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

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.

I want a Maiden theme park