky, we can watch the stars
You think you're all alone, but you never are...
Where are you going? What are you doing?
Why are you looking at the cameras eye?
Where are you staying? why are you leaving?
We watch you breathing through the cameras eye
They ain't watching you, they ain't watching you now
They ain't watching you, they ain't watching you now
They ain't watching you, they ain't watching you now
They ain't watching you, they ain't watching you now
Where are you going? What are you doing?
Why are you looking at the cameras eye?
Political sleazes, sexual divas
We watch your heart beating through the cameras eye
Where are you going? What are you doing?
Why are you looking at the cameras eye?
Political sleazes, sexual divas
We watch your heart beating through the cameras eye
05 Laughing in the Hiding Bush (04:20)
There's a sinister game that children play, hey hey hey hey
When they get to the end of each schoolday, hey hey hey hey
They spend their lives getting ready for the kill � ha!
Laughing in the hiding bush, the joker is back
Laughing in the hiding bush, the joker is back
Who remembers the names of fallen heroes, hey hey hey hey
Who remembers today to fly their flags, hey hey hey hey
I couldn't say I loved ya, like I did before � nah!
Laughing in the hiding bush, the joker is back
Laughing in the hiding bush, it's a laughing attack
The joker is back
He's one of the pack
The joker is back
Laughing in the hiding in the kick him in the bush, yeah!
Laughing in the hiding bush, the joker is back
Laughing in the hiding bush, the joker is back
Laughing in the hiding bush, he's one of the pack
Laughing in the hiding bush, the joker is back
07 Shoot All the Clowns (04:24)
Shoot, shoot, shoot all the clowns
Shoot, shoot, shoot all the clowns � shoot, shoot
I've been down at the crazy house
I've been playing with the cat and the mouse
I've been down, I've been down
I've seen the crazy people running around
Shoot all the clowns
Shoot 'em down, shoot 'em down, shoot 'em down
Shoot all the clowns
Shoot 'em down, shoot 'em down, shoot 'em down
Welcome to the circus where I fool around
I've got the killer smile, I'm a killer clown
Cover up your face, you've been found out
You laugh when there's nothing to smile about
Shoot all the clowns
Shoot 'em down, shoot 'em down, shoot 'em down
Shoot all the clowns
Shoot 'em down, shoot 'em down, shoot 'em down
Shoot, shoot, shoot all the clowns
Shoot, shoot, shoot all the clowns � shoot, shoot
Wanna gimme money, well you better get ready
I'm a certified friend of John Paul Getty
I'm a fat stargazer, I'm an all night raver
I'm an anything you wannabe, if I can get your sympathy
Welcome to the circus, I'm the killer clown
Welcome to the circus, hey gather round
Two sides of life, two sides of fun
The one who does it and the one who gets done
Shoot all the clowns
Shoot 'em down, shoot 'em down, shoot 'em down
Shoot all the clowns
Shoot 'em down, shoot 'em down, shoot 'em down
Shoot, shoot, shoot all the clowns
Shoot, shoot, shoot all the clowns
Shoot, shoot, shoot all the clowns
Shoot, shoot, shoot all the clowns
Shoot, shoot, shoot all the clowns
Shoot, shoot, shoot all the clowns...
09 Sacred Cowboys (03:54)
With a sense of irony everyone you see is chasing their illusions
Take a dive or sink or swim, but in the end you're in the same pollution
In your world escape is swift, the nonsense list is all you need to know
In the land of dreams, you make the right connections, then you'll be the hero
Ecstasy, the cult of me provides our institutions
You can live forever with a grave that stands where people used to function
You can join the saviours of our culture, vultures circling overhead my sky
Like the sin of gluttony won't set you free, but Betty Ford can help you try
You can get all the things you never needed
You can sell people crap and make them eat it
But where is our John Wayne
Where's our sacred cowboy now?
Where are the indians on the hill?
There's no indians left to kill
People die with oxygen and all their money can't afford a breath
People starving everywhere and staring in the face of death
Prostitutes and politicians laying in their beds together
You can be the saviour of the poor making up the policies to open up the back door...
You can get all the things you never needed
You can sell people crap and make them eat it
Where is our John Wayne
Where's our sacred cowboy now?
Where are the indians on the hill?
There's no indians left to kill
Where is our John Wayne
Where's our sacred cowboy now?
Where are the indians on the hill?
There's no indians left to kill
You can get all the things you never needed
You can sell people crap and make them eat it...eat it!
Where is our John Wayne
Where's our sacred cowboy now?
Where are the indians on the hill?
There's no indians left to kill
Where is our John Wayne
Where's our sacred cowboy now?
Where are the indians on the hill?
There's no indians left to...kill...
10 Tears of the Dragon (06:20)
For too long now, there were secrets in my mind
For too long now, there were things I should have said
In the darkness, I was stumbling for the door
To find a reason, to find the time, the place, the hour
Waiting for the winter sun and the cold light of day
The misty ghosts of childhood fears
The pressure is building and I can't stay away.
I throw myself into the sea
Release the wave
Let it wash over me
To face the fear I once believed
The tears of the dragon for you and for me
Where I was, I had wings that couldn't fly
Where I was, I had tears I couldn't cry
My emotions, frozen in an iced lake
I couldn't feel them until the ice began to break
I have no power over this, you know I'm afraid
The walls I built are crumbling, the water is moving,
I'm slipping away.
I throw myself into the sea
Release the wave, let it wash over me
To face the fear I once believed
The tears of the dragon for you and for me
Slowly I awake, slowly I rise
The walls I built are crumbling,
The water is moving,
I'm slipping away.
I throw myself into the sea
Release the wave, let it wash over me
To face the fear I once believed
The tears of the dragon for you and for me
I throw myself into the sea
Release the wave, let it wash over me
To face the fear I once believed
The tears of the dragon for you and for me
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