Senjutsu - 3rd September 2021

Meliegree said:
No. It's a opinion.

If Senjutsu will be like AMOLAD + DoD + TFF with length of BoS I will be happy. After listening to all reunion albums I discovered how much I like TFF and DoD so anything at this level will be ok with me.
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I am not talking about the quality of the music, I think the albums are actually great, I am referring to the quality of the sound. The book of Souls would have been a landmark Maiden album, IMO, if it didn’t sound almost like a demo.
 
johnglen said:
I am not talking about the quality of the music, I think the albums are actually great, I am referring to the quality of the sound. The book of Souls would have been a landmark Maiden album, IMO, if it didn’t sound almost like a demo.
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I know what you're saying. Only first part of my post was for you because after reading what you've written I didnt wanted to waste to much time.
 
It's a stupid point because their is no such thing as a singular way to produce good music, if Maiden were produced by someone like Steve Albini or Phil Spector it wouldn't work because the production style wouldn't fit the music. If "Classic Maiden" had the same production as modern Maiden i wouldn't have got into the band because the sound wouldn't fit the old songs they need that rougher production and Birch was a great choice because he could change and adapt his engineering and mixing work as the bands sound changed, something i don't think Shirley is capable of doing, the only record that sound different post-reunion is AMOLAD and i think that's just because i think it was necessary due to the darker tone of the themes and music of the album. I'm music happier that Maiden have decided to keep the consistency over the last 20 years unlike a band like Judas Priest who just got Andy Sneap to come in and make it sound like the old stuff even if the quality of writing isnt the same
 
The reunion era has definitely had inconsistent and often times spotty production, but just compare TWOTW to Dream Theater’s new song “The Alien”. The former sounds tight as hell, filled with layers and resounding with power, while the latter sounds clinical and almost artificial. Neither of these productions detract from what are both good songs, but I much prefer one over the other.

I think Andy Sneap works best when he has a second person to provide some slight resistance to his overly surgical approach to production. That’s what made Firepower stand out, having Tom Allom on board as well. By himself it’s not as good. Whatever Maiden’s mistakes have been, at least they sound human.
 
I'm glad Maiden don't go with the Wall of Noise approach. Most of the other bands, who all want that dry drum fat guitar sound on their album, it loses all of its dynamic.

Everything is at the same volume, everything is layered too much making one guitar sound like twelve, and it just sounds fake as fuck.

They may as well get a fucking machine to do it all for them.

And then in the live arena? So many backing tracks, so many artificial layers, everyone with double earpieces in, a background tape fleshing out the sound.

It's all bullshit.
 
The quality of Firepower is excellent with many fantastic songs and the album has a glorious sound. Martin Birch was the best hard rock producer ever, his pre-Maiden work was extraordinary (obviously so was his Maiden work, a big part of Maiden’s success in the eighties).
 
Diesel 11 said:
The reunion era has definitely had inconsistent and often times spotty production, but just compare TWOTW to Dream Theater’s new song “The Alien”. The former sounds tight as hell, filled with layers and resounding with power, while the latter sounds clinical and almost artificial. Neither of these productions detract from what are both good songs, but I much prefer one over the other.

I think Andy Sneap works best when he has a second person to provide some slight resistance to his overly surgical approach to production. That’s what made Firepower stand out, having Tom Allom on board as well. By himself it’s not as good. Whatever Maiden’s mistakes have been, at least they sound human.
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Yes. DoD and TBoS have actual, clinical issues (that being said, TBoS sounds better on vinyl where it isn't brickwalled to death), like TBoS toms or the distortion on DoD. But Brave New World, AMOLAD, to a certain extent TFF and TWOTW sound great and they sound real (well, maybe not BNW). I love Sneap's signature production sound, but do I think it would fit Maiden? Hell no, and so I'm happy Maiden aren't hopping on the same modern metal train as pretty much everybody else are.

johnglen said:
The quality of Firepower is excellent with many fantastic songs and the album has a glorious sound. Martin Birch was the best hard rock producer ever, his pre-Maiden work was extraordinary (obviously so was his Maiden work, a big part of Maiden’s success in the eighties).
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Yes, Firepower sounds great. Everything Sneap touches sound gold. But it's not organic or real sounding. It isn't. Drums don't really sound anywhere near the way Sneap produces them.
 
Even if someone doesn’t like modern production (and 99% of modern metal albums sound amazing to me but whatever), the eighties Maiden albums are on a different stratosphere in terms of quality of sound. Putting an eighties album to listen and then immediately a post-reunion album isn’t flattering for the post-reunion album at all.
 
johnglen said:
Even if someone doesn’t like modern production (and 99% of modern metal albums sound amazing to me but whatever), the eighties Maiden albums are on a different stratosphere in terms of quality of sound. Putting an eighties album to listen and then immediately a post-reunion album isn’t flattering for the post-reunion album at all.
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This is true. But in this forum if you express such an opinion is not good for you, haha. As you can see we shifted the discussion from saying that the production is not good to....for modern Maiden standards TWOTW sounds better than the songs in BOS. That shows progress and TWOTW has a decent sound.
 
Diesel 11 said:
The reunion era has definitely had inconsistent and often times spotty production, but just compare TWOTW to Dream Theater’s new song “The Alien”. The former sounds tight as hell, filled with layers and resounding with power, while the latter sounds clinical and almost artificial. Neither of these productions detract from what are both good songs, but I much prefer one over the other.

I think Andy Sneap works best when he has a second person to provide some slight resistance to his overly surgical approach to production. That’s what made Firepower stand out, having Tom Allom on board as well. By himself it’s not as good. Whatever Maiden’s mistakes have been, at least they sound human.
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Well said. Maiden do sound human. I personally hate the clinical approach to music...in any style really. Actually lacks warmth, humanity and real touch. That DT song 'The Alien' sounds like it was made by an AI bot...not actually people playing together. Martin Birch certainly produced a great sound with Maiden in earlier days, probably a little clearer etc, but doesn't have the organic feel of the Shirley days. it really is an aesthetic choice. Watch that live in the Abbey Road studio tracks...BTATS and HBTN. That feel of playing live is what Shirley and the band have been on a quest to capture. I can see all points of view on this to some degree, but I really love TWOTW feel and sound.
 
johnglen said:
Even if someone doesn’t like modern production (and 99% of modern metal albums sound amazing to me but whatever), the eighties Maiden albums are on a different stratosphere in terms of quality of sound. Putting an eighties album to listen and then immediately a post-reunion album isn’t flattering for the post-reunion album at all.
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Martin Birch was out of this world. Hands down my favorite old school rock and early Metal producer. Things were done in a different way back then and the sound ideals of the time aren't what they are today and I think a lot of people would call Maiden's sound outdated if they put out albums that sound like their 80's output did. I think some of Maiden's reunion era output sounds great, but I do agree a couple of them have actual issues. I'd take them any day though over a modern Sneap type of sound when it comes to Maiden. I do consider myself a Sneap fan though, so it's not "anti modern metal sound bias", and I buy some stuff just on the merit of him producing it.
 
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johnglen said:
The quality of Firepower is excellent with many fantastic songs and the album has a glorious sound. Martin Birch was the best hard rock producer ever, his pre-Maiden work was extraordinary (obviously so was his Maiden work, a big part of Maiden’s success in the eighties).
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the point i was making in regards to to Firepower is that yes i was the best sounding Priest album in like 30 years but the songs themselves were not of the same quality as 30 years before, they were better off trying something different a la Nostradamus that blatantly trying and failing to be the band they were in the 80's.
Yax said:
I love Sneap's signature production sound, but do I think it would fit Maiden? Hell no, and so I'm happy Maiden aren't hopping on the same modern metal train as pretty much everybody else are.
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Yep exactly, I would love to see Maiden work with someone like Steve Wilson, Jamie Arellano or even someone like Carpenter Brut but im happy that we basicaly already know what Senjutsu is going to sound like, if people expect it to be vastly different from the last 5 albums they are just deluded
 
I like albums to sound better than live performances so I don’t get this clinical argument. Maiden albums in the eighties sounded better than the band playing them live, that’s the point of a studio recording. I really love the style of post-reunion Maiden music (I love the intros, the long songs e.t.c) and it saddens me that the sound quality doesn’t do these albums justice.
 
Or Maiden produced by Trent Reznor....would love that!

I never thought I'd look forward to a Halsey album, but Reznor's involvement has made me sit up and take notice....
 
johnglen said:
Maiden albums in the eighties sounded better than the band playing them live
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Sorry I cannot agree with this at all

trenthetfield said:
Or Maiden produced by Trent Reznor....would love that!
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If you were talking about his album work i would have said his style just wouldn't fit with Maiden's sound, but his soundtrack work would completely have me on board with him working with Maiden, personally my ideal Maiden producer would be Randall Dunn
 
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