Poll

What are your favorites of these Iron Maiden songs?

Strange World
11 (4.5%)
Innocent Exile
5 (2.1%)
Twilight Zone
4 (1.7%)
Invaders
14 (5.8%)
The Prisoner
25 (10.3%)
Die With Your Boots On
17 (7%)
Sun and Steel
6 (2.5%)
The Duellists
11 (4.5%)
Sea of Madness
23 (9.5%)
The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner
14 (5.8%)
The Prophecy
13 (5.4%)
Run Silent Run Deep
6 (2.5%)
Judas Be My Guide
12 (5%)
Look For the Truth
3 (1.2%)
The Unbeliever
6 (2.5%)
Lightning Strikes Twice
4 (1.7%)
The Educated Fool
5 (2.1%)
The Fallen Angel
11 (4.5%)
Montsegur
17 (7%)
New Frontier
2 (0.8%)
The Pilgrim
4 (1.7%)
Out of the Shadows
4 (1.7%)
Mother of Mercy
8 (3.3%)
The Alchemist
6 (2.5%)
When the River Runs Deep
6 (2.5%)
The Man Of Sorrows
5 (2.1%)

Total Members Voted: 36

Author Topic: Iron Maiden Discography Thread: Senjutsu  (Read 183482 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline TAC

  • DTF.org Alumni
  • ****
  • Posts: 74076
  • Gender: Male
  • Arthritic Metal Horns
Re: Iron Maiden Discography Thread: Recap
« Reply #1750 on: March 25, 2018, 06:37:29 PM »
J Dude, how is that even possible? I mean, did you pick one random Maiden album and just decide not to listen to it?
would have thought the same thing but seeing the OP was TAC i immediately thought Maiden or DT related
Winger Theater Forums........or WTF.  ;D
TAC got a higher score than me in the electronic round? Honestly, can I just drop out now? :lol

Offline jammindude

  • Posts: 15236
  • Gender: Male
Re: Iron Maiden Discography Thread: Recap
« Reply #1751 on: March 25, 2018, 06:58:59 PM »
J Dude, how is that even possible? I mean, did you pick one random Maiden album and just decide not to listen to it?

OK....the term LOL gets thrown around a lot, but I literally LOLed. 

No, it's just that I was a really big Maiden fan up through SSoaSS, and then they lost me with Bring Your Daughter, and so I just moved on to other things and ignored them for a long time.   Then I heard The X Factor from a friend and liked it more than I thought I would, but then really hated VXI.   Then I got really excited about the reunion, but was ultimately disappointed with BNW, and lost interest in the band again.     But about the time Final Frontier came out, someone insisted I go back and check out AMOLAD, and it absolutely floored me.   I've been trying to play "catch up" with everything I missed ever since.   Slowing filling the holes in my IM collection.  DoD is just the one album that came out during a lull in my interest that I haven't gone back to check out yet.   I keep checking my local CD shops to see if I can get a used one, but I haven't seen it yet. 
"Better the pride that resides in a citizen of the world.
Than the pride that divides when a colorful rag is unfurled." - Neil Peart

The Jammin Dude Show - https://www.youtube.com/user/jammindude

Offline TAC

  • DTF.org Alumni
  • ****
  • Posts: 74076
  • Gender: Male
  • Arthritic Metal Horns
Re: Iron Maiden Discography Thread: Recap
« Reply #1752 on: March 25, 2018, 07:10:50 PM »
Ok J Dude. I guess...   ;D




So for the poll, I went with:

The Prisoner
Die With Your Boots On
The Duellists    ( I love the long instrumental part)
The Prophecy
Run Silent Run Deep ( one of Maiden's all time best choruses plus the first and only Maiden Mosh part)
The Unbeliever
The Educated Fool (This is the one Blaze Era song that I would kill to hear Bruce do. That chorus was made for him)
Montesegur

would have thought the same thing but seeing the OP was TAC i immediately thought Maiden or DT related
Winger Theater Forums........or WTF.  ;D
TAC got a higher score than me in the electronic round? Honestly, can I just drop out now? :lol

Offline Mosh

  • For I have dined on honeydew!
  • Posts: 3825
  • Gender: Male
Re: Iron Maiden Discography Thread: Recap
« Reply #1753 on: March 25, 2018, 09:57:28 PM »
Dance of Death is a weird one. As more time passes and with three more albums since then, it is really the black sheep of the catalog. Even the best moments, like Paschendale and Dance of Death, have been eclipsed by what they accomplished later on. That being said, because it's so unlike any other Maiden album that it has a charm that makes it worth revisiting once in awhile. You're not going to find songs like Journeyman on any other Maiden album. Even some of the rockers like Rainmaker have a unique tone.

New Animal Soup scifi space opera for fans of Porcupine Tree, Mastodon, Iron Maiden: Chariots of the Gods

https://animalsoup.bandcamp.com/album/chariots-of-the-gods

Offline Cyclopssss

  • Vocal Dinosaur pre-heat combustable
  • Posts: 2993
  • Gender: Male
  • Connoseur of love
Re: Iron Maiden Discography Thread: Recap
« Reply #1754 on: March 25, 2018, 11:41:31 PM »
it's a weird one, indeed. But it proved surprisingly solid, quality wise. Once you get over the horrid artwork and really start listening. I mean, Montsegur.....holy shit!
From the ocean comes the notion that the realise lies in rhythm. The rhythm of vision is dancer, and when you dance you´re always on the one. From the looking comes to see, wondrous realise real eyes....

Online nobloodyname

  • DTF.org Alumni
  • ****
  • Posts: 1942
Re: Iron Maiden Discography Thread: Recap
« Reply #1755 on: March 26, 2018, 12:23:03 AM »
Wow. I wasn't the first person to vote for The X Factor and Virtual XI songs :biggrin:
Paul
Gamer, rocker, humanist, womble
Leicestershire, UK
Getting right out of my comfort zone: www.youtube.com/@paulplayspoorly Go on, you can do it, too! (24/3/2024: Now playing on Paul Plays Poorly!, The Answer Lies Within by Dream Theater)

Online Zydar

  • Creep With Tonality
  • DTF.org Alumni
  • ****
  • Posts: 19210
  • Gender: Male
Re: Iron Maiden Discography Thread: Recap
« Reply #1756 on: March 26, 2018, 12:34:26 AM »
Strange World
Invaders
The Prisoner
Sun And Steel
Sea Of Madness  :heart
Judas Be My Guide  :heart
Lightning Strikes Twice
The Alchemist
Zydar is my new hero.  I just laughed so hard I nearly shat.

Online MirrorMask

  • Posts: 13322
  • Gender: Male
Re: Iron Maiden Discography Thread: Recap
« Reply #1757 on: March 26, 2018, 01:52:11 AM »
Voted for:

Strange World
The Prisoner
Die with your Boots On
The Prophecy
The Fallen Angel
Montsegur
Out of the Shadows
The Alchemist

First ones left out:
Judas Be My Guide
Lightning Strikes Twice


As a fellow lifelong Maiden fan, you don't need to "justify" your Maiden obsession with me Mosh, I totally get it  ;D I'm too a bit puzzled at how they wanted to do another album soon and now they're touring for two years... they probably planned things in advance and decided they'll have their next and most likely final album in 2020, 40 years after the debut.
I use my sig to pimp some bands from Italy! Check out Elvenking (Power / Folk metal), Folkstone (Rock / Medieval metal), Arcana Opera (Gothic/Noir/Heavy metal) and the beautiful voice of Elisa!

Offline devieira73

  • Posts: 2834
  • Gender: Male
  • Boldly go where no brazilian has gone before...
Re: Iron Maiden Discography Thread: Recap
« Reply #1758 on: March 26, 2018, 07:30:57 AM »
My choices (Bruce, read this for The Legacy tour! ;D):
Invaders (Always surprises me that this song is not regarded at the same level of the classics from TNoTB)
Sea of Madness and The Loneliness of… (Love everything SiT)
Run Silent Run Deep and Judas Be My Guide (I guess nobody here will agree with that, but I like No Prayer and Fear albums as much as the reunion albums - and lesser than the 82-88 run. What put them at this level to me is the rocker vibe that I somewhat miss in the reunion albums, although they are more elaborate)
The Unbeliever and Lightning Strikes (Great songs with terrible production)
Montsegur (Just wonderful)
"one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind." (RIP Neil Armstrong)

Offline Dream Team

  • Posts: 5627
  • Gender: Male
Re: Iron Maiden Discography Thread: Recap
« Reply #1759 on: March 26, 2018, 08:16:50 AM »
J-Dude, you might like DoD. Hardly any of the overly-long acoustic intros. Mostly straight-up rockers with a consensus Top 5 song, maybe two of them. I like it more than most others here because I like Maiden up-tempo.

Offline Cyclopssss

  • Vocal Dinosaur pre-heat combustable
  • Posts: 2993
  • Gender: Male
  • Connoseur of love
Re: Iron Maiden Discography Thread: Recap
« Reply #1760 on: March 27, 2018, 03:38:02 AM »
Damn.....forgot how good Sea of Madness is   :metal
From the ocean comes the notion that the realise lies in rhythm. The rhythm of vision is dancer, and when you dance you´re always on the one. From the looking comes to see, wondrous realise real eyes....

Offline Mladen

  • Posts: 15203
  • Gender: Male
Re: Iron Maiden Discography Thread: Recap
« Reply #1761 on: March 29, 2018, 06:36:06 AM »
That's a great selection of underrated, overlooked songs. I went with the following:

The Prisoner
The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner
The Prophecy
The Unbeliever
The Educated Fool
The Alchemist
When the River Runs Deep

Ranking the albums:

1. Somewhere in time
2. Seventh son of a seventh son
3. The X Factor
4. A Matter of life and death
5. Powerslave
6. Dance of death
7. Piece of mind
8. The Book of souls
9. The Final frontier
10. Number of the beast
11. Brave new world
12. Iron maiden
13. Killers
14. Virtual XI
15. No prayer for the dying
16. Fear of the dark

Keep in mind that the first twelve are all great. That's insane.

Offline ProfessorPeart

  • MP.com Refugee
  • Posts: 3196
  • Gender: Male
  • Lubed In The Face
Re: Iron Maiden Discography Thread: Recap
« Reply #1762 on: March 29, 2018, 09:26:04 AM »
Song poll:

Strange World
The Prisoner
Die With Your Boots On
Sea of Madness
The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner
The Prophecy
Look For the Truth
The Fallen Angel

As for ranking the albums, I couldn't even begin to. At best, I can name my favorite and then the next couple.

1. Somewhere In Time

Others in the top:

Brave New World
The X Factor
Piece Of Mind

Worst albums:

Fear Of The Dark
No Prayer For The Dying
beul ni teh efac = Lube In The Face / That has to be wrong.  :lol / EDIT: Oh, it's Blue! I'm an idiot.
Pardon the interruption, but I just had to run in and celebrate the majesty of Lube in the Face as highest moment in roulette history

Online MirrorMask

  • Posts: 13322
  • Gender: Male
Re: Iron Maiden Discography Thread: Recap
« Reply #1763 on: March 29, 2018, 09:52:22 AM »
Their albums are so amazing that a list does not give the idea of how close they are. Take the reunion albums for example, they're all great in their own way so if I'd make a list there would not be a "5 albums distance" between the first and the last.

Going through the eras, I'd say...

Di'Anno: Iron Maiden > Killers
Classic albums: Piece of Mind and Seventh Son absolute best. Powerslave and 666 slightly behind. Somewhere in Time least favorite.
Transition period: Fear of the Dark > No Prayer
Blaze: The X Factor > Virtual XI
Reunion: Personal favorites are Dance of Death and The Book of Souls. The other three are all amazing anyway.
I use my sig to pimp some bands from Italy! Check out Elvenking (Power / Folk metal), Folkstone (Rock / Medieval metal), Arcana Opera (Gothic/Noir/Heavy metal) and the beautiful voice of Elisa!

Offline Mosh

  • For I have dined on honeydew!
  • Posts: 3825
  • Gender: Male
Re: Iron Maiden Discography Thread: Legacy of the Beast (2018/2019)
« Reply #1764 on: June 21, 2023, 11:36:30 AM »
The Legacy Of the Beast Tour Part One (2018 - 19)


Nearly two decades into Iron Maiden’s reunion era, there was a reliable touring pattern: new album tour followed by nostalgia tour, rinse and repeat. Since Ed Hunter in 1999, Maiden stuck faithfully to this formula. With that being said, there was a bit of uncertainty as The Book of Souls era winded down. In 2005, Maiden did The Early Days tour, which focused exclusively on their first four albums. In 2008, Maiden embarked on the now legendary Somewhere Back in Time tour, which covered the rest of the 80s with a focus on Powerslave. Next, in 2012, there was the Maiden England tour, which some fans felt was redundant considering Somewhere Back in Time covered the entire 80s era, but it also made sense to revisit the Seventh Son tour and re-release the Maiden England video to go with it (you’ll find plenty of pre-2012 speculation online where a Seventh Son themed tour is expected). When the Maiden England tour was announced, the press release actually confirmed that this would be the last of the band’s “history of” tour series. Which made sense, a 90s tour would be neat but probably not something that is easily marketable.

That left a bit of a question mark going into 2018. Some fans mistakenly interpreted “no more history tours” to mean no more nostalgia/greatest hits tours, which was clearly unrealistic. On the other hand, Maiden’s enthusiasm around The Book of Souls was remarkable for a new album, even taking into account that Maiden always prioritized the new material on those tours. That enthusiasm combined with the close confrontation with mortality spurred by Bruce’s cancer led fans to believe that perhaps this time around Maiden would simply go back into the studio to ensure that it wouldn’t take another 5 years between albums. They could even follow the Dance of Death model and split the tour between a greatest hits run and a new album tour.

Around this time, Maiden had also partnered with a mobile game developer to create a mobile rpg titled Legacy of the Beast. The game was heavily marketed during the Book of Souls tour, with video ads playing prior to the set and shirts with the Legacy of the Beast logo being sold at the merch stands. Suddenly it felt like history was repeating itself. Last time Maiden made a video game, there was a tour to go with it. Consequently, rumors and fake tour posters around a Legacy of the Beast tour circulated well before any official announcements. Rarely being a band to take the unexpected route, the Legacy of the Beast European tour was announced immediately after the band’s final 2017 performance.

The announcement itself was met with mixed reactions. Some fans genuinely believed that Maiden would be trying to make new music on a more frequent basis given that they were obviously getting older. This Legacy of the Beast tour could very well be the band’s last, which meant no more new albums. But conversely, a tour that was not tied to a particular theme or era meant that anything in the setlist was possible. There was the chance of some true rarities, maybe even the long awaited live debut of Alexander the Great or other similar surprises. The tour announcement itself used For the Greater Good of God in the trailer music, that song’s inclusion alone (last played 2007) was enough to get fans excited. Maiden also promised that the stage show would be bigger than ever, with changing “worlds” to mimic the theme of the game. On the face of it, it was kind of hard to know what exactly to expect with this show, which actually made it really exciting. Most of the tours up to this point had followed a rigid theme, this would be the first tour in quite some time where anything was theoretically possible.

At the time, I felt that things could’ve gone either way. A big part of me expected that this would be largely a retread of Somewhere Back in Time Tour. For the Greater Good of God seemed like a solid pick for a modern era deepish cut and then the rest of the show could be a grab bag of 80s favorites including something like Rime as a centerpiece. Considering the setlists for both Maiden England and Somewhere Back in Time, I could see it being a less adventurous setlist. But I also felt going in that, with the right selections, this show could be a real treat.

Leading up to the tour, the band teased various songs on social media platforms such as twitter (as well as using the game to throw in some teases). Flight of Icarus was teased really early, which was a major deep cut pick. It had last been played by Maiden on the Somewhere in Time tour, and even then the last time it had been a regular part of the set (as in played at every show or nearly every show) was on the World Slavery Tour. It was played by Bruce Dickinson with Adrian Smith in the 90s however, and was long thought to be a song that Maiden would never play again due to disagreements over the tempo. Steve/Nicko liked to rush while Adrian wanted to play it more at the album tempo, see Wasted Years for another example of a song with tempo fights. You can hear that even by 1985, the tempo of the song was pretty fast. Other songs that were teased included The Clansman, Where Eagles Dare, and Revelations. There were also strong setlist clues in the tour poster. Needless to say, the band was hinting toward a tour filled with surprises.

On May 26, 2018, the long awaited tour opened in Croatia. As promised, the stage show was truly stunning. Possibly their most impressive since the 80s, if not ever. Further solidifying its place as the quintessential Maiden opener, Aces High kicked off the show with an impressive spitfire prop and a war themed stage complete with barracks and barbed wire. Bruce Dickinson also donned a flight helmet, and to help with the immersion the stage crew were in complete regalia. The whole production was similar to Paschendale in 2004, but on a larger scale. The bombastic opening set the tone for what was going to be Maiden’s most theatrical stage production ever. It also set the tone for how songs would be organized. In a somewhat unique move for Maiden, the songs were sequenced in a way to match the statge theming. The first third of the setlist was the “war” theme. To match the battlefield stage, the band selected some of their most iconic war themed songs. Aces High was immediately followed by Where Eagles Dare, another iconic Maiden opener and a welcome live rarity last played in 2005 on the Early Days Tour (and before that, a truncated version was performed on A Real Live Tour in 1993). The Trooper and 2 Minutes To Midnight were also included which is expected, you can’t have a war themed Maiden show without those tracks (or a greatest hits show for that matter). The Trooper in particular featured an early walk on Eddie appearance, surprisingly the first time we’ve had an on stage Trooper Eddie and the first time Eddie had appeared on that song in general. This helped make a commonly played song at least a little bit more exciting. One of the major surprises of this section was The Clansman, which not only was the first time played live since 2003, it was also the first time a Blaze era song had been included in the set since 2004. At this point, many fans had given up hope that the era would ever be represented on one of their live shows again. The return of The Clansman was a welcome surprise, not to mention in a pretty prominent early part of the set.

Following the bombastic version of The Trooper, the lights dimmed, ominous sound effects filled the room, and the second phase of the setlist was revealed. The stunning design mirrored the tour poster complete with stained glass imagery and a chandelier. The lighting was bright and colorful and created a strong mood. Revelations kicked off the “religion” portion of the show. By now, Revelations was an expected inclusion in Maiden’s greatest hits tours, but it took on a little bit more prominence in this setlist by opening up the second phase of the show. The tone of the song perfectly matched the stage reveal and I think it’s safe to say that the stage design and the song are closely linked in a lot of fans’ minds and memories. One fact about Revelations on this tour is that for awhile Adrian and Janick were switching off who played the solo from night to night. Since Adrian had returned in 1999, Janick traditionally played the Revelations solo, so this was the first time Adrian was playing his original solo since rejoining the band. It was also an unusual choice to switch who was playing a solo from night to night as usually that sort of thing is set in stone for the entire tour. Other songs in the “religion” section included The Wicker Man, by now a live staple as much as anything from the 80s, the aforementioned For the Greater Good of God, and yet another surprise Blaze track: The Sign of the Cross. To have one Blaze era song back in the set was a real treat, it was incredible to see two. No less the two Blaze era songs that most fans consider to be the highlights of the era. Sign of the Cross hadn’t been played since 2002. This song also featured a light up cross prop, similar to what was present at some shows on the Brave New World tour (you won’t see it in Rock in Rio, but it shows up in bootlegs from other shows). The centerpiece of this section of the show, and possibly the entire concert, was Flight of Icarus. The band knew that the return of this song would be a big deal for fans and they went all out on the stage production. There was a statue of Icarus and Bruce wielded a flamethrower. The song itself had a nice tempo to it, slightly faster than the original but not rushing to the point of sucking the life out of the song. It was nice to see the band reach a good compromise on the song and, honestly, I felt the 2018/19 rendition of the song was superior to any version in the 80s (including the original studio recording).

Icarus concluded with a fiery finish which brought forth the third and final section of the show: Hell. A logical conclusion to the show. The “hell” portion could also be seen as the hits portion of the show. While the first 10 songs contained many surprises, the last third of the set was for the more familiar territory. All the usual suspects were present, although there were some fun stage show moments for a few of the songs, such as in Fear of the Dark. Of course Eddie made an appearance during Iron Maiden, this time the demonic Eddie from the tour poster appeared as yet another inflatable. With a song selection as comprehensive and exhaustive as what the band presented to that point, it’s hard to complain when they start playing the go to classics. On the other hand, the predictability of these songs stuck out slightly more after a gauntlet of surprises. Still, the cool stage effects that took place during this portion of the set kept things engaging even for the most hardcore fans.

While a lot of the setlist was hinted at leading up to the first show, the Legacy of the Beast tour as a whole was one with a lot of surprises and struck the best balance of any Maiden concert in terms of pleasing casual and hardcore fans. Bruce Dickinson once again had a big hand in selecting the songs and supposedly the inclusion of the two Blaze era songs were his decision. Despite being teased from the very beginning, For the Greater Good of God as an inclusion on a greatest hits tour was quite the surprise. On the whole, several of the included songs were ones that hadn’t been performed in years and weren’t necessarily expected to be performed live again by Maiden. The setlist combined with the stunning stage production made it hard to be unsatisfied with the show.

On the less positive side of things, you could really hear the band starting to age on this tour. Especially going into 2019, Bruce sounded pretty worn out at a lot of the shows and you could also hear Nicko struggling with some of the fast kick drum parts. Given that Bruce had a lot of input on the set, there are quite a few vocally challenging songs and it’s actually a bit surprising how ambition the choices were. There were also a lot of stage antics from Bruce, which certainly contributed to any vocal problems. Still, the band is getting up there in age and it was impressive to watch them pull off this tour even if there were some hiccups.

While Maiden mind bogglingly did not release a video from the tour, it is the age of live streams and you can find high quality footage of the show with minimal effort. The best is probably Rock In Rio, Maiden’s fourth appearance at the festival. At this point, Maiden playing at Rock in Rio doesn’t have the same cachet as it used to since they appear there every few years now, but it was still a big event for them and it’s great to have quality video from the tour. As for audio, we did get an official release:

Nights of the Dead - Legacy of the Beast live in Mexico City (2020)


It’s hard to say what Maiden’s original intentions were regarding a live album. Released during the pandemic in 2020, it seemed like Nights of the Dead was put out so that Maiden would have something new released during a year meant to contain tour activity and even a new studio album (more on that later). The show chosen also doesn’t seem particularly special other than being in front of an enthusiastic-as-usual South American audience. It seems like a soundboard recording, but the use of raw off-the-board recordings is a norm for Maiden at this point. On the other side of things, it seems mind boggling that they wouldn’t want to immortalize these shows in the form of a live video.

Regardless, it’s good to have a live album from this tour. It marks the first time any song from A Matter of Life and Death appears on a live album, 14 years after the album’s release, which is insane to think about. It’s also only the second appearance of Flight of Icarus (Live After Death) and Where Eagles Dare (A Real Dead One) on a live album. Quite a few of the songs, while played several times, happened to almost always end up on tours without live albums.

Unfortunately, the audio quality isn’t great and Bruce sounds like he’s struggling throughout a lot of the show. His voice is strained and he struggles with timing on several songs such as The Clansman. Plainly, it’s just not the best representation of Maiden and it also poorly represents what was a great tour for them. I would say check this out for completists sake and if you want a live version of some of the rare songs, but you’re better off checking out the Rio show on YouTube.

To Be Continued (2020/2021)

As per the tradition with Maiden tours, one year was spent covering Europe and the next was spent covering North America (with a South American tour mixed in as well). By now, Maiden’s tour itinerary is never that surprising. Additionally, given the band’s age, it seems like they are mostly interested in the European and North/South American markets and not much else. On the other hand, nobody would be surprised to learn the Legacy of the Beast tour was a massive success. Consequently, Legacy of the Beast became the second tour (the first being Maiden England) to extend into a third year. Toward the end of the 2019 leg, Maiden announced that Legacy of the Beast would continue into 2020. The tour would reach territories rarily visited by Maiden such as Australia, Dubai, and Japan, as well as some more European shows.

While this announcement wasn’t a surprise, it did come as a disappointment for a lot of fans who were wanting Maiden to quickly get back into the studio for a new album. It’s understandable, the band isn’t getting any younger and every year feels precious at this point. Still, it’s also important to understand that Maiden is a global band and a lot of the territories that were announced in year three do not get frequent Maiden tours. It’s a tough call though. Of course, the most efficient thing to do would be to record a new album in between tour legs, as many bands are prone to do. Maiden usually opt to take that time off though and had never recorded while mid-tour. Surely that wouldn’t change now right?
New Animal Soup scifi space opera for fans of Porcupine Tree, Mastodon, Iron Maiden: Chariots of the Gods

https://animalsoup.bandcamp.com/album/chariots-of-the-gods

Offline TAC

  • DTF.org Alumni
  • ****
  • Posts: 74076
  • Gender: Male
  • Arthritic Metal Horns
Re: Iron Maiden Discography Thread: Recap
« Reply #1765 on: June 21, 2023, 12:44:55 PM »
I thought the Legacy tour was great, both in setlist and performance. I was amazed at the show I saw just how good they were. I was really impressed with Nicko. What a physical performance.
The bootleg is pretty good too.

The Live In Mexico City album is basically unlistenable because of Bruce. I still can't believe it was released, honestly. I have the same issue with R40 and Geddy. I simply cannot listen to it.
would have thought the same thing but seeing the OP was TAC i immediately thought Maiden or DT related
Winger Theater Forums........or WTF.  ;D
TAC got a higher score than me in the electronic round? Honestly, can I just drop out now? :lol

Online cramx3

  • Chillest of the chill
  • DTF.org Alumni
  • ****
  • Posts: 34207
  • Gender: Male
Re: Iron Maiden Discography Thread: Recap
« Reply #1766 on: June 21, 2023, 01:01:33 PM »
Yeah, I don't care for the album much at all.  If they released it on video though...

Offline Grappler

  • Posts: 3410
  • Gender: Male
  • Victory, Illinois Varsity
Re: Iron Maiden Discography Thread: Recap
« Reply #1767 on: June 21, 2023, 02:02:08 PM »
I love that this thread has come back to life!  The Legacy tour is and was amazing - I think the band really outdid themselves as far as the setlist and the visual spectacle of it all, and the anticipation of the setlist was a lot of fun in the build up to the tour. 

I'm mad at myself for skipping the first leg of the US tour and not seeing the older songs (Where Eagles Dare) but I did see the second leg last year.

I also agree that the live album's downfall is Bruce, and I do wish they released a video of the tour. 

Offline Stadler

  • DTF.org Alumni
  • ****
  • Posts: 43005
  • Gender: Male
  • Pointing out the "unfunny" since 2014!
Re: Iron Maiden Discography Thread: Recap
« Reply #1768 on: June 23, 2023, 02:18:15 PM »
I thought the Legacy tour was great, both in setlist and performance. I was amazed at the show I saw just how good they were. I was really impressed with Nicko. What a physical performance.
The bootleg is pretty good too.

The Live In Mexico City album is basically unlistenable because of Bruce. I still can't believe it was released, honestly. I have the same issue with R40 and Geddy. I simply cannot listen to it.

It's a shame, too, because he sounded so good in Hartford, not long before that gig.

Offline Mosh

  • For I have dined on honeydew!
  • Posts: 3825
  • Gender: Male
Re: Iron Maiden Discography Thread: Recap
« Reply #1769 on: June 25, 2023, 10:12:53 PM »
Senjutsu (2021)


In early 2019, some fans sighted several members of the band and Kevin Shirley in Paris, once again at Guillame Tell studios, where The Book of Souls and Brave New World were recorded. It seemed Maiden were taking the unprecedented step of working on an album while still in the middle of a tour. The rationale was obvious, The band had lost a year of touring due to Bruce’s cancer and while this wouldn’t get the band’s schedule totally back on track, it would at least ensure that the wait between The Book of Souls and the next album would be about the same as the wait between The Final Frontier and The Book of Souls. At least that was the idea.

The band was pleased with how The Book of Souls turned out, so they took a very similar approach to the next album. As a result, Senjutsu is pretty much a direct successor, much in the way Powerslave built on Piece of Mind, Seventh Son built on Somewhere in Time, to name two examples. They recorded in the same studio again, and they also took the same approach of recording the songs immediately after writing them, rather than separating writing and recording sessions.

Much of the same writing partnerships crop up on Senjutsu as what we saw on The Book of Souls. Once again, Bruce and Adrian collaborated on several tracks with an apparent aim toward once again writing more direct material, similar to what the duo contributed to The Book of Souls as well as back in the 80s. One song, Days of Future Past, was a straight ahead rocker that kinda harkened back to the Accident of Birth days with the riffing style and energy. Darkest Hour, similarly, was a ballad style track in the vein of something like Coming Home, but with a slightly darker sound, almost reminiscent of Gates of Urizen or The Man of Sorrows, again off of Bruce’s solo albums. The third Dickinson contribution was also to be the single: The Writing on the Wall. This track had an almost Southern Rock feel, with a twangy guitar introand mid tempo driving riff. Bruce’s lyrics are abundant with biblical references and an anthemic chorus. In other words, pretty much what you would expect from a late era Maiden song composed by Smith and Dickinson. The songs were also notable, particularly Writing on the Wall and Darkest Hour, for having some extended guitar solos from Adrian Smith. This was a refreshing addition, as Adrian didn’t really allow himself as much room to stretch in his guitar solos for The Book of Souls. On the previous album, The Final Frontier, there were some extended solo moments (namely Isle of Avalon) but Adrian alluded to being unhappy with some of the production decisions on that album particularly with the guitar sound, so it was hard to say whether he would be interested in that kind of instrumentally driven material in Maiden again. The solos on these songs stand among his most memorable that he’s played in Maiden. Unlike on The Book of Souls, where Bruce contributed two solo compositions, these three Smith tracks are Bruce’s only contributions to the album.

On the other side of things, Smith had one more song to offer. As has been the tradition since Dance of Death, Adrian and Steve also collaborated for a song. In the reunion era, we’ve seen two types of Smith/Harris tracks. One type describes songs like The Final Frontier or Different World which work as energetic if formulaic openers and accessible riff based tracks. The other is more emblematic of the proggy side of Maiden. Epics like Isle of Avalon and Paschendale which in some ways have gone on to define the modern Maiden sound. For their collaboration on this album, the title track Senjutsu, the two styles converge a bit. The 8 minute track has a lot of moving parts and Adrian was experimenting with different types of scales to come up with some of the exotic sounds in the riffs. This inspired Steve to write evocative lyrics dealing with a battle at a great wall. The theme was epic in scope, but at the same time it was also characterized by a big chorus and crushing riff. Naturally, it became the album opener and the title track, providing fans with a bit of a departure for a Maiden opener. Frankly, after several more predictable sounding Maiden openers from Virtual XI to A Matter of Life and Death. Even The Final Frontier, despite the experimental Satellite 15, was pretty much in the same vein as their openers. Between Senjutsu and If Eternity Should Fail, it’s nice to see Maiden trying different things this late in their career.

Also as expected was a couple of Gers tracks. Usually Janick has two types of songs on the album: a fast rocker (The Pilgrim, The Alchemist) and an epic track (The Legacy, The Book of Souls, The Talisman). On Senjutsu, Gers (with help from Harris) delivers again. The rocker was Stratego, which had a similar lyrical concept to Senjutsu and they even appear side by side on the album. On an earlier album, Stratego may have been the opener. It’s a classic Gers style rocker with a heavy riff and the classic Maiden gallop. You also get a very melodic guitar part, which often follows the vocal melody (a Harris favorite in the new century). Gers’ more progressive contribution was the H.P. Lovecraft inspired The Time Machine. This was one of several songs on the album that really take the listener by surprise. It starts fairly standard for a Gers epic with the classic open D tuning acoustic guitar intro and lullaby-like vocal part ala The Legacy, but when it gets going it’s pretty unlike anything else we’ve heard. The choruses have almost a folk rock feel with the strumming groove and crooning vocal melody. The instrumental section is filled with classic Maiden riffing and some of the time changes that happen are pretty unexpected. It’s a much shorter affair than the previous acoustic epics (The Book of Souls topped out at 10 minutes, one of Maiden’s longest tracks at the time), but it doesn’t feel any lighter on material.

The remainder of the album was made up of songs written solely by Steve Harris (Senjutsu was the first album since The X Factor with no Murray contributions). Four of the ten songs are Harris compositions. The last time Harris had contributed that much material by himself was on Virtual XI, where he also wrote four songs (in addition to cowriting three others). Since then, you could rely on Harris to contribute one song, usually a big epic, but with three other major songwriters in the band Steve was able to do more work arranging contributions from the guitar players who typically only contributed half baked ideas anyway. Additionally, you may remember on The Book of Souls that Harris had played a slightly less active role as a writer (emphasis on “slightly”, he still contributed to 7 of the 11 songs). After the album was released, we had learned that Harris was dealing with some heavy personal losses and his mind wasn’t entirely on the making of the album compared to previous albums, such as on The Final Frontier and A Matter of Life and Death where he contributes to every track. On Senjutsu, we get a return of the classic Steve Harris with a whopping four big epics.

The first appears early in the album. Lost in a Lost World really feels like something out of X Factor. The dark moody vibe of the song harkens back to tracks like The Aftermath and Blood on the World’s Hands. Not to mention the lyrics, as the title clearly implies Harris is lamenting a world that is fraught with injustice. Similar to a lot of the songs on The X Factor, there are many illusions to the afterlife and a general theme of hopelessness in the natural world that hopefully will be eroded in the spiritual realm. This theme will come back later.

Like Senjutsu and The Time Machine, there’s a lot of unusual for Maiden moments on this track.The psychedelic vocal harmonies that appear early in the song for example. You don’t hear a lot of vocal harmonies in modern Maiden to begin with, but this approach felt more influenced almost by 60s/70s bands like Yes or The Beatles, which you don’t hear influencing Maiden often. The vocals also had a lot of processing effects as well, which is unusual in the age of dry Maiden recording style.

However, the real meat of the album is in the final three tracks. As I mentioned before, during the reunion era it was typical to get one Harris solo track. Typically, especially on the last few albums, these songs represented the epic side and usually acted as the centerpiece of the album. Of course The Red and the Black got overshadowed a bit by Empire of the Clouds, but on any other album it would’ve served that purpose. So being treated to four Harris tracks is pretty unusual, and a gauntlet of three in a row at the end of the album is a first. Each clocking in at over 10 minutes, it was obvious before even hearing a note of music that the Maiden was going to deliver something special with these final three tracks.

Death of the Celts kicks off the Harris trilogy. From the title alone, it’s obvious that Harris was influenced by his own work with Maiden playing The Clansman on The Legacy of the Beast tour. Death of the Celts can almost be considered a rare sequel, other examples include anything from the Charlotte the Harlott saga and Back in the Village being a sequel to The Prisoner. Unlike those other examples though, it’s more of a musical link than a lyrical one. Definitely topically related, but only loosely. The melodic style and even the general structure of the song definitely harken back to The Clansman. The biggest difference is that Celts lacks that big singalong chorus and is also a bit darker in tone. The song is also a bit longer of course and the band allows themselves to stretch a little bit more musically. It’s interesting to hear Steve be so influenced by himself and, like Lost in a Lost World, you really hear some of the quirks of the Blaze era but with a more put together sound.

Next is The Parchment. This song represents the more instrumental side of Maiden, songs like Alexander the Great and The Red and the Black. This time the lyrics have more of a medieval flare with references to ancient civilizations such as the Parthians. Once again, familiar territory for Harris. I find this song to be pretty much a continuation of his epics on the last two albums: The Red and the Black and When the Wild Wind Blows. Primarily the way all three songs mostly stay at the same tempo, the vocal melodies are wordier, and there is a lot of room for the guitars. As a matter of fact, this song features more guitar solos than any Maiden song, a whopping six solos! So it’s similar to The Red and the Black in the way that it’s more instrumentally driven, but the vocals are more integrated in this song rather than the song being frontloaded with vocals followed by a long instrumental. In fact, the first instrumental section happens very early in the song. Also similar to The Red and the Black, there is a short section where it goes to double time before settling back into the main groove.

Hell on Earth is the last of the Harris epics trilogy. This one is probably the most lyrically and vocally driven, similar to Lost in a Lost World but also going back to tracks like The Thin Line Between Love and Hate and No More Lies that have a lot of dynamic and tempo changes. Once again, the song seems to be exploring the theme of the natural world as a desolate wasteland of evil, but with an uncharacterstically optimistic message of the possibility of peace on the other side. Conceptually it’s pretty similar to something like Hallowed Be Thy Name, but without the metaphor of a prisoner about to be executed. It’s a more aged and experienced version of that idea, what you would expect from the same band 40 years later. No wonder the fans love the song. Another notable trait of this song is that it reprises and mirrors some lyrics from Senjutsu, in a sort of callback to the bookended lyrics on Seventh Son of a Seventh Son (which in turn was inspired by Pink Floyd’s Animals).

From Senjutsu:
Survive on ledges bitten in dust
Knowledge and virtue is stricken by lust
Really believe that they're coming for us
Dancing on graves of those who bled for us

From Hell On Earth:
You dance on the graves who bled for us
Do you really think they'll come for us?
Knowledge and virtue, taken by lust
Live on the edge of those that you trust

As far back as Virtual XI, you can speculation about Maiden’s swan song. At some point there will be a final album and a final song on that album. Most fans expect that the final song will be an appropriate sendoff for the band ala The Garden by Rush. There have definitely been a couple tracks that seemed like they could qualify. Journeyman on Dance of Death had a unique ballad flavor and the lyrics seemed like they could be autobiographical. Later on, When the Wild Wind Blows seemed like an interesting candidate in the way that it captured much of what we expect from a classic Harris epic. A lot of people speculated that Empire of the Clouds would be a good swan song for the band, although I think it had three traits that made it a nonstarter. The first is that it was Dickinson solo song, the last Maiden song needs to be a Harris track. The second is that it was just too out there for Maiden’s style with the piano and orchestration. It’s not really a classic Maiden track and feels more like a Dickinson solo endeavor with Maiden as the backing band. Finally, I am convinced that a thoroughly British band was never going to end their career on the word “France.” Putting aside Hell on Earth itself, I can’t think of a more appropriate way to end Maiden’s career than with a trilogy of classic Harris epics. They pretty much run the gamut of Harris’ songwriting style and the characteristics we’ve come to expect from Maiden. It’s also great to see Harris acting in a prominent role as a writer again after spending most of the reunion era being more of an arranger. Then to end on Hell on Earth, the song’s mood and lyrical theme, not to mention the hypnotic studio fadeout (an interesting and unusual way to end a Maiden song), it sends a powerful message that would feel like an appropriate way to cap off Maiden’s career. It seems the band intends to continue as much as they can, but I also get the impression that Harris made a conscious creative decision in the case that this is the last Maiden album.

Senjutsu continued a lot of the reunion era conventions of Maiden. A lot of the songwriting partnerships are the same, the production style is the same, and while there are some unique elements to a few of the songs overall it’s the sound that fans have come to expect. Another one of the trends that continues on Senjtusu is that the songs continue to get longer. If you look at The Final Frontier, you see a sort of crossroads in song lengths. The first five songs (not taking Satellite 15 into account) all come in at under 7 minutes with one crossing the ten minute mark. Then the final five are over 7. On The Book of Souls, you still get five songs over 7 minutes, but three of them cross the ten minute mark (with two songs among Maiden’s longest). On Senjutsu, seven of the ten songs are over 7 minutes and three are over ten minutes. While Senjutsu isn’t quite as long as The Book of Souls, it does show more of a trend toward the epic side (if you take out Empire of the Clouds, Senjutsu is a longer album and has more epics). Naturally, Senjutsu was to be another double album. If you ask me, and I may have said this before Senjutsu was announced as well, double albums are probably the norm for Maiden now.
New Animal Soup scifi space opera for fans of Porcupine Tree, Mastodon, Iron Maiden: Chariots of the Gods

https://animalsoup.bandcamp.com/album/chariots-of-the-gods

Offline Mosh

  • For I have dined on honeydew!
  • Posts: 3825
  • Gender: Male
Re: Iron Maiden Discography Thread: Recap
« Reply #1770 on: June 25, 2023, 10:16:23 PM »
Senjutsu Release (2020/2021)


It’s not entirely clear when the band wrapped production. It seems they finished the album before embarking on the North American leg of the Legacy of the Beast tour in 2019, although it’s unclear if they did any additional work in late 2019. It’s likely that the album was mixed and mastered somewhere in that interval though, which means the album was finished and ready to go by the end of the year. While Maiden tends to be quiet about their intentions, one can speculate that the original idea was for Maiden to do a third Legacy of the Beast leg but throw in Writing on the Wall as a teaser for the album (likely replacing For the Greater Good of God) and release the album at the end of the tour. It could follow the Give Me Ed til I’m Dead and The Final Frontier 2010 models of building hype for the album ahead of release. Ironically, rumoured/leaked tour dates in 2015 suggested that Maiden had the same idea for The Book Of Souls: a short summer run followed by a release of the album in the fall. For the second time, those plans were about to be upended.

The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 put Maiden’s touring plans to a halt and the tour was postponed to 2021. The 2021 tour poster also had the letterings WOTW hidden, which gave fans another pretty strong clue that new material was on the horizon. Unfortunately, as we all know, the tour had to be postponed again to 2022. By now, the album had been finished for a couple years and was locked away in a safe (only Steve Harris had a copy). At this point, Maiden decided to go forward with their plans to release the album anyway and in summer 2021, they kicked off a viral marketing campaign. It started with some appearances on TV from Bruce Dickinson unrelated to Maiden in which he was wearing a t-shirt with the phrase “'Belshazzar's Feast.” Soon, other folks associated with Maiden were seen wearing the shirt and the poster started to appear in various UK locations and a social media account was created to track the poster. This was eventually followed by daily social media posts in which the covers for Maiden’s previous albums were posted with some clues including the WOTW insignia and other cryptic references. Each day a new cover was posted in chronological order, starting with the debut, suggesting a countdown.

Eventually, Bruce Dickinson formally invited fans to Belshazzar's Feast, which turned out to be the premier of the Writing on the Wall music video. The animated video was an unexpectedly high budget production with a full narrative and the reveal of the samurai Eddie. The timing of the release was a little weird as the release was not accompanied by any information about a new album and the aforementioned album cover countdown was still ongoing. Finally, the countdown concluded and Senjutsu was finally revealed to fans who were craving new material. This would be the longest wait between Maiden albums, at six years. The pandemic messed up Maiden’s plans quite a bit, but it was exciting nonetheless to finally be getting new material. It may have been delayed, but it ended up being fortuitous that Maiden recorded the album so early, so the creation of new music itself wasn’t affected by the pandemic. In fact, curiously, Maiden did book studio time during the pandemic with the intention of creating a second album. Eventually they decided not to, as it seemed pointless to record a new album when they had a finished unreleased album still on the shelf.

The album artwork was once again created by Mark Wilkinson and featured a similar look to The Book of Souls with Eddie against a plain black background. Just like The Book of Souls, a more illustrious painting was included inside the album (with a stunning gatefold sleeve on the vinyl version). Interestingly, there were two possible versions of the cover painted, with the “alternate” cover used as the back cover in lieu of the traditional tracklisting on the back style of Maiden albums. The Iron Maiden logo was altered a bit as well, with a new 3D sort of font. Visually, it was very much a continuation of what Maiden was going for on The Book of Souls. You could suppose that even Maiden is influenced by changes in technology and music norms and that the extravagant album covers are being traded for something more simplistic and satisfying to look at on a mobile phone.

Senjutsu was finally released Fall 2021 after much hype and buildup. The album was mostly positively received, although the density of the material as well as the generally darker tone of the album definitely turned some heads. The production of recent Maiden albums is also always a source of criticism and Senjutsu was no expensive. While I think some of the album presents the best sounding Maiden material since Brave New World (songs like Writing on the Wall for example), there are definitely some muddy moments as well and a couple songs where it’s actually kinda hard to hear Bruce. They also put the keyboards unusually high in the mix this time around, which was not well received by everybody. Finally, one of the oddities in Senjutsu is that there seems to have been a mastering error in the second disc, as the right speaker has some audible distortion for all four songs on the disc. Oddly, this only affects disc 2, but it affects those songs on all versions (even on vinyl where Darkest Hour shares a side of vinyl with The Time Machine). It’s unclear what happened there, although this time it seems likely that it was less a matter of Steve Harris having weird mastering preferences and more like an actual mastering error, as it only impacts half the album.

Generally, you know what you’re getting with a new Iron Maiden album as they have been using the same formula since the reunion (you could argue since the Blaze years even). So the reception tends to be similar. Fans of newer Maiden albums will be delighted, while those who don’t like the newer albums probably won’t have their minds changed. There are some slight differences though. Personally, I found the darker sound and more Harris dominated writing found on Senjutsu to be reminiscent of the Blaze era more than anything else. I’m still not sure if it’s a throwback style, or if it’s just a result of having more of Harris’ influence. I guess if you look at songs like For the Greater Good of God or The Red and the Black, you can hear that sound as well.



Legacy of the Beast Leg Three (2022)


With the pandemic shaking everything up, Maiden was in a bit of a pickle with their touring plans. The Legacy of the Beast tour had already been announced and people bought tickets to see that tour. As Bruce Dickinson said: “People have all paid their money to see the 'Legacy Of The Beast' show, with Spitfires and flamethrowers and Icarus and everything that goes with. So they're gonna get all that.” In short, Maiden were going to keep their word and present a Legacy of the Beast show. Still, they had a brand new album out and it would have been a weird move to ignore it in the setlist. Presumably, the original plan for Legacy of the Beast Leg 3 was to include Writing on the Wall as a teaser for the new album. Now, since the album was out and people had heard it, more songs could be included. A full Senjutsu tour was promised for later, but in the meantime fans attending the Legacy of the Beast tour would be treated to a new Senjutsu themed world and several new songs. Promotional materials for the tour were adjusted to include the new Samurai Eddie and the band clearly managed expectations ahead of the tour by explicitly stating that the first three songs from Senjutsu would be included in the show.

It was the best way to handle a situation with no great solution. Frankly, most other bands in Maiden’s position would have just cut their losses with a new album tour and Legacy of the Beast 3 would’ve been the Senjutsu tour. Getting a clear signal from the band that the new songs would be included in the setlist but that this also was by no means the Senjutsu tour was a nice reassurance for the hardcore fans who wanted the album to get the live attention it deserved. I actually can’t really think of another example of Maiden outright revealing exactly what to expect on an upcoming tour.

So in 2022, after the tour being postponed twice, Maiden finally embarked on leg three of the Legacy of the Beast tour. Most of the shows announced in 2020 were rescheduled, although unfortunately a lot of the shows that were originally promised were either canceled outright or postponed indefinitely. This was especially disappointing for fans in territories like Australia and Japan who don’t get to see the band that often. On the other hand, the tour was expanded in other territories such as North America, giving it a sort of dual purpose as a post-pandemic comeback tour.

The stage show was largely the same, but with the added element of Senjutsu-themed staging. Pagodas and backdrops based on the album imagery were added in as well as a Samurai Eddie that, in a first for Maiden, appeared right during the first song. It seemed that Maiden, knowing that a run of new songs wasn’t exactly what casual fans came for, were trying to keep the excitement up through the staging. After the Senjutsu portion of the show, the stage switched over to the “religion” theme with the stained glass followed by hell. The spitfire that opened the show in 2018 and 2019 was now saved as the grand finale.

To that end, the setlist had some further adjustments to accommodate the new songs. The entire “war” portion of the stage, which was really just a cover for the stained glass stuff, was omitted. The songs from that portion of the set were all moved to the encore. This actually made for some surprising choices. The Clansman, once a song from one of Maiden’s least popular albums made during their least popular era, was now an encore track that contained a healthy amount of audience participation. Aces High closed out the show, which seemed largely for staging reasons more than anything else as this was a strange slot for the song. Other songs from the “war” section, Two Minutes to Midnight and Where Eagles Dare, were simply omitted from the setlist. The other omissions included For the Greater Good of God, which was unsurprising as this song probably got the most lukewarm crowd response in 2018/19, plus Maiden were now playing three brand new songs. The Wicker Man was swapped for Blood Brothers, which has become the other go to track from that album. The Evil That Men Do was dropped to make room for the aforementioned “war” songs in the encore, but it was nice to see this song given a rest after becoming a pretty frequent inclusion. Surprisingly, both Blaze songs survived the cuts, granted they were both pretty major setlist and staging highlights in the first leg.

As far as performances go, the show was a welcome return for Maiden. Although, as I mentioned in the previous Legacy of the Beast entry, you really start to feel the age of the band on these shows. Bruce struggled with timing quite a bit throughout the tour, although it was never certain why, whether he was suffering from hearing problems or if there were monitor issues. It could also be that all the running around was affecting his performance quality. Similarly, Nicko simplified a lot of his drum parts and some of the songs were noticeably slower than they had been in the past. To be fair, it seems most touring bands have needed a year or two to readjust to being on stage after taking so much time off. Maiden is no exception. Still, it is fortunate to see the band playing live again after an unintended hiatus and this was a great way to get fans excited about the band again before looking again to the future.

No official live release has come out from Legacy of the Beast 2022, although the band has posted some live videos on their YouTube Channel. You can also find the livestream of Maiden’s fifth Rock in Rio appearance - that’s right, they played Rock in Rio twice on Legacy of the Beast. It’s unlikely that Maiden will release any additional material from this tour. It’s wild to think that they won’t be immortalizing the stage show as it was probably the most impressive show they have ever (and likely will ever) put on.
New Animal Soup scifi space opera for fans of Porcupine Tree, Mastodon, Iron Maiden: Chariots of the Gods

https://animalsoup.bandcamp.com/album/chariots-of-the-gods

Offline Mladen

  • Posts: 15203
  • Gender: Male
Re: Iron Maiden Discography Thread: Senjutsu
« Reply #1771 on: June 26, 2023, 01:24:27 AM »
I really enjoyed reading through all of this. Your Senjutsu write-up was fantastic. This is actually the first time someone has pointed out to me the correlation between Senjutsu and Hell on earth lyrics, my mind is blown. How did I not catch that?  :omg:

I love the album, honestly. I love it even more now than I did in 2021. Hell on earth, Darkest hour, Stratego, The Parchment, Lost in a lost world and the title track are my favorites.

Offline Grappler

  • Posts: 3410
  • Gender: Male
  • Victory, Illinois Varsity
Re: Iron Maiden Discography Thread: Senjutsu
« Reply #1772 on: June 26, 2023, 10:36:59 AM »
Senjutsu is amazing.  I remember reading something about the band being in the studio in 2019, but with the pandemic, that was completely lost from my memory as life shifted.  So that countdown on social media and the debut of the WOTW video was a lot of fun.  I remember being thrown by WOTW, but it's become one of my favorite reunion-era songs.  I love how different it is for them, with a country feel and a big rhythmic stomp. 

The album is tied to another event in my life - it came out the week that my mom slipped and broke her arm/shoulder due to a change in her alzheimer's.  I remember burning the album to CD's and throwing them in my car for a drive down to the hospital to hang with my dad for the day while she was in surgery.  Listening to my disc 1 (I fit all songs except for Hell on Earth on one CD) will always bring me back to that drive.  Contemplating my parents' aging as I listen to songs like The Time Machine and Days of Future Past.  The darker mood fit well with changes in my own life.

In the winter of 2021, they announced the US leg of the Legacy tour and I immediately bought a ticket.  I missed the first leg, but wasn't going to miss this new one, especially with Within Temptation opening (who I'd never seen before).  The vibe in the arena was very celebratory and I was amazed at how much Maiden has grown since I had last saw them in 2008.  They were ON FIRE and sounded amazing.  There were moments where Bruce sounded strained, and other times, he was amazing.  Revelations was just a powerhouse vocal performance. 

Overall, I enjoyed the tour and was happy to hear three songs from Senjutsu, which is probably the album I gravitate to the most when I want to hear Maiden.