The Best of Bruce Dickinson is a compilation album

Compilation album

A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...

 released in 2001 by Bruce Dickinson

Bruce Dickinson

Paul Bruce Dickinson is an English singer, songwriter, airline pilot, fencer, broadcaster, author, screenwriter, actor and marketing director, best known as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden....

. Two versions were released; a single disc version and a bonus disc version. On the front cover, the album title is imposed upon the seal of the demon Astaroth

Astaroth

Astaroth , in demonology, is a Crowned Prince of Hell. He is a male figure named after the Canaanite goddess Ashtoreth.-Background:...

.

Disc 1 is a selection of songs from his previous solo albums, with the addition of two new songs, "Broken" and "Silver Wings", both of which were written by Dickinson and guitarist/producer Roy Z. Disc 2 contains rare songs, most of which have appeared as b-sides on singles. The track "The Voice of Crube" is an explanation

Explanation

An explanation is a set of statements constructed to describe a set of facts which clarifies the causes, context, and consequencesof those facts....

 of the various songs, narrated by Bruce (for whom 'Crube' is an anagram

Anagram

An anagram is a type of word play, the result of rearranging the letters of a word or phrase to produce a new word or phrase, using all the original letters exactly once; e.g., orchestra = carthorse, A decimal point = I'm a dot in place, Tom Marvolo Riddle = I am Lord Voldemort. Someone who...

).

Disc one

1. "Broken" (Dickinson, Z) – 4:00
2. "Tattooed Millionaire
   Tattooed Millionaire (song)
   "Tattooed Millionaire" is the first single from Bruce Dickinson's debut solo album, Tattooed Millionaire. It was released on 11 April 1990. "Tattooed Millionaire" reached number 18 on the UK charts...
   
   " (Dickinson, Gers) – 4:25
3. "Laughing in the Hiding Bush" [live] (Dickinson, Dickson, Z) – 4:09
4. "Tears of the Dragon
   Tears of the Dragon
   "Tears of the Dragon" is the first single from Bruce Dickinson's second solo album, Balls to Picasso, released on 28 May 1994. Allmusic called "Tears of the Dragon" a "magnificent" track,"by far the album's best song".- Track listing :...
   
   " (Dickinson) – 6:19
5. "The Tower" (Dickinson, Z) – 4:43
6. "Born in '58
   Born in '58
   "Born in '58" is the last single from Bruce Dickinson's debut solo album, Tattooed Millionaire, released in October 1990. The song is about Bruce Dickinson's early life, growing up with his Grandparents in Worksop ....
   
   " (Dickinson, Gers) – 3:36
7. "Accident of Birth
   Accident of Birth (song)
   "Accident of Birth" is the first single from Bruce Dickinson's fourth solo album, Accident of Birth, released in 1997 and peaking at number 54 in the UK Singles Chart. Dickinson described the song as "about a family from Hell. Except they're in Hell and one of them has accidentally been born, and...
   
   " (Dickinson, Z) – 4:28
8. "Silver Wings" (Dickinson, Z) – 4:16
9. "Darkside of Aquarius" (Dickinson, Z) – 6:50
10. "Chemical Wedding" (Dickinson, Z) – 4:05
11. "Back from the Edge
    Back from the Edge
    "Back from the Edge" is the first and only single released to promote Bruce Dickinson's third solo studio album, Skunkworks, released on 7 March 1996...
    
    " (Dickinson, Dickson) – 4:16
12. "Road to Hell" (Dickinson, Smith) – 3:58
13. "Book of Thel" [live] (Casillas, Dickinson, Z) – 8:27

Disc two

1. "Bring Your Daughter... to the Slaughter
   Bring Your Daughter... to the Slaughter
   "Bring Your Daughter... to the Slaughter" is the second single from No Prayer for the Dying, Iron Maiden's first full-length album in over two years...
   
    (Original Soundtrack Version)" (Dickinson) – 5:00
2. "Darkness Be My Friend" (Dickinson) – 2:00
3. "Wicker Man (Accident of Birth-sessions, 1997)" (Dickinson , Roy Z) – 4:40
4. "Real World" (Dickinson, Z) – 3:55
5. "Acoustic Song" (Dickinson, Z) – 4:23
6. "No Way Out... Continued" (Baker, Crichton, Dickinson) – 5:18
7. "Midnight Jam" (Dickinson, Smith, Z) – 5:11
8. "Man of Sorrows
   Man of Sorrows (song)
   Man of Sorrows is the second single from Bruce Dickinson's fourth solo album, Accident of Birth, released on 3 June 1997. The song was originally written for a film called Chemical Wedding, which existed only as a script at the time...
   
   (Demo)" (Dickinson) – 5:15
9. "Ballad of Mutt" (Dickinson, Gers) – 3:33
10. "Re-Entry" (Dickinson, Dickson) – 4:03
11. "I'm in a Band With an Italian Drummer
    I'm in a Band With an Italian Drummer
    I'm in a Band With an Italian Drummer is an ironic/spoof rock song by Bruce Dickinson, first issued as the B-side of his 1996 single "Back from the Edge" off his solo album Skunkworks, and subsequently released on the second disc of the 2001 Best of Bruce Dickinson compilation...
    
    " (Dale) – 3:52
12. "Jerusalem" [live] (Dickinson, Z) – 6:43
13. "The Voice of Crube" – 13:45
14. "Dracula" (D.Siviter, P.Siviter) – 3:45

Personnel

• Bruce Dickinson
  Bruce Dickinson
  Paul Bruce Dickinson is an English singer, songwriter, airline pilot, fencer, broadcaster, author, screenwriter, actor and marketing director, best known as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden....
  
   - vocals
• Roy Z
  Roy Z
  Roy Z is a guitarist, songwriter and producer known for his work with Bruce Dickinson , Rob Halford and Judas Priest. He also is the founder of Tribe of Gypsies, a hard rock band with Latin influences.-Biography:...
  
   - guitar, piano, mellotron
• Adrian Smith
  Adrian Smith
  Adrian Frederick "H" Smith is an English musician and one of three guitarists in the heavy metal band, Iron Maiden. He is also one of the band's regular songwriters and, along with bassist Steve Harris, performs backing vocals on some songs.-Biography:While at school, Smith purchased his first...
  
   - guitar
• Janick Gers
  Janick Gers
  Janick Robert Gers is an English musician, best known for being one of the three current guitarists in Iron Maiden, along with Dave Murray and Adrian Smith, as well as his earlier work with Gillan and White Spirit.-Career and Personal Life:...
  
   - guitar
• Eddie "Cheddar" Casillas - bass
• Alex Dickson - guitar
• Andi Carr - bass
• Chris Dale - bass
• Doug Vanbooven - percussion
• Fabio del Rio - drums
• Alessandro Elena - drums
• Dickie Fliszar - drums
• Dave Ingraham - drums
• Phil Siviter - drums (on "Dracula")
• Doug Siviter - bass (on "Dracula")
• Baz Eardley - guitar (on "Dracula")

Production

• Producers: Jack Endino
  Jack Endino
  Jack Endino is a producer and musician based in Seattle. Long associated with Seattle label Sub Pop and the grunge movement, Endino worked on seminal albums from bands such as Mudhoney, Soundgarden, and Nirvana...
  
  , Shay Baby, Roy Z
  Roy Z
  Roy Z is a guitarist, songwriter and producer known for his work with Bruce Dickinson , Rob Halford and Judas Priest. He also is the founder of Tribe of Gypsies, a hard rock band with Latin influences.-Biography:...
  
  
• Engineers: Jack Endino
  Jack Endino
  Jack Endino is a producer and musician based in Seattle. Long associated with Seattle label Sub Pop and the grunge movement, Endino worked on seminal albums from bands such as Mudhoney, Soundgarden, and Nirvana...
  
  , Spencer May
• Mixing: Spencer May, Shay Baby