Senjutsu - 3rd September 2021

Everything started great with Early days setlist with, a really special tour. But later setlist from SiT and ME were not so special as the Early days.

There was a lot of possibilities for deep cuts during SiT and ME, but at the end they played a lot of already overplayed songs.

Not true, not from the perspective of the time. SBIT brought back a lot of songs that were rare at the time. Aces High and Powerslave were only played on two tours before that, Ed Huntour and World Slavery. Ed Huntour was a short tour that was not witnessed by very many fans, especially in Europe. Bringing them back, though expected, was long-anticipated. Rime hadn't been played since 1987. Wasted Years was also not a setlist staple, it hadn't been played since Ed Huntour, before that it had made a fleeting appearance in the A Real Live Tour. Can I Play With Madness had been played on the DOD tour, true, but before that it had last been played in 1989. Moonchild was the ultimate deep cut. We did not expect an SSOASS-themed tour to follow SBIT, so that was thrilling. All these were highly anticipated deep cuts in 2008 and the SBIT setlist was very much what was expected for this tour, blending "greatest hits" with rare songs.
 
Not true, not from the perspective of the time. SBIT brought back a lot of songs that were rare at the time. Aces High and Powerslave were only played on two tours before that, Ed Huntour and World Slavery. Ed Huntour was a short tour that was not witnessed by very many fans, especially in Europe. Bringing them back, though expected, was long-anticipated. Rime hadn't been played since 1987. Wasted Years was also not a setlist staple, it hadn't been played since Ed Huntour, before that it had made a fleeting appearance in the A Real Live Tour. Can I Play With Madness had been played on the DOD tour, true, but before that it had last been played in 1989. Moonchild was the ultimate deep cut. We did not expect an SSOASS-themed tour to follow SBIT, so that was thrilling. All these were highly anticipated deep cuts in 2008 and the SBIT setlist was very much what was expected for this tour, blending "greatest hits" with rare songs.
I think one of the big things is that, we watch a lot of Maiden concerts 9n YouTube, DVD, VHS etc. So our view of what represents and underplayed live song is skewed.

I mean how many times have we watched Live after Death? So of course it's going to seem like they only played Flight of Icarus five minutes ago, when LOTB turns up telling us it's been over two decades.
 
I think one of the big things is that, we watch a lot of Maiden concerts 9n YouTube, DVD, VHS etc. So our view of what represents and underplayed live song is skewed.

I mean how many times have we watched Live after Death? So of course it's going to seem like they only played Flight of Icarus five minutes ago, when LOTB turns up telling us it's been over two decades.

That, and of course the fact that a lot of those songs have become staples since also clouds the judgement in hindsight. I remember how excited I was when I realised that, yes, they are actually starting the show with Churchill's Speech/Aces High, and, OMG, they're playing Powerslave. Seems kind of silly now, but that's how it was.
 
Some new curious things from this review:

The title track - great riff, keyboards floating over the chorus, powerful vocals and unrelenting fury of the rhythm.

''Lost In A Lost World'' - the track has delay and layering on Bruce's vocals to lend a unique flavor. The interactions between drums, bass, and guitars bear many similarities to the structure of ''Infinite Dreams''. Really, weirdness only happens in the last two minutes of the track, when Bruce goes on a wandering vision quest tempo rubato.

''Days Of Future Past'' - comes in with jarring, almost atonal guitar chords being chopped out on the strings, before a signature Adrian ''The Wicker Man'' sort of riff takes us straight into Bruce's verses. Keyboards during the chorus (again) and a tidy solo from Adrian in the middle. Worth noting is the interesting outro, going back to Adrian's dystopian guitar chords and some creative jazzy drumming from Nicko.

''The Time Machine'' - unusual vocal structure and melody and guitar lead melodies (a la ATSS). Crazy little meltdown around 4:30, with unusual riff structure and even some wild guitar leads. Somewhere in the five-minute range it goes back into something resembling the usual Maiden, with some well-executed guitar solo tradeoffs, before Bruce sings us to the disc's conclusion.

''Darkest Hour'' - the song begins with clean guitars and Bruce's singing. Structurally, there are several parts of the song which seem to invoke elements of ''Wasting Love''. The highlight of the song may actually be where it sounds like Adrian takes one lead, and then trades off with Dave, like the very best of the golden age.

''Death Of The Celts'' - after a minute or two of Bruce singing matching vocals to follow with a guiding melody provided by bass, clean guitars, and keyboards, the drums and distortion kick in and the verses carry on with a bit more energy. The verse structure continues until what seems to be an Adrian lead section before the song structure changes completely, to go into an instrumental section like the very best of Maiden multi-part epics, although there is definitely a fun Gaelic sort of lift to the melody, combined with some of the feel found in ''Losfer Words (Big 'Orra)''.

''The Parchment'' - start with bass (like the previous song), hard-hitting riff, interplay of vocal verse and lead guitar and impressive instrumental portion. Ten minutes in, Bruce takes another break so the band can do some more rocking (in fashion that really wouldn’t be out of place for bringing HBTN to a close, complete with really nicely harmonized guitar parts).

''Hell On Earth'' - opens with bass, modest tempo and Bruce follows the guitar melody. After a few rounds of verse, we are treated to a few exchanges of leads between Adrian, Dave, and Janick before everything drops out so bass guitar can once again take spotlight for a moment and clear the way for Bruce to deliver layered, almost hushed rapid lyrics, before the whole band comes crashing in again for a blistering instrumental section. Eventually the song reprises the clean and calm introduction, which eventually fades into the album's end.


Maiden delivered one of their strongest albums of the last twenty years. The production is great.
 
German reviewer from above posted youtube video said that the first song feels more like an album intro. Stratego would be better as an album opener. He liked WOTW very much. Lost in A Lost World and The Time Machine - very complex with many parts and riffs. Those two was harder for him to understand? Days of Future Past - would fit on 7Son. True heavy metal track. Darkest Hour - power ballad, evokes epic feeling, strangely reminded him somewhat of Manowar's "Mountains". He liked this song very much. Death of the Celts - he felt intro was way too long. He said, he feels Death of the Celts is a filler. The Parchment rythmically reminded of Deep Purple's "Stormbringer", also mentioned Hallowed be thy Name. Hell on Earth - he felt dissonance, because the title suggests "hell", but the song itself is not so doomish?
His highlights are: Stratego, TWOTW, Days of Future Past and Darkest Hour. Overall songs are long but not very progressive which he liked. Good heavy metal.
 
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German reviewer from above posted youtube video said that the first song feels more like an album intro. Stratego would be better as an album opener. He liked WOTW very much. Lost in A Lost World and The Time Machine - very complex with many parts and riffs. Those two was harder for him to understand? Days of Future Past - would fit on 7Son. True heavy metal track. Darkest Hour - power ballad, strangely reminded him somewhat of Manowar's "Mountains".
I heard a bit of his review. At the beginning, he pointed out that he likes Maiden, but he is not the biggest fan. He gives Senjutsu 4 out of 5 points (stars). He is definitely more into the songs from Adrian, compared to the epics from Steve, which he finds too long. It's all about taste, and he is more into the short rockers and less progressive things, but the record was surely worth the wait.
 
There's a podcast by two guys of Metalitalia who listened in advance to Senjutsu. On an Iron Maiden Italia FB post I found a short summary of what they said, and this is a rough translation (with some adds from me):

-The two who were able to preview the album agree that it is more "Iron Maiden" than the last ones. Despite this, those expecting a second Number of the Beast will likely be disappointed. [well, they actually said that they found an album a la "Iron Maiden" that will please both newer and older Maiden fans, as long as they don't look for an album with "Number of the beast" or "Powerslave" style. There are obviously references to the past, but inserted in the perspective of recent albums]
-Compared to Book of Souls, this is an easier album to listen to [it runs more smooth, without excessively verbose parts], but you still have to listen to it multiple times to fully appreciate it.
-Guitar parts are among the best Maiden have done in a long time ["there are plenty of beautiful guitar parts"].
-Despite the length of the pieces, Steve held back a little with progressive, leaving more room for the typical characteristics of Maiden.
-Darkest Hour is a very inspired ballad that would fit on Bruce Dickinson's 'Chemical Wedding' album. The singer made one of his best performances in this song.
-The sound is better than that of the two singles released, despite the two reviewers having listened to it in streaming and therefore without the disc quality [they didn't go too much into detail on this subject, generically blaming the "compression" of streaming platforms]
 
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That, and of course the fact that a lot of those songs have become staples since also clouds the judgement in hindsight. I remember how excited I was when I realised that, yes, they are actually starting the show with Churchill's Speech/Aces High, and, OMG, they're playing Powerslave. Seems kind of silly now, but that's how it was.
I was most surprised during the gig when Steve began playing the bassline of The Clairvoyant. Especially so late in the set list. Moonchild and The Clairvoyant…two deep cuts back to back during the encore was pretty dam amazing. I was expecting TETMD at that point (which I was happy to hear on TFF tour).
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I’ve already ordered the silver vinyl but with COVID lockdown it won’t arrive this week so today I ordered Senjutsu on CD at a shop nearby so I can pick it up Friday. I don’t have a CD player…the purchase was literally just to have lyrics to read in the correct font rather than standard arial font if I was to read them off iTunes. Obsessed fans raise your horns!!
 
I was most surprised during the gig when Steve began playing the bassline of The Clairvoyant. Especially so late in the set list. Moonchild and The Clairvoyant…two deep cuts back to back… during the encore was pretty dam amazing. I was expecting TETMD at that point (which I was happy to hear on TFF tour).
_ _ _ _

I’ve already ordered the silver vinyl but with COVID lockdown it won’t arrive this week so today I ordered Senjutsu on CD at a shop nearby so I can pick it up Friday. I don’t have a CD player…the purchase was literally just to have lyrics to read in the correct font rather than standard arial font if I was to read them off iTunes. Obsessed fans raise your horns!!
I did the same - only CD player is in my Xbox connected to 10yo TV so quality of sound is shitty. But I want to support band :)
 
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