Fortunately for music lovers everywhere, as well as the main players in this story, Roy Z, who had been his collaborator for the “Balls to Picasso” album, now appeared back on the scene, and told Bruce that he had been writing some material that was more metal and that he should take a listen. According to Bruce, at the time he had no desire to head back in that direction, but Roy insisted and played some of the stuff he had written down the phone to him. This piqued his interest, and so the collaboration began. Not long after this former band mate Adrian Smith was asked to come on to provide a guest role on the album, something that immediately developed into something more permanent. While Bruce and Roy wrote most of the album together, Bruce and Adrian also resumed a writing partnership that had proved so profitable in their previous band together, contributing three songs to the album. It may not have been a maiden reunion, but it was something that had more pressing rewards, which was more press coverage of the release of the album, and something that drew more fans to check out what this new album would be like, even those that had felt they had been burned by the previous release. Along with album artwork drawn by former Maiden cover artist Derek Riggs, the mini-Maiden reunion in retrospect almost seems deliberate... a ploy by Bruce’s manager Rod Smallwood?... surely not....
While “Accident of Birth” is a closer step back to the kind of music that the majority of us admired Bruce Dickinson for, it certainly couldn’t be called an out-and-out metal album. There are several songs here that would not fit on a maiden release, for instance. And, that was the kind of freedom Bruce was looking for when he made the break to being a solo artist. He wanted the freedom to be able to pursue the kind of music he was in the mood for at that time, and not be tied to what a band might want in that respect. “Taking the Queen” and “Man of Sorrows” are the prime examples here. Neither song is of that bastard category the power ballad, but both songs are the slower, softer, more reflective category of track that the band has to offer here. The momentum and mood swings from soft and quiet to more powerful in both vocal and musicianship throughout. They are the kind of songs Bruce is able to take a risk with in this environment, where fans come to hear Bruce sing rather than hear a metal classic. And both of these songs are so important not just in the balance of this album, and their ability to showcase the great allround song craft of the band, but in giving Bruce an outlet to expand his writing horizons alongside Roy and Adrian, in my opinion it enabled all three to become better songwriters down the track. Now while “Taking the Queen” still has those more powerful parts, “Man of Sorrows” is very much a Bruce Dickinson piece, the only song on the album where he is the sole writer, and it sounds as though he is making a point, that he can produce these kind of songs and not lose face with the fans. Apart from the guitar solo’s which are the hardest part of the track, Bruce’s vocal in this song is quite remarkable, something he could not have achieved in Maiden. These songs act as counterpoints of the album, the tracks that sit strategically between the faster and harder songs in order to showcase the amazing chameleonic abilities of all of the band in this manner. The same happens with “Omega” which in the same way as “Taking the Queen” rises from the quiet beginnings to the amazing highs of Bruce's awesome vocals, and riding the wave to the change to heavier track through the back end of the song. These kind of songs show terrific song writing and performing. “Arc of Space” is almost solely acoustic, and with this I still question if this was the best way to conclude the album. The use of cello and violin here as well adds to the tracks without being detrimental or cynical in their use, but unlike the earlier softer songs there is no faster heavier song to come after it. I still feel there could have been a better ending to the album, but then again, what would I know.
There are of course the heavier and faster songs, where the band really does come to life and showcasing those skills in their element. The opening of “Freak” is a great way to kickstart the album, fresh with Roy’s powerful guitar riff and Bruce’s vocals hitting the peaks. “Starchildren” is of the same ilk, with the duelling guitar solos of both Roy and Adrian being a star turn. “Darkside of Aquarius” is a fantastic track, combining the move between the slow build burn into the heart of the song and the amazing slight change in tones between Bruce’s vocals through the bridge and chorus of the song absolutely brilliant. Roy’s melodic riff through the heart of the song is a triumph, one of my favourite parts of any Bruce Dickinson song. Then you have the straight up rockers like “Road to Hell” and “The Magician” and “Welcome to the Pit” which are terrific songs too boot, and the title track “Accident of Birth” hammers home everything that is great about this album.
This album was the moment that a number of careers found their momentum again. Bruce himself was at one of his lowest ebbs before Roy Z reached out to him again. The resulting album, the sheer variety in songs that all still had the power of Bruce Dickinson’s vocals and talent behind them brought him back to the focus of world music, and was the beginning of his path back to Iron Maiden. The first ironic part of that was that this was also the same for Adrian Smith, whose contributions to writing here as well as his guitar also brought him back into focus, and also lead to his path back to Iron Maiden. And the second ironic thing about that is that the return of both Bruce and Adrian to Iron Maiden brought about that band’s resurgence in popularity because of it. So all of those three things began with “Accident of Birth” For Roy Z, it again showed his ability as both a song writer, composer, guitarist and producer, which not only allowed him to be involved in furthering Bruce’s solo career but also being important in resuscitating another vocalist on a solo hiatus, Rob Halford, and eventually helping him to also reunite with his band Judas Priest. All from this album.
I didn’t hear this album until about two years after its release. I had purchased “Balls to Picasso” on its release, and felt it was a bit ho-hum, and it disappeared onto my shelves pretty quickly. Then I hear about three songs from “Skunkworks” one day while browsing at Utopia Records, though “Ugh, that’s not good”, and didn’t buy that album nor bother looking any further as to when Bruce was going to release any more albums. It wasn’t until I ran into a mate on a trip home a couple of years later that he put on a CD in his car and said ‘try and guess who this is!’ The opening riff dissolved into the vocals, and I couldn’t believe that the owner of this heavy riffing track with the brilliant voice was Bruce Dickinson. The album was “The Chemical Wedding”, and having listened to that, and then purchasing it and listening to it a lot, I knew I needed to see if his previous album (of which I had had no idea existed) was just as good. That album of course was “Accident of Birth”, and in the same way that “The Chemical Wedding” blew me away, so did this album. The remarkable diversity grabbed me, but the heavier track in “Freak” and “Road to Hell” and “Accident of Birth” were immediate favourites. And probably still are all these years later. So I mightn’t have had the full 25 years listening to this album, but it is still as brilliant today is it was the first time I heard it. And as I have outlined just how influential it has been in furthering all those connected with it in the time since, it really does hold a special place in the annals of heavy metal history.
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