Five full listens through and I’m loving this album. Too soon to rank it in comparison to their others, but I’m not finding any significant flaws with it. Been a fan since summer ‘84 ( bought Powerslave on its release day!) and continue to love this band!!

In my opinion I adored the title track "SENJUTSU" had a very sotic feeling to it. Awsome imagery and imagination. Hearing "distant drums" put's you right on the battlefield. Love it 🤘

I really liked hell on earth, stratego, parchment is good too and the guitar solo in darkest hour is soo good and smooth. Can't wait to find what the Thralls think

Really great album. Bruce is in good shape and love the mix and sound. Hell on Earth, Days Of Future Past, The Time Machine are amazing songs. Love your videos Thralls!

Scream for me, Brazil!!!! lmao Awesome video, guys! Greetings from Brazil!

Fellas, I love this channel from the bottom of my heart. Hear me out: keep listening because this album is not immediate at all, and it gets better and better as you play it. I mentally gave it a 2 out of 5 on first play, after listening to it nonstop for the last two days, this is an easy 4 out of 5. Nick, I hated Death of the Celts too, but this morning as I was biking the midsection hit me and dude, listen closely, there's some Killers-era passages there with the bass and riffs. This record has a lot of little details that reveal themselves slowly. And let's all agree that the ending in Lost in a Lost World, with Bruce singing the pre-chorus melody, is one of the most special Bruce moments of all time. It's simply beautiful, man.

Kevin Shirley is not to blame, he could make it sound like Powerslave if he wanted to. The one to blame here is Arry.

Incredible album. Lost in a lost world hit me really hard,Stratego and days of future past are the packet numbers for the stuck in the 80's fans, and hell on earth is a masterpiece

The parchment is a masterpiece

In the age of "spotify and co" most produced songs show a simple songstructure. We can be happy that bands like Maiden shows how broad metal can sounds. Great album!

Loving the vids keep em coming! Hell on earth is incredible, rest of the album didn't grab me too much except the classic riff in the abrupt changeup partway through the time machine. Writing on the wall is very interesting and creative musically. Gonna give the disc a few more tries

Great review guys. You hit the nail o the head!!

I like this album better then the last 2 albums.

“The parchment” is INSANE.

I love that you guys used "A Matter of Life and Death" in the background! I feel after all the years of being a Maiden fan that , that album is the best post 80's maiden album followed by "Brave New World". I feel the best post 80's era for Maiden are definitely the 00's. Four solid albums with the two of them being masterpieces in my opinion.

I wish they would hand the controls over to Roy Z.Shirley surely has to go! Great review guys! Up the Irons!

For those of us who got this on vinyl, it's 3 disc set. And totally worth it. I hear elements of the solo albums from Adrian Smith and Bruce Dickenson, nothing as heavy as Chemical Wedding but other elements are there. Also, no, don't take anything off of it. No such thing as too long. You can't rate something down because it's 'too long', just listen to something else between the individual discs and rate each song individually.

Cynic are releasing their fourth studio album, Ascension Codes, on November 26th. It will be the band's first album since 2014's Kindly Bent to Free Us, which was released around the time that their guitarist/frontman Paul Masvidal and drummer Sean Reinert both came out as gay. The album will also be the first album since the passing of both Reinert and bassist Sean Malone last year. You gotta review the Cynic album to top off that weekend, which includes Black Label Society and Hypocrisy.

Any keyboard influence likely did not come from Kevin Shirley. Martin Popoff's last RUSH book 'Driven' goes into great detail about how Shirley struggled with those guys trying to remove the keyboard element from their sound. It's why he's called "The Caveman".

i love the transition between track 1 and 2 flows nicely

Great review pointing some aspects (both positive and negative) common to my own opinion. Here goes nothing. Disc 1: Seventeen records and forty one years after their debut it's hard to predict how a Maiden album will boot. But this one seems to go really down the Samurai/ oriental war theme from the get go. All of a sudden a really belicose like pompous anthem explodes as the rumbling of Nicko's toms really carries this mid tempo monster onward. Man this thing sounds really, really powerful as Bruce gives voice to this call to arms to repel the northern invaders (Mongols perhaps).The solos are on point (especially the ones before the 2nd refrain). The bridge also rules. Overall a peculiar way to start the album but I mostly loved it and surely adds some new hues to Maiden's palette. Stratego follows and here we get a majorly galloping pattern dominating tune. And while this may not quite be absolute top tier Maiden on this kind of tunes let me tell you: IMO it surely comes close! Not that I totally revere everything it brings: there's the lead guitar mimic syndrome on the verses and I would even understand if it only was dropped halfway but putting it all the damn way is a bit exhausting. The keyboard sound picked for this one still sound cheap to me (unlike the melody itself that happens to be quite good). Wel and that's the only stuff I liked the least... and truth be told I can live with it since the rest of the song is truly exciting. The rhythmic section is simply pure Metal energy and Bruce's voice here sounds great: the dynamics between lows and highs are absolutely masterful and the chorus is truly epic! Plus the "I hear you calling my name... etc" part is a perfect slingshot and serves as a superb bridge to the verses once again (great writing). Also like the way the solo comes before the chorus and the section that gives way to it is another blatant example of simple yet cunning sense of composition and song structuring. Amazing song. When it comes to The Writing On The Wall there's something in this track that is absolutely captivating. The way that really cool desolate acoustic intro breaks the silence followed by this unique riff regarding Maiden's legacy. And yes I surely can imagine it as a western movie's score. The lyrics on this one are top notch: full on social/ political metaphorical matters smartly penned that are superbly reinforced by the song's video clip. Vocals sound great and really start bringing the song into other direction when Bruce spearheads the pre chorus inflection and the whole thing achieves its full grandeur. We're still presented with some stellar soloing action by Adrian but I really feel WOTW's true strength resides in some kind of dormant and yet immensely powerful force that lies a few inches below the surface during the whole track, like a volcano eruption that doesn't come to happen... and although it didn't you felt its power and damn sure know it's a question of time until one day it all explodes. Strong as hell in so many aspects while bringing some new flavors to Maiden's table. Simply love it. Then comes the first Steve type epic tune: Lost In A Lost World. The songs's intro Is truly top stuff. As for the verses this is tough and strong material: dense and muscular and yes, reminding somewhat of a less dark X Factor vibe, yet making justice to the Indian nation's demise and tragedy. The pre-chorus is also cool but once again the play along vocals/ lead guitar annoys me. The refrain then comes as a punch. And although I like the effect it brings to the whole song (and Bruce's voice is on point) I think it reminds a bit too much The Wicker Man (that in its place reminded Afraid to Shoot Strangers). The next harmony is also to be a bit too similar to Afraid To Shoot Strangers and a passage of When The Wild Wind Blows. We're then propelled into an array of the said guitar melody and man... there could be at least half of the repetitions before the solo! So, although I loved it the first time I listened to it I can see some of its faults Still think it's a great tune nonetheless. Days Of Future Past starts wit a really cool intro. And let me ask you: do you like The Pilgrim's main riff? Then you'll also dig this one since it's down the same venue. The chorus has this certain pomp and dramatic feel to it and is followed by a really cool solo. A brief calm bridge that works wonders follows before the refrain is recovered for a last go and the song comes full circle as it finishes with the intro. Hey! This is far from being a masterpiece but it's simple, has bounce, drama and is well put together. The Time Machine closes the first disc and has a cool concept regarding the lyrics (my take is it deals with a man that somewhat reached immortality or something near to it). As for the music itself I have to say there's lots of blatant recycling going on. For starts the intro's melody is somewhat similar to The Talisman. The main section is an intricate major key mesh that kind of threads prog rock territory with a really colorful mesh that flows into a shinny chorus (IMO the best section on the track). Then this goes full recycling mode (Edge Of Darkness' main melody auto rip off) followed by the chorus and then a couple of different patterns upon which some solid soloing action is placed. It all then returns to the "Edge Of Darkness" part as the song slows down and returns to intro. Cool parts but also features some blatant auto rip offs the song could easily be shorter.

I noticed that Iron Maiden overall always give you your money's worth with whatever they release. The albums, the frequent box sets, awesome shirts, artwork etc.

Loved the album, one of the best of the Reunion era for me

I haven’t listen to the album just yet. But listening to a bunch of other reviews about it online has made me very interested in checking it out.

Love the album. Fitting evolution for older rockers. Epic songs, messages, lengthy songs. Great imagery, concept, Eddie lol I want to play this while running around as a Samurai in Ghosts of Tsushima, or Sekiro lol

I love the clicking of the bass on this album and the quite frankly rawness of the whole recording.

Senjutsu is a good album and hell on earth so far would be my favorite track my only gripe would be is that I wish there were a few fast and energetic tracks on senjutsu like on those first 5 albums. Great review on the new maiden release.

Honestly, I really enjoyed that review, you all pretty much shared the same positives and negatives as I did (and I’m a die hard UK Maiden fan from the late 80’s) as well as picking out the same uncanny opinions in regards to Bruce’s lower tone, song length and how it’s pretty much the Smith show. I am so impressed with this album, even though I agree with your points. The selling point of an album for me is dissecting each song rather than dissecting the album, ie; if 55% of a song gets me, it’s a point…..4/5 for me overall….Anyway I digress. Well done boys. Stella review, entertaining, factual and now ….im a subscriber. 👏🏻

Damn…I love The Time Machine! Great album and great review 🤘

Had a lot of fun with this record

I can't get into a lot of the newer iron maiden albums. A lot of it sounds to folky or something. I still think their best is somewhere in time that is in my opinion iron maiden at their peak. Every band member you can tell put their full potential into that album. No filler songs on that album. Stranger in a strange land has imo one of the best metal guitar solos I ever heard. Niko Mcbrain was incredible as well with his triplets and the way he worked them cymbals and that bass drum.

I loved it. Added to my collection.

I saw ghost of the navigator live. It was great because the crowd didnt know but in the end were singing it.

Love the album.. the solo's on Darkest Hour give me chills everytime I listen to it..

After listening to this album over and over again since its release, I completely agree with other viewers when they say "It gets better the more you listen to it". Honestly, I love the clansman so i was super excited to hear death of the celts! As soon as it finished I was certain that it would be my favourite song off the album until Hell on Earth really hit me. I keep hearing people slag off Lost in a lost world and all i can think of is "Why???" I honestly love that song and i think you guys are exactly right when you say "rips off" old songs. I dont mind this so much since it's their own material that they're ripping off haha and its why i love them. The verse in Lost world is identical to The man who would be king off the final frontier but i still love it. The Parchment gave me a "Red and the Black" kind of vibe from Book of souls and not for its gallops or anything but purely for the continuation that it has with riffs and licks just carrying on and never ending haha. amazingly shreddy solo in there too which is always nice. Anyways I ranked all the maiden albums the other day and chucked Senjutsu at number 7 out of 17. but as an album alone - easily 4 out of 5. Great Review guys! Up the Goddamn Irons! \m/

Disc 2: Darkest Hour is a really melodic and calm song yet with a tragic and dark tone to it. It's well written and it would easily fit in any one of later Dickinson's solo records (the sang intro and verses sounds a bit like Gates Of Urizen while not reaching by no means its excellence).Great solos too. Ok while not fantastic. The album then finishes with a trilogy of epic songs penned by Steve Harris, the first being Death Of The Celts. After more than a minute of cool ambiance (although once again it could be briefer) we get a bass/ finger picking guitar combo that vaguely reminds a passage from Virtual XI's The Clansman. Bruce starts singing upon the last of this patterns till it opens up to fat chords while the vocals keep on hitting the folk like lullaby and man this sounds great. And what about the chorus? Can things get more pompous and folk like epic than this? Don't know about you but I think the band absolutely nails it here as a whole. After a truly deep guitar solo a sudden break sends this song unto 100% vintage Maiden bouncing up front bass plus guitar harmonies territory (although once again it could be repeated less times). Some more soloing action and the song returns to the chorus, just in time to end in the verse like sang lullaby that gives melody to the verses. Great tune with lots of juice proving once again that when Maiden gets folk inspired you can only expect great things. The Parchment follows gently and what comes to my mind is something more in the vein of Ravel's Bolero before the band hit the gas. And if pompous mid tempo heavy stuff full of keyboards like The Book Of Souls (the song) is your thing then you'll love this. Not that's recycling by any means (once again the band shows they can explore similar venues without copying themselves). Plus a certain middle eastern flavor is added to the mix even in the following solos and guitar harmonies. I think once again there are too many repetitions here, so by the middle of the song the initial mega punch is lost a bit and things start to get a bit stagnant. By the 6.45 minute mark a new melody seems to point where the track is heading next (somewhat similar to The Nomad's mid section) as Bruce comes sings the guitar's melody on top (well you already know what I think about this but it is what it is). After some twist and turns and some more soloing, the song ends with a cool guitar harmony that reminds me of the band's debut title track bridge. Overall there's everything here necessary to make a great epic Maiden tune but I don't know... Although having its charm the song seems to drag itself at times and features too many twists and turns. And to close the album we get Hell On Earth. And I must stress from the get go how absolutely gorgeous the opening calm sections are, truly immersive. But once again, the same effect would be achieved with a couple less bars. The track then goes full galloping mode and wanders through all the sections from what one could call the song's second act even before Bruce lays a single singing line on it. That being said let's get the "cons" out of the way so we can enjoy this anthem for the beast of a tune it is shall we? First there's the underlying mimic guitar thing again. And while it works on the pre-chorus it surely once again could be doing something else during the verses. You may say I'm nit picking but this track's overall humongous quality demands this much attention to detail IMO. My other complaint (and this one I must underline) is how the hell you compose such a marvelously epic chorus and only play the sang version once? Man, make this song 14 minutes long... I could care less! This chorus is bonkers and Bruce really nails it. Well while I'm strongly pointing out stuff I consider thet could be better achieved you must be thinking I'm not much into this tune. Wrong. What happens is that when you compose such an opus like this one each minor "flaw" is way more noticeable than in a "merely" great song. Because IMO Hell On Earth this is a truly epic and fantastic Maiden opus overall! The pre chorus, the aforementioned refrain... fantastic stuff! And the way the solos make the perfect bridge to the song's next act is something. The spine chilling still part (really enjoy the doubled voices here) has that crescendo and tension before the whole thing explodes once again and man how I love the passion and fire Bruce puts on this section (that raspy tone in "anger"... wow)! The guitar harmony and solos here are also really good and the song fades as it returns to the intro soft melody. This song my friends is just another great chapter added to Maiden's gigantic legacy. So there you have it: more than 4 decades after their debut it's almost incredible how these guys can pull such a record. Not that it's on par with their best ones (nor is it expected to). But fact is it's rock solid and one of those albums that IMO doesn't feature a single stinker or blatant filler which is one hell of an achievement on a double album. Bruce's voice (now cured of cancer complications) is sounding better than the previous album. The production is nothing out of this world but it's ok, even slightly better than some previous efforts.On the downside some songs could use some trimming here and there, sometimes it gets a bit tiring and repetitive and in some other sections there's still an excessive use of lead guitar and vocals mimicking. Nevertheless as a whole this record is a triumph. And if this is Iron Maiden's swansong it surely is a glorious way to say goodbye! I'll give it a 8/10 points.

I think Death of the Celts is in my top 10 Maiden tracks of all time. Love it.

Great review and great channel.

Another killer review fella's!! Only heard a handfull of songs and haven't fully immersed myself for an 100:20 epic! lol but keep up the great work! until next time!

Adrian Smith is a fucking boss. He needs to become the taskmaster and whip the other two lads into shape. And HEY! Time Machine is cool! It's straight up Maidenized Genesis/Jethro Tull.

Nick, are Yall familiar with the movie from 1986 called wanted: dead or alive starring the late Rutger Hauer and the one and only Gene Simmons from Kiss?

Funny that Shredlord mentions the leads from Darkest Hour being reminiscent or Coming Home from TFF. There is a series of about 11 notes in that solo at 5:06 that are actually ripped straight from Coming Home. For about two and a half seconds I thought the song changed and it really threw me off because that solo was one of my all time favorite Maiden moments. And on that note, I completely agree that Adrian Smith carries this record. The songs he wrote with Bruce are the best tracks by far whereas Harris's songs sound like there was nobody in the room to give him any feedback.

I just listened to it twice all the way thru and I must say I found it rather epic. Each song seems to tell its own tale and I'm really digging the keyboard flourishes as well. It's missing a bit of the bombast of the 80s but it seems it to be a deliberate choice opting for a more mournful tone.

Got to be honest guys- I was neither overwhelmed or underwhelmed, just whelmed. Maiden are my favourite ever band- "Number of the Beast" 7 inch is what made me a metal head and I've been a fan since 82. I just feel this has some amazing moments on it but overall it's too self indulgent. I loved the lead single, it's their best single for years- really up there with some of their classics. I agree with your analysis on Kevin Shirley's production values, I definitely agree that maybe they need to try something and someone else in the chair. I thought that, especially on the vocals, the mixing was patchy on some tracks. All in all it's too long.. so long my future self visited me via time travel and told me to keep the kettle on. It just lacked punch- needed, like you guys sort of said, some classic metal Maiden thumpers, it's been years since we've had a Run to the Hills or Two Minutes to Midnight banger. I kept wishing this was Priest's "Firepower" in style and punch- that LP is just banging from the same level of epic titans in Metal- they even out Maiden Maiden on some tracks like Children of the Sun. It's a gnarly fucking heavy guitar record and sounds incredible- amazing tones.. and riffs! Again- I fucking love Maiden- I've spent years as an illustrator making my own single covers from tracks on their LP's- but this just felt like Book of Souls part two and I hope they go back to a shorter, punchier sound and tracklist next cycle. The fact they've hinted at playing it live in it's entirety fills me with fucking dread.. it's a bit toooo Tap "Jazz Odyssey" to put that on stage. 3/5 for me, not because it's a 3, but because I really wanted, or at least expected something else after the release of Writing on the Wall, as it hinted at other directions.

You guys should review some of the new wave hardcore stuff (Jesus Piece, Knocked Loose, Code Orange, Kublai Khan, etc). Jesus Pieces Only Self is easily my favorite album out of this new scene. It’s kinda cool to see this scene form and see people form new bands. Also the Omerta hyperviolence EP is hella cool, can’t wait for new Omertà stuff.

I have listened to this album a lot in the last couple of days and appreciate it more with each listen great album.

The middle section of Death of the Celts is the highlight of the album to me.Brought back Losfer Words/Duelist mid section vibes!

Great jam! The parchment is my favorite

Just bought the 2 CD ed. tonight at Target, playing it right now. So far, so good. I also picked up a diecast Batman Returns Armored Batmobile because....just because.

Got to disagree on the "No more keyboards" comment, because my favorite maiden albums are sit & ssoass. To me it provides a great atmosphere, and can turn a pretty good song into a great song. Just my personal preference.

It's weird that everywhere I look and read, folks are talking about how different it is that the opening track isn't a short/fast rocker. That's been the case since 2010's Final Frontier which means it's been 15 years since the last time they had a short rocking tune as an opener, which was Different World on A Matter of Life and Death. That said, this opening track is the strongest they've done since Moonchild.

I honestly love the album but I can understand why people find it strange. They did some weird things on this album, and one thing I can definitely agree with is get rid of those keys. When I first heard Stratego and heard the quick synth-y strings over the chorus I honestly found it kind of cheesy. Places where the keys do work on this album are in the intro section of Hell on Earth (got to be my favourite song by a long shot!). Very different for Maiden, and watching the videos leading up to the album release I'm not surprised as Bruce, Adrian, Steve, and Nicko have all said that it's got surprises. To me it definitely sounds like the first three post-reunion albums were mashed together for the overall sound, with a sprinkling of some of the solo style from The Frontier (especially Adrian and his work on Starblind and Isle of Avalon). I found the first listen of this better than the first listen of Book of Souls, and I'm looking forward to drumming this in over the next few weeks!

Fantastic album. Their best since AMOLAD and kind of similar to that album. 9/10

9:25 Yes! Glad I'm not the only one who thinks that!

I can't believe people are complaining about the mix, it sounds amazing to me. 4.5 for me, great album.

Nancy Wilson of Heart once stated in an interview that she felt every great band has about a five year 'hot spot' when they tend to write the strongest material. Iron Maiden is a great example of this- and boy do I miss 1982-87.

Christmas time in Maiden land bah humbug rivals getting back to the caveman circle pit from the Benediction review. The catch phrases are priceless

I have not heard this new album yet, but are Iron Maiden actually using synths or is it just the different pickups on their guitars that were once known as synth guitars? Remember Maiden's Somewhere in Time and Judas Priest's Turbo albums from the 80's? those were synth guitars, not actual synthesizer keyboards. Just curious. Looking forward to picking this album up.

On the 1st run we like Senjutsu, Lost in a Lost World, Days of Future Past. The rest of the songs take too long to get going or some guitar parts sound like past albums I heard before, like on the song Time Machine. The album did not sound fresh.

Yeah man agree. I would buy the album again if they would make a special edition remix and nix the F’n synth and punch up the guitar. Merry F’n Xmas indeed.

I wish I liked this more. On first listen, at least. We'll see what happens. I think I enjoy it more as individual songs than an entire album.

15:40 glad I wasn’t the only one that heard that 😂

I love this album

I just retired my No Prayer for the Dying tour shirt.. The last shirt I still have from high school

Lost in A Lost World: Pink Floyd intro, a killer intro IMO

Bruce did have throat cancer so thats probably why he sound different

My favorite part of the album is the 60 bonus! seconds of sleepy-time ocean waves ‘n’ seagulls ambience they put at the end of "Darkest Hour," because apparently somebody thought this thing wasn't long enough already.

Great Rock In Rio impression in the beginning haha 🤘

I will have to check it out, thank you guys for the review!!!!!! Just one question, what des the title of the album means!? Or is there a song in the album, ? 🤘🏾🤘🏾🤘🏾🤘🏾🤘🏾🤘🏾🤘🏾🔥🔥🔥, country western, with a Japanese title, or its not japanese!?……

Where to begin. The album does have a little something for everyone and I think…think…it’s better than Book of Souls but I put it at the bottom of the post Brave New World records just above The Book of Souls. The opening track is a bit harder and less energetic than per the opening song formula. But to plodding and long, though I dig the beefier guitar tone there. I have to remember that these are seasoned musicians and that the 80s and early 90s are gone. However, I would think that if you’re going to deal with age then shorter songs with more out of the gate punch would be recommended. Overall, I am a bit disappointed. But I am a fan and will be glad to get a new record from them. The glory days are gone but not forgotten is my problem.

Viewer response song v song?

great review! totally agree with Necrotic Nik!

Theyve taken some different steps in some songs and kept on some the classic maiden..love it! The time between 1980- 1992 won't be back. We all must appreciate them before they're gone

brilliant review guys, i personally thought Lost in a Lost World was one of the strongest on the album along with Stratego and Hell on Earth, but i loved all of it... though there might be a slight recency bias haha... I phucking LOVE Maiden \m/

Hey guys great review, I have watched a lot of Senjutsu reviews and yours is certainly one of the best, honest but respectful. I watched one review where the guy just dissed everything about the album, the band and the vocals, it was the most disrespectful thing Ive heard said about Iron Maiden. The guy obviously had know idea about metal. I think the album is great but I do share the same feelings as yourselves but saying that, ITS FUCKING IRON MAIDEN so whats not to like. UP THE IRONS

Iron Maiden is my favorite band, I have very different opinions than other people of their material. 1 one them being that these past 3 albums are their weakest. TWOTW is an alright song, nothing really too special, but when i heard the chorus i thought "that sounds like something i would make up in the backyard to sound catchy" but TWOTW isn't a bad song and it does have some cool moments to it. Stratego on the other hand made me have a good feeling with this record. Bruce harmonized with himself which he hasn't done in a long time. They brought the gallop back, and overall it was catchy and didn't overstay it's welcome. When listening to this album today and yesterday, I noticed that I kept losing interest. The Parchment I was getting bored in, but then 3:31 came in, and it kinda brought it back a bit. The Time Machine although not sounding like an iron maiden song. I felt it had a strong melody with a catchy chord progression at around 3:17. And i like the vocals overtop, and i feel like it sounds good coming back to the chorus. The album has highs and lows and for memes, I might refer to it as Sensnoozutsu. The title track though has different moods happening. And it sounds like the band was maybe going for some different sounds. For the last 3 songs i was starting to wait for the album to conclude ngl. They have their moments, but Steve to me draws things out for too long and makes me lose interest and some things will drag on for longer than necessary. Also the artwork i prefer the fan version of the actual artwork. (the fan one being the one with a glowing red sun, and kind of an embery vibe to it with an japenese structure to the left) I'd give it 3/5, with time this album will probably grow on me, but for now these are my thoughts. I also don't mean for any of this to be whiny, one dude i know sounds real whiny when their going over something they don't like, so i'm trying to make sure im not falling under that lol. Favorite Song:Stratego EDIT:Bruce's vocals on this album a ton better than he did on TBOS. He is going down with his voice instead of staying up high. At around 1:09 on Days of Future Past Bruce does his vocal thing that i'm not too big a fan of. Also a lot of this reminded me of stuff from The Final Frontier and Dance of Death. More DoD than TFF but still. The intro to The Time Machine sounds a lot like The Talisman imo. There's probably more to add, but thats about all lol. EDIT2:ok yeah the time machine is kinda of memable with that verse lmao EDIT3: Yeah i forgot a lot of information. Alright last bit: This album could have been trimmed to an hour easily. These songs don't need to be this long. Those last 3 escpcially. That's also another probably I have, it seems like the more and more steve got into the production, the more and more the songs got unnecessarily long. The band could have trimmed of 10 minutes and would have been able to put it on a single disc. I feel like they just wanted to have the whole Double Disc spectacle with it if that makes sense.

Give this album some time.. it will sink in at some point ..it gets lot better with repeated listens esp on a good pair of headphones

I love this album. Fav song at the moment: Hell on Earth. Cheers from Norway!

These guys at least understand what Adrian Smith is to the band. I watched a review from some joker who “tolerates” Adrian Smith. Tolerates Adrian Smith. Not Janick. Adrian Smith. Huh?? Wuh?? Dude is not only the feeling of the musical section, but also a very good song writer.

Hi guys shame you don't like album so much it gets better the more you listen to it, I'm so frickin happy new Maiden album and a Bond film holy crap. Keep safe all the best from UK. 👌✌🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🤙😁👍🤘

Writing on the Wall - I didn't get a Bon Jovi vibe, I got a Dark Crystal Gelfling festival vibe

Been watching a lot of reviews on this album today, so many different views and opinions, more than any other Maiden album.

It is too long yes, but that's what has made some of these songs really fun to play on guitar. And I agree, they really need to find a way to better utilize their three guitars, and if you have three guitars, it's just my opinion but then you don't exactly need keyboards. Especially if you're a band like Iron Maiden, that sound has always felt out of place when they've done it imo.

First time I heard IM was on The Number of the Beast 1982. Quit listening after Seventh Son of a Seventh Son 1988. They are okay, just not into their music anymore. Seen them live 1983 and 1988. 🤘🎸🇬🇧

I see "Writing on the wall" as totally Wishbone Ash, a band Steve Harris loves.

Great review, dudes. Maiden diehard for life. Certainly felt similarly to how y'all did. Solid album. I, too, long for a new producer and shorter, more concise songs. They should let Arthur Rizk (Eternal Champion, Sumerlands) produce their next one. Give those guitars some nuts. That and 4:30 tracks = hot shit. Respect to the band for doing what they want to do, though, honestly. Up the Irons.

Maiden fan since 82 here and would like to say after 4 listens I would say it’s the best album since Matter of life and death.It may continue to grow on me but to me 80% of this album is rehashed guitar melodies,vocal melodies and lyrical ideas they have been doing for the past 20 years.Still love my Maiden though! Up the Irons!

I can't understand the Hate this Album gets from many Fans and Critics. Might be their strongest since Brave New World. And Bruce sounds great for a 63 Years old cancer survivor.

You ever wonder if anyone in the band has told Janick to stop jumping around like Peter Pan?

Very nice insights, congrats guys! Personally I'm loving Senjutsu and I'm 100% sure it will age like a fine Port but I'll edit it and make some songs shorter!

It’s a decent album but still I felt kinda disappointed. I am fed up with those never ending songs from Harris. Let say if they were shorter it would’ve worked much better in the end. I don’t get why Harris doesn’t want to write songs with his band mates? I find it a bit weird and not right. This album doesn’t bring anything new to the table which sucks. I give this album 3 out 5.

I swear when the seagull sfx started in Darkest Hour I thought my playlist switched to Estranged by GNR Ahah! And then the kinda intro guitar riff reminds me of the outro to Another Brick in the Wall part III. But anyway overall I love this album. I only think they need to mix Bruce’s vocals higher I feel this way in a lot of even live performances in recent times. My main issue I think is just mixing but I’m easy to please. I think I like everything but blaze era but more I just don’t feel the voice coz I like when Bruce sings like the Clansmen etc (which I think death of the celts feels like pt2 of this)

Roy Z should have produced it

This is incredible power ballad album love the slow and fast riffs love this and this wanted me to listen too fireball from deep Purple

STRATEGO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IS FIRE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Whatever. The Time machine is great! Easily my fav track in the album.

Hahaha, the song that's 3 weeks long. And SpreadLord brings up a great point: Enoigh of this long-winded producer. By no means do I want another No Prayer For The Dying, but I wouldn't mind a shorter, more concise, rocking Maiden album. Thanks for the review guys! Up The Irons!

Great album, though agree it's half hour too long, and sometimes the production sucks

Kevin Shirley provided more freedom for musicians to create and ''sail'' freely, the result was some long and epic tracks [progressive in a few moments], by the few auditions i had i think everything is involved in a BOS and DOD climate (with touches of BNW, AMOLAD and TFF). Some surprises are point references to the Bruce Dickinson Solo phase and something that refers to Phase Blaze (TXF and VXI), is a catch of everything excellent since 1995 with hints of Bruce Solo and Phase Blaze [as i said], were the impressions i had in the 4 auditions I've done. Iron is synonymous of QUALITY regardless of the creative decisions they make. Do not expect a POM, PWS or SSOSS [80s]: give up waiting 80s, they are already mature gentlemen and are doing what they want to do nowadays, are no longer boys of 20 or 30 years, each stage is a phase, we have to learn to taste each phase of the Band, each phase as if it were a different type of Wine.

You know, I realized something while listening to this album. I kept going back to a clip from "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" where characters who haven't appeared in the movie yet look at the camera and say "Get on with it!" "Yes. Get on with it!" Even God himself says "Get on with it!" And I loved Book of Souls, which arguably has the exact same problems, but I always have such a great time with it. Book of Souls bring me in, but as far as i can tell Senjutsu does not. Maybe i need to give it a few more listens, but as of now, I just want to go do something else