You don’t ease into recording sixteen songs in twenty one days. Bruce Dickinson stared down the clock, trusted the band beside him, and committed to whatever happened in the moment. If it worked, it lived forever. Simple, right?
The Iron Maiden singer says his next solo album is already complete. Sixteen songs, recorded entirely live, with zero studio trickery.
“I just finished a solo record: We did 16 tracks in 21 days, all 100 percent live,” Bruce told Rolling Stone. “It’s like the anti-A.I. generation.”
The album, which isn’t expected before 2027, follows 2024’s The Mandrake Project and was recorded at Studio 606, owned by Dave Grohl.
Physically, Bruce isn’t pretending it’s easy.
“I got two metal hips, I got a busted Achilles I had stitched back together five years ago, various contusions and lumps and bumps,” he said. “But I’m still running around like a lunatic, and the voice is doing great.”
That voice is backed by the same core unit he’s been touring with. Keyboardist Mistheria, drummer Dave Moreno, bassist Tanya O’Callaghan, and guitarists Chris Declercq and Philip Näslund all contributed to the sessions.
As for the feel? Bruce says “Bone-crushingly heavy. If it’s heavy, it’s heavy. But if it just happens to be acoustic, it’s acoustic. That’s the deal… It’s whatever the song dictates, whatever the story is you’re trying to tell… I’m so stoked about these tracks.”
The expectation is that this same lineup will take the album on the road when it’s released.
