Bohemian Paris: Picasso, Modigliani, Matisse, and the Birth of Modern Art
Bohemian Paris: Picasso, Modigliani, Matisse, and the Birth of Modern Art
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Customer Review: Picasso - A true work of art
Firstly, this isn’t Iron Maiden. If your looking for anything even remotely close to Englands finest then check out ‘Accident of Birth’ or ‘Chemical Wedding’. If, on the other hand, your willing to take a little risk and experiment a little then check out this little gem, and for my cash, Bruce Dickinsons’ finest solo effort. I didn’t fully appreciate this album on first listen, it wasn’t until i saw the tour that backed this album that my ears and eyes opened up and i have never had any regrets. It’s an interesting exploration of various styles of rock music by a vocalist, who, let’s be honest, at that time wasn’t sure if this whole solo project was even going to work. He took a risk, and i urge you to do the same. From the best song you never heard on your radio in ‘Shoot all the Clowns’, to the social observations of ‘Sacred Cowboys’, into the soft, mellow tones of ‘Change of Heart’ to the anthemic and Bruce’s best solo effort of ‘Tears of the Dragon’ this album is so well constructed - it carries you along on a musical journey. From the opening chords of the examination of modern day media intrusion that is ‘Cyclops’, through a more rock vane of ‘1000 Points of Light’ to the Alex Dickinson (Bruces’ son) inspired ‘Laughing in the Hiding Bush’ this is Bruce at his songwritting best and sounding awesome. Buy it - buy it now - and buy it’s twin brother ‘Alive in Studio A’ - and don’t blame me if you suddenly realise that, with this gem nearly a decade old, you’ve been missing out big time.
Customer Review: Excellent album, but with a few weak tracks.
The opening song, Cyclops, is magnificent in every respect. Over seven minutes of pure unadulterated rock. A masterstroke to open the album with. Change of Heart, is also a fantastic song. But certainly not typical of Maiden’s stuff… definitly something that Bruce has thought he can pull off without them. And did he just. Makes you wonder really why he doesn’t write more like this for the Irons? A song of pure class. Tears of the Dragon, is easily the best song on the album and possibly Bruce’s finest ever, ranking easily alongside ‘Bring your daughter… to the Slaughter’. This is a completely different kind of track and probably more universally appealing. But if you are hard rock only don’t let that put you off. This album isn’t hard rock. Bruce avoided that until his ‘Chemical Wedding’ album. It is very much soft, as Bon Jovi is. The other tracks on the album are definitely listenable to, but they wn’t be the ones you’ll have playing seven times on repeat before moving on.
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Picasso’s War: The Destruction of Guernica and Picasso’s Masterpiece Customer Review: Fascinating story of a masterpiece
As all the reviews have said, this is a fascinating story of a masterpiece. The Spanish Civil War and Picasso’s life are well explainedto put the story of the painting itself into both contexts.
I’ll justadd that the book is let down by a lack of illustrations (the only one isof the painting itself), and by the lack of an index.
Customer Review: Flawed masterpiece
As ‘Guernica’ was the painting that introduced me to the works of Picasso, I was really looking forward to this book.
And it’s a convincing tale well told - with such a work of art (still) inextricably linked to international politics and war (both world and civil) Russell Martin does a competent job of placing the work into the necessary socio-political context.
The illustrations don’t do the painting justice - but how can you adequately illustrate Guernica in a small book anyway? Even weighty art books about the painting stuggle with this.
It’s a history of ‘Guernica’ as symbolic art rather than an analysis of the painting per se, whereas some fans may want to know more about the creative processes behind the production of the painting.
More ‘art’ and a larger format may have made this a great book, but as it stands it’s certainly a good book about the trials and tribulations of a great painting.
