BREAKING: Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson Ag…read more.
July 2025
Legendary Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson is reminding us again that age is just a number and epic music never actually gets stale. The metal icon has just unveiled a high-energy new take on “Cyclops,” one of the most aggressive and theatrical cuts on his 1994 solo album Balls to Picasso. Entitled now “Cyclops (Reimagined Version)”, the song is part of a thrilling new endeavor called More Balls to Picasso, out on July 25, 2025.
This isn’t a remaster, though it’s a complete reimagining. From the very first note of the song, listeners will hear a richer, deeper production, heavier guitar riffs, and an urgency that makes it seem like a whole new creation instead of a revisit of something 30 years in the past.
Speaking of the project, Dickinson noted this wasn’t nostalgiathis was honoring the creative fire of the original with the additional tools and sonic specificity of modern production.
“When we started remixing everything for Dolby Atmos, I knew that these songs still had a message to give,” Dickinson said. “But now they could yell it louder and more intelligibly.”
From the Shadows to the Spotlight
First released during a period when Dickinson was on hiatus from Iron Maiden, Balls to Picasso was an experimental detour that allowed him to venture into darker moods, grittier guitars, and intensely personal words. “Cyclops” was among its most ambitious tracks—dark, rambling, and cinematic. The remastered version adds all of those qualities, aided by soaring orchestration, new guitar by Philip Näslund, and modern mixing by Brendan Duffey.
And while most reissues simply tweak previous recordings, More Balls to Picasso features two never-before-heard live-in-the-studio songs “Gods of War” and “Shoot All the Clowns”—along with a thorough reconstruction of the album’s sound.
With a dash of surprise seasoning, Dickinson also called in a horn section performed by Berklee College of Music students, providing an added burst of brass swagger to “Shoot All the Clowns”.
Visuals, Vinyl, and the Road Ahead
To coincide with its release, Dickinson has unveiled an official visualizer for “Cyclops (Reimagined Version)”—a dark, abstract take on the song’s subject matter, giving fans a glimpse into the dark world hidden beneath the words.
The album will be released in deluxe formats, including splatter vinyl editions and tri-panel digisleeve CDs, making it a must-have for fans and collectors alike.
And that’s just the beginning. Dickinson will be hitting the road for The Mandrake Project Live 2025, his biggest North American solo tour in decades. With shows starting August 22 in Anaheim, fans will get to hear not only the new material but classic solo staples played with renewed energy.
At 66, Bruce Dickinson is not slowing down. With More Balls to Picasso and “Cyclops (Reimagined),” he’s not looking back he’s moving forward, reminding us why he’s still one of the greatest voices in metal.
