Please post reviews and thoughts on Senjutsu here

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Picked up a copy of the CD today, now three listens in. Oh my effing god! I shed tears during The Time Machine and Hell on Earth, it is just so so good to hear new Maiden. This album is a guitar solo dream (was that five solos in the title track and six in The Parchment). We know Adrian’s solo in TWOTW is incredible…but how abouts his and Davey’s on Darkest Hour? They may be even better! Love the three solos on The Time Machine too. Bruce and Nicko are in the best form of their lives. Steve is a god. Only three listens in but I’m feeling this surpasses SIT and SSOASS and sits on top of them all alongside AMOLAD. Love this album already. Favourite songs on early impressions…Senjutsu, Lost in a Lost World,The Time Machine, The Parchment, the singles, Darkest Hour, Hell on Earth. That’s 8 favourites!
 
One thing I’m not seeing anyone talk about is how clear and strong Bruce’s higher register is on this album. Maybe because he’s not singing so many words at once, but the chorus to LIALW is piercing and there’s quite a few other spots where he just soars. He sounds like a younger man.
I don’t hear this. To me he really just sounds like an old cancer survivor (with a noticeable lisp) hobbling about on crutches, with Steve only using his first takes. He still gives a fantastic performance given the circumstances, but it’s the first record where he’s really sounded old. And I’m okay with that. I just don’t think he’s as phenomenal as on other releases (with certain songs being an exception).

There’s so much to digest on here so I’ve yet to write an actual review myself but man am I enjoying the record. It feels very unique while also utilizing several pieces of the past. Lot of self plagiarism but for the most part it works and these are some really atypical songs from Maiden overall.
 
One thing I’m not seeing anyone talk about is how clear and strong Bruce’s higher register is on this album. Maybe because he’s not singing so many words at once, but the chorus to LIALW is piercing and there’s quite a few other spots where he just soars. He sounds like a younger man.
I would not say that he sounds younger but he sounds very good. I prefer him in his 'storytelling mode' much more than in 'fire 1000 words per second while straining like hell" mode.
 
First time poster but longtime lurker here. I'm so pleased that we've finally got our new Maiden album! I've had a more than a few listens now and I'd like to share my long-winded and amateur critique of the album if anyone cares to read:
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Let me preface my opinions with the fact that I am not an 80s-head or a Reunion-head. My top 3 albums are probably AMOLAD, Somewhere In Time and Powerslave. Least favourite 3 are NPFTD, FOTD, VXI. I always think it's more interesting to read someone's critique or 'negative' thoughts on an album so I'll try and lean towards that.

Senjutsu Ranked:
TIER 1:
Hell On Earth (9.5), Senjutsu (9)

TIER 2:
The Writing On The Wall (8), The Parchment (8) , Days Of Future Past (7.5)

TIER 3:
Darkest Hour (6.5), Death Of The Celts (6), The Time Machine (5.5)

TIER 4:
Stratego (3), Lost In A Lost World (3.5)

Tier 1 signifies the truly original for Iron Maiden. Before you put on an Iron Maiden album you can almost hear every song by looking at its title and length and the songwriters credited. The beauty of Hell On Earth and Senjutsu (though both not without their small faults) is that they are truly unique experiences when compared to anything in the Iron Maiden catalogue. Both of my Tier 1 songs have something that Iron Maiden haven't done before; new melodies with no hints of self-plagiarism or lack of creativity or phoning it in.

I've always thought The X-Factor was a strong album (especially if you don't compare to the the Maiden favourites). With Senjutsu we are hearing an updated The X-Factor with Bruce at the helm; it is a dark album and that, considering AMOLAD is possibly my favourite album, is what Iron Maiden excel at now that they don't write many energetic, pulsating rocker tunes. I think they might be stuck in the strange dichotomy of wanting to be experienced as a 'live band' but they also are now arguably far more effective with the longer and more introspective efforts. Concert favourites like Aces High; Wrathchild; Running Free; The Evil That Men Do have unsuccessfully attempted to be replicated on newer albums with efforts like The Alchemist; Speed Of Light; Death Or Glory and now Iron Maiden have fans hoping and praying that when they see them live it will be Sign Of The Cross or Rime Of The Ancient Mariner or Caught Somewhere In Time or Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son. (The campaigns for To Tame A Land and Alexander The Great go on).

Again, all you have to do is look at the length of the songs on this album and see what the Iron Maiden boys are aiming for. It feels like they are replacing the haste and the 'real feel' of their well known tunes with haste and 'real feel' in the studio. For me, this does not work when you are trying to experience a 10-minute journey and timing issues and recording imperfections take you out of your adventure. This is reinforced by the fact that we all know how near-perfect Iron Maiden are live. Whether it's oversight or deliberately left as such, the hastily put-together compositions, recording and mixing lets the album down more than anything else.

The synths are completely amateurish and sound like they were recorded in a day with one of the first sounds they found. The keyboard melodies are absolutely fine but they are more noise in a very unfocused mix. Listen to how randomly they come in and out of Death Of The Celts intro. It happens on most of the songs too where there's no subtlety or nuance to how the synths are supposed to affect the song. When you find yourself reminiscing about the synths and strings on Face In The Sand and Journeyman, you must have to admit that there's something missing on this album. Perhaps most criminally of all you have to strain to hear Bruce on most of the tunes. The vocal effect on Lost In A Lost World has the sound of something chosen very quickly and not tailored at all.

After so many years on the job with so many albums and such few lineup changes, there is obviously going to be a degree of self-plagiarism. With Iron Maiden it often comes as a little easter egg or a hark back to a different era but, as a huge Janick Gers fan, I can't ignore The Time Machine sounding almost the exact same as The Talisman and The Book Of Souls. (Also not to mention similarities between it and The Legacy and Dream of Mirrors). ((And not to mention the lead melody played by Janick is effectively the same as The Edge Of Darkness)). I counteract The Parchment verse-riff sounding the same as the as the To Tame A Land verse-riff because it was almost 40 years ago. In the case of The Time Machine, it is unforgivable that the two main songs it imitates are from the last two Iron Maiden albums.

As mentioned before some of the takes (drum intro to Stratego, transition to the heavier section in Hell On Earth) sound rushed and imperfect. I understand they want the live sound but there are some bizarre and 'dirty' sounding noises that have made it into a final mix of one of the biggest metal bands in history. I would've preferred a different route from Kevin Shirley, but clearly he and Steve have the same sort of approach to sound and methods. Regardless of your opinion of Iron Maiden albums individually, they have always managed to put together a cohesive listening experience; they make sense from start to finish. In my opinion, with the structure/length of the songs and the tracklisting order, that started to fall away in The Book Of Souls and I believe Senjutsu feels rushed and put together in such a way that is unsatisyfing for the listener.

I don't think Lost In A Lost World deserves a place on the album. Stratego just isn't for me. Death Of The Celts is a bit of a nothing tune but harmless. The Time Machine feels uninspired in the same way The Legacy and Dream of Mirrors felt, to me, new and fresh and out of Iron Maiden's comfort zone. Hell On Earth and Senjutsu are awesome, love almost every part of them. The Writing On The Wall, despite being the first song released, manages to sound like the 'freshest' song on the album. I predict Days of Future Past and Darkest Hour will be growers so I could see them going up in my estimation. The Parchment is very good, very listenable, but I don't have anything hooking me at the moment with it after multiple listens, I hope I'll discover more with more time.

I'll finish my long (what seems like a rant, but it's really not!) critique, I will focus on some positives. Adrian's solos are stunning, his phrasing and choice of notes are so impactful and elevate every song he appears on; a lot of the most emotional parts of the album have Adrian to thank. Davey and Janick do their thing throughout and fans of either/both will be relatively happy. The guitar sounds through the album are mostly very good (although I don't love their up-front, slimy acoustic sound). Steve and Kevin Shirley clearly like a dry mix and to their credit the drums are nice and punchy and Nicko does a great job as usual. Bruce has some really interesting approaches to some of the songs and for an older dude to overcome throat cancer and still have the pipes and will to carry on doing this is so commendable. He is somewhat limited by the 'same old' compositions from Iron Maiden but Bruce could sing me the phonebook and I'd love it. Steve's bass is as solid as ever and as a fan of The X-Factor I was actually really pleased to hear the return of that sort of bass style and sound a la Fortunes of War and Look For The Truth (even if it might overstay its welcome on some tunes).

Some excellent tunes ultimately let down by an imperfect approach and I would've liked to see Davey with a writing credit for a song on there. Still my favourite band of all time and that will never change. A decent effort from the boys bookended by two absolutely storming tracks.

6/10, possibly 6.5/10 on a generous day.
 
I love it. I feel like this could be their swan song album. The familiar parts feels like them coming full circle and tightening up what came before. Steve's epics are some of his best. It's also one of their most melodic albums. They did themselves justice by cutting out the oh ohs and repetitive choruses. Sure, you can gripe that some intros aren't needed but there is just so much good happening it makes it almost insignificant (although I love the sinister intro to The Parchment).
 
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One thing I’m not seeing anyone talk about is how clear and strong Bruce’s higher register is on this album. Maybe because he’s not singing so many words at once, but the chorus to LIALW is piercing and there’s quite a few other spots where he just soars. He sounds like a younger man.
Agree 100%, Bruce sounds amazing in this album
 
As someone said...

KS and Steve, for that matter. really struggle to fit Bruce in the mix. Like really. Also, Janick playing the same vocal line doesn't help at all. And in some cases (LIALW, The Parchement), Janick is even louder than Bruce when playing the melody. Which is kinda disgraceful IMO.
 
On first listen, it's good, but I'm a bit mixed. There's a lot of good here but also some amount of stuff that didn't really click for me. A handful of good songs, a handful of compositions with good ideas and oh also LIALW is there.

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.

Overall, I dunno what the verdict is. I realize writing this that I do like a lot of the album, but it's hard to go "fuck yeah best album ever" when over half of its runtime and four out of ten songs are either not to my taste or at least require further listens before I'm willing to really comment on them. It's definitely not topping AMOLAD or BNW as far as reunion era albums go, but I don't think anyone was realistically expecting it to. It's also definitely, absolutely not ready to be played live in full, no matter what Bruce says. Not only is it too much for most audiences, it also has two gallops and otherwise intense drumming and tempo changes that they would never get right.
 
Gave Lost In A Lost world another chance...

Still BY A MARGIN the worst song on the album. Apart from the great intro/outro it is boring. Like elements of Afraid To Shoot Strangers bit where Bruce sings the title line like 12 times, with no other lyrics. At least there is a guitar melody beneath (albeit a repetative one). Here is even MORE repetition and more boring instrumental part beneath. This song also has Jan playing under Bruce in the worst manner (because there is another instrument with the same melody, vocals lose emotion). I'm just glad that Steve put all his 'Arryisms into one song and left them out from the other 3 epics (except loud Janick under Bruce in Parchement again). Will even downgrade this one to a 5.5 from initial 6. Without the great intro and outro, it would've been a 3. Will probably remove it from the version of the album I will have on my phone.

Also, I think switching Darkest Hour and Death Of The Celts around in the track order would be a good thing to do. The last 3 tracks have Steve's style all over them and that would give the album more ballance IMO.
 
Finally listened now from the bands official YouTube. Mixed feelings, in the spoilers below:

Steve's tracks are the weak part of the album, because he retreads old ideas too much. ATSS, WTWWB, TBOS, TMWWBK, and Clansman all pop up. It's not bad, exactly, but it is disappointingly familiar. I do like the last two tracks much more though.

Adrians input is much more positive. Darkest Hour is my early pick of the album. The title track is denser and needs more listens.
 
So far, The Parchment is my favorite.

Very good album, but at the moment there's just too much to digest. I can't say if this is better than BNW and TBOS.

Also, I'm a big fan of reunion maiden, but for the first time the slow intros are boring me a little bit, because there are just too much of them, especially on Hell on Earth and The Time Machine.
 
"Darkest Hour" lyrics
We buried our sons
We turned and fled
No growing old
The glorious dead
But we came back
Because one man said
Now on the beaches
The blood runs red

I faced them down
The only one
I stood alone
And warned the day would come
But they were wrong
Appeases every one
And not for the last time
We all stand alone

I watch the sun move away
As I embrace the night
And my black dog has it's day
For six long years you shall not pass
Barbarians at the gates
We will overcome

Here I stand
In a serenade of glory
Naked by the throne of kings
You sowed the wind
And now you reaped the whirlwind
Before the dawn the darkest hour

The darkest hour

To blaze in glory like a dying sun
One last burning giant
Tell Jupiter moves on
Turn the ploughshares into swords
You sons of Albion awake
Defend this sacred land

Here I stand
In a serenade of glory
Naked by the throne of kings
You sowed the wind
And now you reaped the whirlwind
Before the dawn the darkest hour

The darkest hour

Here I stand
In a serenade of glory
Naked by the throne of kings
You sowed the wind
And now you reaped the whirlwind
Before the dawn the darkest hour

Here I stand
In a serenade of glory
Naked by the throne of kings
You sowed the wind
And now you reaped the whirlwind
Before the dawn the darkest hour

Before the dawn the darkest hour

Is Bruce pretending to be Churchill when he says he stood alone?
 
All the Steve Harris epics are GREAT. I loved the ending of LIALW. I think all of them are better than TRATB and this is a good thing. I listened the whole album 10-15 times and I know this album will stick with me. It'll grow on me and become one of my favourites. Better than DOD,TFF and tBoS. On par with BNW and AMOLAD. I am very happy. I hope It can satisfy the hype of the fandom.
 
I'm kind of surprised at the blowback LIALW is getting. I guess I'll have to keep listening but in no way am I putting Darkest Hour over it. I'm not a fan of Maiden does the ballad thing.
 
I'm kind of surprised at the blowback LIALW is getting. I guess I'll have to keep listening but in no way am I putting Darkest Hour over it. I'm not a fan of Maiden does the ballad thing.
I spent most of my time listening to LIALW disappointed because I'd heard it before.

TDH I spent the time hyped about Maiden music that felt new.

That's not really a comparison of which song is better, but I think LIALW will need some time to overcome that stigma whereas TDH is a shiny new toy.
 
I think this album has something for everyone, if that makes any sense. The lack of repeating three word choruses is indeed very refreshing. However Steve manager to create something new and even more disturbing, the long outro on LIALW!!!! I DID NOT SEE THIS COMING
 
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