Iron Maiden - "The Final Frontier" - Misfit's Blog

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Iron Maiden - "The Final Frontier"

Posted on August 21, 2010 at 06:47 PM.

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Iron Maiden long ago attained legendary status in the hard rock/heavy metal community. Formed on Christmas Day 35 years ago, Iron Maiden has released 14 studio albums, 11 live albums, 4 EP's, 3 box sets, and a host of singles. The lineup has changed over the years but most would consider the core of Iron Maiden to be founder and principle song writer Steve Harris, vocalist Bruce Dickinson, guitarists Adrian Smith and Dave Murray, and drummer Nicko McBrain. The core, plus guitarist Janick Gers who joined for 1990's No Prayer for the Dying, are still making music and have unleashed their fifteenth studio album, The Final Frontier.

Maiden made its mark in the 80's with catchy choruses and speed for mostly short bursts. There was usually an **** on each album, a "Hallowed be thy Name" or "Rime of the Ancient Mariner," but most of the classics aimed for that four minute mark. Ever since the return of Dickinson and Smith to the Maiden lineup for 2000's Brave New World the band has moved in a different direction. Now the 8 minute songs are commonplace and the speed replaced in favor of time changes and more complex melodies. This has created a clash with the old and new. Some fans show up to the live shows for the old, while the band naturally wants to play the new. To their credit, Iron Maiden has tried to make everyone happy with tours like 2008's "Somewhere Back in Time" that highlighted the early days, but also played the entirety of their last album, A Matter of Life and Death for that tour.

Whatever your opinion of the current iteration of Iron Maiden, one cannot deny that the band is more popular than ever. The band's touring schedule takes it all over the world to sold out shows in the biggest arenas. The band's popularity in South American has become legendary as they've played to crowds of over 100k. The band's popularity has always been word of mouth driven as its received little to no support, especially in the US, from radio and MTV.

Which brings us to the band's latest, the just released The Final Frontier. It follows the formula set in motion by Brave New World and the following albums. Long ****s begin with quiet intros and explode into big choruses and multi-layered guitar solos before winding down. Of the album's ten tracks, half are over 8 minutes long with only one under 5. This is not an easy listening record. It's demanding of its audience as the band switches up the rhythm and bounces back and forth between the three lead guitar players.

The album opens with Maiden's most atmospheric and experimental track, "Satellite 15." It has a pounding, almost tribal, rhythm section with Dickinson's vocals sounding distant and tortured. It melds into the title number, which presents a stark contrast with it's straight-forward rock approach. The album's first single, "El Dorado", is another long one but mostly plays it safe. It's not really until the fourth track, "Coming Home," where the band throws another curveball at the listener with this pseudo power ballad. The only comparable song in Maiden's back catalogue in both sound and subject matter, would be "Wasted Years" from the Somewhere in Time album. It's a mid-tempo soaring ballad straight from the heart of Bruce Dickinson as he describes his own experiences of life on the road from the cockpit. For many, the standout track will likely be "Isle of Avalon," one of the previously mentioned slow developing ****s. The guitar players shine on this one as their own distinct styles play off each other nicely. This is really the first album where Maiden makes good use of the excess of guitars. The most complicated song Iron Maiden has ever done closes the album, "Where the Wild Wind Blows," which contains a tight melody wrapped around several distinct time changes. The only comparable song would be "Blood Brothers" off of Brave New World.

The production is tight and sounds better than the last album, 2006's A Matter of Life and Death, which seemed to bury the guitars. The pacing of the songs, while still bloated at parts, is much improved. The album is not without faults, but most reside in the pacing department. The final four songs also follow the same predictable format, breaking them up might have improved the experience some. Though while none of the songs are bad, I wonder if any will become classics. Only time can answer that question. I have a strong affection for the previously mentioned "Coming Home," and the pseudo-gallop "The Talisman," while "The Man Who Would Be King" drags for me a bit.

At the end of the day, if you're an Iron Maiden die hard you already own this. If you're only a fan of the old stuff then this album won't change your mind, and if you've enjoyed the last four records this one will stack up well. Personally, I think it's the best since Brave New World but this is the type of album that needs time to grow. If you do give this one a spin, hold off on forming an opinion until at least the second play-through. There's a lot to absorb in the 76 minute runtime that just can't be all experienced on the first listen. I look forward to listening to this album more and seeing how they fare in the live show.

Iron Maiden - The Final Frontier
1. Satellite 15...The Final Frontier
2. El Dorado
3. Mother of Mercy
4. Coming Home
5. The Alchemist
6. Isle of Avalon
7. Starblind
8. The Talisman
9. The Man Who Would Be King
10. Where the Wild Wind Blows

Comments

# 1 goatriderhorde @ Aug 21

I find it odd that the word "****" get's the **** treatment. Anyways, nice review, and how I haven't checked this out you, I do not know.

# 2 goatriderhorde @ Aug 21

I should've known that would happen. E P I C. Seriously, why's it censored?

# 3 Misfit @ Aug 21

I don't know, someone thinks it's funny or something to censor that word. I find it annoying. There's a thread on it:
http://www.operationsports.com/forum...post2041501754

# 4 Dazraz @ Aug 22

Nice blog.

Iron Maiden are among my favourite all time bands along with Dream Theatre, Savatage, Iced Earth & My Dying Bride.

I really embrace this new progressive direction that IM have taken.
For sure people will always hark back to that golden period from "The Number of the Beast" album through to "Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son".
Unlike the earlier Maiden songs their later material takes a few more listens to really appreciate what is going on musically as is generally the case with progressive music.

I wasn't a great fan of "A Matter Of Life & Death". It seemed to be a result of a band exploring a new direction but maybe trying that little bit too hard. I agree also that the production was not that great.
As for "The Final Frontier" I absolutely love it. To see this amount of musical diversity in a band that could just go through the motions is highly commendable. Sure the album doesn't have the stand out tracks that albums like "Dance of Death" & "Brave New World" had but then neither does it have the really weak tracks that these recent releases possessed. In fact I would say track for track this is their most consistent album since "Seventh Son...".