Please post reviews and thoughts on Senjutsu here

Status
Not open for further replies.
Thanks @Gk1

Some further clarifications for my previous post:
____no5 said:
However I think that Birch had much more say than Kevin will ever have. The reason is simple, he had a legendary status already when was hired by an aspiring band. I think he worked exclusively for Maiden too, that speaks a ton.
Click to expand...

As a consequence of the above my feeling is that Martin just saying “I think the X would look better like this” would weight as an opinion and finally impact the compositions, just like that. If not always, some of the times.

____no5 said:
You cannot "produce" a band who doesn't want to be "produced".
You can insert other verbs to the above such as change, manage, guide, etc. It's the same principal of openness and utter trust towards your producer, mentor, manager, guide, you name it.
Click to expand...

Up until now I was thinking that a greatly produced album is mainly Producer’ child.
What I realized today is that it’s mainly the product of the Band.
Who was willing to follow, trust, let go, step outside their comfort zone and finally.. change.
 
@____no5 : Do you think Kevin would ever make Bruce sing the same 4 lines for 4 hours??

He is trying to have a result with the least effort possible. This is why it is so clear when he copy/pastes and stitches parts together. It doesn't take more than a few seconds' to see how superior - even NPFTD (which did not have the best sound) is to the newer albums
 
____no5 said:
I like a lot the sound of NPftD, crystal clear.
Click to expand...
I sure love the production work Martin did. I did not realise how important the sound was until I bought TXF. It is as if your first car is a Merc and then you have to change to a budget car.
 
If the compositions were strong /inspired I wouldn't mind. I don't like the sound of Senjutsu that much but I love Senjutsu so there's that.
 
____no5 said:
If the compositions were strong /inspired I wouldn't mind. I don't like the sound of Senjutsu that much but I love Senjutsu so there's that.
Click to expand...
My thoughts exactly. I really adore Senjutsu and I doubt this is going to change over time. I mean 10 days after each new release I would drop the album rotation. Now I can't get enough of the album. However the sound is not to my liking as well. For me this takes a lot out of the listening experience.
 
I was thinking today that if Senjutsu had a better (and more uniform) sound it could have been a breakthrough album with millions of sales.

It's out of this planet the album. Every song is good (with some very strong growers), lyrics generally very high quality, artwork well.. awesome, performances top notch..
 
I am really connected to Fear of the Dark (probably as it was my first "new Maiden release"). I enjoy Senjutsu the same way. I can see a lot of parallel between the two albums. I might post about it sometime.
A better sound would definitely lift the album even more. But this is the case with most reunion albums,right?
 
  • Like
Reactions: jcv
I like the sound of AMOLAD and BNW. And I got the impression that TBOS isn't too bad sound-wise either. DOD, TFF and this one, all suffer imo and if here is more evident it's because is a top 5 Maiden album.
 
@Gk1 : Here is my first translation in english of the french magazine Paris Match (the early september issue).

Iron Maiden – Metal Class

With ‘Senjutsu’, their 17th album, the kings of english hard rock are signing an excellent record. This is the occasion to cross swords with their singer Bruce Dickinson in a palace in Paris.

By Benjamin Locoge / Photo by Patrick Fouque


If man takes time to add up the ages of all the band members, they are 390 years old. This is the proof that Iron Maiden is immortal. For 45 years now, british guys incarnate what is the best in metal : telluric songs, dantesque guitar solos, a demonic vocalist and a rhythmic fire. Their previous opus, the indigestible ‘The Book Of Souls’, released in 2015, seemed to relegate them to the rank of stadiums bands content to live on their glorious past. Because yes, Maiden is sold-out at the Défense Arena on june 2022 and is still able to put half a million discs on retailers displays the week of the release. And then ‘Senjutsu’ arrived on late august. Not only Maiden has done a great album « à l’ancienne », but also has emancipated from the hard rock codes to flirt with progressive rock or blues. « When Steve Harris has told me about these songs », says Bruce, « I immediately saw that, what he suggested me, was a real challenge. Steve is using his voice as an instrument, while for me it’s everything but an instrument ». Dickinson knows what he’s talking about. Since 1981, he is the frontman, but Harris, the bassist, is still the mastermind. Harris composes, Bruce executes. With freedom to write some lyrics. But, the fans knows that all what Steve does is turning into gold. « He has accurate pictures of what he really wants », smiles Dickinson. « And when he draws a track like « The Parchment », I’m astounded. It’s a song that everyone seems to love despite its duration… It’s like it already turned as one of our classics ». If Bruce let himself be driven by this funny situation, that’s because he knows that all can disappear from day to day. Treated for a cancer some years ago, he saw the moment when he could not sing anymore. « Then, I became silent for 10 months. I showed a great and unusual patience ». And all came back progressively. Now, Dickinson is a respected singer and an adulated man. « I know what we owe to our fans. We’ve postponed our best-of tour because of the Covid, our next shows won’t allow us to promote this new album. The good news is that we would be able to do it into small venues in 2023 ». When we smile on the small venues concept, Dickinson agrees. « Yes, Bercy is about 15000 people, but from our point of view, it’s like a club ». The point is that he speaks out without trying to show off or frown. Iron Maiden began a mastodon of rock. Which knows how to question itself. It’s from now that the adventure becomes exciting.

ChroMaidenParisMatch.jpg
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
My CD finally arrived! It's been good to listen to it from something other than YouTube.

Right now my rough ranking and scoring for the album would be something like the following:

9/10 - Darkest Hour
9/10 - Stratego
8/10 - Writing On The Wall
8/10 - Senjutsu
7/10 - Hell On Earth
7/10 - The Parchment
6/10 - Days Of Future Past
5/10 - The Time Machine
5/10 - Lost In A Lost World
4/10 - Death Of The Celts

I know these scores probably seem a bit low but I rate them relative to the Maiden discography. You should actually read these numbers as "this album is consistently good with no real duds".

None of the songs are a 10/10 but I am being very sparse with those - only 10 or so songs between all of the albums.
 
TheMercenary said:
@Gk1 : Here is my first translation in english is from the french magazine Paris Match (the early september issue).
Click to expand...

Paris Match, TF1, M6, Arte, Le Parisien... it is the first time that Maiden has such a huge, mainstream media presence in France.

Writing that Bruve simply "execute" what Steve says is a bit of an exageration. Also Bercy has not a 15 000 but a 20 000 capacity, someone should tell Bruce about it. Anyway, thanks for posting this.
 
TheMercenary said:
Here is my first translation in english is from the french magazine Paris Match (the early september issue).
Click to expand...
Bruce thinks that ''The Parchment'' is already turned into one of the band's classics (the fans love it)... he can be sure, I'd say. :)

He also said that they would be able to do some small venues in 2023 for the album tour - I hope the tour will start next year (1st leg in Sep-Dec) though.

Thanks for the translation.
 
Kalata said:
Bruce thinks that ''The Parchment'' is already turned into one of the band's classics (the fans love it)... he can be sure, I'd say. :)

He also said that they would be able to do some small venues in 2023 for the album tour - I hope the tour will start next year (1st leg in Sep-Dec) though.

Thanks for the translation.
Click to expand...

By small he means big arenas like Bercy! :lol:
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top