Senjutsu - 3rd September 2021

Give Time Machine time to grow. It´s a fantastic song! Not a fan of Darkest Hour´s chorus but I really like the intro and the solo´s.
 
Give Time Machine time to grow. It´s a fantastic song! Not a fan of Darkest Hour´s chorus but I really like the intro and the solo´s.

The Time Machine and Death of the Celts were the songs I wasn't too sure about on the first listens...

It was so overwhelmingly Gers/Harris meme, especially with the ™Iron Maiden section and all, but it's got a brilliant vibe! Where as Celts felt like a more solid song, but also a bit dragging and it might still be the most unexciting one song for me here.

As for Darkest Hour, I love that chorus, it's so #chemicalweddingmoment that I just can't... :wub: I do understand why it's one of the more uninteresting songs on the record for some, though! It's definitely quite standard in all departments (great solos though, as mentioned!), but I just love it.

Lost in a Lost World, a bit like The Time Machine & Death of the Celts felt slightly too familiar at times and for most of the time, it doesn't exactly manage to fire on all cylinders and I don't like that chorus too much, but that one melody and especially the outro is otherwordly.

Senjutsu seems to be very resonating album for these times. Even at the time of the release, there were very dark clouds on the horizon for Europe. Somehow, songs like Hell on Earth and Lost in a Lost World manage to resonate for these days. Of course, there's always been horrible shit happening in the world, but it's very different when it comes so near to you as it now has for many Europeans. Let alone those, who're actually there...

Naturally, I can't speak for the Ukrainian fans and I can't even think of how tough time they're all going through there, but I imagine that the outro fo Lost in a Lost World, if they ever get to play it in Ukraine, might hit hard for many fans there. Just a thought.
 
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I think the Harris solo songs on this album are all very strong. It is the back to back stinkers of Time Machine and Darkest Hour that brings the album down for me. I like everything either side of those two songs. I hope my views change over time. I can see Time Machine as a grower.
I think if you cut down Senjutsu by about 3 mins, remove LIALW, Time Machine and Darkest Hour you have a much shorter but stronger album overall:

Senjutsu
Stratego
Writing on the Wall
Days of Future Past
Death of the Celts
The Parchment
Hell on Earth
 
I think if you cut down Senjutsu by about 3 mins, remove LIALW, Time Machine and Darkest Hour you have a much shorter but stronger album overall:

Senjutsu
Stratego
Writing on the Wall
Days of Future Past
Death of the Celts
The Parchment
Hell on Earth
That'd honestly be a pretty weak album. Three great tracks to open with, a middling short rocker, a pretty poor Harris epic followed by two good ones is not my idea of a Maiden "album". It would be quite literally missing pieces and feel way too short. Plus losing out on TTM would be ridiculous since it's a far better track than Death of the Celts or Days of Future Past.
 
Well, I would say most here like or love the album but favorite songs vary - someone's best is someone else's worst. And it seems the more casual fan is still stuck in the 80's and wants Aces High/Run to the Hills type of stuff.
Perhaps, but I've also seen at least ten different attempts to "fix" the album by classics fans who've decided they know better than the band. It's certainly a contentious album.
 
Yes sir I think Senjutsu is brilliant - top 3 for me along with Somewhere in Time and Piece of Mind.

I was a fan briefly in the 80s and then went on to other genres but I’ve spent the last 2 years learning the entire IM discography and I think Senjutsu stands up well with any of their older material.
 
Perhaps, but I've also seen at least ten different attempts to "fix" the album by classics fans who've decided they know better than the band. It's certainly a contentious album.
Oh no doubt. I've also seen plenty posts outside this forum by people who claim Maiden haven't made a decent album since the 80's
 
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