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Rating: We are in 1998, and by now Bruce Dickinson is negotiating his return to Iron Maiden, a band from which he had separated to embark on a solo career that ultimately did not receive all the recognition (especially from the public) that was hoped for.
Bruce recorded, a year earlier, "Accident Of Birth," a solid classic heavy metal album, somewhat Maiden-like, which raised his stock after the disappointing "Balls To Picasso" and "Skunworks." Yet Bruce finds the will and the strength, just as his return to the Iron Maiden is about to materialize, to write and record a new album, which will turn out to be his favorite, as he often admitted. The line-up is the tried and winning one with which Bruce recorded the previous "Accident Of Birth," and this is the first very wise choice; the second is to lean towards a very hard sound, even more so than the last one's.
The album is a kind of concept album with the subject being the life of the English painter William Blake; the dark, grim, and enveloping lyrics wonderfully reflect Blake's way of living and painting; one of his paintings serves as the album cover. Musically speaking, the album picks up exactly where “Accident...” left off; ready, set, and you hear a few drum hits and immediately enter the powerful guitars of Roy Z and Adrian Smith, and so begins “King in Crimson,” powerful and very hard even in the lyrics. The song unfolds on a perfect pair of solos and has a catchy chorus for live audiences. The second track is “The Chemical Wedding,” beautiful in the chorus, one of those tunes that stay inside you, dramatic, slow, and epic, which fascinates and immediately lends itself as an important presence in concerts. “The Tower” is faster, and with this song, one understands Bruce's grace period; if the first songs might have suggested that Bruce was in decent shape, with this one, there's certainty that Bruce is in GREAT shape. The song begins with two serpentine guitars and then Bruce's voice comes in to raise the rhythm and tone.
“Killing Floor,” from which a nearly nonsensical video was made, with Bruce and Adrian having fun pretending to be waiters at a restaurant where Satan himself goes to spread chaos, is more sinister, and it is the single from the album; in fact, it is slightly more commercial than the others, but this does not in the slightest affect the value of this angry piece. “Book Of Thel” is a grand ride that at times recalls “Darkside Of Aquarius,” complex, enveloping, dark, ominous, the epicenter of the entire album, a track to remember. “Gates Of Urizen” is instead a tormented semi-ballad, whose verse is sweet, smooth, both in the sound and in Bruce's voice, which then becomes strong and aggressive in the chorus, which perhaps leaves a bit of dissatisfaction due to its repetitiveness but remains a good track with excellent appeal to live audiences. “Jerusalem” is a beautiful song with very medieval sounds, which also starts softly and then rises, but is of a clearly superior thickness to the previous track. The solo is magnificent, and at the end, there's the voice of Arthur Brown, one of Bruce's youth idols, who with a deep voice proclaims some verses. With “Trumpets Of Jericho”, much harder sounds are touched, almost thrash, but it's a great piece, fast and with a chorus, tinged with a certain sarcasm (“at the trumpets of Jericho, still the walls remain”), where Bruce gives his best, with two dizzying solos and with a perfect structure.
“Machine Man” is also violent, perhaps remains slightly less impressed on the listener, but it's a well-crafted track that somewhat recalls the Irons, while the final “The Alchemist” concludes the album in great style: it starts slow, soft, then comes the beautiful chorus and finally, after two other beautiful solos, comes the masterstroke, the highlight of the entire album: on the sweet initial melody, the chorus of “Chemical Wedding” is sung sweetly, almost whispering: “and so we lay, we lay in the same grave, a chemical wedding day” and thus ends the most beautiful album of Bruce.
An absolute must-have for any self-respecting metal fan.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 King in Crimson (04:43)
In the darkness the ravens head
In the courtyard clothed in fear
I see gates that are opening
There's only one way out of here
Daylight has gone, the night has come
See his twisted sons and daughters
Wrighting slowly in Satan's mire
If you only could see the visions
The trembling world I now despise
As the veil reveals the outer darkness
I am sucked into the halls of flame
Arise, awake, the king in crimson comes
Arise, awake, the king in crimson, crimson comes
He knows the weakness that you can't fight
Stone of night that weighs you down
If you only could see the visions
His hand is death if you take it now
As you scream into the web of silence
There is nothing that can save you now
Arise, awake, the king in crimson comes
Arise, awake, the king in crimson comes
Arise, awake, the king in crimson comes
Arise, awake, the king in crimson, crimson comes
As you scream into the web of silence
There is nothing that can save you now
Arise, awake, the king in crimson comes
Arise, awake, the king in crimson comes
Arise, awake, the king in crimson comes
Arise, awake, the king in crimson, crimson comes
To your window I come
At your window I come
02 Chemical Wedding (04:06)
How happy is the human soul
Not enslaved by dull control
Left to dream and roam and play
Shed the guilt of former days
Walking on the foggy shore
Watch the waves come rolling home
Through the veil of pale moonlight
My shadow stretches out its hand...
CHORUS: (x2)
And so we lay
We lay in the same grave
Our chemical wedding day
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 colour, now alive
And all the lighthouses
Their beams converge to guide me home...
CHORUS: (x2)
SOLO
CHORUS: (x2)
03 The Tower (04:45)
There are twelve commandments
There are twelve divisions
Twelve are the pagans who have mapped the sky
In the outer circle
To the inner sanctum
From the octave at the end of time
The fountain, the trinity
The pilgrim is searching for blood
(searching for his blood)
To look for his own free will
The stone of infinity, washed in the flood
Lovers in the tower
The moon and sun divided, and the hanged man smiles
Lovers in the tower
The moon and sun divided, let the fool decide
In the atom circle
Where we break the stars
Hammer into anvil, stuffing out the sun
Witness all the killing
See the birth of Mars
Our religion thrown into the fire
The fountain, the trinity
The pilgrim is searching for blood
(searching for his blood)
To look for his own free will
The stone of infinity, washed in the flood
Lovers in the tower
The moon and sun divided, the hanged man smiles
Lovers in the tower
The moon and sun divided, the magician laughs
Lovers in the tower
The moon and sun divided, and the priestess kneels
(priestess kneels)
Lovers in the tower
The moon and sun divided, let the fool decide
Lovers in the tower
The moon and sun divided, and the hanged man smiles
Lovers in the tower
The moon and sun divided, let the fool decide
Lovers in the tower
The moon and sun divided, the priestess kneels to receive
Lovers in the tower
The moon and sun divided, the magician laughs
04 Killing Floor (04:29)
So this is dreamtime and all is quiet
So this is dreamtime and all is night
You've never been held by the hand of God
Who's rocking the cradle if he is not
He turned the oil into his blood
Panzer divisions burning in the mud
The stain of freedom, he's washed it out
Who's rocking the cradle, I have no doubt
Sleeping eyes awake, to see his hooded gaze
Whispers on the wind, the darker side of ecstasy
Satan - has left his killing floor
Satan - has left his killing floor
Satan - hell fires burn no more
Satan - has left his killing floor
So now it's dreamtime for you tonight
So now it's dreamtime and all is quiet
You've never been held by the hand of God
Who's rocking your cradle if he is not
Sleeping eyes awake, to see his hooded gaze
Whispers on the wind, the neverending breath goodbye
Satan - has left his killing floor
Satan - has left his killing floor
Satan - his fires burn no more
Satan - is coming back for more
Satan - has left his killing floor
Satan - has left his killing floor...
05 Book of Thel (08:14)
The mark is on you now
The furnace sealed inside your head
Melting from the inside now
Waxy tears run down your face
The whore that never told her tale
Relives it every night with you
Far off stands the lamb and waits
For the wolf to come and end its life
Stand inside the temple as the book of thel is opening
The priestess stands before you
Offering her hand out rising
Come the dawning of the dead
Infamine and in war
Now the harlot womb of death
Spits out its rotten core
Serpent on the altar now
Has wrapped itself around your spine
So you look into its mouth
And you kiss the pearly fangs divine
Happy that your end is swift
The weeping virgin cries in bliss
The snake and priestess they are one
The veil of flesh is ripped undone
Standing inside the temple as the book of thel is opening
The priestess stands before you
Offering her hand out shes rising
comes the dawning of the dead in famine and in war
Now the harlot womb of death
Spits out its srotten core
By the pricking of my thumbs
Something wicked this way comes
And when sleep takes you tonight
Will you wake to see the light?
The burning sweat of poison tears
The river flowing with red blood
The cradle robbing hand of death
Caresses every dreaming head
Waiting for the marriage hearse
To take you to the funeral pyre
So you burn the family tree
The generations burnig higher
Stand inside the temple as the book of thel is opening
the priestess ands before you
Offering her hand out, rising
Come the dawning of the dead
Infamine and in war
Now harlot womb of death
Spits out its rotten core
by the pricking of my thumbs
Something wicked this way comes
and when sleep takes you tonight
Will you wake to see the light?
By the dawning of the dead
By the dawning of the dead
06 Gates of Urizen (04:25)
[B. Dickinson / Roy Z]
As above, so below
All things come from the one
Now you are the victim
Carried by the wind, rooted in the ground
If you want to learn the secrets
Close your eyes...
The ladder falls away
At the gates of Urizen, fallen eagles blaze
At the gates of Urizen, eternal twins are damned
At the gates of Urizen, separate lives begin...
In every woman is a man
From the moon come silver ghosts
Spectres of the blood
From my spirit comes the darkness
From the void, the crimson fortress rises...
[CHORUS:]
At the gates of Urizen, the ladder falls away
At the gates of Urizen, fallen eagles blaze
At the gates of Urizen, eternal twins are damned
At the gates of Urizen, separate lives begin...
[SOLO]
[REPEAT CHORUS]
The gates of Urizen [x3]
At the gates...
07 Jerusalem (06:42)
And did those feet in ancient times
Walk upon England's mountains green
Was the holy Lamb of God
On England's pleasant pastures seen
And did the countenance divine
Shine forth on our clouded hill
Was Jerusalem built here
On England's green and pleasant land
Let it rain, let it rain, wash the scales from my eyes
Let it rain, let it rain, let me see again
Bring me my bow of burning gold
Bring me my arrows of desire
I shall not sleep to the clouds unfold
Bring me my chariot of fire
Let it rain, let it rain, tears of blood fall out of the sky
Let it rain, let it rain, wash me clean again
From the frozen waters, the king will rise again
With two suns in the sky
I shall not cease from mental fight
Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand
Till we have built Jerusalem
In England's green and pleasant land
Let it rain, let it rain, tears of blood fall out of the sky
Let it rain, let it rain, wash me clean again
See the gleaming spires of the citadel
The king and queen will dwell, in our hearts
Can Jerusalem, be rebuilded here
In this trivial time, in this land of fear
In Jerusalem, where the grail remains
Walk into the light and dissolve the chains
Jerusalem
08 Trumpets of Jericho (05:59)
This is the maze of life, this is the maze of death
This is the matrix of eternity
The demon never sleeps, the demon never lies
He beats my heart and leaves no echo
What heavy burden holds me back
Every step along the track
Fear that reaches deep inside of me
At the trumpets of Jericho, still the walls remain
At the trumpets of Jericho, Avalon's in chains
This is the river of space, this is the river of time
Chase the dragons of infinity
Atlas stands and laughs, throws his burden down
Rolls the earth in the inferno
Fingers holding onto cracks
The howling wind that blows us back
Sucked into the grinding wheels of hell
At the trumpets of Jericho, still the walls remain
Blow the trumpets of Jericho, still the walls remain
At the end of the rainbow, there the grail remains
Sound the trumpets of Jericho, Avalon's in chains
As they drag you down, in your clothes of lead
See the golden light, flashing overhead
Mocking you...
Do you know who you are
In your ropes of skin
How many creatures live inside you?
Man is born forever free, but is everywhere in chains
Trapped inside this earthly prison cell...
At the trumpets of Jericho, still the walls remain
At the trumpets of Jericho, Avalon's in chains
At the trumpets of Jericho, there the grail remains
At the trumpets of Jericho, still the walls remain...
Still the walls remain...
Still the walls remain...
Still the walls remain...
Silence of the tomb
And the wheel of fortune round... yeah...
10 The Alchemist (06:01)
Wash away the blackness with the silver rain
Don't turn away - don't turn away
Wash away the blackness with the silver rain
Don't turn away - don't try to hide
Sulphurous and burning, spitting out the sun
The beginning of creation, of the golden one
A window to the west, a blazing star above
In taurus we begin it and the ladder has begun
Don't try and blame me for your sins
For the sun has burned me black
You're hollow lives, this world in which we live
I throw it back
Four headed dragon for the four degrees of fire
Purify the insane, bring the solution ever higher
Bring me all the elements, spread them round my head
Bring me mad men's bodies, I will break them all like bread
Don't try and blame me for your sins
For the sun has burned me black
You're hollow lives, this world in which we live
I hurl it back
Don't try and blame me for your sins
For the sun has burned me black
You're hollow lives, this world in which we live
I throw it back
Don't try and blame me for your games
Your games are death
My world it light, the angels fill my eyes
With every breath
And so we lay, we lay in the same grave
Our chemical wedding day
And so we lay, we lay in the same grave
Our chemical wedding day
And so we lay, we lay in the same grave
Our chemical wedding day...
17 seconds before the track ends...
And all this vegetable world appeared on my left foot
It was a bright sandal formed, immortal, of precious stones and gold
I stooped down and bound it on to walk forward through eternity
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By cliffburton86
The Chemical Wedding possesses the spirit of Brave New World and epic choirs reminiscent of Iron Maiden.
The bassist, Casillas, surprised me the most, managing bass lines in the manner of Steve Harris… he knows his stuff!
