Senjutsu - 3rd September 2021

After listening to Smith/Dickinson songs on Senjutsu I'm pretty sure that Bruce needs Adrian on his new solo record to make another masterpiece like Accident or Wedding. Tyranny was good, but not that good as these two records.
I was duscussing the same thing this morning!
 
After listening to Smith/Dickinson songs on Senjutsu I'm pretty sure that Bruce needs Adrian on his new solo record to make another masterpiece like Accident or Wedding. Tyranny was good, but not that good as these two records.

I have Tyranny of Souls as a clear favourite. Great record with some cool songs. Extremely well produced vocals and some stellar guitarwork. Making that mix work with a guitar sound like that... Coooooool!
 
People will tell you how great they think that many of the songs of Accident of Birth and Chemical Wedding are because of Adrian, but if you check the album booklet, most of them are only co-written by Roy Z. :facepalm:

Hey, if Bruce had just pretended that Adrian played on Tyranny of Souls and credited him in the booklet, people would rank that album considerably higher.

Lots of people can't even distinguish if a solo is played by Smith instead of Roy Z!
 
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People will tell you how great they think that many of the songs of Accident of Birth and Chemical Wedding are because of Adrian, but if you check the album booklet, most of them are only co-written by Roy Z. :facepalm:

Hey, if Bruce had just pretended that Adrian played on Tyranny of Souls and credited him in the booklet, people would rank that album considerably higher.
Nah. But it has been proven that having Adrian around is great, even if he's not the primary writer, for second opinion. With Maiden and outside.
 
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Well, I believe that we have just seen the strongest Maiden album since the start of the millenium, and that's primary because some particular members didn't bring in anything like Wildest Dreams/El Dorado/Speed of Light this time.

Someone else was allowed to bring his own material instead to a full degree, and that isn't a bad thing.
 
There are a lot of X Factor comparisons and I am also noticing that fans of the band’s 90s output who haven’t been quite as enthusiastic about recent work are really digging the new album, so there’s probably something to that. One thing X Factor was missing was something to balance out the dark Harris-y material. I think Bruce and Adrian’s contributions, while limited, give Senjutsu a dimension that X Factor didn’t have. At the same time, I also actually like that they only brought in a few songs. A less is more thing is happening. Look forward to more Bruce and Adrian on album 18 tho
 
One more Dickinson/Murray collab (which produced Judas Be My Guide) would be something though, or even a Dickinson/Harris/Murray one (resulted in Brave New World and Rainmaker).

I think a good track with some melodic input from Murray is what's missing on Senjutsu.
 
Amen! Or, heaven forbid, some Dickinson and Harris collaborations. I don't like them going in such different directions
I would t mind another one of those. Out of the Shadows was cool, Only the Good Die Young is awesome. It feels like the albums have gotten less collaborative over the course of the reunion era, I wouldn’t mind a tad more of that.
 
So far, I've got four 10/10 songs on Senjutsu. "Stratego", "Lost in a Lost World", "The Time Machine" and "Hell on Earth".

"Death of the Celts" could join that league, I am not sure at this time.

Even though I eventually came around to The Book of Souls pretty recently I already feel it has been eclipsed.
 
Having taken a while to warm to it, I'm teetering on the edge of a 10 for Stratego too. Inspired bit of writing that sounds like it came out fully formed.
 
A new video review of 'Senjutsu' by one of the guitarists of french heavy/thrash band ADX. I'm OK with some of his arguments and not with the others. But, in fine, he didn't understand the musical direction of 'Senjutsu'...


So what?

Don’t get me wrong, but I find this trend of YouTube reviews from musicians from other bands quite amusing. Are they just trying to get free publicity or what?
 
Also, do you guys think the nods to old songs (in particular songs set in ancient lore/history) in The Time Machine was on purpose? It would certainly fit the title. I can hear the The Talisman in the intro, the Book of Souls (song) in some of the verses, and there are several other parts I can recognize some similarity, but which I cannot place right now...
I’d say that Jan and Steve have a tendency to self-plagiarise themselves, that’s all. The Legacy of the Talisman Machine of Souls, whilst a great song, is a very good example of that.
 
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People will tell you how great they think that many of the songs of Accident of Birth and Chemical Wedding are because of Adrian, but if you check the album booklet, most of them are only co-written by Roy Z. :facepalm:

Hey, if Bruce had just pretended that Adrian played on Tyranny of Souls and credited him in the booklet, people would rank that album considerably higher.

Lots of people can't even distinguish if a solo is played by Smith instead of Roy Z!

Their styles are so different than I cannot think how someone could not be able to tell them apart.

Anyway, Adrian brought something special to Bruce’s solo albums that wasn’t there on Tyranny of Souls. Being a band by the time the went to record The Chemical Wedding probably helped too.
 
Are they just trying to get free publicity or what?
Absolutely! No criticism of them for that from me, but I'm pretty sure that's the intention.

One more Dickinson/Murray collab (which produced Judas Be My Guide) would be something though, or even a Dickinson/Harris/Murray one (resulted in Brave New World and Rainmaker).

I think a good track with some melodic input from Murray is what's missing on Senjutsu.
Dave's contribution to those songs lifted them a great deal, would be nice he did have some more input in songwriting.
 
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