Senjutsu Awards

[Kalata]

Nearly 2 months after the release of the album and countless listenings, I think most of us have already formed an opinion.

FORMAT:

Spoiler

Best song:
Worst song:
Surprisingly good song:
Most disappointing song:
Best moment:
Song that makes you the most nostalgic:

Best lyrics:
Best line:
Best first line:
Best verses:

Best title:

Best intro:
Best outro:

Bruce's best performance:

Best chorus:
Best pre-chorus:

Best bass playing:
Best drumming:

Most catchy song:
Best melody:
Best bridge:

Best instrumental:

Best solo:

Best main riff:

Man of the Match:

You can add more categories if you want.
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Best song: Hell On Earth
Worst song: none
Surprisingly good song: Senjutsu
Most disappointing song: none..., but The Time Machine
Best moment: ''Love in anger'' in Hell On Earth & ''Meet me there'' in The Parchment
Song that makes you the most nostalgic: Hell On Earth

Best lyrics: Senjutsu
Best line: ''We walk in to the flames but dance for rain'' - from Lost In A Lost World
Best first line: ''Beat the warning the sound of the drums, Set the beacons afire for them all' - from Senjutsu
Best final line: ''Following those who came from hell, Came to witness the death of the Celts'' - from Death Of The Celts

Best verses: Senjutsu (DOFP on close second)

Best title: The Time Machine

Best intro: Death Of The Celts (LIALW and The Parchment on close second)
Best outro: Senjutsu (LIALW and Stratego on close second)

Bruce's best performance: Hell On Earth

Best chorus: Hell On Earth
Best pre-chorus: Stratego

Best bass playing: Death Of The Celts
Best drumming: Senjutsu

Most catchy song: Days Of Future Past
Best melody: The Writing On The Wall (melodies: Hell On Earth)
Best bridge: Hell On Earth

Best instrumental: The Parchment (DOTC on close second)

Best solo: Adrian's solo in Darkest Hour (Dave: The Parchment / Janick: his 3rd solo in The Parchment)

Best main riff: Senjutsu

Man of the Match: the whole band, but the most Bruce (for performance) and Steve (for songwriting).

 

[Edington]

Ooh, fun.

Best song: Hell on Earth. Gonna be verrry difficult not to give all the awards to this one.
Worst song: Senjutsu, though in this case worst =/= bad.
Surprisingly good song: The Parchment, if only because it was my least anticipated of Steve's epics.
Most disappointing song: The Time Machine, though again disappointing =/= bad.
Best moment: The final distorted melody of Hell on Earth.
Song that makes you the most nostalgic: Hell on Earth

Best lyrics: Hell on Earth
Best line(s): And when I leave this world, I hope to see you all again, On the other side of Hell on Earth
Best first line(s): Beat the warning the sound of the drums, Set the beacons afire for them all
Best verses: The Writing on the Wall

Best title: Days of Future Past

Best intro: Lost in a Lost World
Best outro: Hell on Earth

Bruce's best performance: Hell on Earth

Best chorus: Darkest Hour
Best pre-chorus: Stratego

Best bass playing: Death of the Celts
Best drumming: Senjutsu

Most catchy song: Days of Future Past
Best melody: Hell on Earth
Best bridge: Stratego (I hear you calling my name, Come to claim my life again...)

Best instrumental: The Parchment, in particular the section after Janick's first solo.

Best solo: H - The Writing on the Wall, Dave - The Parchment, Jan - Death of the Celts.

Best main riff: The Parchment, Days of Future Past as a close second.

Man of the Match: Bruce for a stellar vocal performance or Steve for giving us four killer epics.

 

[srfc]

Best song: Death of the Celts
Worst song: Lost in a Lost World
Surprisingly good song: The Parchement
Most disappointing song: Senjutsu
Best moment: from "Hear the cry we are ready to believe" onwards in the Parchment
Song that makes you the most nostalgic: na

Best lyrics:
Best line:
Best first line:
Best verses:

No opinion on lyrics yet, don't know them well enough

Best title: The Writing on the Wall

Best intro: Death Of The Celts
Best outro: The Parchment

Bruce's best performance: Death of the Celts

Best chorus: Stratego
Best pre-chorus: not sure which ones have pre-choruses

Best bass playing: Death Of The Celts
Best drumming: Death of the Celts

Most catchy song: Stratego
Best melody: Hell of Earth
Best bridge: not sure what this means

Best instrumental: Death of the Celts

Best solo: Adrian's solo in The Writing on the Wall

Best main riff: Days of Future Past

Man of the Match: Steve Harris

 

[Dr. Eddies Wingman]

Best bridge: not sure what this means

 

[Diesel 11]

Best song: “The Parchment”, a fantastic dark and mystic success.
Worst song: “Darkest Hour”, but I don’t dislike it, the others just have more weight to them.
Surprisingly good song: Tough call cuz I wasn’t going into the album thinking anything would be bad. Maybe “Days of Future Past” because I did not expect that chorus at all, but it’s one of their best!
Most disappointing song: Another tough call because I really like all the songs on here. “Time Machine” was a grower, as was “Hell on Earth” (even though part of me still wishes we got even more from it). I guess “Lost in a Lost World” then; it’s overhated but it’s also imperfect.
Best moment: The chorus to “Hell on Earth”. Utter. Fucking. Chills. BUT, a close second is the final line in “The Parchment” where Bruce draws that note out. (“Meet… me… theeeeeeeeeere!”) So good.
Song that makes you the most nostalgic: IDK, “Hell on Earth” in the first half maybe.

Best lyrics: As a whole song, it’s a tough call. Steve executes the building intensity of “Death of the Celts” and the rising atmosphere of “The Parchment” with grandeur. The latter is confusing lyrically but somehow it works, so I might go with it. I also like the poetic yet sharp nature of Bruce’s “Days of Future Past” as well. The chorus to “Hell on Earth” is brilliant but Steve kinda mangled the rest of it. Additionally, “The Time Machine” takes a while to get somewhere but the second half has some great lines.
Best line: The whole chorus to “Hell on Earth”.
Best first line: “Beat the warning, the sound of the drums…”
Best final line: “…Following those who came from Hell, came to witness the death of the Celts…”
Best verses: “The Parchment”.

Best title: “The Parchment”.

Best intro: “The Parchment”.
Best outro: “Death of the Celts”.

Bruce's best performance: Tough call, but either “Days of Future Past” or “The Writing on the Wall”.

Best chorus: “Hell on Earth”.
Best pre-chorus: Not too many pre-choruses on this album, actually. Might have to go with “Hell on Earth” again.

Best bass playing: I don’t focus on bass enough to make a real argument, but I dig the “Losfer Words” reminiscent playing in the “Death of the Celts” instrumental.
Best drumming: Tough. Maybe the title track for its uniqueness.

Most catchy song: “THE DAYS OF FUTURE PAST — TO WANDER ON THE SHORE! A KING WITHOUT A QUEEN — TO DIE FOREVERMORE!!!” But “The Writing on the Wall” also stays in your head forever.
Best melody: The whole piece of “Hell on Earth” that comes after the two minute intro before the vocals is gorgeous.
Best bridge: “Lost in anger,” maybe. Another tough call.

Best instrumental: Man, I can’t believe I had to think about this one. “Writing on the Wall”, duh. And like obviously H came with the big guns, but Dave’s solo is one of the best he’s done in YEARS. So good.

Best solo: But while Dave nailed it, Adrian did the assignment AND went for the extra credit. I remember when I first heard it, just being blown the fuck away. One of the best he’s ever done, goddamn.

Best main riff: Tough, but I think I gotta give it to the western, folky vibes of “The Writing on the Wall”.

Man of the Match: Dave and Adrian really threw down the gauntlet guitar-wise, but Steve proved once and for all that he is, for better or for worse, the “iron” in Iron Maiden. A Steve-centric album that absolutely kills, of course he’s the man of the match.

 

[Kalata]

Best drumming: Tough. Maybe the title track for its uniqueness.

That's why I chose it too, but his playing in the whole album is great...

- I really like his drumming in ''Death Of The Celts'' during the instrumental section where he hits the cymbals a lot (in ''Stratego'' too), the galloping rhythm in ''Hell On Earth'', the drum fills in ''Darkest Hour'', the marching drumming in ''The Time Machine'', the changing of the tempo at the end of ''Days Of Future Past'', the powerful hits in ''Lost In A Lost World'', the ''ride'' during the fast instrumental part in ''The Parchment'' and his drumming with a lot of groove in ''The Writing On The Wall''.