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DVD
Disc 3 is an extensive collection of promotional videos made
during Bruce's solo career. From his days at EMI through to
his own self produced videos of recent times, each video is
accompanied by a short introduction by Bruce himself, discussing
the ideas, concepts and eventual filming behind each of the
videos. Each intro provides an interesting insight into Bruce's
solo career as it progressed and the highlights and pitfalls
of producing your own promotional videos. |
Alongside the 14 promotional videos, Disc
3 also includes over an hours worth of extras:
The Tyranny of Souls interview was originally
filmed as a general interview for press purposes.
This is a track by track breakdown of
the concept behind the songs on the Tyranny of Souls album,
providing more of an in-depth look at the writing methods
that Bruce has formed with long time writing partner Roy Z.
Samson - Biceps of Steel
Bruce made his video debut fronting Samson
in this rather curious adaptation of the story of Samson and
Delilah, filmed at the Rainbow Theatre, London. Filmed and
directed by Julien Temple who perhaps was more famous for
the Sex Pistols movie - The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle, this
15 minute featurette was distributed through-out cinemas as
a support feature to Hazel O' Connor’s Breaking Glass in 1980.
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| The
Review |
His post-Maiden career is one that you either love or
hate, but then again his later solo records have been said
to be the answer to metal's endurance during a time where
Maiden was releasing records that were somewhat questionable
with this former frontman's absence. But nevertheless, here
is the visual aspect of what Bruce Dickinson has archived
from 1990 until now, whether it's his AOR/melodic metal stance
with records such as 'Tattooed Millionaire' and 'Balls to
Picasso,' his nod to progressive rock with 'Skunkworks,' his
return to form with 'Accident of Birth' and his most recent,
'Tyranny of Souls,' the latter of course undergoing the most
acclaim. ***
Now that we have seen the remastering and extensive releasing
of bonus material with the recent double disc reissues of
his post or even parallel-era, we now have the visual approach;
which of course is the perfect eye candy to the counterpart
of ear candy. A three-disc DVD, there is about six hours of
material, for which, like the recent Evergrey DVD, you're
not going to get through this one in a day; there is a lot
of content here. Starting out with disc one, which features
'Dive Dive Live, a show shot in film, with showcases a tight
and raw performance, of the 1990 show, contrasting the slick
performance of the 'Tattooed Millionaire' album, which of
course has the whole foot on the monitor vibe to it. This
same disc continues with the 'Skunkworks Live' concert from
1996; which is shot with the warmth of analog, but what appears
to be high-grade videotape, and no matter what you thought
of this record, well, this show might change your attitude.
***
Onto disc two, which solely features an hour-long 'Scream
for me Brazil' show that concedes a high quality multi-angle
bootleg home videotape quality; that of course is stripped
down on the visual aspect, but not on the performance. I don't
know you decide, it's almost like watching a bootleg, but
without all the bad sound and jumping tape (take note: the
sound (taken from board, sounds 'un-remixed') and video quality
is not exactly 100% pro, but, I mean, oh hell with it, it's
one of the best bootlegs you can watch. ***
Now with third and final disc, you have all the promo
goodies, which includes all the music video goodies that VH1
Classic 'might' play, everything you want to know about the
'Tyranny of Souls' album, for which the EPK is included here
(interview with Bruce), and a rare gem, the 'Biceps of Steel'
short film/feature from Dickinson's days in Samson, where
an interview is presented before the actual move is presented;
again all you want to know about this is told by the man himself.
The short film is this video montage where you have this roadie
character that seems to try to 'get it on' with a groupie
and ion the end, ends up like whom else, Samson from the 'Samson
and Delilah' story. All good fun throughout. ***
The video transfer was done very well, for which it lack
the highly clean and bland digital look of many of today's
modern concert films; the sound is also very high quality
(for the curious, this DVD features stereo sound only, no
5.1), considering the time period (and the bootleg vibe of
'Scream…'). So let's take a look back, whether it's a decade
or just last year, of one of the most prolific careers of
a metal legend. -
Tommy "Hashman" Hash
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