The Final Frontier
Iron Maiden
As metal moments go, they dont get much bigger than the arrival of a new Iron Maiden album. Expectations are always huge even if they're not always met. But then there are almost as many visions of a perfect Iron Maiden album as there are Maiden fans, and the band have never, ever sought to please anyone other than themselves. It's the secret of their success, and their 15th studio album offers a wild ride for those willing to get on board.
Maiden dont really do playing it safe. The voices of critics who seem to want to consign the band to an endless 1980s time loop are always disproportionately loud and ignore the fact that Maiden have never played the nostalgia game. Beginning with frontman Bruce Dickinsons return to the band in 1999, Maiden have embarked on the most successful phase of their career whilst fully indulging their progressive tendencies and eschewing compact, catchy numbers like Run to the Hills and The Trooper; the sort of material the 80s trolls obsess over. Maiden have never been bigger and its all been on their own terms. In that light, this album is exactly the sort of full-on prog-a-thon they were always going to write. Why would they even dream of doing anything else?
The Final Frontier is the longest album of a long career but there's barely a minute wasted. There are more ideas here than many bands manage in their entire career, but in inimitable Maiden style, it's woven together beautifully. Released in advance of the album, the single El Dorado is misleading. Its a solid if unspectacular effort, a comfortable mid-album track rather than a spanking showpiece. But even the bands best albums contain small amounts of filler and this forgettable effort is forgivable. Its certainly not typical of the album as a whole. Satellite 15... The Final Frontier opens proceedings with no small amount of melodrama, setting the scene for a series of truly gargantuan epics.
The mid-paced stomp 'Mother of Mercy', lighter-waving ballad 'Coming Home' and up-tempo headbanger 'The Alchemist' are all classic Maiden and make for an exciting prelude. The meat of the matter, however, is found in the sheer immensity of the second half. Loaded with changes in tempo and tone, restlessly twisting and turning, from 'Isle of Avalon' to 'When the Wild Wind Blows', this is Iron Maiden truly living their purpose. No compromises, just complexities and challenges and more moments of brilliance than perhaps even they thought they still had left in them. A remarkable achievement.
Reviewed by Greg Moffitt
a great album, for me
@kerovoda1 , your charts do not authorize you to comment on a Maiden album.
zzzzzzz....
Starblind
It's the best Iron Maiden album of the post-reunion and their best since SSOASS. [2]
You fools serious? Way better than AMOLAD.
w Yep, the cover sucks, especially compared to AMOLAD. Good album, but as it was said , the weakest from the post-reunion albums
I'm still thinking that the only bad thing about the album is the cover.
AMOLAD is a lot better.[3]
I think it's a good album, not the iron maiden that I am used to hearing, but has very good songs hidden, they can not release an album entirely bad, always have even a song that saves the album. The final frontier, el dorado and the man Would Be King, rocks!
I don't know which new era album I like most, but this one is real gem!!! ;)
Boring album, I'm gonna go to sleep! AMOLAD is a lot better.[3]
I didn't like it at first but after a few listens it got much better and it's amazing. It's the best Iron Maiden album of the post-reunion and their best since SSOASS.
AMOLAD is a lot better.[2]
AMOLAD is a lot better. It was a great album, for me. Not this.. 1st bad work of Dickinson era
One of my all time Maiden favorites now. Up the Irons from here to eternity.(3)
One of my all time Maiden favorites now. Up the Irons from here to eternity. ((2))
weakest album since Virtual XI
That would make your grandma a truly amazing singer! She should enter Polish Idol, she's sure to win.
The worst part in this album are Bruce Dickinsons vocals. Even my grandma has more life in the voice.
is not that bad.
@David_J1973 Funny how you were raving the opposite of that last year.
albums I own... weakest one of the 00's but still good
This album's pretty mediocre, except for the last two tracks which are epic.
Best Iron Maiden album.
worst Iron Maiden album
Tyrant666 will never understand the greatness of the Final Frontier. He just need to get laid.
boring cd [2] AMOLAD was a lot better, this is good but the weakest of the post-reunion albums [4].
\,,/ happy 1st birthday, The Final Frontier ! \,,/ I'm your #1 fan and a top listener, yea! :D
boring cd
AMOLAD was a lot better, this is good but the weakest of the post-reunion albums [3]
AMOLAD was a lot better, this is good but the weakest of the post-reunion albums [2]. On par with Dance Of Death. AMOLAD was a masterpiece(my 4th favourite album by them), this is just good album, killed by bad production and length of some songs(Isle Of Avalon, the 1st track and even WTWWB gets a little bit boring close to the end).But i fucking LOVE this album
is it just me feeling this album was KILLED by bad audio mastering? the songs themselves are good, but this music unfortunately is compressed to hell. therefore barely listenable. :(
AMOLAD was a lot better, this is good but the weakest of the post-reunion albums
Has really grown in me. One of my all time Maiden favorites now. Up the Irons from here to eternity.
It sucks.
In my opinion their best album yet! By the way, it's an experimental album. The last time they've done this type of album (Somwhere In Time) the next one was a concept album (Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son), I hope this time it will be the same and they'll release a killer concept album!
Actually, this album is brilliant. And my favourite bit is the intro. And 'Coming Home'. And 'The Talisman'. And 'The Alchemist'. And When The Wild Wind Blows'. And the other ones too. There.
Reunion doesn't necessarily mean a band broke up, it can also just mean a band is back (reunited) in their original/classic lineup. And this can be called "post-reunion album". Anyway, it's clearly their worst and least inspired since the reunion.
Brave New World through The Final Frontier are often called the reunion albums by the fans, as Bruce left the band for most of the 90s. It's not hard to grasp.
There're only four really good songs - "When the Wild Wind Blows", "The Talisman" (I did't like this song so much, until I heard it live), "Coming Home" and "Satellite 15... The Final Frontier" - but it's enough to make "The Final Frontier" one of their best albums, definitely better than "Dance of Death" and "A Matter of Life and Death". But "Brave New World" is still the best of "reunion" albums.
@_NoHavenNow_ Reunion album...?
one of maidens very best as far as i'm concerned
Best reunion album, easily better than the last two and just a tad better than Brave New World. The first few tracks are mediocre (and drag out too long, the Satellite 15 intro could have been cut and El Dorado overstays it's welcome) but everything from Isle of Avalon forward is the perfect length.
many tunes from this album looks familiar
Powerslave is seriously overrated.
The problem with this album (and AMOLAD in a way) isn't the length of the songs themselfs, but rather the UNNECESSARY length of them. They do feel dragged out, and apart from The Talisman (which is the only really strong track on the album), the songs could easily have been halved and be more interresting. Compare to many longer songs from bands like Pink Floyd, Dream Theater and even older Iron Maiden songs, there must be something valuable in a longer track, something that keeps your attention. Sadly, Mr. Harris thinks that longer = better, with the constant use of clean, celtic intros and a reprise at the end. Give me longer songs like Rime of the Ancient Mariner or SSOASS, with lots of variety and an almost infinite replay value, and not 4-minute songs that are stretched out to double the length.
Powerslave is definitely not perfect. Back in the Village? Seriously?
"In fact, every IM album features strong and weak songs, IMO, there just is no 100% perfect one." WRONG, Powerslave and Somewhere In Time ARE 150% perfect (and yes I'm aware that I wrote 150%), and some would argue that The Number of The Beast is perfect... and those who are hatin' on the track length- there is a difference between a long song and a boring song. Long Song- 2112 by Rush, Boring Long song- Most Dream Theater songs (no offense to them, the songs have their moments but feel very dragged out)
A matter of taste, I guess, but i like TFF quite very much, along with DOD, BNW, and many others. Musical structure (guitar parts, that is) of long tracks is very interesting, though it may seem too complicated. In fact, every IM album features strong and weak songs, IMO, there just is no 100% perfect one.