Monday, March 4: Bruce Dickinson, “Freak” [ENCORE]
The Today’s Metal Tune tumblr posted its first song March 5, 2014. To celebrate 5 YEARS of metal, we are revisiting the songs that aired during that very first week. A huge THANK YOU to everyone that has followed, liked, reblogged and commented over the past 5 years, this tumblr has been a passion project that took on a life of its own and exceeded humble expectations, and that is all because so many have listened and gotten in on the fun. Stay Metal, there’s much more still to come…
Accident of Birth was heralded as a return to form for Bruce Dickinson after the alt-metal and grunge overtures of Balls to Picasso and Skunkworks, but not all of the once and future Iron Maiden frontman’s fourth solo album was entirely nostalgic. In fact, it opened with something that not only married all of his previous sounds, but also nudged towards the avenues Dickinson would soon travel on The Chemical Wedding: “Freak” had the level of craftsmanship one would expect, and Bruce’s voice soared like 1986, but Roy Z.’s guitars were almost nu metal in their downtuned sound (indeed, this very attribute made the song impossible to perform live), Adrian Smith was similarly more rhythmic in his playing, Dave Ingraham’s phenomenal drumming was in pocket and didn’t at all attempt to replicate Nicko McBrain, and there was just an overall air of mystery to the proceedings, as opposed to more direct numbers like “Road to Hell” and “Accident of Birth”. So “Freak” was both trad- and alt-metal, and uniquely Bruce Dickinson, and as a result was vital in not only resetting the man’s career, but also giving him a distinct musical identity.
