Iron Maiden’s ‘Senjutsu’ Album Critique
Written by Johnson Stephen on September 7, 2021
Iron Maiden
Senjutsu
Parlophone/Sanctuary
Reviewer:Stephen Johnson/TotalRock News Editor
After insurmountable problems that have beset the release of this ‘ere album, Iron Maiden have finally unleashed ‘Senjutsu’ and the answer to the question “is it any good” for this ‘ere reviewer is yes and no.
What do I mean by that, the two tracks that have been released as singles:’The Writing On The Wall’ and ‘Stratego’ are prime sounding Maiden head nodders. Other notable tracks are ‘Days Of Future Past’, ‘Lost In A Lost World’, ‘Darkest Hour’ and ‘The Parchment’.
From the rather exciting tracks, we go to the ‘OK for a few listens, but…’ and that honour goes to the title track ‘Senjutsu’ as well as ‘The Time Machine’, ‘Death Of The Celts’ and lastly ‘Hell On Earth’, which for me, is good in parts, but towards the end of the song, it suddenly appears to sound like ‘Afraid To Shoot Strangers’, which doesn’t make a lot of sense at all and left me utterly confused.
The main bug bear I have, is the dynamic of 3 guitarists:Dave Murray, Adrian Smith and Janick Gers, it works when it has to, but, I still prefer the impact that 2 guitarists have i.e. Dave and Adrian, when they know each others style of playing, but with 3, it takes away from that dynamic, which is a shame, as you spend your time, working out which guitarists is playing their solo in a specific track. Fun for a short time, but utterly pointless in the long run.
Bruce Dickinson’s singing is a marvel, considering what he’s been through i.e. throat cancer. Steve Harris’ bass makes its presence throughout!
So, all in all, in this humble reviewers opinion, ‘Senjutsu’ is a definite bona-fide Iron Maiden album, with it’s good and bad points, but, what’s new.
