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.

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...

NVB10.7 Part 2 of 3

We finally properly start tackling the songs in sequence. For a while anyway. Topics include the strength of Nicko’s drumming on this record, the sound of the synth samples, why Adrian doesn’t still use guitar synth, why the guitar is always doubling the vocal melody, Janick’s strengths and weaknesses, the middle channel traffic of the mix, and of course, why these songs are too long.

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...

NVB10.6 Part 1 of 3

This episode audio starts without preamble, as we jump right into the middle of a conversation, as Paul relates first getting into Maiden and we talk a little bit about songs that are hard to listen to as they are so closely tied to our good friend. Finally after about 5 minutes I properly introduce Paul and what we’re doing.

As far as the album goes, we discuss the title, Sun and Steel beer, Paul's wonderfully over the top Maiden jeans vest ("battle jacket"), where Janick & Dave shop, why this album is far too long, and skip around a bit on discussing the songs, largely as pertains to song length.