Who knew that Dickinson had 26 “best of” solo tracks in him to rate a collection, but there are a few gems on this one that deserve some mention. When he’s not trying to ape his mates in Iron Maiden, as he does on the seemingly carbon-copied “Aces High” rip-off “Silver Wings,” Dickinson throws a few curves. He sings flat-out rock ‘n’ roll on “Born In 58,” humourous country-blues on “Ballad Of Mutt” and funky lunacy’s whipped up on a Zappa-like freak-out called “I’m In A Band With An Italian Drummer.”
For the majority of this best of collection Dickinson sticks to the devils and dragons routine and ol’ Bruce becomes a caricature of himself, especially when he utters the words: “misty ghosts of childhood” on “Tears Of The Dragon.” There are also a few live tracks, some rarities like the original version of “Bring Your Daughter… To The Slaughter” and a stinker called “Wicker Man” that has nothing to do with the Maiden song of the same name.
The coolest thing comes in the form of a pre-Samson, pre-Maiden demo, a psychedelic trip from ’77 called “Dracula” that features a very inexperienced Dickinson doing his best Amboy Dukes/Mothers Of Invention routine.
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