This is the thread where we talk about Iron Maiden!!

I live-tweeted my thoughts on Thursday, and then put an edited version into my newsletter. Here it is:

Start with this: I don't like the cover art. It looks like a video game package, or a bootleg T-shirt.

Opening with an eight-minute not-fast song — the title track — was a bad idea. You need to get the listener's heart pumping right out of the gate. Why do so many bands fuck this up lately? (The drumming is really great, though.)

Track 2, "Stratego." And now we're galloping. This should have been the opener. There's an unfortunate "eyes/surprise" rhyme, and the synths are more prominent than I expected, but there are some excellent air-raid-siren moments. Bruce Dickinson really is an incredible singer.

Track 3, "The Writing on the Wall." I like the main country-metal riff, but things get kinda pirate-metal in the middle, which I'm not so into.

Track 4, "Lost in a Lost World." Starts off slow (and doesn't even sound like Dickinson singing), but gets rippin' after two minutes or so (of 9 1/2). Very heavy, bass prominent in the mix in a really good way.

Track 5, "Days of Future Past." The slow intro is a fake-out; at just 4:04, this is the shortest song on the record, and it rips. Big riff, operatic chorus, more excellent drumming.

Track 6 (last track on Disc 1), "The Time Machine." Oof, Dickinson just sang the words "impish whim." A lot of keyboards on this song, and more pirate-metal/sea-chantey riffing, plus a heavy breakdown/noisy guitar solo that feels super pasted-in. Not really feeling this.

Track 7 (first track on Disc 2), "Darkest Hour." Begins and ends with waves and seagulls. I think it's about Churchill or something. Slow, heavy, mournful, operatic...could be a leftover from A Matter Of Life And Death, honestly. (AMoLaD is my favorite 21st century Maiden album, so I'm OK with this.)

Track 8, "Death of the Celts." This is the shortest of the next 3 songs and it's 10:20. *Lots* of synth, and the verses are long and singsongy. Here come the guitar solos; will everybody get one? There's certainly time. (Turns out the answer is, yes, everyone will get at least one guitar solo.)

Track 9, "The Parchment": the main chugging riff almost reminds me of recent, proggy-heavy Opeth. The lyrics are ignorable; this song exists to justify the five minutes of guitar wank in the middle and at the (faster) end, and I'm fine with that.

Track 10, "Hell On Earth." The jokes write themselves, especially when you realize you're only halfway through the three-minute bass-and-synth intro. Very dynamic (dramatic quiet parts, REALLY LOUD PARTS), but honestly I kinda...wish it was an instrumental?

Conclusion: It's a 21st century Iron Maiden album — too long (82 minutes), 100% the product of their own musical comfort zone, but these fuckers can really play, and when they want to be they're still pretty amazing. 7/10, will probably never play front to back again.

i’m digging it so far, partway into disc 2

always impressed by how great they are at adding texture & different melodies within their longer songs to keep interest, i rarely find them plodding or boring

the Time Machine is a highlight so far, also Hell on Earth

Aid & Dave just fully crushing their solos, how are they always so fuckin brilliant?

i feel like i will def relisten to this over the coming weeks, already looking forward to hearing the whole thing again

they definitely do the 'long' songs better hear than they did on Brave New World, which beat choruses into the ground.

second listen now!

aw i like Brave New World

i like it, but I never loved it like some others did.

TIL that Clansman & Blood Brothers ate tied together storywise, and Death of the Celts on this new album is the continuation (hence the musical references in the solos)

*are

oh cool!

My review is at PopMatters.

https://www.popmatters.com/iron-maiden-senjutsu-album-review

Like all other 2000s Maiden albums, it takes time to settle in. I love the record a lot, but it took at least four listens for me to get there.

I was super impressed by the Pitchfork write-up. Sincere piece, no snark, understood the band's late-career direction. And like it said, anyone who wants a "Trooper" rewrite can go listen to any of the many, mighty fine trad metal traditionalists out there. Maiden isn't allowing to do that.

(sorry, Maiden isn't GOING to do that)

this is definitely growing on me a lot. they didn't wanna do a Book of Souls 2, and I was big on BoS cos it was full of riffs and ponderous long sections. but this brand of Maiden is good too.

and it doesn't suffer from the problems I had with, say, Dance of Death, or A Matter of Life and Death.

I'll give it a second listen this week, I think.

i really underestimated the melodic mastery of the album the first few times.

it's won me over. I don't love *every* song, but once I got over my pre-conceived desires,I found myself enjoying it a lot more.

:D

My final decision was that I liked a few songs, the album was a little more ponderous than I like even though they do that sort of thing way better than anyone else. Ultimately they're making themselves happy and not tarnishing their legacy. I won't listen to it nearly as much as the classics but I'll add it to my collection without hesitation and added "The Writing on the Wall" to my Best of 2021 Spotify playlist.

"Stratego" aside (it's their best short song since "Rainmaker") the two I keep going back to are the title track and "Hell on Earth". There's such a consistent feeling of gravitas to this album, from start to finish, that we've never really heard from Maiden before, and for me that's pretty darn appealing.

Hero

https://consequence.net/2021/09/iron-maiden-bruce-dickinson-covid-willy-shrivel/

Tickets on sale for NA, and tickets in hand for myself, VG and Mr. Veg for Oakland. Up the Irons, etc.

FUCK i didn't even know.

next October, Tampa! woo

Well now you do!

i’m gonna see iron maiden next year i swear to fuckinn satan

Wisdom

MAIDEN \m/

While you all wait, I recommend a preorder of this:

https://www.prestomusic.com/books/products/8895730--denim-and-leather-the-rise-and-fall-of-the-new-wave-of-british-heavy-metal

Sioux Falls, huh.

Second ever gig was Maiden on the No Prayer for the Dying tour in late 1990. It was at Wembley Arena (a pretty shit now dead venue) and I remember being terrified about the kinds of people who might be there. Five minutes of being in there and I thought 'shit, I've found my people'. 30 years ago! Would love to see them again next year.

the last four times I saw them were completely mindblowing each time.

yeah the last Sacramento show was fun as hell. its always a good sign when the audience is already rocking out to the pre-show songs on the PA (to be fair Maiden are always great at priming the audience esp playing Doctor Doctor right before the show starts, everyone loses their shit its so great)

feel like I always make friends at these shows too. last time, I was sitting next to I think a Norwegian guy (I had bought his friend's ticket off of StubHub) and this funny guy a row back, and we were chatting the whole time.

the guy to my left vanished for a while, leaving his seat unoccupied, then randomly, two ladies invaded our row, despite not having tickets there, so now we had 11 people occupying the area of 10 seats. so now we were packed in tight, and the lady to my left kept passive aggressively putting her hands on my shoulder to try to get me from colliding with her (which was only happening because her and her friend weren't supposed to be there anyway!).

and then the Norwegian guy came back from getting a beer and yells "WHO ARE YOU TWO? THAT'S NEANDERTHAL'S SEAT, YOU ALL DON'T SIT HERE, YOU GET OUT OF NEANDERTHAL'S SEAT NOW!" and they went scurrying away, right as "Flight of Icarus" was starting.

the Piece of Mind trio was really dope at that show. that was....2019 i think?

Waited too long, worst seats I ever had for Maiden lol.

But I'm taking a friend

“And what’s your friend’s name… Edward T. Head.”

“RARGH.”

So VG and Mr Veg and I can report that Maiden remain Maiden in the best of ways. Allow me to explain via tweets.

So yes, @IronMaiden, and if I had to sum up last night: pic.twitter.com/LVXy8voYUp

— Ned Raggett (@NedRaggett) September 28, 2022

But some further additions. Thanks to @sharonjoy76 and Clay for the good company! pic.twitter.com/W6b43R9Ni8

— Ned Raggett (@NedRaggett) September 28, 2022

It was a blast - can confirm

They always have great crowds but the crowd last night to me felt like the most energized I’d seen in recent memory, Bruce is sounding amazing - i think the break maybe helped rehab his voice - and the stage sets, if you have not yet seen the Legacy tour, are fucking killer… so stunning

Also not for nothing but i love that in the 20 years i have been seeing them, they never have shit sound, even the way they mike the drums is fucking glorious, they really are in many ways the gold standard for all big touring bands imo - professional, joyful, and always mindful that they are Putting On A Show <3

maiden fucking rules

can't wait to see em again

i'm going wednesday :)

:D

next Thursday for me!!! enjoy

I've heard really good things about this tour. The nearest show to me is on Friday but I'm skipping it. Glad to see other ilxors going, though.

I’m going, next July!

I've seen Maiden a few times now, the first time in 2016, and this tour was my favorite from a production standpoint. Nothing radically different, just really well-done.

really wanted to go this year, but if I recall correctly it was on Yom Kippur.

Chicago show was a blast. Still kinda parsing Bruce's take/speech from stage on Covid. But that aside, a fine stellar performance from all. Dave's guitar solos sounded particularly great.

everything about this show was amazing. I took my friend, who'd never seen them, and she was blown away, like, just kept thanking me for the experience. Bruce was in better vocal health than last time I saw them. also LOVED the Senjutsu sets, Senjutsu Eddie, and fuck, the songs themselves.

also accidentally caused a toilet to overflow in the men's room, causing many people to yelp

Bringing the Toilet Boys realness to Maiden

I was heavily tempted by these in the post office earlier but managed to resist

https://shop.royalmail.com/media/catalog/product/cache/d8a7db0523f43dec856c981f9b4fd49e/a/s/as9400d-1-ironmaiden-stamp-pack.jpg

you should get them!

On the R&R Hall of Fame ballot this year.