Band:	Bruce Dickinson
Album:	The Best Of
Style:	Heavy metal
Release date:	2001
Guest review by:	Rupophobic

Disc I
01. Broken
02. Tattooed Millionaire
03. Laughing In The Hidng Bush [live]
04. Tears Of The Dragon
05. The Tower
06. Born In 58
07. Accident Of Birth
08. Silver Wings
09. Darkside Of Aquarius
10. Chemical Wedding
11. Back From The Edge
12. Road To Hell
13. Book Of Thel [live]

Disc II
01. Bring Your Daughter... ...To The Slaughter [Original Soundtrack version]
02. Darkness Be My Friend
03. Wicker Man [Rec. 1997]
04. Real World
05. Acoustic Song
06. No Way Out... ...Continued
07. Midnight Jam
08. Man Of Sorrows
09. Ballad Of Mutt
10. Re-Entry
11. I'm In A Band With An Italian Drummer
12. Jerusalem [live]
13. The Voice Of Crube [Interviev Whit A Bruce]
14. Dracula

I have a confession to make. I haven's followed Bruce Dickinson's solo career at all. Nope, not one bit. And you know what? Shame on me! This stuff really, really good. It easily blows away anything Harris and company have done lately, even with Bruce's help.

Now, if you didn's already know, this is certainly not extreme metal, and it's not anything new or fresh. But at the same time, it's not old or boring. What is it then? It's METAL. It's written by a genius, and it's played by musicians; no not those people who ?play? instruments like mainstream music fans love. These are actual musicians. That is a formula that never needs to be changed or updated, because the results will always be timeless.

This is a two-disc collection, with the first actually being the ?best of? part. It starts off with the aggressive rocker ?Broken?. The verses are softer than the chorus, and change each time, but are always distinguished by a semi-melodic soft, and clean guitar line. Meanwhile the bass and drums are playing a heavy line that the guitars join in on at the end of the choruses that makes for a good chunky riff to headbang to. The bridge contains a haunting vocal line that just sends chills up my spine and some wonderful melodic guitar work. If you haven's already figured it out, I love this song.

Other personal favorites include the melancholy ?Tears of the Dragon?, the powerful ?Chemical Wedding,? ?Road to Hell? with it's sing-along chorus, and the trashing, mosh parties that are ?Accident of Birth,? ?Darkside of Aquarius? and ?Book of Thel?. And oh yeah, these last five all feature fellow Maiden member, Adrian Smith, on guitar.

The second disc contains special editions, and 'sracks from the vaults.? It starts off with the ?original soundtrack version? of the Iron Maiden classic ?Bring Your Daughter? ?To the Slaughter.? The next song, ?Darkness be My Friend? is a soft, but dark folk song, with the lead melody played by a flute. That sets the tone for most of the second disc. ?Ballad of Mutt? is a straight up southern blues, harmonica and all. The only problem is that it's not that good. The follow-up ?Re-Entry? sounds like a late 60's rock song. ?I'm in a Band with an Italian Drummer,? if definitely an interesting listen, but it's fun. There are also a few decent rockers on here, but none are of the quality found on the first disc.

In the end, this album isn's going to revolutionize the music world, and it's not going to get any nu-metal or 'modern rock? fans to see the error of their ways. However, it is proof that for the time being, the true spirit of rock is still alive and well.