Senjutsu 4th anniversary

A

andreljbernardo

Educated Fool
Today marks four years since Senjutsu was released. Time flew by and I started this thread to hear your thoughts on it after all this time.

I still really like it; it's an album that's aged well for me, better than The Book of Souls, for example. I still consider Stratego, TWOTW, The Parchment, and Hell on Earth to be very strong songs, some of the best from the post-reunion era. And also enjoy Senjutsu, LIALW, and Death of the Celts.

What do you guys think? Has the album aged well or poorly?
 
I still consider it one of my favorite Maiden albums, so that's great. One of the best too, with Top 10 material. It feels fresh, interesting(! more than half of it) and impactful, which is important. No filler, all killer (yes even the not popular Lost World, Time Machine and Celts, they all bring something noticeable to the album). Also, a special one because of Nicko.

If I have to note some gripes: one or two more repeats in Hell On Earth(!) and a harmony for Days Of Future Past. That's it. And I would like more (1-2, with no intros) shorter and faster(!) songs per album. No doubt. Some parts are lengthy, but most of the time it's not something that bothers me much.

The production probably hasn't aged that well. I would like a more modern one for once.

Time flies. I really miss releasing new albums more often. Come on, Maiden...
 
MindRuler said:
Not even the seagulls man?
Click to expand...

1667857701646-gif.23564
 
I think it holds up much better for me than Book of Souls. I still spin it a few times a week, that freshness hasn't worn off. The only parts I'd cut are the seagulls on Darkest Hour and maybe one of the 17 intros on Death of the Celts.

The subsequent tours featuring these songs were also pretty amazing as well which doesn't hurt. I'm just bummed we never got a full blown Senjustu tour, but Future Past was pretty close.

I can't believe it's been 4 years already, man time flies. I hope we all will have at least one more opportunity to enjoy a new Maiden release for the first time again. But if we don't, I think they went out with a total banger.
 
It is a bit bloated in places but that seems a recent theme. A good album though and up there with BNW as one of the best reunion albums.
Stratego, TWOTW, Hell on Earth are all top drawer.
 
GhostofCain said:
I still find it as overbloated and plodding as I did 4 years ago. There are some good moments in there, but to me it is the weakest reunion album.
Click to expand...

You’ve been consistent, I’ll give you that.

For me, though, it’s gotten worse. I still hold Parchment, Hell on Earth, and Writing on the Wall in very high regard, but I haven’t felt the urge to listen to Senjutsu album again in the past two years.

Current reunion ranking:
AMOLAD
BNW
Dance of Death
Senjutsu
The Final Frontier
The Book of Souls
 
Probably my second favourite reunion album I reckon, if I had to choose. My Rankings below:

AMOLAD
Senjutsu
BNW
The Book of Souls
Dance of Death
The Final Frontier
 
I've had at least one song from this album (though mostly the outro of Hell on Earth, or the choruses of Days of Future Past and The Time Machine) going around in my head since the day of release. It's aged incredibly well, much better than TBoS (which recently celebrated it's 9th anniversary, according to Maiden's official Instagram ;)) and The Final Frontier. The production (while still having its flaws, yes) is a big improvement over its two predecessors and the pacing of the songs is much better. I was a little concerned when I saw the tracklist for the first time, and the three 'arry epics closing the album, but their moods are so different from one another that it never feels like a slog to get through them - like TFF's second half.

It's gets its two weakest tracks - the title track and Lost in a Lost World, though I mostly enjoy both - out of the way quite early, then gets into the real meat of the album and doesn't let up. Yes, The Time Machine is derivative, yes, the seagulls go on a bit, no, Death of the Celts doesn't need four intros, but those are really the only flaws I can think of after LIALW.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top