Rolling on down to #1!

3.  Bruce Dickinson

Are these Bruce Dickinson’s prime years?  Like fine wine, ol’ Bruce Bruce gets better with age.  I’ve seen Maiden live multiple times over the years and as an overall performer he does not disappoint, ranking #1 on my list of favorite frontmen of all time (based on charisma, stage presence, command of crowd, etc).  Dickinson was put through the wringer early as Maiden toured non-stop throughout the ’80s, putting a lot of road miles on his voice and causing a bit of a change to his singing style (from more air raid siren with a bit of a growl to more growl with less air raid siren).  Come the early ’90s it seemed the man took on a new persona, belting out tunes with that raspier growl than the operatic highs of his early years.  But fear not!  Dickinson’s leave of absence from Maiden for a solo career seemed to recharge the batteries, leading to his inevitable return to the band and return to form as THE heavy metal vocalist of all time (IMHO).  Just watch Rock In Rio, the live DVD (and album) and listen to the man roar through the classics and new material from Brave New World with ease, especially “Run To The Hills”-  previously, Dickinson stayed away from the highs on this song but nowadays he’s found a jolt of new found power that allows him to hit these notes with ease.  Bruce Dickinson is the man!

Choice Cuts:  “Run To The Hills”, “The Number Of The Beast”, “The Trooper”, “Blood Brothers”

2.  Robin Zander

Like Rodney Dangerfield, Cheap Trick often get no respect-  the general music populace know the big hits like “I Want You To Want Me”, “Surrender”, “The Flame”, (maybe) “If You Want My Love” but have NO CLUE how awesome they really are.  Part of that awesomeness can be attributed to “The Man of a Thousand Voices”, Mr. Robin Zander.  Before the popular hits, Trick was a hard working, hard rockin’ bar band that played all over the country.  Once they got signed and put out their debut disc (an absolutely kickin’ slab o’ vinyl, check it out!), the “music business” took hold and parlayed Zander and bassist Tom Petersson’s good looks against the wackiness of Rick Nielsen and the frumpy suit and tie guyness of Bun E Carlos and started looking for ways to promote looks over music.  Yeah, it had it’s charms but it often undermined the talent that these guys have.  Zander can sing ANYTHING and make is sound good, one minute sounding like The Beatles, next minute all out roaring rock god, next minute soft crooner- often within the same song.  What’s even more amazing is that he still has great range and continues to amaze night after night.  The Choice Cuts below offer up non-hits and are highly recommended for newbies to check out the absolute talent this guy has.

Choice cuts:  “Gonna Raise Hell”, “Stop This Game”, “Anytime”,  “She’s Leaving Home”