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Accident of Birth

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For the song, see Accident of Birth (song).
Accident of Birth
Studio album by
Bruce Dickinson
Released14 May 1997
StudioSilver Cloud Recording, Redondo Beach, CA
Sound City Studios, Los Angeles, CA
GenreHeavy metal
Length53:38
LabelCMC International, Duellist Enterprises Ltd., Abril Music
ProducerRoy Z
Bruce Dickinson chronology
Skunkworks Live EP
(1996) 		Accident of Birth
(1997) 		The Chemical Wedding
(1998)
Singles from Accident of Birth
  1. "Man of Sorrows"
    Released: 1997
  2. "Accident of Birth"
    Released: 1997
Alternative Covers
America Release cover
Alternative cover
2005 Reissue cover

Accident of Birth is a heavy metal album released in 1997 by Bruce Dickinson. It was published by Zomba Music.

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 the 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).

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Rock Hard (de)9.5/10[2]

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.[3]

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.

Track listing

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

No.TitleWriter(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 Smith3:57
7."Man of Sorrows"Dickinson5:20
8."Accident of Birth" 4:23
9."The Magician" 3:54
10."Welcome to the Pit"Dickinson, Smith4:43
11."Omega" 6:23
12."Arc of Space" 4:18
Total length:53:38


CMC International Records (U.S. and Japan)
No.TitleWriter(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 Smith3:57
7."Man of Sorrows"Dickinson5:20
8."Accident of Birth" 4:23
9."The Magician" 3:54
10."Welcome to the Pit"Dickinson, Smith4:43
11."The Ghost of Cain" (Only on this release)Dickinson, Smith4:12
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.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."The Ghost of Cain"Dickinson, Smith4:12
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

Principals

Additional musicians

  • Silvia Tsai – Violin ("Taking the Queen", "Man of Sorrows", "Arc of Space")
  • Rebecca Yeh – Cello ("Taking the Queen", "Man of Sorrows", "Arc of Space")
  • Richard Baker – Piano ("Man of Sorrows")

References

  1. ^ https://www.allmusic.com/album/r277266
  2. ^ Kühnemund, Götz. "Rock Hard review". issue 120. Retrieved 27 May 2013.
  3. ^ [...], 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. {{cite book}}: |last= has numeric name (help)
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