25th Anniversary Red&Yellow Splatter Coloured Vinyl 2LP Reissue

For 1997’s Accident Of Birth, heavy metal in its most bombastic and destructive sense was firmly back on the agenda. Once again teaming up with Roy Z, Bruce Dickinson has rarely sounded more powerful than he does on this unsung ’90s metal gem.

With the added bonus of a certain Adrian Smith chipping in on lead guitar, it was a flat-out celebration of heavy metal, both past and present, with a sound that was as crushing and timely as anything the younger generation were producing, and songs that soared with the same ageless majesty that fans had long associated with Dickinson.

From the rampaging riff-riot of opener “Freak” and the shadowy melodrama of “Taking The Queen,” to the insanely catchy twin-lead euphoria of “Road To Hell” and the labyrinthine swell of “Omega,” Accident Of Birth was much more than a return to metal’s unsullied essence; this was a reclaiming of the throne from the genre’s most unstoppable protagonist.

LP1

1. Freak
2. Toltec 7 Arrival
3. Starchildren
4. Taking The Queen
5. Darkside Of Aquarius
6. Omega

LP2

1. Man Of Sorrows
2. Accident Of Birth
3. The Magician
4. Welcome To The Pit
5. Road To Hell
6. Arc Of Space