Please post reviews and thoughts on Senjutsu here

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2/10

Stratego... This track sits very nicely after Senjutsu. Perfect song in this place. Changes the pace. That breakdown after solo... 9.
 
4/10

Lost In A Lost World: Iiiiiiinteresting intro. Amazing in fact. Very different. Bruce's solo career meets British lion. Love it. Lots of effects on vocals and backing vocals. After that it gets a bit boring. Also, was Steve's Casio stuck on the same preset? Same synth as Stratego and Senjutsu. Don't like Janick's playing under Bruce, as the vocals lose a lot of emotion that way. A bit too much repetition of instrumental parts for my liking. Love the breakdown at 5 minutes. Before the end there is another beautiful clean part. Would've been better without Janick playing the vocal line again. A bit boring in parts. My least favourite song so far. Could've been amazing with some tweaks. 6.
 
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Zare said:
Review by yours truly :

Let's get the most important thing out - Harris compositions are largely sub par to, not only the rest of the album, but even the older tracks they're trying to mimick. It would be like using all his patterns and tropes that make a generic Maiden epic + being influenced by Nightwish. It's completely obvious. Two of the tracks seem to have the Age Of Innocence rambling boomer pattern. Mainly Lost in a Lost World which is one of the worst Maiden songs ever put down on the album. If you feel The Unbeliever was disconnected and not pulled out well, this is far worse. It's a song that manages to recapture every bad thing about The X Factor in a single song, which even The X Factor doesn't do!

Death of The Celts is a Clansman 2.0 without energy and with some nice ideas but overall a very weak and bland track, and it has a rather annoying 'merry' instrumental section. Hell On Earth is another old man rambling, a song that picks up in places only to revert down to mediocrity. The latter part of the song is good, nothing special and by this time in the album's listening session, everything they do here is completely predictable.

The Parchement, is a song that has some fat, but not much, and it's the absolutely best of the Harris solo material on this album - and if you ask me, the only one that really deserves its spot on the record.

With that out of the way,

Senjutsu, Days of Future Past, The Time Machine and Darkest Hour are atypical, heavy, progressive, fresh and high quality tracks. Together with more classico style The Parchement - heavy riffs in this one - and Stratego, and with western sound of the Writing of the Wall, each of these songs is different to one another, but very different. If this were the album, it would be a 10/10 rating progressive metal record.

Senjutsu manages to sound Tool alike and have a few twists and turns around while McB keeps a regular but syncopated beat. The ending has some unique work by mr. Smith.

Days of Future Past is Bruce/Tribe/Smith meets Skunkworks and the main riff reeks of Megadeth's Youthanasia period.
The Time Machine is on the track of being ideal Maiden mini-epic, I can't wait to hear the live version
Darkest Hour has clean el.guitar throughout and is reminiscent of Tyranny of Souls 'ballads', especially the drumming.

Regarding drumming, McBrain just threw a huge fuck you to all the people here that think he's replaceable.
Production is excellent. I can't wait to hear the real thing in full fidelity.

If I were to rate this album without Lost In A Lost World, Death of The Celts and Hell on Earth, it would be a definitive contender for the crown of the best reunion album. But inclusion of those, significantly lowers the average score.

Without any hype or belittlement :

Senjutsu - 8.5/10 (cons : the melodic choruses drop the energy down)
Stratego - 9/10 (cons : no-frills track)
The Writing on the Wall - 7.5/10 (cons : nothing special, the instrumental section raises it up)
Lost in the Lost World - 4/10 (cons : absolutely weak melodies, arrangement, there's nothing to latch onto here, it still has good drums and a couple of solos and a nice intro)

Days of Future Past - 8.5/10 (cons : the chorus is again a lower energy affair)
The Time Machine - 9/10 (cons : should be longer, way longer)
Darkest Hour - 9/10 (cons : absolutely none, but not the kind of a song that you'd say is 10/10 Iron Maiden)

Death of the Celts - 5.5/10 (cons : the thing starts typical and you know what's coming. However it does pick up with a shanty alike groove, and reaches mid song in a good way, but then Mr. Harris delivers his own version of Empire's midsections paired with the worst repetitive tendencies of red and the black)

The Parchment - 9/10 (cons : there's little in tempo variety till the end and there's a bit of an annoying pseudo chorus but the thing ends on a banger. It's using Life's Shadow inspiration in place but without direct theft. Heavy song throughout, supported by staccato riffing which is not the case for other Harris epics)

Hell on Earth - 6/10 (cons : everything before the ending part, apart from some vocal melodies on chorus, but this thing does not sound like "Iron Maiden - Hell on Earth", it sounds like old man saying this life is hell I better retreat to countryside or something like that. In the beginning the band sounds like one of those bad rippofs that would be uploaded as supposed leak. The 6 is not an impression, it's the average between two parts, the bulk of the song which is pretty bad to meh and last third which is pretty cool to great sounding at spots)

Without spoilers - conflicting record which doesn't deserve to be played live fully. The interesting moments are very interesting, there is tons of Maiden sounding half a foot in new territory here, while still being consistent, spot on with tight songwriting, being both heavy and progressive at the same time. Sometimes it takes a while to recognize this is indeed Iron Maiden, in a good way. In contrast to this we have very generic Maiden songwriting, the worst of it. It feels like leftovers of a different era have been put on the same record together with new exciting formats and styles. It is definitely not the peak and perfection of certain style like A Matter of Life and Death was.
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Overall I mostly agree with you and gonna voice my opinion on the album later (I played from start to finish only once still, then I replayed some songs but not in order). But I gotta hard disagree on Hell On Earth. Yes, the lyrics (from what I could understand) suck, but the melodies are glorious imo. My complaint might only be that the intro is a little long, but what we get afterwards is so amazing I don't care that much. I feel The Parchment/Hell On Earth is one of their best 1-2 punch to end the album.
 
5/10

Days Of Future Past... Mid-tempo intro that goes into a high-octane riff from H. Mid-tempo and high-tempo are switching quite a bit. Great solo by H again. Great rocker. The only thing that bothers me is the same fucking synth again. 9.
 
6/10

The Time Machine... Well the intro is some kind of variation of Legacy and Talisman. Nothing new. But after that things get interesting. Lots of tempo changes (I guess to mimic the time machine). Lots of Janickisms (DOD-like). The track flows great IMO. Adrian gets back onto the whammy pedal for his solo. Best solo by Davey so far. And best by Janick too. Maybe a touch too much to digest on the first listen. Them pulling off this live. It should be interesting. Otherwise a brilliant track. 10/10
 
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7/10

Darkest Hour... Seagulls? SEAGULLS? Wow okay. Interesting riff in the beginning. The vocals on the verses :oops:. Chills. This is one of the best vocalists ever, ladies and gentlemen. It just gets better and better. And then the chorus. WOW. Possibly one of the best performances of Bruce ever. This NEEDS to be played live. NEEDS to. Long emotional solo by Ade. Followed by equal emotion from Davey. Janick does killer blues fills under the last chorus. You won't believe it, but this track has radio potential, despite length. WOW. With Senjutsu, the best track of the album so far. 10. (Could've been an 11 if possible).

Listening again. So emotional, so good.
 
Smither said:
Overall I mostly agree with you and gonna voice my opinion on the album later (I played from start to finish only once still, then I replayed some songs but not in order). But I gotta hard disagree on Hell On Earth. Yes, the lyrics (from what I could understand) suck, but the melodies are glorious imo. My complaint might only be that the intro is a little long, but what we get afterwards is so amazing I don't care that much. I feel The Parchment/Hell On Earth is one of their best 1-2 punch to end the album.
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I'm glad you do. Well for me the weakness of the latter is that the former is very strong, therefore the flow is kinda fucked. However as I wrote, and I really need to stress out those are real marks so no Maidenfans list bullshit where every other song is a 9 or 10. 6 doesn't mean an universal dislike in my book.

During my school time which was about 18 consecutive years the standard remained the same, marks are from 1-5 where 5 is excellence and 1 is fail. However 2 is pass, which required roughly 50% of correct answers. I keep my standards that way - 4 out of 10 is a barely passable song, 6 out of 10 is good but with significant, exposed flaws.
 
Zare said:
I'm glad you do. Well for me the weakness of the latter is that the former is very strong, therefore the flow is kinda fucked. However as I wrote, and I really need to stress out those are real marks so no Maidenfans list bullshit where every other song is a 9 or 10. 6 doesn't mean an universal dislike in my book.

During my school time which was about 18 consecutive years the standard remained the same, marks are from 1-5 where 5 is excellence and 1 is fail. However 2 is pass, which required roughly 50% of correct answers. I keep my standards that way - 4 out of 10 is a barely passable song, 6 out of 10 is good but with significant, exposed flaws.
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Yeah, don't worry, I know what you meant and can clearly see where you coming from. I also agree that
The song feels predictable and unoriginal. I just love the melodies and riffs so much to the point I don't care much about the weaknesses. I think it's gonna sound great live, hope they play it. But yeah, your review seems spot on with my opinion on most of the songs as well. I agree that DOTC drags a lot even though I quite enjoy the vocal melodies and I also think LIALW is clearly the weakest song.
 
8/10

The Clansm... Sorry... Death Of The Celts. Again, sounds familiar. Variation on Clansman intro. Bruce's singing style seems a bit... American?, shall I say at the beginning. Love it when it gets heavier. Yes, this song is a bit X-Factorish. The verse. Love the celtic drive. The verse might be a touch too long for some people for me. After H's solo it opens up a bit with lots of riffage and killer bass lines by 'Arry. He plays only the root? Weeeeeeell, not anymore. This seems like a fuckery of a bass line. Love it. Then, a small Clansman rip-off, but I don't care. This could be a killer live song. Not for people who don't like darker Maiden or Celtic vibes, but I love it. Best bass playing in years. 10/10.
 
I might have to correct the score for

Hell On Earth

The track does exhibit some weight in the sound - last night I couldn't pump up the volume enough - could get better in combination with real sound and not MP3 leak.

Also I like that some people are loving the stuff that I simply don't. There is enough runtime on this record to please everyone.

Edit : yeah, full blast on the said track is deffo above 6/10. Still feel like the beginning could've been trimmed and the latter part extended because it's way more exciting.
 
Zare said:
I might have to correct the score for

Hell On Earth

The track does exhibit some weight in the sound - last night I couldn't pump up the volume enough - could get better in combination with real sound and not MP3 leak.

Also I like that some people are loving the stuff that I simply don't. There is enough runtime on this record to please everyone.
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Truth. This record will need a lot of time. Very diverse record. Great Melodies all around and a lot of sudden tempo changes. Pretty mixed bag. Still way too early to tell where this one ranks among the other albums. Love Steve's Bass sound on his tracks and Bruce is killing it everywhere.
 
matic22 said:
8/10

The Clansm... Sorry... Death Of The Celts. Again, sounds familiar. Variation on Clansman intro. Bruce's singing style seems a bit... American?, shall I say at the beginning. Love it when it gets heavier. Yes, this song is a bit X-Factorish. The verse. Love the celtic drive. The verse might be a touch too long for some people for me. After H's solo it opens up a bit with lots of riffage and killer bass lines by 'Arry. He plays only the root? Weeeeeeell, not anymore. This seems like a fuckery of a bass line. Love it. Then, a small Clansman rip-off, but I don't care. This could be a killer live song. Not for people who don't like darker Maiden or Celtic vibes, but I love it. Best bass playing in years. 10/10.
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I will steal this line. Thanks. :D
 
9/10
Parchement. Wooooow. Sinister. Interesting. Here, the guitars, synth and acoustic bass work perfectly. Like nothing we heard from Maiden before. Then it explodes into a TBOS-y riff. Heavy. Love the synths here (despite being the same Casio preset yet again). Again, why the fuck we need guitar playing the vocal line... But i love the vibe off the track here. Somehow Janick playing lead under the vocals is not so annoying, because of the slow phrasing (kudos to Steve). Love how Jan then fades directly into his solo afterwards. Then a lovely instrumental part with lots of space (again kudos Steve). Then more solos with Dave and Jan. And afterwards H outta nowhere. Pretty experimental, yet typical Maiden. Then again gutar with the same line as vocals... Cmon now... An when you think Steve's dragging of the melodies begins to be too much... Bam. Tempo change with a killer part. Love it. Just... Janick, play rythm under vocals sometimes. Pls. 9.5/10
 
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FTB said:
Lots of stuff never heard paired with blatant ripoffs from their own songs. Mainly WTWWB / Starblind among them
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Agreed.
A good example of ripoffs on the album is The Time Machine. Its intro reminds me of The Talisman and melody lines are very similar to The Edge of Darkness. One can find many copy/paste stuff on this album without much of trying.
 
matic22 said:
Janick, play rythm under vocals sometimes. Pls. 10/10
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I see that your opinion is very close to mine. This album feels to me like older brother to the chemical wedding thanks to the overall tone. At least - it's closer to solo Bruce than to Maiden.
 
Sea_Of_Madness said:
Agreed.
A good example of ripoffs on the album is The Time Machine. Its intro reminds me of The Talisman and melody lines are very similar to The Edge of Darkness. One can find many copy/paste stuff on this album without much of trying.
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Surprised that I didn't see anyone mention Edge Of Darkness until now, it is really similar. But yeah, I felt that since TBOS to be fair, there was the Losfer Word-ish riff on the title track, the SOTV intro, The Legacy riff in EOTC, etc. It doesn't bother me that much when those parts fit the songs they're part of. In fact, I think it's quite fun to hear those throwbacks.
 
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