Senjutsu - 3rd September 2021

Reading reviews (knowing stuff) before hearing the album spoils the discovery aspect of a first listening session. For a Maiden album, the first in 6 years, this is not a good idea.

A few more weeks, a few more weeks ...
 
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Looks like they fixed the misspelling of the album name, and that changed the URL as well. New link that works:
bravewords.com

IRON MAIDEN – Senjutsu

It’s always an event when a new Iron Maiden is on the horizon. One of the giants of heavy metal, it’s fun to see how their mascot Eddie will be portrayed, but most importantly it’s the sounds that emanate from the speakers once the needle hits the vinyl. Since Bruce...
bravewords.com bravewords.com
 
Samantas5855 said:
Ive heard TWOTW, Ive heard the previous albums, I saw that the guy that wrote that loudwire ranked BOS and BNW higher than Somewhere in Time (masterpiece btw). His review was biased and he seemed enthusiastic about every song. Its on the title too, a superfan's review.
It also has parts like "There’s some fans out there that will just never accept that this is where Steve wants to be" that really worry me, same for mentioning Maiden having prog ambitions, no long songs arent prog.
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Actually I would rather read a review written by a Maiden super fan. It would carry much more weight for me than from someone who would be predisposed to be critical, like Rolling Stone....
 
This is how reviews are "trustworthy", they are opinions that everyone has:
bravewords.com

IRON MAIDEN - A Matter Of Life And Death

Referring to my notes when I first heard this record in late July... it reads “This is truly painful.” Now, with increased sessions, A Matter Of Life And Death is certainly not as painful as the overwhelming first bite, but it no doubt has its share of shortcomings. C'mon Steve...
bravewords.com bravewords.com

Nowadays, Maiden does these preliminary review sessions for selected journalists, where they can listen to the album maybe once? They can take notes too. I am not sure what's the goal with these other than give a quick overview, but you can't judge any music this way in my opinion.

Even the above reviewer modified his views after multiple listens.

I remember listening to Piece of Mind hundreds of time back in the late 80s until it clicked. With today's Maiden, you may need even more time.
I relistened TWOTW many times now and started to appreciate new things that I did not hear the first few times (and noticed a few annoying things too ;)

The only real reviewer should be yourself.
 
Arrakis said:
This is how reviews are "trustworthy", they are opinions that everyone has:
bravewords.com

IRON MAIDEN - A Matter Of Life And Death

Referring to my notes when I first heard this record in late July... it reads “This is truly painful.” Now, with increased sessions, A Matter Of Life And Death is certainly not as painful as the overwhelming first bite, but it no doubt has its share of shortcomings. C'mon Steve...
bravewords.com bravewords.com

Nowadays, Maiden does these preliminary review sessions for selected journalists, where they can listen to the album maybe once? They can take notes too. I am not sure what's the goal with these other than give a quick overview, but you can't judge any music this way in my opinion.

Even the above reviewer modified his views after multiple listens.

I remember listening to Piece of Mind hundreds of time back in the late 80s until it clicked. With today's Maiden, you may need even more time.
I relistened TWOTW many times now and started to appreciate new things that I did not hear the first few times (and noticed a few annoying things too ;)

The only real reviewer should be yourself.
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I haven't read this guy's review of Senjutsu yet and I really don't need to after looking at this review of AMOLAD. Yeah, don't need to pay any attention to what this guy says.

My favorite line: "I recall a famous quote from Bruce about playing 'Mariner' live and wondering how the hell he'd manage to remember all his lines - try this album mate!"

Well dude, he sang this whole damn album live...
 
Iron Lurker said:
I haven't read this guy's review of Senjutsu yet and I really don't need to after looking at this review of AMOLAD. Yeah, don't need to pay any attention to what this guy says.

My favorite line: "I recall a famous quote from Bruce about playing 'Mariner' live and wondering how the hell he'd manage to remember all his lines - try this album mate!"

Well dude, he sang this whole damn album live...
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Wow I just read the AMOLAD review ouch!!.. all i can say is that the review is lot more kinder for Senjutsu. Also the overall rating for Senjutsu is higher than AMOLAD in comparison. So this is actually great news.

Edit: different reviewer
 
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Iron Lurker said:
I haven't read this guy's review of Senjutsu yet and I really don't need to after looking at this review of AMOLAD. Yeah, don't need to pay any attention to what this guy says.

My favorite line: "I recall a famous quote from Bruce about playing 'Mariner' live and wondering how the hell he'd manage to remember all his lines - try this album mate!"

Well dude, he sang this whole damn album live...
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The reviewer isnt the same guy
 
I am not fan of Maiden because of reviews, I dont care about it.

Album will be good for sure, just like every Maiden album since reunion. Some of them are not my fav.like TBOS, but that is also great album, just not cup of tea.
 
Azas said:
I get the impression that opening song will be very experimental. In other words, I don't think Senjutsu will be good concert opener. Maybe Stratego or DOFP.
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Agree. It will have heavy, slow, fast and melodic parts. I also think this song will not be the opener for the album tour (maybe ''Stratego'') - the walk-on Eddie will appear during it and I doubt this will be done for the first song in the set.

It's curious if they will play it during LOTB next year... I hope not.
 
The problem isn’t one or two reviews, the problem is that , after TWOTW which I don’t like, we have an experimental opener instead of a traditional Maiden song. So that’s 15 minutes , from the album, already not for me.
 
johnglen said:
after TWOTW which I don’t like,
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Bruce said that TWOTW does not compare stylistically to the rest of the album, so don't worry.
MaidenHeaven said:
What has me particularly excited from the reviews we've seen thus far is the variation of what songs critics like the most. Balazs, for instance, is the first I've seen that really loves "Death of the Celts."

We seem to have plenty of options as far as bests are concerned.
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Spot on.
 
Diesel 11 said:
If liking the music = biased then fuck me. Also SiT is shit compared to TBOS and BNW.
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Came back out of retirement just to add my plus one to this comment.

Samantas is the worst Maiden "fan" I've ever heard prattle on.

Being a fan of something means you are biased towards it - Maiden are my favourite band, and nothing else has come even remotely close to the reverence I have for them.

They could record Nicko shitting in a set of beer pong cups and I'd still pick out the good bits. (Not literally, obviously. Nobody needs that much sweetcorn).

Take anything else - who here is a football fan (I'm not, for clarity)? Would you ever side against them? Of course not!

Sometimes they might have an off night performing live in front of thousands - that's because those men on the pitch are human fucking beings. You wouldn't take the team you love and throw them under the bus for everything they've done for last 21 years.

The point I'm making is that EVERY review is SUBJECTIVE. There's no point arguing otherwise, as the only way to be objective is to state facts. For example:

"This is a vinyl record. Upon a record player, it plays music. The music is made from guitars, bass, drums and other minor instruments. Some songs are longer or shorter than others. Some people may or may not like it".

A proper review can only EVER come from the place of the one experiencing the subject being reviewed, ever.

For example, I hate Ozzy Osbourne. Black Sabbath, solo, whatever. I think he is a talentless twat who has historically used so much reverb to disguise his weak and emotionless voice that it sounds like he's singing in a cave.

Because of this - my opinion, subjectively - I could never give a positive review to an album he sings / writes on. Ever.

Whatever is considered to be the "legendary" Sabbath album - their NOTB or SSOASS - It would get a less than average score from me at best. Why? Because I'm a dick? Because I'm being contrary? No.

It's because I don't like him. I am biased against him. Therefore nothing he does would be considered "good" by me.

Reviewers and critics are human beings like all of us. They will have things they do and don't like. Whether they are indifferent to Iron Maiden's existence or not, they'll still have stuff they do and don't like.

So no more talking shit about reviewers being biased or not - it's irrelevant. What is relevant is, do the people who like Iron Maiden's music like the new album? If they do, great! If they don't, that's a potential worry for us.

It amazes me that anyone could ever rationalise any other approach.

So now you Negative Nancys can all shut the hell up and we can get back to looking forward to a new Iron Fucking Maiden album!
 
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