On September 6, 2021, Labor Day here in the States, just a few days after the long-awaited release of Iron Maiden's 17th studio album, Senjutsu, my great friend Paul Lembo and I met to do a deep dive on our thoughts on the album. We set up a mic, hit record, and had an absolute blast engaging in a favorite activity - talking all things Maiden. Two hours later, I had a very unstructured discussion that I had no idea how to edit into a show. I knew it was too long, I knew the discussion was scattered, I knew that the volume between the two of us wasn't well-engineered. I didn't care. I love talking music with my friends, and I had so much fun with my buddy opining about Senjutsu that I didn't really have the heart to start trimming.
So now, almost 3 weeks later, I'm doing what I should have done in the first place - just put it out there without changing a damn thing. Well, I did cut it up into 3 overly long episodes, but what follows is our version of a conversation taking place all over the world, as millions of rabid metal fans dig into this new record from their favorite band, and proceed to analyze, criticize, and praise every tiny detail of this new release. Enjoy...
NVB10.8 Part 3 of 3
Our deep dive into Senjutsu continues, with discussion on specific tracks, the mix, Bruce’s voice, the different styles on the album, Paul’s alternate title for the record, lyrical content, which song(s) would improve the album by staying home, colonialism, Dave Murray’s excellence as a guitarist, the overwhelming gratitude for having a 17th studio album and the odds on studio album 18, what Senjutsu songs will likely be featured live, and of course, why these songs are too long.
