Accident of Birth

Accident of Birth is a heavy metal album released in 1997 by Bruce Dickinson through Castle Communications sublabel Raw Power in the UK and CMC International in the US.

Accident of Birth
Cover art by Derek Riggs
Studio album by Bruce Dickinson
Released	12 May 1997
Recorded	1997
Studio	Silver Cloud Recording, Redondo Beach, CA Sound City Studios, Los Angeles, CA
Genre	Heavy metal
Length	53:38
Label	Raw Power/Castle (UK) CMC International (US) Victor (Japan)
Producer	Roy Z
Bruce Dickinson chronology
Skunkworks (1996) Accident of Birth (1997) The Chemical Wedding (1998)
Singles from Accident of Birth
"Accident of Birth" Released: May 1997 "Man of Sorrows" Released: 1997
Alternative Covers
American release cover
Alternative cover
2005 Reissue cover

Dickinson's second collaboration with guitarist/producer Roy Z, the album is markedly different in style from his previous effort Skunkworks. As well as Roy Z, Dickinson was also joined for the album by fellow former Iron Maiden member Adrian Smith; both Dickinson and Smith would later return to their former band in early 1999. Thanks to the slightly bigger success of this album compared to his previous solo releases, Dickinson would continue to work with Roy Z on his subsequent albums The Chemical Wedding (1998) and Tyranny of Souls (2005).

Album Artwork

The cover art was produced by Derek Riggs, best known for being the creator of Iron Maiden's mascot Eddie and the artwork on all of Iron Maiden's albums/singles/posters/tour brochures throughout 1980–1990 (and sporadically afterwards up until 2000's Brave New World, other than one additional Eddie drawing for the cover of his book Run for Cover). In reference to this, the jester puppet featured on the cover was jokingly christened Edison ("Eddie's Son"). A grim reaper is also faintly visible in the background, such a figure having previously been included by Riggs in his artwork for Iron Maiden's Live After Death and Somewhere in Time albums, as well as on the band's earlier single "The Trooper".

Four versions of the album cover exist. Originally, the artwork showed Edison graphically bursting from a man's stomach, but for the original European release this image was cropped so as to remove the man's head (although the poster that came with the limited edition of the album included the original, unedited image). The cover was deemed too explicit for the US market, where the album was instead released with completely different artwork showing a frontal view of Edison. The 2005 re-release again used a different image for the cover, showing the puppet nailed to a cross; this image had previously been used for the Japan-only "Man of Sorrows" single. Finally, the extended edition of the album features the original, unedited artwork, with the head of the man from whom Edison is bursting clearly visible.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal	8/10[2]
Metal Storm	10/10[3]
Rock Hard	9.5/10[4]

The German magazine Rock Hard elected Accident of Birth Album of the Month in May 1997 and its reviewer celebrated Dickinson's impressive comeback writing that "Bruce sings like a young god - actually better and more expressive than ever - and has based his songwriting on the milestones of his Maiden years, with the new/old sidekick Adrian Smith coming at the right time" to deliver "their best material since Seventh Son of a Seventh Son".[4] In 2005, Accident of Birth was ranked number 338 in Rock Hard magazine's book of The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time.[5]

Contemporary reviews are equally positive. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic defined the album "intriguing" and "better than many latter-day Maiden efforts".[1] Canadian journalist Martin Popoff described Accident of Birth as "an unabashed metal record, produced smoothly and firmly" and added that it "would have made an intelligent, and ironically daring Maiden reunion record."[2]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Bruce Dickinson and Roy Z, unless otherwise noted.

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Freak"		4:15
2.	"Toltec 7 Arrival"		0:37
3.	"Starchildren"		4:17
4.	"Taking the Queen"		4:49
5.	"Darkside of Aquarius"		6:42
6.	"Road to Hell"	Bruce Dickinson, Adrian Smith	3:57
7.	"Man of Sorrows"	Dickinson	5:20
8.	"Accident of Birth"		4:23
9.	"The Magician"		3:54
10.	"Welcome to the Pit"	Dickinson, Smith	4:43
11.	"Omega"		6:23
12.	"Arc of Space"		4:18
Total length:			53:38

CMC International Records (U.S. and Japan)

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Freak"		4:15
2.	"Toltec 7 Arrival"		0:37
3.	"Starchildren"		4:17
4.	"Taking the Queen"		4:49
5.	"Darkside of Aquarius"		6:42
6.	"Road to Hell"	Bruce Dickinson, Adrian Smith	3:57
7.	"Man of Sorrows"	Dickinson	5:20
8.	"Accident of Birth"		4:23
9.	"The Magician"		3:54
10.	"Welcome to the Pit"	Dickinson, Smith	4:43
11.	"The Ghost of Cain" (Only on this release)	Dickinson, Smith	4:12
12.	"Omega"		6:23
13.	"Arc of Space"		4:18
Total length:			57:50

2005 Expanded Edition Disc 2

An extended edition of the album was released with the following tracks on CD 2. Tracks 1–4 appear on the CD single of "Man of Sorrows". Tracks 5–9 also feature on the Japanese CD release of "Man of Sorrows".

All tracks are written by Bruce Dickinson and Roy Z, unless otherwise noted.

2005 Expanded Edition Disc 2

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"The Ghost of Cain"	Dickinson, Smith	4:12
2.	"Accident of Birth" (Demo)		4:15
3.	"Starchildren" (Demo)		5:01
4.	"Taking the Queen" (Demo)		4:30
5.	"Man of Sorrows" (Radio Edit)		3:55
6.	"Man of Sorrows" (Orchestral Version)		5:17
7.	"Hombre Triste" (Spanish version of "Man of Sorrows")		3:53
8.	"Darkside of Aquarius" (Demo)		6:20
9.	"Arc of Space" (Demo)		4:02
Total length:			41:25

Personnel

Band members

• Bruce Dickinson – vocals
• Adrian Smith – guitar
• Roy Z – guitar, Mellotron, piano, producer, engineer, mixing
• Eddie Casillas – bass
• David Ingraham – drums

Additional musicians

• Silvia Tsai – violin on "Taking the Queen", "Man of Sorrows" and "Arc of Space"
• Rebecca Yeh – cello on "Taking the Queen", "Man of Sorrows" and "Arc of Space"
• Richard Baker – piano on "Man of Sorrows"

Production

• Stan Katayama – engineer, mixing at Brooklyn Recordings, Los Angeles except tracks 2, 6, 9
• Joe Floyd – engineer, mixing on tracks 2, 6, 9 at Silver Cloud Recordings
• Greg Fidelman, Tom Banghart – assistant engineers
• Norbert Newfied – string arrangements

Charts

Album

Year Chart Position 1997 Finnish Albums Chart[6] 13 Swedish Albums Chart[7] 46 German Albums Chart[8] 52 UK Albums Chart[9] 53 Dutch MegaCharts[10] 93

Singles Year Single Chart Position 1997 "Accident of Birth" UK Singles Chart[9] 54

References

1. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Bruce Dickinson - Accident of Birth review". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
2. Popoff, Martin (1 August 2007). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 3: The Nineties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 118. ISBN 978-1-894959-62-9.
3. Tombale, Pierre (14 December 2003). "Bruce Dickinson - Accident of Birth". Metal Storm. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
4. Kühnemund, Götz (23 April 1997). "Review Album des monats: Bruce Dickinson - Accident of Birth". Rock Hard (in German). No. 120. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
5. [...], Rock Hard (Hrsg.). [Red.: Michael Rensen. Mitarb.: Götz Kühnemund] (2005). Best of Rock & Metal die 500 stärksten Scheiben aller Zeiten. Königswinter: Heel. p. 75. ISBN 3-89880-517-4.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
6. "Bruce Dickinson - Accident of Birth (Album)". Finnishcharts.com. Media Control Charts. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
7. "Bruce Dickinson - Accident of Birth (Album)". Swedishcharts.com. Media Control Charts. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
8. "Album – Bruce Dickinson, Accident of Birth". Charts.de (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
9. "Bruce Dickinson Official Charts". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
10. "Bruce Dickinson - Accident of Birth". Dutch Charts (in Dutch). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 10 November 2020.