• Voto:
Chi non conosce Bruce Dickinson, il carismatico cantante della heavy-metal band più conosciuta e, nel bene o nel male, più chiacchierata: gli Iron Maiden? Bene, dopo 10 anni abbondanti di onorata militanza nelle fila della Vergine di Ferro, il buon Bruce decide che è giunta l'ora di cambiare aria e provare cose nuove; vuoi forse per il deteriorarsi del rapporto con lo storico leader Steve Harris, vuoi forse per le critiche piovute sul gruppo alla pubblicazione dei 2 album successivi alla fine dei "golden years" del gruppo... vuoi forse anche l'esaltazione e la nuova carica dategli dalla composizione della colonna sonora del film "Nightmare on Elm Street 5", che è poi sfociata nel rilascio di un album vero e proprio (il discreto "Tattooed Millionaire").
Fatto sta che, nel 1993, a conclusione dell'estenuante "Fear of the Dark Tour" con i Maiden, Bruce fa le valigie e saluta tutti, prendendosi dapprima un "periodo di riflessione" e imbarcandosi poi per questa nuova avventura solista; recluta come compagni il talentuoso chitarrista Roy Z e la sua band, i "Tribe of Gypsies" e nel 1994 rilascia il suo secondo album solista, questo "Balls to Picasso".
Un album che, nonostante la preparazione dei componenti della band, non è nulla di eccezionale: i veri capolavori di Bruce arriveranno qualche anno dopo... non si tratta di brutta musica o brutte canzoni, ma più semplicemente l'album non gode di una personalità ben definita: a canzoni complesse ed elaborate come l'opener "Cyclops", cha fa ben sperare sulla qualità dell'intero platter, si contrappongono brani decisamente scarsi e privi di mordente come le scialbe "1000 Points of Light" e "Fire". Inoltre, i pezzi appaiono slegati l'uno dall'altro: alcuni appaiono ancora legati alla matrice più puramente metal sulla falsariga dei Maiden, altre invece si lanciano verso territori diversi e un po' più variegati: è il caso della malinconica ballad "Change of Hearts", dal suo sapore quasi jazz (c'è da dire che i pezzi lenti, il buon Bruce li sa comporre...), oppure della inusuale ma trascinante "Sacred Cowboys", nelle cui strofe il singer si cimenta in una sorta di rap, per poi giungere ad un ritornello più convenzionale e molto catchy!
Il cd è un susseguirsi di alti e bassi: oltre alle già citate, da segnalare l'epica "Gods of War" e la totto sommato banale "Hell No", che sembra composta quasi esclusivamente per essere proposta live, a causa della parte centrale, in cui Bruce incita una fantomatica folla ad unirsi a lui nello scandire il ritornello della canzone (certo che cantare "Fear of the Dark" è tutta un'altra cosa, ma tant'è...); c'è spazio anche per l'allegra "Shoot All the Clowns". I picchi dell'album si trovano in "Laughing in the Hiding Bush", dove curiosamente tra gli autori figura anche il figlio di Bruce: pezzo dai riff taglienti, e che sarà giustamente una costante nei numerosi tour che vedranno Bruce girare tutto il mondo e che vedrà il pubblico partecipare caldamente ed urlare a squarciagola il trascinante refrain; la vera perla è però in ultima posizione, per chiudere fortunatamente con un gran finale: la maestosa ballad "Tears of the Dragon", perfetta in ogni sua parte, dal soffuso intro di chitarra acustica, alle malinconiche strofe, per arrivare allo splendido ritornello, impossibile da rimuovere una volta memorizzato; da sottolineare anche il lavoro di Roy Z, ora delicato nell'accompagnare la voce di Bruce, ora più deciso nella sezione strumentale dove cuce anche un'ottimo assolo, che si spegne poi su atmosfere quasi folk. Un pezzo da 10 e lode, forse non originalissimo, ma che alza da solo la qualità complessiva di un album come detto un po' approssimativo: forse Bruce ha voluto osare troppo e forse non aveva ancora le idee ben chiare su dove volesse indirizzare la sua nuova carriera lontano dalla "casa Maiden", come testimonierà infatti il successivo "Skunkworks", lontano anni luce da quanto fatto fino a quel momento dal singer, per poi tornare su territori più congeniali (e redditizi) con i successivi capolavori "Accident of Birt" e "Chemical Wedding"; qui, con "Balls to Picasso", ci troviamo ancora a metà strada: non certo un capolavoro, ma neanche un album da buttare.
Discreto, nulla più...
Elenco tracce testi e video
01 Cyclops (07:58)
We all have secret lives, in our secret rooms
Living in our movies, humming our own tunes
Living life in camera, when the night is closing down
Sliding into darkness, you could be like me
Where are you going? What are you doing?
Why are you looking at the cameras eye?
Where are you staying? why are you leaving?
We watch you breathing through the cameras eye
We all make up our faces, the make-up of the clown
Happy leaving traces of our childish background
Pointing at the sky, we can watch the stars
You think you're all alone, but you never are...
Where are you going? What are you doing?
Why are you looking at the cameras eye?
Where are you staying? why are you leaving?
We watch you breathing through the cameras eye
They ain't watching you, they ain't watching you now
They ain't watching you, they ain't watching you now
They ain't watching you, they ain't watching you now
They ain't watching you, they ain't watching you now
Where are you going? What are you doing?
Why are you looking at the cameras eye?
Political sleazes, sexual divas
We watch your heart beating through the cameras eye
Where are you going? What are you doing?
Why are you looking at the cameras eye?
Political sleazes, sexual divas
We watch your heart beating through the cameras eye
05 Laughing in the Hiding Bush (04:20)
There's a sinister game that children play, hey hey hey hey
When they get to the end of each schoolday, hey hey hey hey
They spend their lives getting ready for the kill � ha!
Laughing in the hiding bush, the joker is back
Laughing in the hiding bush, the joker is back
Who remembers the names of fallen heroes, hey hey hey hey
Who remembers today to fly their flags, hey hey hey hey
I couldn't say I loved ya, like I did before � nah!
Laughing in the hiding bush, the joker is back
Laughing in the hiding bush, it's a laughing attack
The joker is back
He's one of the pack
The joker is back
Laughing in the hiding in the kick him in the bush, yeah!
Laughing in the hiding bush, the joker is back
Laughing in the hiding bush, the joker is back
Laughing in the hiding bush, he's one of the pack
Laughing in the hiding bush, the joker is back
07 Shoot All the Clowns (04:24)
Shoot, shoot, shoot all the clowns
Shoot, shoot, shoot all the clowns � shoot, shoot
I've been down at the crazy house
I've been playing with the cat and the mouse
I've been down, I've been down
I've seen the crazy people running around
Shoot all the clowns
Shoot 'em down, shoot 'em down, shoot 'em down
Shoot all the clowns
Shoot 'em down, shoot 'em down, shoot 'em down
Welcome to the circus where I fool around
I've got the killer smile, I'm a killer clown
Cover up your face, you've been found out
You laugh when there's nothing to smile about
Shoot all the clowns
Shoot 'em down, shoot 'em down, shoot 'em down
Shoot all the clowns
Shoot 'em down, shoot 'em down, shoot 'em down
Shoot, shoot, shoot all the clowns
Shoot, shoot, shoot all the clowns � shoot, shoot
Wanna gimme money, well you better get ready
I'm a certified friend of John Paul Getty
I'm a fat stargazer, I'm an all night raver
I'm an anything you wannabe, if I can get your sympathy
Welcome to the circus, I'm the killer clown
Welcome to the circus, hey gather round
Two sides of life, two sides of fun
The one who does it and the one who gets done
Shoot all the clowns
Shoot 'em down, shoot 'em down, shoot 'em down
Shoot all the clowns
Shoot 'em down, shoot 'em down, shoot 'em down
Shoot, shoot, shoot all the clowns
Shoot, shoot, shoot all the clowns
Shoot, shoot, shoot all the clowns
Shoot, shoot, shoot all the clowns
Shoot, shoot, shoot all the clowns
Shoot, shoot, shoot all the clowns...
09 Sacred Cowboys (03:54)
With a sense of irony everyone you see is chasing their illusions
Take a dive or sink or swim, but in the end you're in the same pollution
In your world escape is swift, the nonsense list is all you need to know
In the land of dreams, you make the right connections, then you'll be the hero
Ecstasy, the cult of me provides our institutions
You can live forever with a grave that stands where people used to function
You can join the saviours of our culture, vultures circling overhead my sky
Like the sin of gluttony won't set you free, but Betty Ford can help you try
You can get all the things you never needed
You can sell people crap and make them eat it
But where is our John Wayne
Where's our sacred cowboy now?
Where are the indians on the hill?
There's no indians left to kill
People die with oxygen and all their money can't afford a breath
People starving everywhere and staring in the face of death
Prostitutes and politicians laying in their beds together
You can be the saviour of the poor making up the policies to open up the back door...
You can get all the things you never needed
You can sell people crap and make them eat it
Where is our John Wayne
Where's our sacred cowboy now?
Where are the indians on the hill?
There's no indians left to kill
Where is our John Wayne
Where's our sacred cowboy now?
Where are the indians on the hill?
There's no indians left to kill
You can get all the things you never needed
You can sell people crap and make them eat it...eat it!
Where is our John Wayne
Where's our sacred cowboy now?
Where are the indians on the hill?
There's no indians left to kill
Where is our John Wayne
Where's our sacred cowboy now?
Where are the indians on the hill?
There's no indians left to...kill...
10 Tears of the Dragon (06:20)
For too long now, there were secrets in my mind
For too long now, there were things I should have said
In the darkness, I was stumbling for the door
To find a reason, to find the time, the place, the hour
Waiting for the winter sun and the cold light of day
The misty ghosts of childhood fears
The pressure is building and I can't stay away.
I throw myself into the sea
Release the wave
Let it wash over me
To face the fear I once believed
The tears of the dragon for you and for me
Where I was, I had wings that couldn't fly
Where I was, I had tears I couldn't cry
My emotions, frozen in an iced lake
I couldn't feel them until the ice began to break
I have no power over this, you know I'm afraid
The walls I built are crumbling, the water is moving,
I'm slipping away.
I throw myself into the sea
Release the wave, let it wash over me
To face the fear I once believed
The tears of the dragon for you and for me
Slowly I awake, slowly I rise
The walls I built are crumbling,
The water is moving,
I'm slipping away.
I throw myself into the sea
Release the wave, let it wash over me
To face the fear I once believed
The tears of the dragon for you and for me
I throw myself into the sea
Release the wave, let it wash over me
To face the fear I once believed
The tears of the dragon for you and for me
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