Band:	Bruce Dickinson
Album:	Accident Of Birth
Style:	Heavy metal
Release date:	May 1997
A review by:	Pierre Tombale

01. Freak
02. Toltec 7 Arrival
03. Starchildren
04. Taking The Queen
05. Darkside Of Aquarius
06. Road To Hell
07. Man Of Sorrows
08. Accident Of Birth
09. The Magician
10. Welcome To The Pit
11. Omega
12. Arc Of Space

This is it, the album that Iron Maiden never made. Accident Of Birth is the great (quasi) solo work by Bruce Dickinson with assistance from his friend and former band member of Iron Maiden Adrian Smith. Together with Roy Z (guitarist & producer) & further notable musicians these two legends of metal recorded their by far best album of the 1990ies.

When I was searching for a new cd in a local cd store back in september of 1997 I discovered Bruce Dickinsons 'Accident Of Birth'. Back then I had no idea that Bruce was following a solo career, after he had left Iron Maiden. I had listened to The X-Factor with Blaze Bayley and found it so very disappointing, so I was surprised even to see this solo cd. By the first listen I was even more surprised how different the record was from the Iron Maiden sound I was used to, I have to admit that I did not like it either, then. But when it came to the song 'Road To Hell' I nevertheless decided to buy it. It took me some time to get into the new sound, but 'Road To Hell' made it into my top 10 favorites of all time right from the start. For a while I did not listen to A. O. B., but the next time I put it into my cd player I knew what to expect and I liked it from the first to the last second. It has a dark atmosphere, much more powerful than the Iron Maiden works of the 90ies, plus it had real ballads like 'Man Of Sorrows' and Arc Of Space' (even my parents like these two songs!).
All these aspects that differ from the known Iron Maiden stuff make this album very unique and as far as I know Bruce Dickinsons best solo album.
Varying from intense, energetic, to quite and relaxing, from sad to powerful moods, anytime you listen at the end you will feel like having had a great new experience. A good example is the title track, beginning with a steamhammer-like intro, with lyrics like a verbal revenge on someone that has mistreated you once and you feel like payback. Or 'Omega' and 'Arc Of Space' for taking a rest with your body and mind, trying to get closer to the meaning of life or the existence of god.

I could listen to this album over and over and I can only recommend it to all those who were bored by the Blaze Bayley Maiden albums, but this one has a unique freshness of an icy cold wintermorning when you feel like having to face all the worlds problems and all you need to solve them is just some mind-feeding power from heavy metal music! This is what you get.