BRUCE DICKINSON MORE BALLS TO PICASSO REWORKED ALBUM OUT JULY 25TH

HIS CLASSIC 1994 ALBUM REVISITED AND REINVENTED

PREORDER HERE

 

FIRST NORTH AMERICAN SOLO TOUR IN ALMOST 30 YEARS 

STARTS AUGUST 22ND IN CALIFORNIA

 

Ahead of the release of Bruce Dickinson’s re-worked version of his classic 1994 albumnow titled More Balls To Picasso, the lyric video for lead single “Gods Of War” has dropped.

With a timely message and a fresh, contemporary production, “Gods Of War,” features Brazilian composer Antonio Teoli’s unique contribution, adding indigenous instruments from the Amazon at the beginning of the track. It is a striking taste of the newly reimagined album and brings to life the roaringly full-throttle and ambitious for its time collection of supremely crafted and realised songs.

 

Following the release, Dickinson heads out on his first extensive North American solo tour in almost 30 years in support of 2024’s studio album The Mandrake Project, with a setlist encompassing his entire solo career.

Album Tracklisting
1. Cyclops
2. Hell No
3. Gods of War
4. 1000 Points of Light
5. Laughing in the Hiding Bush
6. Change of Heart
7. Shoot All the Clowns
8. Fire
9. Sacred Cowboys
10. Tears of the Dragon
11. Gods of War (Live in the Studio)*
12. Shoot All the Clowns (Live in the Studio)*

 

* Previously unreleased

 

FURTHER INFORMATION

In 1994, having left Iron Maiden for a time (he rejoined in 1999), Bruce Dickinson released his second solo album, entitled Balls To Picasso. Named in honour of the cubist pioneer whose representations of spherical objects were as squares and reflected on the cover in graffiti style on a tiled bathroom wall, the album belied its irreverent title by solidifying Dickinson’s reputation as a serious solo artist.

His first record with collaborator Roy Z, produced by Shay Baby and recorded with Z’s band Tribe Of Gypsies, it went through various iterations before its release. The original album included a number of classic tracks and live favourites from Dickinson including the singles “Tears Of The Dragon” and “Shoot All The Clowns,” alongside the much-loved epic “Laughing In The Hiding Bush,” which was the original title for the album.

Yet despite its positive reception at the time, it never quite captured Dickinson’s original vision which was even more expansive in scope and ambition. However, with the ability to revisit his solo catalog – and following on from Dickinson’s hugely acclaimed album The Mandrake Project in 2024 – the brand-new part re-recorded, remixed and newly mastered version of the album, now entitled More Balls To Picassoreimagines it as a fresh and contemporary release;.

Dickinson says of it, “While mixing all my catalogue into Dolby Atmos I had a nagging desire to revisit and reinvent the record. So putting more balls into ‘Balls…’ was a labour of love. Of course, we beefed up the guitars – courtesy of our ‘Swedish shredder’ Philip Naslund and we added some really beautiful work by Adassi Addasi on ‘Tears…’ as well. Fellow Brazilian composer Antonio Teoli added some stunning orchestral arrangements, and in a unique contribution, added indigenous instruments from the Amazon (recorded by himself when he lived there!) at the beginning of ‘Gods Of War’.

 

“‘Shoot All The Clowns’ gets the benefit of a horn section fronted by the Berklee College of Music, and all of the record gets the benefit of the mix by Brendan Duffey, (who worked on The Mandrake Project), with notes along the way from Shay Baby, the original father of the album”.

 

Additionally, More Balls To Picasso includes two previously unreleased live in-the-studio tracks, ‘Gods of War’ and “Shoot All the Clowns.” It will be available as a splatter vinyl double album and tri-panel digisleeve CD album.

 

THE MANDRAKE PROJECT NORTH AMERICAN TOUR

Fri, Aug 22                        Anaheim, CA                  House of Blues

Sat, Aug 23                      Las Vegas, NV                House of Blues

Mon, Aug 25                    Phoenix, AZ                     Marquee Theatre

Tues, Aug 26                   Albuquerque, NM        Revel

Thurs, Aug 28                 Houston, TX                    House of Blues

Fri, Aug 29                        Dallas, TX                         House of Blues

Sun, Aug 31                     Pryor, OK                           Rocklahoma*

Tues, Sept 2                    New Orleans, LA          House of Blues

Thurs, Sept 4                  Fort Lauderdale, FL    Revolution

Sun, Sept 7                      Sao Paulo, Brazil          The Town*

Wed, Sept 10                  Brooklyn, NY                   Brooklyn Paramount

Thurs, Sept 11               Boston, MA                      House of Blues

Sat, Sept 13                    Pittsburgh, PA                Stage AE

Sun, Sept. 14                 Silver Spring, MD         Fillmore Silver Spring

Tues, Sept 16                 Toronto, ON                     HISTORY

Thurs, Sept 18               Montreal, QC                 MTELUS

Sun, Sept 21                   Louisville, KY                  Louder Than Life*

Tues, Sept 23                 Philadelphia, PA           The Fillmore

Thurs, Sept 25               Detroit, MI                        The Fillmore

Sat, Sept 27                    Chicago, IL                       Riviera Theatre

Sun, Sept 28                   Minneapolis, MN         Uptown

Tues, Sept 30                 Denver, CO                      Summit Music Hall

Fri, Oct 3                           Sacramento, CA           Aftershock*

Sun, Oct 5                        Los Angeles, CA           The Wiltern

*Festival date

For ticket information go  HERE.

 

 

Mayhem Music Magazine