Senjutsu - 3rd September 2021

Iron Lurker said:
If this is their swansong(and I certainly hope it’s not) I’d be fine with it. Senjutsu is my favorite reunion album.
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I'm now with you on this. It's been enough time to digest the record and I revisited it today riding around and found an even better appreciation for it. I still maintain it's their most consistent album since AMOLAD and their most mature songwriting to date. I adore Senjutsu.
 
Diesel 11 said:
Sorry, I will not allow Maiden to stop releasing albums till I’m dead. Record forty right now so you can release a new one every few years even after you’ve called it quits. Pls.
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Compilations and Live albums:

The Iron Beast
Killer Beasts
The Numbers Of The Live Beast
Pieces Of The Beast
Powerbeasts
Somewhere On The Stage Of The Beast
Seventh Compilation Of A Seventh Compilation
No Beasts For The Dying
Beasts Of The Dark
The Live Factor
Virtual Live
Brave Old Beast
Dances Of The Beast
A Matter Of Live And Beast
The Final Front Tour
The Beast Of Soul
Livejutsu
 
Josh said:
I'm now with you on this. It's been enough time to digest the record and I revisited it today riding around and found an even better appreciation for it. I still maintain it's their most consistent album since AMOLAD and their most mature songwriting to date. I adore Senjutsu.
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What's mature songwriting?

I'd say AMOLAD is their most mature songwriting, if such a thing exists. Mostly because of the lyrics. It's all serious, dark and emotional. Musically it also has slight departures for Maiden, which maybe is a sign of more mature writing?
 
"Dancing on graves of those who bled for us" - Senjutsu

"You dance on the graves who bled for us" - Hell On Earth

Interesting connection I never noticed before. You think it was intentional or has Steve just got a bone to pick with dude's dancing on gravestones?
 
MrKnickerbocker said:
Welp, there it is: new album title, cover, release date! Thoughts?

View attachment 15900

We are thrilled to announce the release of IRON MAIDEN’s 17th studio album Senjutsu on September 3rd through Parlophone Records (BMG in the USA). It was recorded in Paris with longstanding producer Kevin Shirley and co-produced by Steve Harris.

For Senjutsu – loosely translated as ‘tactics & strategy’, the band once again enlisted the services of Mark Wilkinson to create the spectacular Samurai themed cover artwork, based on an idea by Steve Harris. And with a running time of a little under 82 minutes, Senjutsu, like their previous record The Book Of Souls, will be a double CD album/triple vinyl album.

Steve says "We chose to record at Guillaume Tell Studio in France again as the place has such a relaxed vibe. The setup there is perfect for our needs; the building used to be a cinema and has a really high ceiling so there’s a great acoustic sound. We recorded this album in the same way we did The Book Of Souls in that we’d write a song, rehearse it and then put it down together straight away while it was all fresh in our minds. There’s some very complex songs on this album which took a lot of hard work to get them exactly as we wanted them to sound, so the process was at times very challenging, but Kevin is great at capturing the essence of the band and I think it was worth the effort! I’m very proud of the result and can’t wait for fans to hear it."

Bruce Dickinson continues, "We’re all really excited about this album. We recorded it back in early 2019 during a break in the Legacy tour so we could maximize our touring yet still have a long set up period before release to prepare great album art and something special as a video. Of course the pandemic delayed things more - so much for the best laid plans – or should that be ‘strategies’!? The songs are very varied, and some of them are quite long. There’s also one or two songs which sound pretty different to our usual style, and I think Maiden fans will be surprised - in a good way, I hope!"

The full tracklisting is:

1. Senjutsu (Smith/Harris) 8:20
2. Stratego (Gers/Harris) 4:59
3. The Writing On The Wall (Smith/Dickinson) 6:13
4. Lost In A Lost World (Harris) 9:31
5. Days Of Future Past (Smith/Dickinson) 4:03
6. The Time Machine (Gers/Harris) 7:09
7. Darkest Hour (Smith/Dickinson) 7:20
8. Death Of The Celts (Harris) 10:20
9. The Parchment (Harris) 12:39
10. Hell On Earth (Harris) 11:19

Senjutsu will be released on the following formats and available to pre-order from all good music retailers starting Wednesday July 21st

Standard 2CD Digipak
Deluxe 2CD Book Format
Deluxe heavyweight 180G Triple Black Vinyl
Special Edition Triple Silver & Black Marble Vinyl (from selected retailers)
Special Edition Triple Red & Black Marble Vinyl (from selected retailers)
Super Deluxe Boxset featuring CD, Blu-Ray and Exclusive Memorabilia
Digital album (streaming and download)
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Do we think that too many songs on this album start off acoustically.
 
MrKnickerbocker said:
Welp, there it is: new album title, cover, release date! Thoughts?

View attachment 15900

We are thrilled to announce the release of IRON MAIDEN’s 17th studio album Senjutsu on September 3rd through Parlophone Records (BMG in the USA). It was recorded in Paris with longstanding producer Kevin Shirley and co-produced by Steve Harris.

For Senjutsu – loosely translated as ‘tactics & strategy’, the band once again enlisted the services of Mark Wilkinson to create the spectacular Samurai themed cover artwork, based on an idea by Steve Harris. And with a running time of a little under 82 minutes, Senjutsu, like their previous record The Book Of Souls, will be a double CD album/triple vinyl album.

Steve says "We chose to record at Guillaume Tell Studio in France again as the place has such a relaxed vibe. The setup there is perfect for our needs; the building used to be a cinema and has a really high ceiling so there’s a great acoustic sound. We recorded this album in the same way we did The Book Of Souls in that we’d write a song, rehearse it and then put it down together straight away while it was all fresh in our minds. There’s some very complex songs on this album which took a lot of hard work to get them exactly as we wanted them to sound, so the process was at times very challenging, but Kevin is great at capturing the essence of the band and I think it was worth the effort! I’m very proud of the result and can’t wait for fans to hear it."

Bruce Dickinson continues, "We’re all really excited about this album. We recorded it back in early 2019 during a break in the Legacy tour so we could maximize our touring yet still have a long set up period before release to prepare great album art and something special as a video. Of course the pandemic delayed things more - so much for the best laid plans – or should that be ‘strategies’!? The songs are very varied, and some of them are quite long. There’s also one or two songs which sound pretty different to our usual style, and I think Maiden fans will be surprised - in a good way, I hope!"

The full tracklisting is:

1. Senjutsu (Smith/Harris) 8:20
2. Stratego (Gers/Harris) 4:59
3. The Writing On The Wall (Smith/Dickinson) 6:13
4. Lost In A Lost World (Harris) 9:31
5. Days Of Future Past (Smith/Dickinson) 4:03
6. The Time Machine (Gers/Harris) 7:09
7. Darkest Hour (Smith/Dickinson) 7:20
8. Death Of The Celts (Harris) 10:20
9. The Parchment (Harris) 12:39
10. Hell On Earth (Harris) 11:19

Senjutsu will be released on the following formats and available to pre-order from all good music retailers starting Wednesday July 21st

Standard 2CD Digipak
Deluxe 2CD Book Format
Deluxe heavyweight 180G Triple Black Vinyl
Special Edition Triple Silver & Black Marble Vinyl (from selected retailers)
Special Edition Triple Red & Black Marble Vinyl (from selected retailers)
Super Deluxe Boxset featuring CD, Blu-Ray and Exclusive Memorabilia
Digital album (streaming and download)
Click to expand...
Do we think that some of the songs on this album are too long. Can't Maiden say everything they want to say in 6mins or less.
 
DJMayes said:
Agreed! I can't stand when Maiden won't condense their songs to 6 minutes or less. It really ruins songs like Where Eagles Dare, Infinite Dreams and 2 Minutes To Midnight.
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Where Eagles Dare is repetitive, 2 Minutes To Midnight is slightly longer than necessary, but Infinite Dreams is just a perfect song IMO.
 
There is no "filler" on the 7th Son album. I think 7th Son is still their finest album to date. None of the songs outstay their welcome. It's just one very fine album.
 
giratina said:
Where Eagles Dare is repetitive, 2 Minutes To Midnight is slightly longer than necessary, but Infinite Dreams is just a perfect song IMO.
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They are all classics and just fine IMO.
wandy said:
Do we think that some of the songs on this album are too long. Can't Maiden say everything they want to say in 6mins or less.
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Maiden often like to tell stories and need more than 3 minutes to tell them. Harris likes to frame his stories with an intro and outro. I get it’s not for everyone though. But I do think it’s just one aspect that sets them apart.
 
wandy said:
There is no "filler" on the 7th Son album. I think 7th Son is still their finest album to date. None of the songs outstay their welcome. It's just one very fine album.
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See, I think this is the key to whether you find Maiden songs too long/repetitive. At the end of the day it comes down to whether you like what you’re hearing or not. If you love a song, you probably don’t mind a chorus repeating a few times. And if you already don’t care for the music, a repetitive part just gets more grating and noticeable.

Hell on Earth is a good example. Look at the thread for that song and you’ll see folks clamoring for a repeat of the chorus.
 
wandy said:
There is no "filler" on the 7th Son album. I think 7th Son is still their finest album to date. None of the songs outstay their welcome. It's just one very fine album.
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So you don't think the title track is unnecessarily long? I don't, I love it - but using your measuring stick it could easily be trimmed down to under 6 minutes.
 
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