Senjutsu - 3rd September 2021

DJMayes said:
Senjutsu is great, but The Book Of Souls is a special album for me. Part of that is the top end (and indeed, I think Empire Of The Clouds and The Book Of Souls are better than anything on the new album) but to a greater extent it's the rest of the tracks. I love all of the ones people complain about - I think Shadows Of The Valley is a top 20 Maiden song, for example - which gives it a consistency a lot of people feel it lacks.
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I would agree on the title track. To me, that is the best song from either BOS or Senjutsu. The lyrics are stunning and the fast section is amazing.
 
Even though I wrote some harsh words the album has really grown on me in the last few days. I just think that I understand its philosophy better now, it is a more difficult album than TBOS (which was basically pure, classic Maiden despite its length).
I have done an 180 on Senjutsu and consider it great, just wanted to share that.
 
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someone hit the nail on the head - this album has a central theme: the loss of tradition as "progress" swallows it up. very clearly in a few of Steve's epics it's obvious he's lamenting the loss/dilution of "Britishness" as the floodgates of immigration overwhelm it. we have the same dynamic here in States. the album really, really runs deep in themes and they are mostly very forlorn...the twilight of empires. you can make some parallels to Brexit and Covid hysteria...they are there as well.
 
the more i listen to this album the more i'm incredibly impressed with the lyrics. this is a really strong album thematically/lyrically. except Time Machine. that seems a bit too whimsical against the rest. but, damn....this is a really strong album compositionally. only complaint at this time remains my own preference of truncating the extended intros/outros/tacos. Hell On Earth is just a colossally great song!
 
revised ratings after many rotations over last week. couple of caveats. 1) i'm ignoring the extraneous intros/outros on some of the epics, 2) i'm not rating these against anything pre-reunion...not fair, 3) a "6" rating as lowest here compares to my lowest of "2" on DOD ("wildest dreams") and "3" on BOS ("speed of light")...so these weaker songs are still very good!

Senjutsu - 9
Stratego - 8
TWOTW - 9
LIALW - 8
DOFP - 9
TTM - 6
Darkest Hour - 7
DOTC - 10
The Parchment - 9
HOE - 11
 
chaosapiant said:
I keep seeing comments about how this album doesn’t have any fast parts. It’s a more somber album but it does have moments of explosiveness. The way HoE rips open after the intro, the fast section at the end of The Parchment, the double-time ending of DoFP. All of Stratego. Those moments are still clearly there.
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Exactly. There are moments of build up and also some great dynamics. Something that was missing for the most part from the previous albums
 
R@inmaker said:
someone hit the nail on the head - this album has a central theme: the loss of tradition as "progress" swallows it up. very clearly in a few of Steve's epics it's obvious he's lamenting the loss/dilution of "Britishness" as the floodgates of immigration overwhelm it.
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How do you define Britishness? This country has been defined by the people who came to this island from elsewhere over thousands of years and made this place their home, shaping the country and its identity. Someone lamenting the dilution of "Britishness" does not make much sense as the concept has evolved significantly. I personally think that Marcus Rashford exemplifies Britishness much better than Jim Davidson...
 
There could still be a subtle and subconscious influence of the times - if certain themes are present in society, they will work their way into the art, one way or another, because it's just what's on the artist's mind.

Not saying this is the case here, of course. I didn't pay any attention to the lyrics yet, so I just don't know. I'm just saying if the people around you keep talking about freedom, resistance, independence and whatnot for years, you will be thinking about freedom, resistance and independence a lot.
 
I don't see any themes throughout the album, let alone brexit. Honestly, it's a bit hard to even understand what Steve is on about in his four epics. Waiting for interviews to see what he has to say about them.
 
There is no indication of Steve Harris' political leanings in his songs, and I think that's quite a stupid assumption to think there is. It just causes problems when there is no need to be any. He is a 65 year old man who has seen a lot of change during his time. I'm only 28 and I think there has been a lot of changes, good and bad during my life so far! You can be an adult of any age to draw the conclusion that the world is going to hell in a handbasket. The constant news cycle now because of the internet age and smartphones is only going to make it seem more prevalent.
 
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