Bruce Dickinson Releases New Lyric Video “Gods Of War” From 'More Balls To Picasso' WATCH HERE
- The Metal Voice
- 3 hours ago
- 3 min read
Ahead of the release of Bruce Dickinson’s re-worked version of his classic 1994 album, now titled More Balls To Picasso, the lyric video for lead single “Gods Of War” has dropped.
Watch Here
With a timely message and a fresh, contemporary production, “Gods Of War,” features Brazilian composer Antonio Teoli’s unique contribution, adding indigenous instruments from the Amazon at the beginning of the track. It is a striking taste of the newly reimagined album and brings to life the roaringly full-throttle and ambitious for its time collection of supremely crafted and realised songs.
Following the release, Dickinson heads out on his first extensive North American solo tour in almost 30 years in support of 2024’s studio album The Mandrake Project, with a setlist encompassing his entire solo career.
Album Tracklisting
1. Cyclops
2. Hell No
3. Gods of War
4. 1000 Points of Light
5. Laughing in the Hiding Bush
6. Change of Heart
7. Shoot All the Clowns
8. Fire
9. Sacred Cowboys
10. Tears of the Dragon
11. Gods of War (Live in the Studio)*
12. Shoot All the Clowns (Live in the Studio)*
* Previously unreleased
FURTHER INFORMATION
In 1994, having left Iron Maiden for a time (he rejoined in 1999), Bruce Dickinson released his second solo album, entitled Balls To Picasso. Named in honour of the cubist pioneer whose representations of spherical objects were as squares and reflected on the cover in graffiti style on a tiled bathroom wall, the album belied its irreverent title by solidifying Dickinson’s reputation as a serious solo artist.
His first record with collaborator Roy Z, produced by Shay Baby and recorded with Z’s band Tribe Of Gypsies, it went through various iterations before its release. The original album included a number of classic tracks and live favourites from Dickinson including the singles “Tears Of The Dragon” and “Shoot All The Clowns,” alongside the much-loved epic “Laughing In The Hiding Bush,” which was the original title for the album.
Yet despite its positive reception at the time, it never quite captured Dickinson’s original vision which was even more expansive in scope and ambition. However, with the ability to revisit his solo catalog – and following on from Dickinson’s hugely acclaimed album The Mandrake Project in 2024 – the brand-new part re-recorded, remixed and newly mastered version of the album, now entitled More Balls To Picasso, reimagines it as a fresh and contemporary release;.
Dickinson says of it, “While mixing all my catalogue into Dolby Atmos I had a nagging desire to revisit and reinvent the record. So putting more balls into ‘Balls…’ was a labour of love. Of course, we beefed up the guitars - courtesy of our ‘Swedish shredder’ Philip Naslund and we added some really beautiful work by Adassi Addasi on ‘Tears…’ as well. Fellow Brazilian composer Antonio Teoli added some stunning orchestral arrangements, and in a unique contribution, added indigenous instruments from the Amazon (recorded by himself when he lived there!) at the beginning of ‘Gods Of War’.
“‘Shoot All The Clowns’ gets the benefit of a horn section fronted by the Berklee College of Music, and all of the record gets the benefit of the mix by Brendan Duffey, (who worked on The Mandrake Project), with notes along the way from Shay Baby, the original father of the album”.
Additionally, More Balls To Picasso includes two previously unreleased live in-the-studio tracks, ‘Gods of War’ and “Shoot All the Clowns.” It will be available as a splatter vinyl double album and tri-panel digisleeve CD album.
SUBSCRIBE TO THE METAL VOICE YOUTUBE CHANNEL HERE
GWAR Beefcake The Mighty Interview-The Return of Gor Gor-Thoughts on Ghost & The President, Tour
Watch live Helix interview stream here
HELIX Brian Vollmer Live VIP Interview-Release Party & Unplugged 50 Year Celebration-The Metal Voice
Drummer MARK ZONDER Interview (FATES WARNING) A-Z New Album-Ronnie James Dio Warlord Singer?