Kevin Shirley’s production of Senjutsu

Josh said:
One of the best sounding Maiden albums in my opinion is Killers. The atmosphere in that record is very unique and special to me.
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Killers has a world-class production for obvious reasons. They had just gotten a legendary producer and he was willing to show what's in him. However, I prefer the way the debut sounds because the rough, dirty edge serves Paul much more than an excellent production that shows us how limited he is and how much the band has outgrown him.
 
TBH listening to some studio covers of Maiden tunes by other bands, man I'd love Maiden to sound like that. It does make you realise that the production, certainly recently, isn't great, in fact it sounds pretty amateurish. The albums are great in spite of the production but because of it. However that's how they like so so be it.
 
Christopher Baines said:
TBH listening to some studio covers of Maiden tunes by other bands, man I'd love Maiden to sound like that. It does make you realise that the production, certainly recently, isn't great, in fact it sounds pretty amateurish. The albums are great in spite of the production but because of it. However that's how they like so so be it.
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Ultimately the music sounds how Steve wants it to sound. So be it. I just try to hear it like he does. The music is good no matter what.
 
Christopher Baines said:
TBH listening to some studio covers of Maiden tunes by other bands, man I'd love Maiden to sound like that. It does make you realise that the production, certainly recently, isn't great, in fact it sounds pretty amateurish. The albums are great in spite of the production but because of it. However that's how they like so so be it.
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I'd rather they sound the way they do (ie, human) rather than the midi triggered, pre-programmed sound that most metal bands have now.
 
I do not get this "it is better that they do not sound like the processed / polished modern era productions". You know there are other options too!!! Maybe sounding clear for a change? Maybe without on one moment the voice gets burried and then for some reason some of the guitars get muddy as hell. come on people....
 
Senjutsu production is not perfect but for me it is the best since BNW. If there is another album I would be fine if the production was like BNW. It would be a pipe dream to have Powerslave level of production, which is my favorite "sounding" Maiden album. But yeah, no modern metal sound - that's not who Maiden are.
 
Gk1 said:
I do not get this "it is better that they do not sound like the processed / polished modern era productions". You know there are other options too!!! Maybe sounding clear for a change? Maybe without on one moment the voice gets burried and then for some reason some of the guitars get muddy as hell. come on people....
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I see a lot of folks mentioning clear sound as thought it means the same thing to everyone. I can hear all the instruments and the album sounds perfectly "clear" to me. The album sounds as it was intended to sound. That doesn't mean that improvements can't be made, but I bet if 10 fans took it on themselves to improve the album, we'd have 10 new versions of it.
 
chaosapiant said:
I see a lot of folks mentioning clear sound as thought it means the same thing to everyone. I can hear all the instruments and the album sounds perfectly "clear" to me. The album sounds as it was intended to sound. That doesn't mean that improvements can't be made, but I bet if 10 fans took it on themselves to improve the album, we'd have 10 new versions of it.
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Well, the best way to see what I mean is if you play any FOTD or any other album from the 80s next to a Senjutsu song!
 
I worship Senjutsu & love Shirley but parts of the album are almost annoying to hear sound wise, i.e. title track.

As Zare mentioned above Kevin is more of a high level Engineer than Producer, same as Martin was before him. Thing is that Harris has much tighter control since the reunion compared to 80s, therefore problem is not Kevin, but Harris "co" producing the albums.

Tip: Thread title would be better off Steve Harris’ co- production of Senjutsu :smartarse:

Gk1 said:
Well, the best way to see what I mean is if you play any FOTD or any other album from the 80s next to a Senjutsu song!
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Not "any other". Somewhere in Time & Seventh Son productions are not impeccable.

Zare said:
Maiden never had a Bob Rock - certainly not that down in career when Metallica hired him.
He totally changed the way band does things and introduced a 'big name producer' to the band (and to the genre I'd say).
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Not completely accurate if Rick -the God- Rubin was involved with Slayer since Reign in Blood. Walk this Way was already released /and had a major breakthrough a few months earlier.
Not to mention South of Heaven & Seasons in the Abyss that were released prior Black Album when Rubin was already an established superstar.

And Rick, is the definition of a big name producer, even since then. Run DMC +Aerosmith, Beastie Boys (you can see Rubin in that video, 2:53 with a Slayer t-shirt), Black Crows up to then and counting.
Check the documentary of Blood Sugar Sex Magik (Productiuon started early 1991) and you'll know it.
 
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I was watching the making of Postcards from a Young Man by the Manic Street Preachers and it shows them using real strings:


It beggars belief Maiden would go with cheap synths instead.
 
^Alas, it's not question of money only, but rather culture. Maiden used real orchestra in 2000 (see, S&M was still fresh), then they went the convenience way.
Didn't blink an eye. Similar bitter feeling when double LP Fear of the Dark came out one year after the Black one.
So when they returned to synths I didn't blink an eye either.
 
____no5 said:
^Alas, it's not question of money only, but rather culture. Maiden used real orchestra in 2000 (see, S&M was still fresh), then they went the convenience way.
Didn't blink an eye. Similar bitter feeling when double LP Fear of the Dark came out one year after the Black one.
So when they returned to synths I didn't blink an eye either.
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Maiden didn't use a real orchestra in 2000, Jeff Bova did it with synths
 
Thanks! I see that they used him for Empire of the Clouds too. Sound not that rich there. It could have been a titan of a song with an accomplished pianist and an orchestra.

And I'd like to see some orchestra /Jeff Bova in Dance of Death song.
 
There is an orchestral mix of it on the bside to one of the DOD singles, not sure who did it, haven't listened to it in a while but my memory is I thought it was pretty good. Also, the orchestra is really missed on the Blood Brothers Rock Mix
 
Spot on! I totally forgot!
I may had even bought it back in the day and in any case I have listened to it. Now I remember I didn't like it then, but I could have a different opinion now.
Could that be the Rainmaker single? Or No More Lies? Surely not Wildest Dreams. Very impressive srfc!
 
Yes it makes perfect sense, I don't remember to have bought No More Lies, but I did buy the first two. I was living in France then.
I don't recall any Japanese labels on the pocket.
 
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