Tyranny of Souls
Studio album by
Bruce Dickinson
Released23 May 2005
Recorded2005
StudioCastle Oaks (Calabasas)
Signature Sound (San Diego)
Dexter's Laboratory[a] (Los Angeles)
GenreHeavy metal, progressive metal
Length43:35
LabelSanctuary
Victor (Japan)
ProducerRoy Z
Bruce Dickinson chronology
The Best of Bruce Dickinson
(2001) 		Tyranny of Souls
(2005) 		Alive
(2005)
Singles from Tyranny of Souls
  1. "Abduction"
    Released: 2005
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Blabbermouth.net8.5/10[2]
Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles8.0/10[3]
Metal Storm9.0/10[4]
Rock Hard9.5/10[5]

Tyranny of Souls is the sixth studio album released by Iron Maiden vocalist Bruce Dickinson on 23 May 2005. The cover art is one of the panels of Earthly Vanity and Divine Salvation, a work by renaissance artist Hans Memling. This was his first solo album since rejoining Iron Maiden in 1999, and his last for nearly two decades, until the 2024 release of his upcoming follow-up album The Mandrake Project.

The songwriting on the album was split between Roy Z and Dickinson. During composition, Roy sent recordings of riffs to Dickinson, who was on tour with Iron Maiden. Dickinson subsequently wrote lyrics and melodies. Roy also served as the album's producer and played all guitar parts as well as some supplemental bass guitar and piano parts.

The other players on the album were all connected to Roy Z through different projects. Z, bassist Ray "Geezer" Burke, and keyboardist Maestro Mistheria all contributed to vocalist Rob Rock's 2003 release, Eyes of Eternity. Drummer Dave Moreno and bassist Juan Perez were members of Z's Latin rock band Tribe of Gypsies at the time.

"Kill Devil Hill" is inspired by the successful flight by the Wright brothers in 1903 (see Kill Devil Hills).

"Navigate the Seas of the Sun" is inspired by Erich Von Däniken's theory about extraterrestrial presence on Earth long ago and about man dealing with that in the future.[citation needed]

The title track is somewhat based on Shakespeare's tragedy MacBeth, and includes direct quotes and lines from the play throughout the song.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Bruce Dickinson and Roy Z

No.TitleLength
1."Mars Within"1:29
2."Abduction"3:50
3."Soul Intruders"3:52
4."Kill Devil Hill"5:07
5."Navigate the Seas of the Sun"5:51
6."River of No Return"5:13
7."Power of the Sun"3:29
8."Devil on a Hog"4:01
9."Believil"4:50
10."A Tyranny of Souls"5:48
Japanese edition bonus track
No.TitleLength
11."Eternal"5:59

Personnel

Musicians
Production

Charts

Chart (2005) Peak
position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[6] 58
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[7] 76
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[8] 96
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[9] 10
French Albums (SNEP)[10] 101
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[11] 39
Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)[12] 24
Italian Albums (FIMI)[13] 34
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[14] 75
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[15] 10
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[16] 73
US Billboard 200[17] 180
UK Albums (OCC)[18] 65

Notes

  1. ^ Not to be confused with the animated television series of the same name

References

  1. ^ Prato, Greg. "Bruce Dickinson - Tyranny of Souls review". AllMusic. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
  2. ^ Bergman, Keith. "Bruce Dickinson - "Tyranny of Souls"". Blabbermouth.net. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
  3. ^ Popoff, Martin (18 April 2005). "Bruce Dickinson - Tyranny of Souls". Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
  4. ^ Tombale, Pierre (27 August 2005). "Bruce Dickinson - Tyranny of Souls review". Metal Storm. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
  5. ^ Kühnemund, Götz (25 May 2005). "Review Album des Monats : Bruce Dickinson - Tyranny of Souls". Rock Hard (in German). No. 217. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
  6. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Bruce Dickinson – Tyranny of Souls" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
  7. ^ "Ultratop.be – Bruce Dickinson – Tyranny of Souls" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
  8. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Bruce Dickinson – Tyranny of Souls" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
  9. ^ "Bruce Dickinson: Tyranny of Souls" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
  10. ^ "Lescharts.com – Bruce Dickinson – Tyranny of Souls". Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
  11. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Bruce Dickinson – Tyranny of Souls" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
  12. ^ "Album Top 40 slágerlista – 2005. 21. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
  13. ^ "Italiancharts.com – Bruce Dickinson – Tyranny of Souls". Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
  14. ^ Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005 (in Japanese). Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
  15. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Bruce Dickinson – Tyranny of Souls". Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
  16. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Bruce Dickinson – Tyranny of Souls". Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
  17. ^ "Bruce Dickinson Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
  18. ^ "Bruce Dickinson | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
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