By JAY ROBERTS

The Cassette Chronicles is a continuing series of mini reviews and reflections on albums from the 1980’s and 1990’s. The aim of this series is to highlight both known and underappreciated albums from rock, pop and metal genres from this time period through the cassette editions of their releases. Some of the albums I have known about and loved for years, while others are new to me and were music I’ve always wanted to hear. There will be some review analysis and my own personal stories about my connection with various albums. These opinions are strictly my own and do not reflect the views of anyone else at Limelight Magazine.

(WRITER’S NOTE: THIS WILL BE THE LAST ARTICLE IN THE CASSETTE CHRONICLES SERIES FOR 2023. THERE WILL BE A BEST OF THE YEAR PIECE NEXT WEEK AND THEN THE SERIES WILL RETURN FOR ANOTHER YEAR AT THE START OF 2024.)

BRUCE DICKINSON – BALLS TO PICASSO (1994)

Released in 1994, Balls to Picasso is Bruce Dickinson’s second solo album. However, it was the first one he made following his departure from Iron Maiden. It was the start of his collaboration with guitarist/producer Roy Z and the album was recorded with Z’s band Tribe of Gypsies.

I wrote about Dickinson’s Tattooed Millionaire back in 2022 and while I liked the first side of the album, I found the second side more problematic. So, when it came time to listen and write about this album, I found myself really hoping I liked the album in full. One thing I noticed about the album’s tracks is how more than a few of them mixes a more sedate opening with the more in-your-face more commonly associated with Dickinson’s vocals. Hard Rock combined with metal overtones. This isn’t a surprise so much as it makes for a pretty interesting listening experience as you can clearly see how Dickinson was still making the concerted effort to mix things up so the solo music didn’t sound like “just” another Iron Maiden record.

With Dickinson and Roy Z. co-writing most of the material together (Dickinson’s son Austin has a credit on “Laughing in the Hiding Bush” and bassist Eddie Casillas has a credit on “Fire”.), the album gets off to a lengthy start with the song “Cyclops”.

The track begins with nothing in the way of build-up, it just kicks off out of your speakers for a mostly low key beginning before a brief harder edged flourish that gives way to more of a sedate delivery for the main lyrical passage. But as the song approaches the chorus, the music grows into a intense blast of rock. And Dickinson’s vocal gets more intense as he intones “We watch you breathe through the camera’s eye.” The song is nearly 8 minutes long and after the guitar solo, the music stays in that higher gear. It’s just a beast of an opening track and captures my attention every time I listen to the album. The song’s outro goes on for a good amount of time but it doesn’t lessen the song’s impact at all.

On “Hell No”, I love the way the song starts with this kicking drum beat before Bruce Dickinson’s vocals come in. The first couple of lines, he’s delivering the vocals in a rather understated manner but he quickly puts forth a bolder vocal stance towards the end of the first lyrical stanza. This type of back and forth plays out for most of the song’s vocals. The same kind of vocal delivery is employed on “Gods of War” as well.

The first side of the album is only four songs long but when the first side closes out on one of the songs you would highlight as a particular favorite, things are going well I’d say. On “1000 Points of Light”, I love the way Dickinson’s vocals during the main part of the lyrics are pretty crystal clear, delivered more in a rapid fire manner. The chorus sounds more like how you’d expect to hear him singing, but it melds perfectly together and gives you one hell of a great track.

It has been a while since I listened to Balls to Picasso before sitting down to write this article so I found myself hearing things a bit differently than I have in the past I’m sure. But before heading into the second half of the album, I know that I was really getting drawn in to the music once again.

The album’s second half (six songs) opens with the song “Laughing in the Hiding Bush”. The song’s opening is more dramatically presented but when you get to the chorus, there’s a bit more of a vicious edge to how Dickinson’s vocals come out, particularly as he sings the song’s title. I like this version of the song no doubt, but I found myself curious as to how it would’ve come out if the harder edge provided in the chorus vocals had been employed for the entire vocal turn.

I remember thinking the song “Change of Heart” was the “ballad” track for Balls to Picasso. It’s got the softer vocal focus throughout and then gets the more uptempo pace for its chorus like pretty much any “power ballad” you could think of, but this track really struck a chord with me. Whether the tempo was slow or fast, I loved the sentiment from the lyrics a lot and that made me that much more interested in the track. The brief guitar solo for the song focused more on a feel than an over-the-top flurry of notes. Pretty much all of the guitar work on this track was pretty cool to be honest.

There’s more of a concerted hard rocking style on “Shoot All The Clowns”. There’s not much in the way of a soft intro leading into a more intense flourish. Bruce Dickinson and the band pretty much rock out the whole way through. And they do it with style here. That mid-song vocal break where Dickinson is just spitting out the lyrics is flat out cool. This is just a killer track.

The song “Fire” starts out with a solidly uptempo feel and has a great line in the chorus with “Money won’t pay for the trouble you cause, trouble’s coming back for more”. The chorus alone would make me like the song but I like the way the music comes out on this one too. Sometimes fiery, sometimes understated yet always smoking with some killer guitar lines as well.

There are plenty of great tracks on Balls to Picasso but the one that stood out as my personal favorite has to be “Sacred Cowboys”. The song is in full attack mode pretty much from the start. A static burst musically combined with another rapid fire almost spoken word delivery from Bruce Dickinson but then as the musical intensity increases you get this freaking awesome chorus including this great couplet “Where is our John Wayne, where’s are sacred cowboys now”. Add in a blazing score and an abrupt yet perfectly cast ending and you have a song that just rocks me every time I listen to it.

The album closes out on the song “Tears of the Dragon”. It’s the song that got the most attention for the album and was probably the main reason I picked up the album in the first place. It has a cool melodic sensibility running throughout the song. Both sides of Dickinson’s vocals are on display here and they work in perfect harmony. The more measured tone of the main lyrics have his straightforward delivery. But that chorus gives listeners that soaring vocal tone we all know and love. It elevates the song as a whole and I vaguely remember getting goosebumps the first few times I heard the song.

I haven’t mentioned much about Tribe of Gypsies in the piece but I have to say that as a whole, I can’t imagine how anyone else could’ve done a better job being the right backing band for Dickinson on this album.

As the album finished, I couldn’t help thinking back to when I first heard it for myself and though it is pretty different stylistically from the Iron Maiden material, I loved the different tact Bruce Dickinson took for this album in order to differentiate himself apart from Maiden.

Bruce Dickinson has a new solo album called The Mandrake Project coming out soon but before the focus turns to his present musical project, it is always nice to take a look back and get a renewed appreciation for what has come before. I know that giving high praise to anything from Bruce Dickinson is pretty much adding my voice to a rather large choir, but if you haven’t checked out Balls to Picasso yet, let me just give you my own recommendation to do so as soon as possible, you won’t regret it!

NOTES OF INTEREST: The Balls to Picasso album that was released in 1994 was actually the third attempt at the album. The first two versions were junked when Bruce Dickinson wasn’t happy how they turned out.
The 2005 Extended Edition CD release of Balls to Picasso includes a 16-track bonus disc.

The original plan had been to title the album after the song “Laughing in the Hiding Bush”. Artwork was commissioned from legendary cover artist Storm Thorgerson but according to the album’s Wikipedia page, they couldn’t afford it. That artwork would go on to become the cover for the Anthrax album Stomp 442.