Sarcasm aside, I didn't really feel any of the Steve epics on first listen and I can already say it was a mistake to put three of them right at the end. The arrangements feel so slapdash and random at times that the songs start to blend together and this is definitely not helped by how long they all are, nor by the amount of self-referencing Steve does in all of his songs. I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt that maybe the last three will improve on further listens (and especially once I can recognize them as distinctive songs rather than an amorphous blob of solid melodies) but honestly those songs exhausted me enough that I'm not really interested in doing a second runthrough right now. There's a lot of good melodies and bits and pieces that I like, but it's really just one of those "I wish these were in a more coherent structure and a bit shorter" things. I don't really feel like any of Steve's reunion era epics have been quite this random, but some of the 90s stuff definitely was, even the top dogs of that whole decade like SotC. Death of the Celts also bugs me a little because it's way too similar to The Clansman and I think he should've tried harder to make it feel and sound a little different. The other two I've got no specific comment on right now. They do all have that "musical journey" vibe going on, which is nice, but man, three acoustic intros leading to complicated, lengthy arrangements in a row was a bit much.
LIALW however, nah, that song doesn't belong on this album. I would've literally been okay if they'd cut everything but the acoustic intro and left that as a sort of really unique, oddball interlude type of piece, because it's the only part that really felt solid about that song. Funny how the acoustic intros start getting a little tiring by the end of the album, but on this track it's by far the best part! The song drags and the midsection repeats way too much, far more than Harris epics even typically do, or indeed even his other epics on the record. Plus then there's that bit that's just straight-up from WTWWB and it's not even subtle, really. I'm okay with plagiarizing yourself when it makes sense but on this album and this track it just sounded like recycling previous ideas with very minor alterations instead of coming up with new ones.
The other songs are all pretty great. The Time Machine is probably the weakest of the bunch, simply because it's kind of a bit too tried and true with its structure and the guitar intro that sounds like about three other Janick epics. I wasn't too keen on the verse riff/melody either but I suspect it's one of those things that will improve on repeated listens. Also it sounded like it was building up to more at the end, but then it just stops so that's a bit of shame too. Stratego is still one of the better short rockers of the reunion era, idk why anyone thinks it's bad, other than the solo being a little by-the-numbers. Adrian and Bruce meanwhile only produced excellent tracks on this one, with Darkest Hour being the obvious highlight and TWOTW up there too. Days of Future Past is probably the weakest of the three, but it's a very interesting-sounding tune and by no means bad. Still, it too falls into the "more listens needed" pile before I can really settle on any sort of opinion.
Oh yeah and then there's Senjutsu. I'll be honest: it's different, it seems pretty damn good, I like the drums, the chorus is not the best and it feels like it kills some of the song's momentum, and the song goes on just a tad too long. Like TTM, this will definitely be one of those "oh, now I get it!" moments with further spins and reading the lyrics as well, and in fact it's currently the only song I really want to listen to again. Most of the parts are really good, I just think it loses some of its steam by the end simply because it keeps going for just a little too long. I mean, we do get some cool solos and guitar out of it, but it's no Paschendale, which is probably the best example of a Smith/Harris composition that really justifies its length.
Band performances are basically as solid as you can get. Nicko is sounding lively, even if the tempos seem a little down at times and fluctuate a little distractingly, but given his age it's more than forgivable. His playing is definitely more interesting than on TBOS, other than maybe EOTC where I feel he really nailed it, and probably IESF too. Bruce performs well, his highs are pretty rough but the midrange singing is as solid as it gets considering the circumstances and their recording method and there's a few moments on the record where he goes to really interesting places with his low voice especially. Steve is doing interesting bass lines and he's definitely locked in with the drums, which is very much a joy to listen to, and all three guitarists have some pretty fantastic solos over the album (and boy there are a lot of them, I think this might be a new record for the amount of solos on a Maiden album even) along with very tasteful playing otherwise. I'm not too bothered by Janick (and sometimes Adrian) playing the vocal melody since it was never too distracting so I won't complain about that either.
