Bruce Dickinson announces “More Balls To Picasso”, out July 25th

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 honor 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, and recorded with Z’s band Tribe Of Gypsies, it went through various iterations before its release, produced by Shay Baby. 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 catalogue – 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; a roaringly full-throttle and ambitious collection of supremely crafted and realised songs. 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.

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

This Summer, Bruce Dickinson will embark on his first extensive North American solo tour in almost 30 years in support of his current studio album “The Mandrake Project”, with a setlist encompassing his entire solo career. ‘The Mandrake Project Live 2025‘ North American Tour kicks off in Anaheim, CA. at The House of Blues on August 22nd and takes the band across North America including shows in New York, Los Angeles, Texas, Florida and Canada, with festival appearances at Rocklahoma (OK) and Louder Than Life (KY) with more to be announced. The tour also includes a quick return to Brazil for the prestigious The Town Festival at the City of Light in Sao Paulo.

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