Iron Maiden Discography Thread: Senjutsu

[Zantera]

Suffers a bit from the Angel and the Gambler syndrome with some songs having choruses repeated way too much, but overall a great album in the Maiden discography and one of the better ones.

[Mladen]

Looool! too much confidence in knowing a word, that in reality I didn't know. I meant a coaster. The round thingie to use beneath a glass. 

Wouldn't it be great if it did come with a toaster, though? 

[MirrorMask]

Looool! too much confidence in knowing a word, that in reality I didn't know. I meant a coaster. The round thingie to use beneath a glass. 

Wouldn't it be great if it did come with a toaster, though? 

With Eddie painted on the side and a sound alarm going "Your bread will come" 

[Mladen]

I'd buy that.

[devieira73]

Interesting about Nomad is that I've always thought that the middle section was out of place for that song😄, like killing the vibe for a great metal/hard rock tune.

[nobloodyname]

Adrian’s second contribution was a collaboration with Steve Harris. This was an interesting partnership as the only song Steve and Adrian wrote together without Bruce was 22 Acacia Avenue (Bruce doesn’t receive credit on The Prisoner but he did contribute to the song). This is another classic sounding track with a heavy Thin Lizzy influence, although it never got the same amount of attention as The Wicker Man.

Great write-up - as usual!

Struggling to work out which song you're referring to here? Wikipedia doesn't help since it only lists Adrian against The Wicker Man.

[Podaar]

I believe he was talking about Fallen Angel.

I've never liked this album. After the stellar The Chemical Wedding, this sounded like an assembly line production from The Department of Redundancy Department. I was sorely disappointed in Kevin Shirley for not bullying them into shortening or varying the choruses and galloping rhythms.

I'll try and listen to it again today to see if the years have improved the songs or my ears.

[kaos2900]

LOVE Brave New World. So many good songs. Also, probably my favorite Maiden album cover.

[cramx3]

 

BNW was pretty much my introduction to Maiden. I was visiting my friend, maybe a year after BNW had come out. I don't remember all that well.. But he had a copy of Rock in Rio, which had quite a few songs from BNW in the setlist. We had that cd on repeat the entire afternoon, and i remember thinking that this is the best rock band i have ever listened to!

Somewhat similar to me.  My first IM CD was Edward the Great, a greatist hits compilation where the last two tracks were The Wickerman and Fear of the Dark live at RiR.  So knowing those two last songs, I ended up getting the RiR album and that was really the first true IM experience.  I had known the hit songs from Edward the Great, but most of the other tracks were from BNW which was all new to me.  Songs like Dream of Mirrors just blew me.  Compared to the rest of the songs I had known (80s classics), this seemed like a totally different band than I had just started to learn.  The title track, Blood Brothers, Ghost of the Navigator.  I was sold immediately.  I usually point to Fear of the Dark from RiR as what really made me a fan of the band, but when I think about it, I could say that it was the BNW songs in that RiR set that really made me notice how amazing the band really was.  I didn't know about the history, I had no idea this was a reunion album.  I just knew they had these older tunes that were awesome and catchy, yet also had these newer songs that were heavy and progressive and still awesome and catchy. 

BNW may not be my favorite IM album, but I do think it sounds the best.  I really love the production of the album.  It sounds so crisp and clear and feels perfect for the songs.  I have a flag of the album cover hanging in my basement.  I've always loved the look of Brave New London with Eddie in the clouds looking down.   

[Ben_Jamin]

Looool! too much confidence in knowing a word, that in reality I didn't know. I meant a coaster. The round thingie to use beneath a glass. 

Wouldn't it be great if it did come with a toaster, though? 

With Eddie painted on the side and a sound alarm going "Your bread will come" 

"Thy toast is done"

[Art]

I bought BNW the day it came out. I loved it then, and i love it now. Sometimes i think AMOLAD is superior, but BNM is my favorite reunion-era album. Favorite tracks: Out of The Silent Planet, Dream of Mirrors and The Thin Line.

[TAC]

Looool! too much confidence in knowing a word, that in reality I didn't know. I meant a coaster. The round thingie to use beneath a glass. 

Wouldn't it be great if it did come with a toaster, though? 

With Eddie painted on the side and a sound alarm going "Your bread will come" 

"Thy toast is done"

Or an oven.
"Thy roast is done".

[ProfessorPeart]

Absolutely love this album. The best 'reunion' album, musically and sonically. Somehow, Caveman completely forgot how to engineer after this record.

Not a bad track on this album and my respect really starts growing for Janick as some of the best songs of this era have his name attached. Dream Of Mirrors is just an epic song and easily my favorite from it.

Love, love, love this album. I usually rate it as my second favorite behind Somewhere In Time.

And for those that saw my review of my first ever Maiden show during the Ed Hunter tour, my second show was much more enjoyable. UIC Pavilion with Halford and Queensryche opening. Can't go wrong there.

[Phoenix87x]

BNW was the first IM album that I bought, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Its an album I love.

[wolfking]

This album was released on my birthday and I remember my Mother taking me to the city where I brought it from HMV at the time.  It's one of the best birthday presents I've ever got.  Such a perfect, amazing album.  Nothing here not to like, strong from start to finish.  One actually one of the Shirley production jobs I like.

[TAC]

This album was released on my birthday and I remember my Mother taking me to the city where I brought it from HMV at the time.  It's one of the best birthday presents I've ever got.

Great story Kade. Love hearing that. I remember being so young and wide eyed about music.

[wolfking]

This album was released on my birthday and I remember my Mother taking me to the city where I brought it from HMV at the time.  It's one of the best birthday presents I've ever got.

Great story Kade. Love hearing that. I remember being so young and wide eyed about music.

Turned 16 and it was the first Maiden album that I was a fan for and bought on release.  I became a fan a couple of years earlier.  Maybe around VXI but didn't know it and after becoming a Maiden fanatic after a couple of years, being able to go out and buy a new Maiden album on its release date was a true celebration and an experience that was a big part of my metal development.

[TAC]

Metal Development. Right up there with language and mathematics.

[wolfking]

Metal Development. Right up there with language and mathematics.

It should be a subject in all schools.

[Grappler]

Brave New World is amazing.  The best and my favorite of the reunion era recrods.  I was away at college, so I missed the tour, but I spent so much time listening to this record that it's just ingrained in my mind - maybe even more than the classic albums.  There's only one or two songs that I'm not crazy about, which is rare.  I usually find a handful of clunkers on each album.  But this one is so fucking solid.  Nomad is probably the one song that I tend to skip, but every other one is awesome.  Incredible songs, incredible vocals, and one of the most badass Eddies, ever.  I love the eerie, looming Eddie in the clouds. 

[jammindude]

I was disappointed with it for a long time.   I was EXTREMELY excited when I heard the reunion was happening, and was even more excited when I first heard The Wicker Man (in fact, I believe I may have been one of the first ones to see the video.  I was the head of a department store Music Market and every year we went to a private convention when music companies and electronic reps would show off "the latest thing", and the Columbia Records rep had the new "sneak peak" video of The Wicker Man and showed it to the whole crowd.  I was the only one who was yelling and banging my head, but I didn't care)

I thought Wicker Man was a nice lead off song, but to this day, I can't shake the feeling that that riff was "lifted" from something else.  It sounds hauntingly familiar.   

But when I heard the rest of the album, I was bummed.   I had been hoping that the return of Bruce would mean someone would keep 'Arry's lazy repetitive choruses in check.   But Blood Brothers and a few others proved me wrong.    I think the choruses got better on later albums (especially AMOLAD with the exception of maybe one track)....but there were too many leftovers from VXI to make this one a home run.   This is my least favorite of the reunion albums that I've heard so far.  (I've still never picked up DoD)

[Mosh]

I thought Wicker Man was a nice lead off song, but to this day, I can't shake the feeling that that riff was "lifted" from something else.  It sounds hauntingly familiar.   

Judas Priest - Running Wild

[jammindude]

I thought Wicker Man was a nice lead off song, but to this day, I can't shake the feeling that that riff was "lifted" from something else.  It sounds hauntingly familiar.   

Judas Priest - Running Wild

That's probably it.  Pretty darn close.   The first part is identical....but maybe they mashed up the 2nd part from somewhere else?  Because its that chord progression that sounded the most familiar to me.   

In any event, it was just "retro NWOBHM-throwback" to let everyone know they were back.

[Cyclopssss]

Wicker Man was a Bruce solo song that got reworked when he brought it to Maiden. He talks about it in his book.

[MirrorMask]

Wicker Man was a Bruce solo song that got reworked when he brought it to Maiden. He talks about it in his book.

Really? 'cause his solo version is out there, finished with lyrics and all, and it's nothing alike to the Maiden song. They just share the title (to be very precise, Bruce's version is just called "Wicker man"), but they're completely different songs.

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

Wicker Man was a Bruce solo song that got reworked when he brought it to Maiden. He talks about it in his book.

Yea the original version of Wicker Man can be heard on his Best of album along with Bring your Daughter.

[Zydar]

My first new Maiden album after becoming a fan in 1999. Probably my favourite of the reunion albums. Blood Brothers is the big one for me.

[Mladen]

I've always loved Blood Brothers, but I consider it an absolute classic after the band featured it heavily as the encore song over the last two years. It's a hymn.

[MirrorMask]

I've always loved Blood Brothers, but I consider it an absolute classic after the band featured it heavily as the encore song over the last two years. It's a hymn.

Bruce also comes up with pretty badass ways to introduce it. "We don't care if you're black, white, brown, green, violet, or if you're christian, muslim, you can be a jedi for all I care. If you're here you're part of our family, because we are BLOOD BROTHERS!"

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

Honestly not a song I cared that much about on the album however it worked really well live and I can see why it became a good encore.

[wolfking]

I never really rated Blood Brothers that high, but on TBOS tour is was a highlight and possibly my fav song on the night, it was brilliant.

[Zydar]

I guess it's one of those tracks that are pretty good in the studio - but really comes alive in a live setting. I've never seen them in concert but I can bet it's a monster live.

[Mladen]

It's touching. Beautiful. Magical.

[cramx3]

I've always loved it, but it's definitely a song better live when you are surrounded by all the IM fans singing along.  Just feels right, including being placed in the encore.

Wicker Man was a Bruce solo song that got reworked when he brought it to Maiden. He talks about it in his book.

Really? 'cause his solo version is out there, finished with lyrics and all, and it's nothing alike to the Maiden song. They just share the title (to be very precise, Bruce's version is just called "Wicker man"), but they're completely different songs.

If it's in the book then I guess it's true but I always thought the same, that they were separate since they sound that way.

[Logain Ablar]

Interesting about Nomad is that I've always thought that the middle section was out of place for that song😄, like killing the vibe for a great metal/hard rock tune.

I have mixed feelings about The Nomad. I absolutely love this middle section, probably one of my favourite bits of the whole album, but there's other bits of the song I really don't like at all. Such as the melody for the verses - "Like a mirage riding on the desert sand..". I find this kinda awful.

Lots of good stuff on this album. The part in The Thin Line where Bruce sings the high chorus:

I will hope, my soul will fly, so I will live forever
Heart will die, my soul will fly, and I will live forever

gets me every time. Very emotional.