Jer
A window to the west, a blazing star above
Yes, so halfway through the tour they can throw in a bunch of different songs for the 40th anniversary of The Number Of The Beast. I think I’ve seen this movie before…
Senjutsu - 3rd September 2021
- Thread starter MrKnickerbocker
- Start date
Jadukor
Can I play with Agnes
This paragraph below, for me, was the key message from this long interview:
"Iron Maiden, 41 years since their debut and 17 albums in, still want to challenge, to do it differently. They want to treat their fans intelligently, as people who like them for what they do, not just for what they have done. That takes guts. It also takes having the courage of your convictions in your own work. But, really, for all the surprises and paper-trails and suggestions of playing double-albums live, it’s not that different. It’s just Maiden being defiantly, reliably Maiden."
The powerslave 2 fans should just pack their suitcases and leave. It is clear Iron Maiden is going to continue to evolve and bring different elements to their music going forward. It is clear to me from the interview that this album will be musically closer to TBOS than it is to NOTB or Powerslave or SIT.
People need to come to terms with it before september so that we can all allow ourselves time to digest the album and give these songs a chance to fully flourish.
"Iron Maiden, 41 years since their debut and 17 albums in, still want to challenge, to do it differently. They want to treat their fans intelligently, as people who like them for what they do, not just for what they have done. That takes guts. It also takes having the courage of your convictions in your own work. But, really, for all the surprises and paper-trails and suggestions of playing double-albums live, it’s not that different. It’s just Maiden being defiantly, reliably Maiden."
The powerslave 2 fans should just pack their suitcases and leave. It is clear Iron Maiden is going to continue to evolve and bring different elements to their music going forward. It is clear to me from the interview that this album will be musically closer to TBOS than it is to NOTB or Powerslave or SIT.
People need to come to terms with it before september so that we can all allow ourselves time to digest the album and give these songs a chance to fully flourish.
Last edited:
Courbet
Educated Fool
I like that note. Maiden are a living breathing band- not some left over from the Jurassic period. (Wink wink) Leave it for the karaoke for sure.
Many artists, both visual and music turn into parodies of themselves, it becomes habit. I don’t want maiden to make a maiden sounding song! Instead I want Maiden to write a new song that’s by Maiden.
Many artists, both visual and music turn into parodies of themselves, it becomes habit. I don’t want maiden to make a maiden sounding song! Instead I want Maiden to write a new song that’s by Maiden.
Kalata
Out of the Silent Planet
Some curious bits:
Btw, The Way Of The Samurai sounds great.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wanting “something epic that people would not expect us to do, because we haven’t done a video that’s worth talking about for a long time”, he hit upon the idea for what would become The Writing On The Wall’s animated featurette.
“Nobody had one,” says Bruce. “Management didn’t have one. I think Steve had a copy on one laptop and one was locked away in a vault somewhere, and that was it. Obviously, we were thinking it’d escape and somebody would hear it. So to have kept it under wraps for this long is pretty good, really. The last time I heard it was when Steve was mixing the Mexico live album. He hadn’t listened to it for ages, so we put it on and both went, ‘This is really good… wow!’”
“We had no clue, absolutely no idea, what the album was. We didn’t go in there with any set idea or preconception,” says Bruce. “We had a few ideas. We went into the studio and tried them out, and when they worked, we just recorded straight away. So while we were rehearsing, everything was being recorded – the tape was rolling the whole time.
Steve would literally lock himself away for two or three days, and we’d all turn up and play pinball,” he continues. “And then he’d say, ‘I think I’ve got one, chaps. Oi! Everybody in the studio!’ Boom. The stuff I wrote with Adrian was a bit more conventional – we’d stand around and play guitar and sing and do that until we thought we had something. Then we’d rehearse it and put it straight down. It’s more organic, if you like. Steve tends to be quite detailed and meticulous in exactly how he wants it.”
“It's just a really good excuse for a Samurai Eddie, which I think is cool.”
- Steve came up with the first track and said it was called Senjutsu,” he says. “He said it was Japanese for ‘the art of war’. And I went, ‘You sure?’ So I looked it up on Google, and it seems there’s a few different meanings for it, but we’ll go with ‘the art of war’.
War pops up a lot. And although Bruce says it’s “absolutely not” a concept record, the words to Senjutsu (the album) nevertheless have a high body count, even by Maiden standards.
- the breadth of the album is shown on its final track, the 12-minute Hell On Earth, where mankind’s oldest way of sorting out its problems is touched upon not in terms of courage and glory, but in the cold, dark reality for those caught in it.
“It’s a really amazing record. It probably wants to be played in its entirety live. That’d be quite ambitious, wouldn’t it?”
- shades of prog, folk, blues and soundtrack influences pop up all over the place, all identifiably part of Maiden’s 41-year-old tapestry, but marking their very own shapes on it.
"Iron Maiden, 41 years since their debut and 17 albums in, still want to challenge, to do it differently. They want to treat their fans intelligently, as people who like them for what they do, not just for what they have done. That takes guts. It also takes having the courage of your convictions in your own work. But, really, for all the surprises and paper-trails and suggestions of playing double-albums live, it’s not that different. It’s just Maiden being defiantly, reliably Maiden."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wanting “something epic that people would not expect us to do, because we haven’t done a video that’s worth talking about for a long time”, he hit upon the idea for what would become The Writing On The Wall’s animated featurette.
“Nobody had one,” says Bruce. “Management didn’t have one. I think Steve had a copy on one laptop and one was locked away in a vault somewhere, and that was it. Obviously, we were thinking it’d escape and somebody would hear it. So to have kept it under wraps for this long is pretty good, really. The last time I heard it was when Steve was mixing the Mexico live album. He hadn’t listened to it for ages, so we put it on and both went, ‘This is really good… wow!’”
“We had no clue, absolutely no idea, what the album was. We didn’t go in there with any set idea or preconception,” says Bruce. “We had a few ideas. We went into the studio and tried them out, and when they worked, we just recorded straight away. So while we were rehearsing, everything was being recorded – the tape was rolling the whole time.
Steve would literally lock himself away for two or three days, and we’d all turn up and play pinball,” he continues. “And then he’d say, ‘I think I’ve got one, chaps. Oi! Everybody in the studio!’ Boom. The stuff I wrote with Adrian was a bit more conventional – we’d stand around and play guitar and sing and do that until we thought we had something. Then we’d rehearse it and put it straight down. It’s more organic, if you like. Steve tends to be quite detailed and meticulous in exactly how he wants it.”
“It's just a really good excuse for a Samurai Eddie, which I think is cool.”
- Steve came up with the first track and said it was called Senjutsu,” he says. “He said it was Japanese for ‘the art of war’. And I went, ‘You sure?’ So I looked it up on Google, and it seems there’s a few different meanings for it, but we’ll go with ‘the art of war’.
War pops up a lot. And although Bruce says it’s “absolutely not” a concept record, the words to Senjutsu (the album) nevertheless have a high body count, even by Maiden standards.
- the breadth of the album is shown on its final track, the 12-minute Hell On Earth, where mankind’s oldest way of sorting out its problems is touched upon not in terms of courage and glory, but in the cold, dark reality for those caught in it.
“It’s a really amazing record. It probably wants to be played in its entirety live. That’d be quite ambitious, wouldn’t it?”
- shades of prog, folk, blues and soundtrack influences pop up all over the place, all identifiably part of Maiden’s 41-year-old tapestry, but marking their very own shapes on it.
"Iron Maiden, 41 years since their debut and 17 albums in, still want to challenge, to do it differently. They want to treat their fans intelligently, as people who like them for what they do, not just for what they have done. That takes guts. It also takes having the courage of your convictions in your own work. But, really, for all the surprises and paper-trails and suggestions of playing double-albums live, it’s not that different. It’s just Maiden being defiantly, reliably Maiden."
Last edited:
Midnight
The Ever-Present "It"
To quote the interview:So, Hell On Earth lyrically will be more whining about how fked up the today's world is? No storytelling, just more ramblings from good old Steve, and struggling Bruce?I sure hope not.
But the breadth of the album is shown on its final track, the 12-minute Hell On Earth, where mankind’s oldest way of sorting out its problems is touched upon not in terms of courage and glory, but in the cold, dark reality for those caught in it. Steve’s lyrics talk of ‘armed children’ who are ‘fighting in the name of God’ – not so much George RR Martin, more Ken Loach. But it also speaks to a more general, world-weary sense that everything is going wrong, and with it we are losing something of ourselves. Bruce calls it, “The usual shit grumpy old men complain about,” but there’s also a less flippant heart there, too.
“It’s about the shit state of the Earth,” he says. “It’s almost nostalgic for something other than the situation we find ourselves in right now. It was all written pre-COVID and lockdown and everything else, but [it also deals with] seeing the way the world is going, how things are depersonalised and trivialised. [There’s now] so much choice, you don’t know what to do with yourself…”
“It’s about the shit state of the Earth,” he says. “It’s almost nostalgic for something other than the situation we find ourselves in right now. It was all written pre-COVID and lockdown and everything else, but [it also deals with] seeing the way the world is going, how things are depersonalised and trivialised. [There’s now] so much choice, you don’t know what to do with yourself…”
So... For the Greater Good of God x Age of Innocence? This should be interesting.
____no5
Free Man
If they even consider to play it in full live, we have something good here.
My absolute best live was the AMOLAD -full album- one and I'd travel half the world to see a full album again.
Pity we don't have a live record from that tour, so many live records and the one that would have mattered, no.
My absolute best live was the AMOLAD -full album- one and I'd travel half the world to see a full album again.
Pity we don't have a live record from that tour, so many live records and the one that would have mattered, no.
Azas
Muted
If it's For the Greater Good of God lyrically - meh. Maybe music is great.
Yax
Ancient Mariner
There’s a rather sonically messy soundboard FM from Stockholm available. But it’s something.
DJMayes
Ancient Mariner
I was quite young when AMOLAD was released; the only tours I've seen were TBOS and LOTB. I quite enjoyed that beyond a few obvious classics there wasn't *too* much overlap between the setlists.
With that said, I'd be keen to see a tour that contains all of the new album to keep that variety going.
With that said, I'd be keen to see a tour that contains all of the new album to keep that variety going.
Jer
A window to the west, a blazing star above
Yep, I got to see the original AMOLAD tour and it was awesome. Screw that “Play Classics” guy. If Senjutsu is a great album, go ahead and play it start to finish.
And yes, we desperately need an AMOLAD tour video…
Ironalice
Ancient Mariner
“We had a few ideas. We went into the studio and tried them out, and when they worked, we just recorded straight away. So while we were rehearsing, everything was being recorded – the tape was rolling the whole time.
I do hope some of these "epic" songs are not just extended jam sessions from rehearsals they hit record on and could have really been trimmed down. Not sure what to make of that quote but time will tell
Kalata
Out of the Silent Planet
The album contains 5 epics, so indeed it would be quite ambitious. Even the AMOLAD album has fewer epics.
And the long songs will fill a large part of the setlist... (less room for classics).
Ironalice
Ancient Mariner
maybe they feel they had 3 legs of legacy everyone saw a classic set this one is all about new? I gather most these songs will have long instrumentals Bruce probably would find those easier to do with many breaks between his vocals . either way im sure most the set will be dedicated to senjutsu even if they drop a couple and play 8
Iron Lurker
Ancient Mariner
Yes, I can't understand why some people are in such a hurry to retire this band....
chaosapiant
Ancient Marinade
It’s never ending because he never gets it right.