The records from "Brave New World" through "The Final Frontier" are my favorite Iron Maiden records, and I will stridently defend them as being more than worthy additions to their legacy. That even includes the production of the albums, which is often criticized for being weak and dull, even though it is what a band actually sounds like if you're in the room with them. Iron Maiden makes records they can actually recreate live, and somehow that's supposed to be a bad thing.
For all that, I have to say "The Book Of Souls" has never sat well with me. Though there is good material there, I did not like Steve Harris' ten minute "The Red And The Black", I really didn't like Dickinson's intolerable "Empire In The Clouds", and I hated that they stretched it out to a double album when there was plenty of room to trim things down. That last bit is the most important to keep in mind, because they have done it again. "Senjutsu" is a double album that is barely longer than a normal disc would hold, which means it would only take a bit of self-restraint to make this not seem like a way of artificially boosting their sales numbers.
Plenty of old-timers claim to be bored with Iron Maiden these days, but there are always new sounds and approaches to be found. On this record, that came in the form of the first single, "The Writing On The Wall". Dickinson and Adrian Smith give us a western-tinged song that sounds unlike anything else in the band's catalog, and borrows from Bruce's writing style on his classic solo albums. It was strange at first, but it's a song that shows Iron Maiden is not just recreating their glory days (unlike some of their peers), and it grows on you, for sure.
The second single, "Stratego", was more of a standard Iron Maiden song. The classic gallop is back, and Bruce is given a melody that balances Harris' penchant for cramming in words with a strong melody. It's exactly the sort of song Iron Maiden fans claim to want, until they get it. The only drawback is the painfully sharp synth tone that pops up on the chorus, sounding as much like the shower scene in "Psycho" as anything, which distracts me from the song's better elements every time. That same sound arises in a couple other songs, and never sounds any better. I don't mind the guitar or vocal sound, so there is your real production miss.
Like "The Final Frontier", this album opens with a title track that does something new. The song is restrained, with the pounding drum rhythm pushed to the front, and Bruce delivering a dramatic melody on the choruses. It's an interesting choice to open an album with a song you could call a downer. It doesn't burst forth with energy, which sets an ominous tone, both for the record and the length of time we are investing in it.
As more lengthy tracks unfold, I reach a conclusion why even as Iron Maiden keeps writing good songs, I'm not as excited to listen to this record, nor the last record, as I was the first four from this run; length. No, I'm not saying the songs are too long by virtue of their running time, or because of the tempo they're being played at, but because they are longer than they should be. Every seven-plus minute song at this point is packed with multiple guitar solos that extend the song between two and four minutes. This might be heresy to say, but Iron Maiden's trio of guitar players don't play interesting enough solos at this point to spend that much time diverted from the core of the song. If they were constantly playing amazing solos full of memorable licks, perhaps it would be different. But these runs of notes blur together, they don't transport the song in new directions with new hooks, so they feel more like padding than anything.
Then there's the issue with "Days Of Future Past", one of the short and direct songs, where Bruce's chorus is a big, sweeping highlight. Except for the fact is sounds remarkably like the key section of "Starblind" off "The Final Frontier". I heard the similarity on the first line Bruce sang, and I can't shake it. Someone else should have heard that, and either changed the melody a bit to make it more unique, or left the song off the album to allow it to fit on one disc. Plus, I prefer the first time I heard it.
But let's talk about the positive side for a minute. Iron Maiden has, to my ears, been better at writing melodies in this phase of their career, and that continues with this record. Practically every song features a chorus that would have been a standout during their classic period. Those songs had fire, but these have craft. It would be amazing to hear what the younger version of the band could have done with songs written in this way. If you love songs that build to a moment to sing along, "Senjutsu" delivers that again and again, at least until the last two of Harris' three ten-minute epics that close things out.
So when these eighty minutes are up, I'm left with a split decision. "Senjutsu" erases the sour taste "The Book Of Souls" left in my mouth, but it has it's own lingering aftertaste. Iron Maiden is back on form, and "Senjutsu" is a great sixty minute album stretched out to eighty minutes. Trim the intros, outros, and guitar solos, and this would be a fantastic record that serves as notice that veteran bands can still produce great music. The problem is, that's not the record Iron Maiden gave us. They delivered the bloated version, which tries my patience more often than I would like. I don't know if there really is more detouring now, or if I'm not as willing to take the trip with them as I was when "Dance Of Death" became one of my favorite records, but I'm pained that "Senjutsu" sees Eddie dropping his sword on his foot. The wound is self-inflicted, and unnecessary.
"Senjutsu" is still a heck of an album, but it could have been even more.
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