"Senjutsu": Wow. That was unexpected, for an album opener at least. Got to be their slowest-tempo opener ever, though not without energy. It lurches ahead with the heaviness of a parade of elephants. Someone told Nicko to "play the opposite of Aces High" and somehow it worked.
"Stratego": Sequencing of this track now makes sense. That opening gallop hits twice as hard after an opener like "Senjutsu". First direct comparison I can make to the pre-release audio, and this is much better, esp. the vocal clarity.
"The Writing On The Wall": Again, the improvement in audio quality is striking; it seems like a new song again. Again, superb solos.
"Lost In A Lost World": Thick acoustic guitars (including an acoustic bass) and a early 70s vibe for the intro. Then complicated Harris riffs, against syncopated drums and a good verse melody. Now to a slightly faster 4/4 for a chorus -- I know it's the chorus, Bruce is repeating the title -- and then harmonized guitars alternating with bass-driven riffs. This is classic Harris stuff. Two Amigos take solos, and then yet another new harmony-guitar melody. Standard Harris ending: double chorus (total four song titles sung) and wind it down with some Clansman-type stuff. If all the Harris epics are this good, this album is going to kill.
"Days Of Future Past": High energy-track, a nice change after a Harris epic. Love the sequencing on this album so far. Tasty drumming by Nicko at the end.
"The Time Machine": Another slow intro, not bad at all. But once the rock kicks in, it gets even better. Tricky, twisty vocal melody and Janick playing along merrily the whole while, a whole pile of Celtic-sounding riffs. A couple good solos about two-thirds in. Modal and medieval sounding; Jan was clearly writing his new dancing music for this tour.
"Darkest Hour": Have you ever taken a vinyl 45 and played it at 33 rpm? Sounds like slow-motion music. That's what this song is: a standard Bruce+H rocker, at about half speed. Slo-mo Maiden. H stole the opening riff from "Victim of Changes". It's a good song, but why does it end on a beach?
"Death Of The Celts": It's now that time for Mr. Harris to take over my life for the next half-hour plus. Start with a long bass-driven intro, like "No More Lies" meets "The Clansman". After a couple minutes, add some distorted guitar and drums. It's another slow-to-moderate triple-meter song, like the opener and "Darkest Hour". Fast triple time for the mid-song instrumental break, with all the guitar+bass unisons you'd expect from Arry. A metric pile of solos, then slow it down for the last minute.
"The Parchment": Bass chord intro. Steve thinks he's a guitarist again. Egyptian-sounding guitar melodies over Steve's power chords. Then it kicks in loud with a riff that reminds of "Powerslave". The tempo is moderately slow, the riffing is substantially hypnotic. A larger portion of instrumental time than usual; it feels a bit like three instrumental numbers surrounding some brief vocal sections.
"Hell On Earth": Another slow bassy intro. I know it's a Harris thing, but three songs in a row gets tiring and predicatable. This intro just isn't so memorable. Feels like one could just skip the first two minutes of this song. Once it starts rocking, it's good. Another slow-down for the ending here as well -- but a surprise move for a Maiden album closer, it's a fade-out!
