BRUCE DICKINSON MORE BALLS TO PICASSO REWORKED ALBUM OUT JULY 25TH
HIS CLASSIC 1994 ALBUM REVISITED AND REINVENTED
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 album, now 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 Picasso, reimagines 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.