Your 10 Favourite Solo Albums from Established Singers/Musicians

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

Number 1

Bruce Dickinson - Chemical Wedding




I've always adored this album, it's better than many Maiden albums in my mind, except the very best I suppose. It's not out of place with what Maiden would have released.

Best Tracks - King in Crimson, The Tower, Book of Thel, Machine Men... but honestly even the weaker tracks are pretty good!

[Charger]

Well how about that...my number 1 is also from a Maiden singer

#1

BLAZE - TENTH DIMENSION




After Blaze departed from Maiden he came back with a vengeance with a great new band of great young musicians and released a SUBERB album called Silicon Messiah and then 2 years later he released a concept album about a man who discovers a tenth dimension and is forced to hand over the reigns to people he knows is going to misuse it. The story is rather brilliant but what really counts are the songs. There isn't a single weak song on the album, it is an absolute masterpiece from start to finish. It was so unfortunate that Blaze had absolutely ZERO support from the record label SPV because his career could have shot up with this album but with no press and no advertisment most people at the time didn't even know Blaze had started a solo career!
But this album (which remained the last one of the Blaze-band line-up) still remains one of THE best heavy metal albums of the 2000s and is better than anything Iron Maiden has put out since Bruce's return to the band!


And yes I did decide not to include DIO on my list as I had started already with the notion of not including it because of the fact that it was more of a band than just a solo project...list would have been different had DIO been included.

 

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

I knew you'd have Blaze at number 1! 

[Zzzptm]

My number one...



Back when I was a wee tyke, my choices in music were based on what my parents bought and played. I was 5! I had no money! One album I remembered getting played all the time was Janis Joplin's epic, Pearl. When I got a little older and had permission to use the record player, I went through my parents' collection to check things out. There were some boring albums in there, some that I had no interest in, and a few gems that I planned to look into more later on. But when I got to Pearl and put it on, that opening of "Move Over" grabbed me in a new way. It was no longer the soundtrack as I ran around the house or played with Legos, it was now a track I chose to consciously like. And, as the rest of the album unfolded, I wanted to suspend my methodical play-through with a few more replays of the album.

Later on, when I met a young lady that would one day be my wife, I played a tape of the album for her and she fell in love with it. On countless car trips, we'd make that a go-to for singalong good rock and roll that kept us awake and having fun. This album means so much to me on a personal level, yes, but it's also such a strong album in and of itself that I don't have to apologize to anyone if I put it on. It's amazing, and so tragic that Janis passed away before recording finished. So much life and passion in this album, I'll never get tired with it.

[Charger]

I knew you'd have Blaze at number 1! 

I have become predictable?

I have to say I did not expect you to put Brucey on top...that being said Chemical Wedding is a brilliant album and his best for sure.


As for ZZZ's list...my goodness....there are so many I have never ever even heard of! But I think I will check out just for kicks.

[Zzzptm]

My 10 picks are definitely more on the blues-rock-hard rock side of the musical spectrum. But those are my go-tos for some great music that, regardless of genre, I know I can enjoy.

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

I thank you both for joining in with my little game, you both had some interesting choices.

[Zzzptm]

100% fun, will do again with different parameters.

[Charger]

I've always been a fan of top  10 lists!