Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

What constitutes a debut album for some, may not have the necessary sense of commitment in the eyes of others, perhaps not even for the artist themselves.

For Bruce Dickinson, riding on an extreme high with a consecutive run of seven top five studio albums with his own band mates Iron Maiden, including the latest release Fear Of The Dark which in 1992 became the group’s second U.K. number one, the opportunity to head back to his own creations in Balls To Picasso might have been one filled with slight trepidation. After all he had already proved his worth as a solo artist in the upbeat Tattooed Millionaire, so what was the issue with delving into the considerable wealth of music at his disposal in yet another immense recording.

For all that Balls To Picasso to the man himself felt as though it lacked something, the listener may have been ignorant of the fact, but it is in the senses of the artist that such truths are revealed, and their mind focuses upon, perhaps for the rest of their lives, for the question that plagues anybody who gives their soul to the majority is always, What if?

Could I have improved upon it, will it even matter, what if?

More Balls To Picasso answers those questions for Bruce Dickinson, and more than 30 years after the initial release, 30 years in which the allure of bringing his own thoughts and imagination to the fore across five more solo albums, and a triumphant return to Iron Maiden in 2000 which resulted in a further two number one U.K. albums, and finally a top three album in the United States of America, the chance to return to the 1994 album, one which could be seen as a true defining first solo work completely away from the Maiden flagship, was finally realised, and in its conclusion what has manifested is a tighter, more dramatic, literally more balls, affair which reignites the flame of contentment for the listener, and a proof that whilst the late Ozzy Osbourne brought Metal to the masses, it is the siren effect of Bruce’s voice which heralds its beauty, its cool demeanour.

More Balls To Picasso is layered nuance, it has a distinction of adding intrigue to the original recording, and in the addition to the extra dimension of holding two live in the studio takes of the songs Gods Of War and Shoot All The Clowns within its realm, and yet it also is absolutely familiar, it registers as time-honoured, as a custom, as an album in which the soul of Bruce Dickson, that was fully explored and set the man and the artist on a new path of self-discovery.

Not a re-edit, or a do-over, but perhaps a willingness to look back and see the what if question not as regret, but as knowledge to be gained; and for that fans of Bruce Dickinson will be overjoyed to have More Balls To Picasso to play with.

Ian D. Hall