Senjutsu - 3rd September 2021

If Eternity Should Fail ending is also in the same key, as this new track. Ending of IESF = intro to WOTW.
The verses are done in the same style as Tears of a Clown. The main lick is something Smith would've done as texture before.

Song is not Maiden by the numbers, but it's far from surprising, as its ingredients have popped up before, often.
You're right. The only surprising thing in TWOTW is the western intro, I think (not so much though... still sounds like Maiden).

Good call about IESF outro. :ok:
If I recall the Kerrang interview correctly it mentioned some blues and folk elements? as well as others?
I think we can expect those blues elements from Adrian/Bruce and the folk elements from Janick or Steve.
 
“We had a few ideas. We went into the studio and tried them out, and when they worked, we just recorded straight away. So while we were rehearsing, everything was being recorded – the tape was rolling the whole time."




“Steve would literally lock himself away for two or three days, and we’d all turn up and play pinball,” he continues. “And then he’d say, ‘I think I’ve got one, chaps. Oi! Everybody in the studio!’ Boom. The stuff I wrote with Adrian was a bit more conventional – we’d stand around and play guitar and sing and do that until we thought we had something. Then we’d rehearse it and put it straight down. It’s more organic, if you like. Steve tends to be quite detailed and meticulous in exactly how he wants it.”


This sounds so random to me. It is not that they are a punk band, we are talking about 12 minutes songs being recorded here. TWOTW is a solid track but nothing spectacular. I think Maiden still got great ideas but they tend to spend too little time in the arrangements and the elaboration of their music.
 
This sounds so random to me. It is not that they are a punk band, we are talking about 12 minutes songs being recorded here. TWOTW is a solid track but nothing spectacular. I think Maiden still got great ideas but they tend to spend too little time in the arrangements and the elaboration of their music.
My thoughts on this:
With so many epics, Steve will have to deliver as a song writer and the good news is that he has almost always done that for Maiden.

The key sentence in the interview is when Bruce says Steve is very meticulous/detailed in the arrangements. So we should have a bit more faith in the maiden process. TBOS was recorded in the same way and did not disappoint.

The arrangements on TWOTW was fantastic and it did not sound randomly put together. The Adrian solo was well thought out and constructed and in my view one of his best work in the past few albums.

So I still think this album will be a level above TBOS both in terms of music and production.
 
My thoughts on this:
With so many epics, Steve will have to deliver as a song writer and the good news is that he has almost always done that for Maiden.

The key sentence in the interview is when Bruce says Steve is very meticulous/detailed in the arrangements. So we should have a bit more faith in the maiden process. TBOS was recorded in the same way and did not disappoint.

The arrangements on TWOTW was fantastic and it did not sound randomly put together. The Adrian solo was well thought out and constructed and in my view one of his best work in the past few albums.

So I still think this album will be a level above TBOS both in terms of music and production.

To be honest I do not think Steve has done a decent song for ages. Even his latest example TRATB contains too many redundant parts that do not really add anything to the song....untill we get to the second part of the song. Do not get me wrong I think that almost all the ideas in his songs are cool, but IMO he just reuses them too much in each song and his choruses are never-ending.

As for TWOTW seems to be thought out but IMO it kind of drags towards the end. Then again the solos are great, the tempo shift midchorus is great and there are great details in the guitars. It is not H and Bruce I am afraid of, Steve is my concern. Of course he does not need me to tell him what to do, but I just don't think that for over 20 years now his songs have any right to be as long as they are. Let's see how he does in the latest album though. For now I am a bitr nervous about what he might do. But by all means bring it on!!!

And this "vocals-follow-the-single-guitar-melody is kind of getting old by now. IMO of course. :)
 
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In my opinion, For The Greater God of God was the last decent Harris song. Massive actually. And before that, The Clansman.

15 years later I still skip the track, when Bruce sounds like a broken record, going through the choruses again and again and again!!! :)
 
15 years later I still skip the track, when Bruce sounds like a broken record, going through the choruses again and again and again!!! :)
If you don't like For the greater good, then i am afraid you will probably not like this album.For most of us that song is an absolute killer tune.

It is a matter of taste really. I am not fixated on specific details like repetitive choruses to the point where i don't enjoy the song overall.
 
I think Sign of the Cross > Greater Good of Good. Both fantastic Harris tunes with similar atmosphere, but SOTC wins out for me.

I don't think Harris is losing his touch, but I agree that Wild Wind and TRATB both have some parts that could have been tightened, shortened or removed. Wild Wind is absolutely fantastic until the last part ("They make a tea and sit there waiting...") when the words are nice but the music plodding and Bruce kinda just talks over it. TRATB verse melody everyone knows about - I like it but Bruce cannot lock into the music, no matter how much he tries.

BUT I'm massively excited that this is the biggest 'solo' Harris contribution since the 90s!!!

I know people wank themselves silly over Bruce and/or Adrian, but I though Empire of Clouds was boring as hell and both Death or Glory and Speed of Light very average. When I listen to Maiden I actually want the Harris sound and feel, not Bruce and H trying to mimic it.
 
And this "vocals-follow-the-single-guitar-melody is kind of getting old by now. IMO of course. :)
If you're hoping that won't happen, you're out of luck - he's been doing it ever since Prowler, and I don't think he's going to stop. He has done it well, though, such as in the pre-chorus of The Book of Souls.
 
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I know each song gets song writing credits but this is a collaborative effort from all the guys. For example Blood Brothers is a Harris song but it would not be so epic without that Janick instrumental section in the middle. So what we can hope for is that the 3 amigos bring their A game to all the Steve epics. We need strong instrumental sections and some face melting solos in those 10 odd minutes :)
 
The key sentence in the interview is when Bruce says Steve is very meticulous/detailed in the arrangements. So we should have a bit more faith in the maiden process. TBOS was recorded in the same way and did not disappoint.
The arrangements on TWOTW was fantastic and it did not sound randomly put together. The Adrian solo was well thought out and constructed
^ This. Steve always delivers. The repeated parts in his songs are almost always great imo.
TWOTW is a solid track but nothing spectacular.
What is spectacular for you? The song to be an instant classic?

TWOTW has some amazing and unique things in it - the intro, the triple-lead guitar harmonies (I wish they were longer) and Adrian's solo.
 
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