This album is great. Bruce Dickinson solo efforts keep getting better. Can't wait to see what he's up to next... Get this one!

With the powerful, syncopated rhythms and solid tight guitar grind this CD makes the new maiden records sound messy and ragged by comparison.

Better playing by a better overall band here, musically. I never liked Harris/McBrain as a rhythm team, and the guitar sounds on maiden records can sound mushy. What is McBrain doing with all those sloppy bass drum notes anyway? He could be a better groove player than this. Harris' rickety-dickety bass lines don't tie ir together like Bruce's super-solid guy does here.

This is a most harmonized effort, a dream record for Dickenson fans - the vocals are so above the '90s maiden stuff. Working along with Smith, guitarist Roy Z is such a great focused talent, almost a mini-Randy Rhoads (let's not kid ourself who's still the guitar god of all time.)

Chemical Wedding makes this kind of music sound relevant. Get this one and SCREAM BRAZIL, or else miss the best records of Bruce's life.

After a rather successful release with "Accident of Birth" Bruce Dickinson brought back Roy Z & Smith to record another album. Roy Z is behind the production knobs once again, and this is overall a bit heavier than it's predecessor, but at the price of it sounding a little muddy, or perhaps dirtier would be more appropriate. To top off this having some very cool lyrics, this is a conceptual album, but I'll leave the discovery up to the listener.

From a sonic standpoint, the Maiden-sque elements are for the most part totally absent, and are replaced by strange almost ambient blurbs amidst the songs. Some highlights being the absolutely hypnotizing title track, or the epic and winding Book of Thel, and of course you can't forget the killer bassline to The Tower. (Lovers in the toooweerrr: trust me this will stick in your head) In comparison to Accident of Birth, the whole album feels quite a bit different, more subtlety is involved and some of the stuff feels a little bit buried under the dirtier production.

It may not have the same appeal right away as some of Dickinson's other works, but it is just as brilliant. If you enjoyed his previous disc (or Thor help you Skunkworks) there's no reason not to give this one a shot. However keep one thing in mind; time is needed to unravel the secrets to The Chemical Wedding.

Note: Absolutely fantastic cover art.