Senjutsu - 3rd September 2021

TheMercenary said:
Some songs yes, some others not so much. But, I need to listen to the album several times to have an opinion. But, one thing is sure : "Death Of The Celts" is not a great track.

And what about you ?
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I like all songs to an extent. Least favorite the Lost in a Lost World, but it’s not that I hate it.
CD2 all are beasts in my opinion, CD1 it gets me slightly tired towards the end, though less than TFF, DOD and TBOS used to tire me
It’s a bit early to say but it looks like a Top 10 Maiden album to me. Higher than The Final Frontier.

My top : Darkest Hour, Senjutsu, Parchment, Hell, Stratego and yes, Celts!
And Writing on the Wall feels way much better in this context.
 
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I wouldn't agree that death of the celts is garbage.
It sounds a lot like clansman and I was waiting for some freedom moment as there is a tension building up during the song, but it never came up sadly and that's the only bad thing. I take up my sword and kilt everytime the second verse kicks in.
 
death of the celts is a great song if you take its position on the album. It is simple - yes. It has well-worn ideas - fact. But it has a vocal line that will sound INCREDIBLE live.

Its greatest strength, however, lies in the fact that it is between Darkest Hour and The Parchment. These are two very strong songs, different from their usual style. A well-worn track allows you to breathe a bit between such different and heavy pieces.
 
Death of Celts, do you guys also hear crazy amount of noisy static distortions around 7:23 and 20 secs forward? Crackling and overload static noise. Sounds horrible. I listen on fairly good headphones streaming Sspotify/Tidal/Deezer. I noticed this on some other tracks as well, like the solo in The Parchment around 5:00 and 11:00. In fact, it's all over the album :-( Wonder if this is on vinyl and CD as well?

Why don't they fix that crap in the mixing/master process?? Meh.
 
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This is going to be one of those albums that's going to take numerous listens before forming an opinion on it for me.
The only thing I will say at the minute is that it's like an X Factor/AMOLAD hybrid and I like both those albums which is a good sign.
 
I really like the new album but it is too much to digest in such a short time. Lost in a lost world and Death of Celts are my favorites so far. Death of Celts sound like a Iron Maiden party song in the middle, I hope they gonna play this live
 
Hey guys. First post, longtime Maiden fan here and also an invisible forum reader since God knows

I think I have a time advantage compared to some here as I've been listening to "Senjutsu" since the first leak (I couldn't resist, I confess), but what I would really like to say is this:

Unexpectedly, last year (2020) Blue Oyster Cult presented us with "THE SYMBOL REMAINS" and I could hardly believe it. Their previous album was released in 2001!

Behold, Maiden surpassed BOC! Well, Maiden are certainly more active and I was counting on it for certain that the band would release something after the Book of Souls. But what I was hoping for was just that, "Book of Souls: Chapter 2", let's say.

It turns out that Senjutsu is VASTLY superior. How do I know this? I've listened to the record several times from start to finish without skipping any track and the desire to go back only increases.

I work from home and Senjutsu has already jumped to the top of the most listened to on my complex iTunes smart playlist. The album is phenomenal. The intros may be redundant to some; thing is they're beautiful. Even touching. So they don't bother me at all.

Except... the acoustic intro to "Time Machine" (which may very well be a purposeful reference to Talisman/Legacy as the song deals with Time Travel). Anyway, on Itunes you can choose the minute the song starts/ends, so it's not a problem... I put "Time Machine" to start right in the heavy part. Perfection. What a fun tune!!!

The wave sound effects at the beginning and end of "Darkest Hour" also seem too long to me...
Also, the quiet break in the middle of "Future Past" is a missed chance to repeat the riff.
And that's it.

Although I prefer to listen to a record like this from start to finish... I mentioned my playlists. This is a point I wanted to highlight. The real power of these songs becomes evident when faced with competition "out there."
When Senjutsu tracks pop up in the random rotation of one of my Metal/Progressive/HardRock playlist... OMG. It's devastating.

I know many prefer "the old Maiden". The truth is that there are exceptional bands doing Traditional Metal these days. (Just check out the "NWOTHM Full Albums" channel on Youtube). But Maiden's current style is almost a league of its own. Dream Theater or Fates Warning and so on, well they're great but not as eloquent.

I predict that Senjutsu will quickly dethrone classic records on many people's favorites list. Maybe next week already we'll see fans "coming out of the closet" to say loud and clear "Parchment is a better trip than To Tame a Land", just as an example.

10/10. Amazing Album. Start to finish.

The world is over... Eddie Remains!
 
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Maiden uploaded videos for all songs from the album in YouTube - the videos are like the video for ''Stratego'' (moving artwork):

... only TWOTW is without such a video.

They are presented as ''Official Audio'', but I think this is the first time when Maiden made videos for all songs from an album.

maiden songs.png
 
Magnus said:
Dunno Diesel, I'm mildly and cautiously optimistic, and afraid to jinx it as well, but this is the first time after the release of Seventh Son that I'm hearing new Maiden and not going "oh fuck :facepalm:".
Obviously, I've moved to much darker stuff meanwhile so there's always the possibility that even if the new album is a masterpiece I wouldn't be able to fully appreciate it anymore - but let's see. I hope this time they've put some more thought and effort into the thing.
All I can say is that those last days have been a lot of fun, not least because of the whole Daniel / bels_feast campaign, and it certainly lifted my spirits and made me feel (even) younger.
I don't expect a masterpiece, but if the rest, or most of the rest, of the songs on the new album are comparable to this one in terms of pure joie de vivre from the band members, that would be good enough.
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Ariana said:
*sad @Magnus noises*

But don't despair - maybe #18 will be different.
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Quite enjoyed it in fact. For me, this is the most interesting Maiden album since Seventh Son.
 
My copy of Senjutsu, scheduled to arrive today, didn't come in the mail.

My copy of the new NFO album, scheduled to arrive late, did.

Royal Mail are having a laugh.
 
Magnus said:
Quite enjoyed it in fact. For me, this is the most interesting Maiden album since Seventh Son.
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steve-harvey-thank-you-jesus.gif
 
Belshazzar said:
I LOVE the whole album. It's an utter fucking masterpiece of modern Maiden.

EXCEPT.... Yep, Death of the Celts is.... Well, it's pointless. It's this album's Quest for Fire.

It's so unimaginative and derivative. It's the kind of song an AI would come up with if you trained it to write Steve Harris style songs. The music, the length, the lyrics... It's really, really bad.

I'm not even ripping this one. I'm going to listen to Senjutsu without it. This is a one disc album.

The other three 'Arry songs are FANTASTIC thankfully. Every one of them. The intro of Lost in a Lost World I could listen to over and over.

It's a fucking great album, it REALLY is.

Except for this one completely pointless, plodding, by the numbers song. "Riffs" that are just major scales up and down. In the middle he doesn't even know what to do, so he just throws in an area for back to back to back to back to back solos.

Even Bruce sounds fucking bored.

There's something you must all understand here:

I genuinely believe I am the world's biggest Maiden fanatic. I know everyone thinks they are, but I really believe I am. If it's Maiden history, it's my history. Everything from song structures to limited edition vinyls, original pressings, you name it, I've collected it over the years.

I'm the guy that, although I have loads of interests and hobbies and various talents, if you asked anyone at all what my single most defining thing is about me from childhood onwards, the answer would be "Iron Maiden".

I'm that guy.

So for me to write the above about Death of the Celts, it takes a lot. Don't underestimate how it makes me feel to write what I've written.

For me, writing that is a big fucking deal. A BIG fucking deal.

Death of the Celts is completely unnecessary, and someone, be it Kevin, Bruce, H, whoever - someone SHOULD have told him the song is crap, and will bring down the overall quality of the album.

It needed to be done.

I mean he's knocked it out of the park with the other three, so it wouldn't have hurt, but Death of the Celts is probably the worst track they've ever recorded for an album.

It's simply boring and redundant.
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Thank You. Totally agree with you! But a lot of fans love this song. I have a theory why they like this song but it is too long to develop.
Anyway, the problem is that DOTC will be certainly in the setlist for the Senjutsu's tour. And that really sucks because this song is a long one. So we will have DOTC instead of one or 2 great songs.
 
Kalata said:
Maiden uploaded videos for all songs from the album in YouTube - the videos are like the video for ''Stratego'' (moving artwork):

... only TWOTW is without such a video.

They are presented as ''Official Audio'', but I think this is the first time when Maiden made videos for all songs from an album.

View attachment 16935
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Really impressive visuals this time! Just love this Japan/samurai themed visuals!
 
Belshazzar said:
I LOVE the whole album. It's an utter fucking masterpiece of modern Maiden.

EXCEPT.... Yep, Death of the Celts is.... Well, it's pointless. It's this album's Quest for Fire.

It's so unimaginative and derivative. It's the kind of song an AI would come up with if you trained it to write Steve Harris style songs. The music, the length, the lyrics... It's really, really bad.

I'm not even ripping this one. I'm going to listen to Senjutsu without it. This is a one disc album.

The other three 'Arry songs are FANTASTIC thankfully. Every one of them. The intro of Lost in a Lost World I could listen to over and over.

It's a fucking great album, it REALLY is.

Except for this one completely pointless, plodding, by the numbers song. "Riffs" that are just major scales up and down. In the middle he doesn't even know what to do, so he just throws in an area for back to back to back to back to back solos.

Even Bruce sounds fucking bored.

There's something you must all understand here:

I genuinely believe I am the world's biggest Maiden fanatic. I know everyone thinks they are, but I really believe I am. If it's Maiden history, it's my history. Everything from song structures to limited edition vinyls, original pressings, you name it, I've collected it over the years.

I'm the guy that, although I have loads of interests and hobbies and various talents, if you asked anyone at all what my single most defining thing is about me from childhood onwards, the answer would be "Iron Maiden".

I'm that guy.

So for me to write the above about Death of the Celts, it takes a lot. Don't underestimate how it makes me feel to write what I've written.

For me, writing that is a big fucking deal. A BIG fucking deal.

Death of the Celts is completely unnecessary, and someone, be it Kevin, Bruce, H, whoever - someone SHOULD have told him the song is crap, and will bring down the overall quality of the album.

It needed to be done.

I mean he's knocked it out of the park with the other three, so it wouldn't have hurt, but Death of the Celts is probably the worst track they've ever recorded for an album.

It's simply boring and redundant.
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I LOVED this song lol
 
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