Balls To Picasso

With life on the Maiden bandwagon slowly turning into a blur, Bruce decided that he had to get off somehow. After a farewell tour in 1993, he decided to finally pursue a solo career and focus all his attention on it. He attempted to recruit the rock band Skin for his first real solo effort (given that Tattooed Millionaire was by-and-large just a spot of fun), but was unimpressed by the sound. He next teamed up with producer Keith Olsen for something very on Peter Gabriel era Genesis, but was such a stylistic departure that - despite his optimism - it was also eventually scrapped.

Third time's the charm, as they say, and that held true for our protagonist. Bruce decided to join forces with members of the Latino rock group Tribe Of Gypsies, which featured one Roy Z on guitar. This was a match made in heaven, as inspiration seemed to hit on all sides and Bruce finally created his first post-Maiden solo-work: the experimental Balls To Picasso.

Sure, Bruce wasn't moving quite as far away the music he'd become famous through as he had intended on doing with Olsen, but this was a vastly different work than anything he'd ever done at the same stroke. Gone was almost any sign of heavy metal, replaced instead with a lot of Latin-tinted hard rock. Not the same style of Tattooed Millionaire, keep in mind. Where that had grit and polish, this one had a lot more soul.

That said, one wonders at times if this is actually "soul" or just an attempt at roaming outside of Bruce's comfort zone. "Sacred Cowboys" borders on outright rap, for goodness's sake, and others like "1000 Points Of Light" and "Hell No" are much more politically-edged than usual. Bruce's one regret has always been not naming the album Laughing In The Hiding Bush, a phrase his son came up with. They'd even had a Storm Thorgerson cover for it, but lack of money ended up putting paid to those plans. Thus, the title is only reserved for the cynical rocker of the same name.

"Laughing In The Hiding Bush" isn't even the highlight here, though, because that title is reserved for the epic closing ballad "Tears Of The Dragon". A cathartic look at Bruce taking a leap of faith and moving on without Maiden, many would argue that it's the best thing he's ever written, both with his main band and in his solo career.

Balls To Picasso was a very different take on the Dickinson style, and experiments in that style wouldn't end here. People debate over the worth of this record a lot, but at the end of the day, it's a very interesting period piece from the greatest frontman in history.