IRON MAIDEN - The Final Frontier

That is my position as well. The album would be better suited if it was shorter. Still a great album. Spinning it right now!
Nice review, Ult!

bump

Still lovin this one!!!!! Top 5 Maiden album for me!!!!!

ultmetal wrote:

Quote :

Iron Maiden - The Final Frontier (Universal) 2010

1. Satellite 15.....The Final Frontier (8:41)
2. El Dorado (6:49)
3. Mother Of Mercy (5:20)
4. Coming HomeV5:52)
5. The Alchemist (4:29)
6. Isle Of Avalon (9:06)
7. Starblind (7:48)
8. The Talisman (9:03)
9. The Man Who Would Be King (8:28)
10. When The Wild Wind Blows (11:01)

Maiden's fifteenth studio album was given plenty of pre-release hype including a widely distributed MP3 of the track "El Dorado". The track showed the band continuing in similar terrain as their more recent albums, but also showed hope of a heavier album as the track is fairly heavy. I suppose when a band has been around 30+ years, there probably won't be a ton of surprises and some repetition of the past will be inevitable. That is certainly the case here. Overall, in the first five listens to the CD I found "The Final Frontier" to be a bit mundane, though certainly not a bad listen. The album opens strong enough. The eight plus minute long opener titled "Satellite 15...The Final Frontier" offers some slight twists on the usual Maiden sound. The beginning is an interlude of sorts, with guitars piercing bombastic drums before Bruce Dickinson starts singing nearly two minutes into the track. The song continues to build and finally kicks full throttle into a progressive Maiden brand heavy metal composition. The previously mentioned "El Dorado" is a more straight forward, heavy metal romp and a fine Maiden pantheon. After than the album begins to start blending into the background. Even with the excitement of a new Maiden platter, while spinning this CD in my car I found my mind wandering instead of ingesting the sounds of some new Iron Maiden. It's a very long album,with the 10 songs clocking in at nearly 80 minutes. At first I thought perhaps the remainder of the album was just a dud. That is not the case, it's just tough to ingest in one sitting. Before continuing to jot down more notes for this review I decided to start listening to the CD from different points rather than from always starting from track one. The next listen I started with "Mother of Mercy" after not listening to the CD for a couple days. I discovered that I quite liked the song for the first time, whereas on past listens I had stopped really listening by this point. What does all that mean? I have no idea really other than this is not Maiden circa 1985.

The second half of The Final Frontier is fairly strong. "Isle Of Avalon" is a standout track on this CD. It is a nine minute song that ebbs ad flows in tempo, once again showing a more melodic and progressive side to Maiden. "Starblind" is another example of Maiden's new progressive tendencies with some great guitar work, even if it isn't the galloping metal that Maiden are know for. Obviously Maiden's days of manic heavy metal are behind them if favor of more progressive hard rock. This is not surprising knowing Steve Harris' love of bands like Nektar and King Crimson. Bruce Dickinson's voice is a strong as it ever was, though there are far less high pitched screams than in the past. On "The Talisman", for example, he sings with a crooning melody at the beginning of the song then belts it out with true power for the remainder of the track. "The Alchemist" is a shorter song that for some reason shares its title with the stellar closing track on Bruce Dickinson's superb '98 solo album, "The Chemical Wedding". The album wraps up with an eleven minute, epic track titled "When The Wild Wind Blows". The song starts off almost as a ballad before transitioning into a groovy, mid-temp song that is a showcase for the band's musicianship.

With a catalog as big and rich as Iron Maiden's, I think they have a lot to live up to. Taken in chunks, I think that "The Final Frontier" lives up to their legacy, though I do think this one is nearly impossible to sit through in one listen unlike early Maiden platters. Long songs are not new to Maiden, though having five songs on one album that are all nearly ten minutes in length each is new. Those looking for the three to four minutes galloping heavy metal of the past will be disappointed. However, fans of more epic, progressive rock will find something to enjoy here. For me, I think the excitement of new Maiden will keep this one spinning in my deck for quite a while until the newness wears off. Once that happens I fear "The Final Frontier" will become a rare listen in comparison to the band's classic catalog.

+1

.... I'm just not finding that KILLER track.... The songs are good and in some cases very good, just not as awe inspiring which is a bummer as Maiden is my second favorite act behind Rush.....

I suppose I will need to keep listening to ingest the musical goodness...

Initially there were a few tracks I wasn't crazy about, now the only one I still hate is Coming Home. The rest is great as far as I'm concerned.

My favorite Maiden album since Seventh Son.

Detuned did you have a favorite track or two that stood out immediately?

This one's starting to grow on me. I don't find it snooze-worthy like that previous one.

mr.electric39 wrote:

Detuned did you have a favorite track or two that stood out immediately?

Isle Of Avalon
El Dorado (don't understand why people don't like this track, it's punchy as hell)
Starblind
Mother Of Mercy
The Man Who Would Be King

I've pretty much liked those tracks since the beginning, the rest (except for Coming Home) have grown on me.

I'm really loving this album. More than the last, too. I put it aside for a couple of days, and decided to spin it today. I proceeded to spin it three times throughout the day. There's just so much to it. I remember not liking The Final Frontier and El Dorado the first couple of times I played it. That is not the case now.

detuned wrote:

mr.electric39 wrote:

Detuned did you have a favorite track or two that stood out immediately?

Isle Of Avalon
El Dorado (don't understand why people don't like this track, it's punchy as hell)
Starblind
Mother Of Mercy
The Man Who Would Be King

I've pretty much liked those tracks since the beginning, the rest (except for Coming Home) have grown on me.

Loved El Dorado as soon as I heard it!!!!

It finally happened....today, I had put the new Maiden album back in, and it clicked fully 110%.

Back when BNW came out, I was less than thrilled with it. I played it a few times and was discouraged that the comeback album was not at the caliber of the 80's stuff I wanted. I set it down not to be picked back up for awhile. About 6 months later my friend from work told me how much he loves the new maiden album and I really need to give it a go again. Well to my surprise, it was amazing, it clicked finally, and I got what the album was about. I was floored at how much I had missed out on it and it eventually held first place with 7th Son for me. It has remained that way since.

Today I had some traveling to do on this unusual cooler early fall day in PA (ok yes still summer but oddly here it is like in the 60's already, not normal), with the gray clouds and the hint of rain brewing ever present. The air was just right for a Maiden album, so Final Frontier was put in, and yes it too has finally revealed itself fully to me like BNW has. I absolutely love this album, and the setting was just right, the mood was perfect. I know many people may feel differently, but to me this is an epic album. glad it clicked!

mez wrote:

It finally happened....today, I had put the new Maiden album back in, and it clicked fully 110%.

Back when BNW came out, I was less than thrilled with it. I played it a few times and was discouraged that the comeback album was not at the caliber of the 80's stuff I wanted. I set it down not to be picked back up for awhile. About 6 months later my friend from work told me how much he loves the new maiden album and I really need to give it a go again. Well to my surprise, it was amazing, it clicked finally, and I got what the album was about. I was floored at how much I had missed out on it and it eventually held first place with 7th Son for me. It has remained that way since.

Today I had some traveling to do on this unusual cooler early fall day in PA (ok yes still summer but oddly here it is like in the 60's already, not normal), with the gray clouds and the hint of rain brewing ever present. The air was just right for a Maiden album, so Final Frontier was put in, and yes it too has finally revealed itself fully to me like BNW has. I absolutely love this album, and the setting was just right, the mood was perfect. I know many people may feel differently, but to me this is an epic album. glad it clicked!

Wow. That sounds like a number of my stories. Preconceptions and hype have a tendency to screw things up, especially if expectations are not fulfilled. Sometimes I need input from someone else to appreciate the unexpected.

It was that way with me for "Dance of Death."

That said, I liked "Final Frontier" from the get go, and NOT just because I'm a Treker.

detuned wrote:

Initially there were a few tracks I wasn't crazy about, now the only one I still hate is Coming Home. The rest is great as far as I'm concerned.

My favorite Maiden album since Seventh Son.

+1

I really like this cd too. I was curious about its staying power but I can listen to it from start to finish and find new stuff...

exact33 wrote:

I really like this cd too. I was curious about its staying power but I can listen to it from start to finish and find new stuff...

I agree - I still seem to find something I didn;t hear before the more I listen to it. I believe this one will have awesome staying power because the albums that you can still get something new out of every time you listen to have the best staying power.

thejokeriv wrote:

exact33 wrote:

I really like this cd too. I was curious about its staying power but I can listen to it from start to finish and find new stuff...

I agree - I still seem to find something I didn;t hear before the more I listen to it. I believe this one will have awesome staying power because the albums that you can still get something new out of every time you listen to have the best staying power.

Exactly! Of course, I've liked it since first spin.I have to agree with Detuned,its my favorite since Seventh Son.

Well this is the direction Steve Harris wants the band to be.
He takes 80s Maiden and combines it with 70s Prog Rock that he likes.
I've read some interviews over the last years that the guys wrote short songs (some really heavy stuff among) but they didn't get accepted by Harris, so they changed to write long songs. In some cases they write 2 short songs and Harris makes 1 long song out of it.
When you listen to the last 3 solo Albums form Bruce it's obvious what Maiden could be, but cannot be because their leader has a different vision.

Is this a quality record? - Hell yes!
Is this exiting? - No. It's the same direction we have since Brave New Worlds. Too many overlong proggy songs.

I still cannot decide what I think of this album. And I've been listening to it intensely from when it was released. There's just so much material to digest.

I really like a lot of the tracks and the song-writing challenges you. But for instance I would have no idea where to place it if I was to rank Maiden's discography. I guess that comes from my approach of not thinking too much HOW GOOD the music I listen to is, but just from trying to ENJOY listening to whatever I am at the moment.

So far I think I like the last three tracks really a lot though. Possibly my favourite string of songs to end a Maiden album since Number of the Beast. Mother of Mercy is infectious too, I cannot get it off my head. Same with Starblind and Isle of Avalon.

I don't know. I'll come back at trying to rate it when I try and figure out my favourite albums of the year.

This one has gone from growing to grown. I think I have/had the same problem as Lari in that it's a lot to digest.

Horay for Iron Maiden, yet again.

I need to hear this more. I heard it twice and so far it is the worst thing they have done with Bruce. Its still better than Virtual XI and that X Factor albums but it just doesn't grab me. I'll give it a few more chances but I think this one is a dud to me.

Listened to this again last night and I loved it, the more spins I give it the more I like the album.

If you like anything they've done since they reformed you should find something on this to like. This is who Maiden is now and I really like it with AMOLAD being my second fave by them nowadays.

I really like this cd after all this time. I spin it pretty regularly and I dont find myself skipping tracks...

Okay, I've only listened to it once, but I like it, and that is good, because I normally don't like listening to albums that our Godfather epic in length. I've never thought that long albums are anything more than redundant, and boring. BUT, it's Maiden, and they seem to be able to pull it off every time, then again there was "No Prayer for the Dying", and those Maiden albums with that other guy, and I'm not talking about Mr. Di'Anno (which are still my favs).

I listened to this the other day at work and for some reason I don't like it as much as I thought I did.