Bruce Dickinson’s Next Solo Album Stalled by Pandemic Travel Restrictions
Senjutsu, Iron Maiden's 17th album, is out today (Sept. 3) and it appears that perhaps, in the near future, the next slab of music we'll get from the band or any of its individual members is a new solo album from singer Bruce Dickinson.
A potential followup to Tyranny of Souls, which was released in 2005, actually dates back to Maiden's previous record, 2015's The Book of Souls, when Dickinson told Loudwire that the opening track, "If Eternity Should Fail," was originally written with guitarist Roy Z. for a new solo effort.
The years passed by without much word from the singer regarding this purported solo record, until recently when Dickinson made an appearance on "Trunk National Virtual Invasion," the SiriusXM program hosted by Eddie Trunk.
When pressed about the likelihood of an eventual successor to Tyranny of Souls, which was Dickinson's sixth solo record, the Maiden frontman offered (transcription via Blabbermouth), "Not only would I like to [but] I've got a work in progress right now that's been kind of on and off, on the back burner, for, well, three or four years now."
Although the downtime amid the pandemic may have felt like the opportune time to double down on these efforts, the impact of this event had a bit of the opposite effect.
Dickinson continued, "And basically, since the pandemic happened, I may have had loads of time, but I can't go to America to do it — to finish up the writing for it, start the recording process and all that stuff. So I'm just waiting for Uncle Joe [Biden] to let me into America."
Tattooed Millionaire, Dickinson's solo debut which also starred Maiden guitarist Janick Gers, was released in 1990 while he was still a member of Iron Maiden. After his departure in 1992, he carried on as a solo artist and released two more albums before reuniting with Adrian Smith on Accident of Birth (1997) and The Chemical Wedding (1998), both of which marked a return to a more familiar, metal-oriented sound that was largely absent on previous efforts.
Not long after, both Dickinson and Smith rejoined Iron Maiden, who bade singer Blaze Bayley farewell after a tumultuous pair of albums. Since returning to the band, Dickinson has only released one solo record (Tyranny of Souls), which did not feature Smith.