Album Review: Bruce Dickenson, "Tattooed Millionaire"

The lead singer of Iron Maiden breaks away from the fold with his first solo debut. Bruce has gathered around him a band of exceptional musicians (some you may be familiar with) to augment his distinctive vocal velocities. On guitar is new Maiden man Janick Gers (ex-White Spirit/ Gillan), Andy Carr from 3 Rivers rams it out on bass, and Fabio Del Rio of Jagged Edge is the skinsman.

Much of the material on offer here is competent hard melodic rock with an emphasis on strong song structures. There's the title track, the debut single Tattooed Millionaire which is raucous and vibrant and extremely accessible. The uptempo tribulations of born of Born In 58 and No Lies gives Bruce a chance to express his views on various subjects from the decline of social values to the hypocrisy of "street" attitudes. Fine statements indeed!

The hard-hitting riffs of the AC/DC-influenced Hell On Wheels and the rock n' roll stomp of Lickin' the Gun are good examples of Bruce's predilection with what he terms "the natural vibe," while the sleazy rocker Zulu Lulu and the anthemic Dive! Dive! Dive! display a varied tightness which is one of the many good qualities this album possesses.

In complete contrast are two excellent rock ballads, namely Gypsy Road and 60s-sounding All The Young Dudes with its Beatlish harmonies.

For me the opener Son Of A Gun is destined to be a rock n' roll classic and is arguably one of the best songs that Dickenson has committed to vinyl.

This record is without a doubt going to be massive! Its appealing mixture of material will win him many new fans I'm sure. From a man who helped to bring Iron Maiden from rags to riches is an album that everybody can be proud of -- including himself. Good one, Bruce!

Mark Crampton
Riff Raff
May, 1990

Revenge...?

Riff Raff was a legendary rock magazine based in London in the late 1980s and 1990s. Edited by the ultimate music biz insider, Mark Crampton, and employing such talents as Mark Blake, Jerry Ewing, Mike Harris, Paul Smith, Chris Collingwood, Alan McCrorie, Simon Robinson, Lyn Guy, Anna Marx, Nick Douglas, Marion Garden, Peter "Grunty" Grant, Joe "The Crow" Mackett, Billy "The Kluck" Kulke, and, lastest and mostest, the incredible Liddell Brothers, Mark (a.k.a. "El Perro") and Colin (a.k.a. "Der Fly"). Unfortunately, Riff Raff was just too R n' R for its own good. A genuine working class rock mag, written, edited, and translated into 16 European languages in a drug-N-Jack-D-fuelled haze, often on the back of motorbikes, with spell checking by our staff of attentive rock bimbos (chosen purely for their blondeness and big knockers), it soon fell behind more trainspotterly, nerdish, and politically correct publications like Q, Kerrang, Mojo, Metal Hammer, and Horse & Hound. This website is an archive and kind of shrine dedicated to the writing of its greatest writers, some of whom, luckily for the Rock Kosmos, still continue to write about music. This is the REVENGE of Riff Raff...Rock on!