Band:	Bruce Dickinson
Album:	The Chemical Wedding
Style:	Heavy metal
Release date:	July 14, 1998
Guest review by:	Emalaith

01. King In Crimson
02. Chemical Wedding
03. The Tower
04. Killing Floor
05. Book Of Thel
06. The Gates Of Urizen
07. Jerusalem
08. Trumpets Of Jericho
09. Machine Men
10. The Alchemist
11. Return Of The King [Japanese bonus] [expanded edition bonus]
12. Real World [Brazilian bonus] [expanded edition bonus]
13. Confeos [expanded edition bonus]

To me, listening to Bruce Dickinson is like being with an old friend, as it was he and Iron Maiden that got me into Heavy Metal at the tender age of 13... So, I was more than thrilled when this album featured not only Sir "Air-raid siren" Dickinson but also his former band mate and one of the best guitarists of all time, Adrian Smith. As you would expect, Bruce doesn't screw around; from the first second of the opener 'King in Crimson' you know what you are going to get: heavy, classic, melodic metal that has stayed true to itself. To top it all off, Bruce adds the perfect amount of darkness and mystical lyrics (based on the writings of William Blake).

The title track 'Chemical Wedding' is an absolutely gorgeous song -- it feels like a ballad but really isn't - with lyrics that are both mysterious and beautiful and Bruce's majestic vocals. 'The Tower' shows off the great rhythm section consisting of Eddie Casillas and David Ingraham, driving the music forward with thunder and precision. Apart from Adrian, Roy Z also delivers some excellent guitar work, having equipped his guitar with bass strings to make it sound even heavier. My other favorites are 'The Gates of Urizen' and especially 'Jerusalem'. Starting out folksy, it turns into a very heavy ballad with Bruce screaming "..let it raaaiiin!" Yeah, you'll really be in the mood for rain afterwards.

The only somewhat weak song on the album, in my opinion, is 'Machine Men', which isn't a bad song, mind you, but just doesn't add much to the rest of the album and doesn't really seem to fit. However, Bruce immediately makes up for it with the gripping intro of 'The Alchemist' and its amazing chorus. 'The Alchemist', brilliantly, ends with the 'Chemical Wedding' theme - what a perfect way to round up this experience.

Overall, the music and lyrics work together to create images in your head, rather than tell a story and the album makes it absolutely obvious that Bruce Dickinson is one of the true metal geniuses of all time.