Senjutsu 4th anniversary

Edington said:
I've had at least one song from this album (though mostly the outro of Hell on Earth, or the choruses of Days of Future Past and The Time Machine) going around in my head since the day of release. It's aged incredibly well, much better than TBoS (which recently celebrated it's 9th anniversary, according to Maiden's official Instagram) and The Final Frontier. The production (while still having its flaws, yes) is a big improvement over its two predecessors and the pacing of the songs is much better. I was a little concerned when I saw the tracklist for the first time, and the three 'arry epics closing the album, but their moods are so different from one another that it never feels like a slog to get through them - like TFF's second half.
It's gets its two weakest tracks - the title track and Lost in a Lost World, though I mostly enjoy both - out of the way quite early, then gets into the real meat of the album and doesn't let up. Yes, The Time Machine is derivative, yes, the seagulls go on a bit, no, Death of the Celts doesn't need four intros, but those are really the only flaws I can think of after LIALW.
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The production is cleaner than TBOS (I like it, it has a fitting sound for the theme), but the pacing to be better? Can't fully agree. I want more faster material overall, but I have no issue with it for the most part (I really like the title track and Darkest Hour). Different moods are key (the last 3 songs!), especially for the longer songs. I guess, being longer they help for this songwriting, but it's not easy.
I like Celt's intro, I think it's needed, but the outro is not. The seagulls sounds being so long are an odd choice, maybe they wanted to fill the double album space? Tbh, I like, enjoy and appreciate them, but for the next album I want different/more energetic songs/fresh sounding/more metal/with more harmonies than Lost World (intro and outro are pure gold), Writing, etc. Or another proggy song like Time Machine is curious if they will do it. But Steve won't drop 4 long/er songs for 4 shorter, written on its own. I feel like SJ is a culmination of the Reunion era, so with Simon now they can try to freshen up the sound even more in a way. Maybe they could be inspired by the current tour.

Some might say that the flaw of the album is the repetition, but for me it's not always like that, especially with the previous Reunion albums. There are more important things like general ideas, playing, parts.
 
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