Senjutsu - 3rd September 2021

I'm also encouraged by the comments on the production being better. I definitely thought TWOTW sounded way clearer and punchier than anything on the last two albums, with a bit more clarity than pretty much anything since BNW. That's kind of a hard song to go by though since it's so simple. Apparently, another German review mentions that this is the best Shirley production since BNW.

Now, I feel like a lot of pre-release hype reviews have said similar things, and we never know exactly what kind of equipment these initial reviews are being listened to on, but I'm optimistic.
 
There's another review posted on the official board I haven't seen here yet. Using spoiler tags for those who don't want to read it (also, this is totally copy pasted from there, so kudos to Nagelfar on that board).

Only two of us had the chance to listen to the new Maiden-album before our editorial deadline, so it won’t be in this issue’s soundcheck. Instead here’s a track-by-track review:

  1. Senjutsu (Smith/Harris)
    The long opening and title track is quite heavy, rhythmically challenging, features a good Chorus-Hookline, is all in all quite melodic, but not cheesy. Slightly oriental flair. The atmosphere and the production are reminiscent of some Brave New World-Tracks. Nicko’s Toms are quite present. Bruce is singing relatively low at first, but jumps about an octave higher later on and he sounds confident. Very good.
  2. Stratego (Gers/Harris)
    Slightly weaker than “Senjutsu”. Could have been on any of the last six or seven albums. Typical Maiden with galloping guitars and bass. Noticeable solo. Quite good, but no highlight.
  3. The Writing On The Wall (Smith/Dickinson)
    Die first single and videoclip. Features a mighty intro-riff, which slightly reminds of The Cult. Soundwise it’s a bit unusual for Maiden, due to it being a Classic Rock song rather than a Metal song. Very atmospheric. Bruce sings confident and quite high, without sounding strained. Good, typically maidenesque Chorus, although the song would have fitted on a Dickinson-Soloalbum. 6 Minutes longs, but could have been longer.
  4. Lost in a lost World (Harris)
    Balladic beginning, turns into a tricky rocker after two minutes. Noticeable good sounding drums, vocal line is rather average. The open played chords are a bit reminiscent of the X-Factor era. Typical maidenesque Guitar-Melodies, but not as annoyingly long as on some of the last records. No highlight, but a good track. Ends as it began, obviously.
  5. Days Of Future Past (Smith/Dickinson)
    Starts with a strong, catchy riff and a fresh vocal line. A good uptempo-rocker with a catchy Chorus. Shortest track on the album and it would be perfect for a second single.
  6. The Time Machine (Gers/Harris)
    Balladic beginning, turns into a mighty rocker after approx. one minute with a vocal line, which takes getting used to. The track grows with every play. Hightlight of the pretty good song is the very good middle-section, which features the best typical Maiden-Guitar-melodies in a long time. Obviously, the track ends as it began. Best track with Harris-involvement on the album.
  7. Darkest Hours (Smith/Dickinson)
    And another track with begins atmospheric and balladic, slowly grows, especially vocalwise. Reminiscent of Bruce’s later solo albums. One of the, if not even the, best vocal performances on the album. Good powerballad-chorus. The track stays relatively calm and ends atmospheric and balladic.
  8. Death of the Celts (Harris)
    The first of three Harris-epics. Quiet beginning, slowly builds up after two minutes, becomes heavier, guitar are piling up , after four minutes it reaches it first highlight. Great vocals! Long instrumental middlepart with a very soulfull Davey-Solo (or is it Janick?). Some redundant breaks in the sixth and seventh minute, the track is a bit too long. Nevertheless it’s likely to be a highlight live. Vocal only return somewhere around nine minutes, there’s obviously a long drawn ending and (surprise!) it ends as it began.
  9. The Parchment (Harris)
    Begins with a bass-riff, which carries the track. Orientalic melody, tricky rhythm, vocals set in after two minutes. Song builds up very long, features great guitar parts. There’s no chorus, but a vocal climax in minute nine and ten. Has a good, atmospheric final, which does NOT end with the beginning. With over twelve minutes the longest track.
  10. Hell on Earth (Harris)
    And another ballaldic beginning, which flows into a typical Maiden-riff and typical Maiden-Songstructure. Although the incredients are known, the track feel fresh and it could be another Live-Highlight. Bruce’s vocal-line isn’t really new, but it makes a good match. Appealing guitar-stereo-effects. After approx. seven minutes, there’s a calm middlepart, which leads into the best part of the song. Fantastic climax after eight minutes. Ends as it began. Great conclusion of the album.
Final verdict:
“Senjutsu” is a interesting, varied album, which only needs a few replays to grow and is qualitywise on a level with A Matter Of Life And Death, stylistically more in line with Brave New World. The great production is striking, the Drums aswell as the Guitars are brilliantly set into spotlight and the production is all in all “rounder” than e.g. The Final Frontier.

The new album is, although it didn’t take long to record, not a quickshot, but a really strong later work (let’s be honest, there are not that many Maiden albums left), that might even be their second best post reunion record. It will take some time, to see if “Senjutsu” stands the test of time - as we know not every Maiden album in the last twenty years has been as longliving as “Brave New World”."
 
Donner said:
There's another review posted on the official board I haven't seen here yet. Using spoiler tags for those who don't want to read it (also, this is totally copy pasted from there, so kudos to Nagelfar on that board).

Only two of us had the chance to listen to the new Maiden-album before our editorial deadline, so it won’t be in this issue’s soundcheck. Instead here’s a track-by-track review:

  1. Senjutsu (Smith/Harris)
    The long opening and title track is quite heavy, rhythmically challenging, features a good Chorus-Hookline, is all in all quite melodic, but not cheesy. Slightly oriental flair. The atmosphere and the production are reminiscent of some Brave New World-Tracks. Nicko’s Toms are quite present. Bruce is singing relatively low at first, but jumps about an octave higher later on and he sounds confident. Very good.
  2. Stratego (Gers/Harris)
    Slightly weaker than “Senjutsu”. Could have been on any of the last six or seven albums. Typical Maiden with galloping guitars and bass. Noticeable solo. Quite good, but no highlight.
  3. The Writing On The Wall (Smith/Dickinson)
    Die first single and videoclip. Features a mighty intro-riff, which slightly reminds of The Cult. Soundwise it’s a bit unusual for Maiden, due to it being a Classic Rock song rather than a Metal song. Very atmospheric. Bruce sings confident and quite high, without sounding strained. Good, typically maidenesque Chorus, although the song would have fitted on a Dickinson-Soloalbum. 6 Minutes longs, but could have been longer.
  4. Lost in a lost World (Harris)
    Balladic beginning, turns into a tricky rocker after two minutes. Noticeable good sounding drums, vocal line is rather average. The open played chords are a bit reminiscent of the X-Factor era. Typical maidenesque Guitar-Melodies, but not as annoyingly long as on some of the last records. No highlight, but a good track. Ends as it began, obviously.
  5. Days Of Future Past (Smith/Dickinson)
    Starts with a strong, catchy riff and a fresh vocal line. A good uptempo-rocker with a catchy Chorus. Shortest track on the album and it would be perfect for a second single.
  6. The Time Machine (Gers/Harris)
    Balladic beginning, turns into a mighty rocker after approx. one minute with a vocal line, which takes getting used to. The track grows with every play. Hightlight of the pretty good song is the very good middle-section, which features the best typical Maiden-Guitar-melodies in a long time. Obviously, the track ends as it began. Best track with Harris-involvement on the album.
  7. Darkest Hours (Smith/Dickinson)
    And another track with begins atmospheric and balladic, slowly grows, especially vocalwise. Reminiscent of Bruce’s later solo albums. One of the, if not even the, best vocal performances on the album. Good powerballad-chorus. The track stays relatively calm and ends atmospheric and balladic.
  8. Death of the Celts (Harris)
    The first of three Harris-epics. Quiet beginning, slowly builds up after two minutes, becomes heavier, guitar are piling up , after four minutes it reaches it first highlight. Great vocals! Long instrumental middlepart with a very soulfull Davey-Solo (or is it Janick?). Some redundant breaks in the sixth and seventh minute, the track is a bit too long. Nevertheless it’s likely to be a highlight live. Vocal only return somewhere around nine minutes, there’s obviously a long drawn ending and (surprise!) it ends as it began.
  9. The Parchment (Harris)
    Begins with a bass-riff, which carries the track. Orientalic melody, tricky rhythm, vocals set in after two minutes. Song builds up very long, features great guitar parts. There’s no chorus, but a vocal climax in minute nine and ten. Has a good, atmospheric final, which does NOT end with the beginning. With over twelve minutes the longest track.
  10. Hell on Earth (Harris)
    And another ballaldic beginning, which flows into a typical Maiden-riff and typical Maiden-Songstructure. Although the incredients are known, the track feel fresh and it could be another Live-Highlight. Bruce’s vocal-line isn’t really new, but it makes a good match. Appealing guitar-stereo-effects. After approx. seven minutes, there’s a calm middlepart, which leads into the best part of the song. Fantastic climax after eight minutes. Ends as it began. Great conclusion of the album.
Final verdict:
“Senjutsu” is a interesting, varied album, which only needs a few replays to grow and is qualitywise on a level with A Matter Of Life And Death, stylistically more in line with Brave New World. The great production is striking, the Drums aswell as the Guitars are brilliantly set into spotlight and the production is all in all “rounder” than e.g. The Final Frontier.

The new album is, although it didn’t take long to record, not a quickshot, but a really strong later work (let’s be honest, there are not that many Maiden albums left), that might even be their second best post reunion record. It will take some time, to see if “Senjutsu” stands the test of time - as we know not every Maiden album in the last twenty years has been as longliving as “Brave New World”."
Click to expand...


lol the guy obviously hates songs that end as they begin :)

edit: another commentator that highlights "Time Machine".... My boy Gers always delivering at least 1 classic per album.
 
Donner said:
There's another review posted on the official board I haven't seen here yet. Using spoiler tags for those who don't want to read it (also, this is totally copy pasted from there, so kudos to Nagelfar on that board).

Only two of us had the chance to listen to the new Maiden-album before our editorial deadline, so it won’t be in this issue’s soundcheck. Instead here’s a track-by-track review:

  1. Senjutsu (Smith/Harris)
    The long opening and title track is quite heavy, rhythmically challenging, features a good Chorus-Hookline, is all in all quite melodic, but not cheesy. Slightly oriental flair. The atmosphere and the production are reminiscent of some Brave New World-Tracks. Nicko’s Toms are quite present. Bruce is singing relatively low at first, but jumps about an octave higher later on and he sounds confident. Very good.
  2. Stratego (Gers/Harris)
    Slightly weaker than “Senjutsu”. Could have been on any of the last six or seven albums. Typical Maiden with galloping guitars and bass. Noticeable solo. Quite good, but no highlight.
  3. The Writing On The Wall (Smith/Dickinson)
    Die first single and videoclip. Features a mighty intro-riff, which slightly reminds of The Cult. Soundwise it’s a bit unusual for Maiden, due to it being a Classic Rock song rather than a Metal song. Very atmospheric. Bruce sings confident and quite high, without sounding strained. Good, typically maidenesque Chorus, although the song would have fitted on a Dickinson-Soloalbum. 6 Minutes longs, but could have been longer.
  4. Lost in a lost World (Harris)
    Balladic beginning, turns into a tricky rocker after two minutes. Noticeable good sounding drums, vocal line is rather average. The open played chords are a bit reminiscent of the X-Factor era. Typical maidenesque Guitar-Melodies, but not as annoyingly long as on some of the last records. No highlight, but a good track. Ends as it began, obviously.
  5. Days Of Future Past (Smith/Dickinson)
    Starts with a strong, catchy riff and a fresh vocal line. A good uptempo-rocker with a catchy Chorus. Shortest track on the album and it would be perfect for a second single.
  6. The Time Machine (Gers/Harris)
    Balladic beginning, turns into a mighty rocker after approx. one minute with a vocal line, which takes getting used to. The track grows with every play. Hightlight of the pretty good song is the very good middle-section, which features the best typical Maiden-Guitar-melodies in a long time. Obviously, the track ends as it began. Best track with Harris-involvement on the album.
  7. Darkest Hours (Smith/Dickinson)
    And another track with begins atmospheric and balladic, slowly grows, especially vocalwise. Reminiscent of Bruce’s later solo albums. One of the, if not even the, best vocal performances on the album. Good powerballad-chorus. The track stays relatively calm and ends atmospheric and balladic.
  8. Death of the Celts (Harris)
    The first of three Harris-epics. Quiet beginning, slowly builds up after two minutes, becomes heavier, guitar are piling up , after four minutes it reaches it first highlight. Great vocals! Long instrumental middlepart with a very soulfull Davey-Solo (or is it Janick?). Some redundant breaks in the sixth and seventh minute, the track is a bit too long. Nevertheless it’s likely to be a highlight live. Vocal only return somewhere around nine minutes, there’s obviously a long drawn ending and (surprise!) it ends as it began.
  9. The Parchment (Harris)
    Begins with a bass-riff, which carries the track. Orientalic melody, tricky rhythm, vocals set in after two minutes. Song builds up very long, features great guitar parts. There’s no chorus, but a vocal climax in minute nine and ten. Has a good, atmospheric final, which does NOT end with the beginning. With over twelve minutes the longest track.
  10. Hell on Earth (Harris)
    And another ballaldic beginning, which flows into a typical Maiden-riff and typical Maiden-Songstructure. Although the incredients are known, the track feel fresh and it could be another Live-Highlight. Bruce’s vocal-line isn’t really new, but it makes a good match. Appealing guitar-stereo-effects. After approx. seven minutes, there’s a calm middlepart, which leads into the best part of the song. Fantastic climax after eight minutes. Ends as it began. Great conclusion of the album.
Final verdict:
“Senjutsu” is a interesting, varied album, which only needs a few replays to grow and is qualitywise on a level with A Matter Of Life And Death, stylistically more in line with Brave New World. The great production is striking, the Drums aswell as the Guitars are brilliantly set into spotlight and the production is all in all “rounder” than e.g. The Final Frontier.

The new album is, although it didn’t take long to record, not a quickshot, but a really strong later work (let’s be honest, there are not that many Maiden albums left), that might even be their second best post reunion record. It will take some time, to see if “Senjutsu” stands the test of time - as we know not every Maiden album in the last twenty years has been as longliving as “Brave New World”."
Click to expand...
Another review, that basically states that
Lost In A Lost World
is the weakest track on the album. Also, every review I see makes me more and more excited about
Darkest Hour, Parchement and Hell On Earth
as they all seem rather special.
 
That review came from Deaf Forever's Götz who, if I recall, found the last round of Maiden albums kind of like -

BNW- Classic
DOD - massively flawed
AMOLAD - singular in tone, but high quality
TFF - mixed bag
BOS - mixed bag

So, his review has me pretty excited!
 
One thing I realized since joining forum is that the music taste really varies wildly among the maiden fans. From album ranking to favorite and least favorite songs, it is so different that I would take these reviews with a grain of salt. I can personally say that those of us who more or less like all maiden albums and appreciate post reunion music and not just the classics, will be in safe hands with this album. I am convinced at least 7 songs will be great and some of them will grow on us over time.
 
Jadukor said:
One thing I realized since joining forum is that the music taste really varies wildly among the maiden fans. From album ranking to favorite and least favorite songs, it is so different that I would take these reviews with a grain of salt. I can personally say that those of us who more or less like all maiden albums and appreciate post reunion music and not just the classics, will be in safe hands with this album. I am convinced at least 7 songs will be great and some of them will grow on us over time.
Click to expand...
It's hard to be really objective with Maiden (and with music in general). Every one of us has something personal tied to a particular record. That record can bring back good memories that adds to the experience. Plus, what you judge as good might also change with time as you get old.
 
Jadukor said:
One thing I realized since joining forum is that the music taste really varies wildly among the maiden fans. From album ranking to favorite and least favorite songs, it is so different that I would take these reviews with a grain of salt. I can personally say that those of us who more or less like all maiden albums and appreciate post reunion music and not just the classics, will be in safe hands with this album. I am convinced at least 7 songs will be great and some of them will grow on us over time.
Click to expand...

Indeed!
And not only does opinion vary incredibly from person to person. But the same person changes their tastes over time.
A lot of records I used to despise these days are my favorites! Or even entire careers! Like Dream Theater (for me)
 
Donner said:
Definitely a Harris trait though these days, for better or worse.
Click to expand...
I am in peace with this structure until what's in-between is good enough LOL Musically, I think sometimes it is unnecessary how he ends a particular song, simply that structure does not serve anything, but who am I to judge why he wanted that way, he is the composer :) Again, if the song otherwise is good enough, Steve can play his mandatory slow basslines until the very end, I'm good.
 
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