Which album do you prefer: The Book Of Souls or Senjutsu?

Which album do you prefer: The Book Of Souls or Senjutsu?

  • TBOS

    Votes: 19 38.8%

  • Senjutsu

    Votes: 30 61.2%
  • Total voters
    49
CA Bryers said:
I'd go with Senjutsu, but not by a mile or anything. It's a bit more consistent, but both albums should have been one CD each, and probably trimmed down to 60 mins or under for them to be stronger albums, IMO. Both albums have some very strong songs (Hell on Earth, Empire, TBOS, TWOTW, Stratego, and a few others), but a fair amount of songs that are pretty weak (Man of Sorrows, Lost in a Lost World, Senjutsu). I do wish Tears of a Clown had been acoustic, and though I don't like the verses of The Red and the Black, the instrumental section is absolutely bonkers good.

I do agree with what someone above said, though, that AMOLAD was their last really excellent album.
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Yah, I think my lack of connection to both albums is down to the length. A hour is plenty for me. Even AMOLAD drains me after the hour mark even though the remaining songs are all great.

I listened to both these albums again fairly recently and two songs changed for me. I enjoyed Senjutsu (song) much more than previously, it just clicked. And the annoying verses of Red and the Black didn't really annoy me any more. So that was good.

Some things didn't change though. I really have zero time for Darkest Hour, I really dislike the melodies, chord progressions, changes, can't vibe with it at all. Definitely a bottom 5 Maiden song, for me. Man of Sorrows also does nothin for me.

It's close but I'd probably lean towards TBOS if I had to pick. The songs stand out more whereas a fair amount of Senjutsu blends in together for me. Could be because I've heard them less.

So, plenty of good stuff on both, some classic moments (Hell On Earth, instrumentals on Red and Black and BOS) but both a tad long for my simple brain to comprehend in one sitting.

Wee nod to Stratego, something about that song I just fuckin looove.
 
dickinson1978 said:
I love lost in a lost world ! Strong xfactor vibes there! I just skip darkest hour and parchement. In book of souls from death or glory till the end is a 5/10 album. Not a disaster as DOD,the second part of the album for me is 1 to 4/10. A disaster.
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I do really like the intro and outro of Lost in a Lost World, it's just the middle where it feels so tired and uninspired. Once it gets heavy, it goes into a thumping riff that hearkens so much back to The Fugitive's similar riffage that I just wish I was listening to that instead. So much punch there, whereas LIALW's production just really lets it down, IMO. Glad you dig it, though.
 
MindRuler said:
:lol: That's quite harsh but I agree it's among their very worst ever. The vocal melodies of the verses and awful chorus make it quite stinky.
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The one thing I genuinely love about the song is the line "shadows in the stars". That's badass and evokes vivid imagery.
The rest of the song does nothing for me and I always skip it.
 
Of the two, Book of Souls has the higher highs I'd say with If Eternity Should Fail and the title track. But there's also a lot of mediocre middling material on that album and I've never ever warmed up to liking Empire of the Clouds all that much. I just find myself liking singular moments more than full songs.

Senjutsu has the better production to my ears (better vocal production, better Dave Murray lead tones, drums sound better) and is a bit more consistent of an experience overall. I'd say the last 3 songs that close it out really seal the deal for me as I love all 3 of them. I happen to be one of the few who seemingly love the tile track and Lost in a Lost World, and I think the shorter rockers (Stratego and Days of Future Past) are far better than their Bos counterparts.

Book of Souls does get the nod when it comes to artwork though I'd say - both exterior and interior pieces. It's not super important but it's also not unimportant either.
 
Donner said:
Of the two, Book of Souls has the higher highs I'd say with If Eternity Should Fail and the title track. But there's also a lot of mediocre middling material on that album and I've never ever warmed up to liking Empire of the Clouds all that much. I just find myself liking singular moments more than full songs.

Senjutsu has the better production to my ears (better vocal production, better Dave Murray lead tones, drums sound better) and is a bit more consistent of an experience overall. I'd say the last 3 songs that close it out really seal the deal for me as I love all 3 of them. I happen to be one of the few who seemingly love the tile track and Lost in a Lost World, and I think the shorter rockers (Stratego and Days of Future Past) are far better than their Bos counterparts.

Book of Souls does get the nod when it comes to artwork though I'd say - both exterior and interior pieces. It's not super important but it's also not unimportant either.
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Agree 100% with you.
 
Donner said:
I just find myself liking singular moments more than full songs.
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I have a lot of this with Senjutsu. But on my recent listen a couple of weeks ago I warmed to the title track, fo sho. LIASW is another one I enjoyed on last listen but prior to that I found it a slog with some nice moments.

I definitely need more listens to Senjutsu. Up until my recent listen a lot of the 20mins run through LIALW, Future Past and Time Machine kind of all blended into one (except the bit of Time Machine, obviously).
 
GhostofCain said:
Agreed! The Clansman is vastly overrated, probably because it was the best song off that turd called Virtual XI.
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The Clansman was cool and interesting during Ed Huntour, but soon after that it got boring. I was really happy when they had DOTC part of their setlist in 2023, I didn't really expect it.
 
Dick Brucinson said:
I think the Clansman rewrite is a lot better than the original Clansman.
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Man, our tastes couldn't be more different. For me Clansman is a 10, while DotC is one of the weakest reunion epics.

GhostofCain said:
Agreed! The Clansman is vastly overrated, probably because it was the best song off that turd called Virtual XI.
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:D
 
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