Please post reviews and thoughts on Senjutsu here

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gazda said:
TNOTB and TXF were only tours where first song from the album was not opener?
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True. And in TNOTB case, the album opener was not even played live. SOTC was replaced with MOTE for TXF tour.

They've opened with an epic before (IESF), so I can see ''Senjutsu'' as the first song in the setlist (the walk-on Eddie could appear during Trooper later in the set, for example). Bruce said that it will be a good concert opener. I also think so. If they open with the title track, ''Stratego'' will certainly be the next song. The centerpiece of the set will be one of the last two songs in the album.

The other two contenders for the opening spot are obviously ''Stratego'' and DOFP - the latter is a better opener imo... Adrian could come up first on stage and start with the riff in the spotlight (like when they open with TWM).
 
About a week after first hearing the album, there's not much to say. I like all the songs(some more than others). Some sound a bit rehashed but in a more elaborate way. My main concern is the clarity of the sound and how it relates to the listening pleasure. This played a great role for me in the past. This is why I enjoy Martin's produtions that much. It has nothing to do with the fact that I detest the post re-union material. I find some patterns disturbing and there seems to be some repeating trends (as usual). I feel that despite the intro/outro trend that most of the times just wastes time for no real reason, I think all the songs have much more "meat" than most songs over the last 25+ years. Easily my favorite post reunion album. Lowering the pitch of Bruce's vocals and getting rid of the monotonous chorus repetitions did wonders for them. So did ignoring the traditional verse/chorus/verse/chorus formula in many of the songs. Despite the obvious shortcomings, I think this is a highly entertaining album with variation, imagination and emotion.

Best songs IMO:

Days fo Future Past / Darkest Hour / Stratego/ Hell on Earth / Senjutsu /.

Even having half the album songs already in my all time Maiden favorite songs speaks volumes.

After 31 years of listening to Maiden I think I can spot "good" Maiden material (for my own liking) on first listen.
 
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First forum post - I've been "lurking and liking" for a while now.

There's so much to unpack with this record, it took me a couple of run-throughs for me to really take it all in. But it doesn't feel like 80 minutes, it flies by.

I'm blown away by this album. It's like the band reached into my mind to see what I loved best about their back catalogue and made my perfect album. Pinching myself that it's real.

Any talk of cutting songs or intros is just mind boggling. Those intros are some of the album's highlights. Gives it variety - light and shade. I can see how Steve's noodling at the start of TRATB might be seen as self-indulgent, but all the intros on this album are beautifully played stunning melodies.

I could listen to 9 minutes of the intro to LIALW as a track in itself - if anything, it's not long enough!

OK, I'll admit: It sounds a muddier than the 80s albums. And a bit of noise/distortion on the epics - shame - but it is what it is. I try not to let the experience be spoiled by nitpicking. I can ignore the flaws because the music is that good.

The Parchment and Hell on Earth are both up there with their best epic closers - to get TWO epics of that calibre ending an album is astonishing.

That riff at 3:32 of Parchment is as good as anything in Hallowed (my fave track), it's just slower and majestic. And the beautiful intro/outro from HOE completely wipes the floor with the intro/outro to WTWWB (which up to now has been my second fave Maiden track).

And then there's Death of the Celts too, which is no slouch. When I've got a spare half hour, I like to listen to all three.

I think from Time Machine onwards, each track gets better and trumps the one before it.

Jaw-droppingly good.

I'll stop waffling now in fear of sounding like a teenage fanboy. I'm old enough to know better and have only been a fan since 2019...
 
mihai said:
Fact: Guitar lead over vocals is garbage in 99% of the cases.
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If they are playing the same line, I agree. It's just lazy arranging or even a way of forcing Bruce to sing exactly that melody.

BTW, The Parchement fast section is veeeeery close to HBTN solo section.
 
Meliegree said:
So, in short, if we don't like song then the problem is with us and not the song because most certainly the song is good and will grow on us given chance. :cool:
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Well, it's all down to taste. I don't think there's anything wrong with the songs. I'm damn lucky that this album is right up my street, but I can understand how disappointing it must be for long-time fans who simply aren't into it.
 
CrimsonEmotions said:
I gave the album a second listen yesterday, and it reminds me a lot of current Dream Theater insofar as the songs sound good when you listen to them, but nothing stays with you afterwards. A day later, I cannot think of a single melody from that album, which is rare for IM. Even Book of Souls had the memorable chorus of The Red and the Black, and most of Empire of the Clouds.

Nonetheless, I'd say the two biggest problems with the album are a lack of up-tempo rockers and the pacing of the album. For the third album in a row, they open up with a mid-tempo song when they should be melting your face off from moment one. The title track is a pretty good song, but it sounds like it should be a mid-album song rather than its opener. On the other hand, I'd be hard pressed to think of a true opener to this album. And closing the album with three songs over ten minutes (with another two songs coming close) is just plain indulgence. With some judicious trimming, this could easily have been a single-CD.

I'm not saying this album is bad--it isn't. THere certainly isn't anything as cringeworthy as The Angel and the Gambler. However, it's traveling similar ground that Maiden has done in the last several albums. Perhaps some of the tracks will grow on me (I like Darkest Hour, Parchment, Death of the Celts), but there isn't a single track that I can point to as "classic Maiden." I'm not expecting a return to the 80's, but they've done some great stuff since their reunion (Brave New World, AMOLD, some material on Dance of Death and Book of Souls). I'm just not seeing anything truly great on this album.
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That's pretty much my summation also. The damn thing needed lots of trimming, so.........great post. The only melodies that have stuck with me after about 4 full listens are Days of Future past and HOE. As for the opener, I think Days of Future Past would be the best one when they do the "album tour"
 
BloodOnTheBassistsHands said:
What stands out to me is this is Harris's most inspired, engaged bass playing since at least "Brave New World" (and probably even farther back). This album will be a lot more fun and challenging to learn how to play on bass compared to the last few.
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I'd say since X Factor.

Steve has barely written a riff in decades, preferring to play new melodies over the same old chords.
 
I thought he suddenly woke up on TBOS. There's some great bass playing, for instance on title track. It was really unremarkable a few albums before that.
 
My personal view

Outstanding = Senjutsu, Hell on Earth, WOTW
Good = Death of the celts, days of future past
Meh = time machine parchment darkest hour
Crap = stratego lost in a lost world (intro is amazing but then ruined)
 
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