Review Summary: Whether it takes you five listens or one, The Final Frontier is an album which most Iron Maiden fans will love.
Iron Maiden have been with is for twenty-five years, they’ve given us fifteen studio albums, hundreds of memorable shows and so much amazing artwork. They’ve gone through loads of line-up changes, experimenting with each album which for 90% of the time has worked. They’ve toured the world and given us an unbelievable documentary, the live show to end all live shows with Rock In Rio and so much more. Safe to say that Maiden has nothing left to prove. Which begs the question “what can they do with a new album we haven’t heard yet?” Well, The Final Frontier shows Maiden’s slower, more progressive side which is a far cry to A Matter of Life & Death’s much quicker tempo. I think it was safe to assume The Final Frontier would be a great album (is it Maiden after all) but this album (much like Life & Death) will probably require many a listen to truly appreciate. Whether it takes you five listens or one, The Final Frontier is an album which most Iron Maiden fans will love.
Interestingly, Iron Maiden’s albums in the 2000s have been promoted with lesser tracks. Dance of Death was promoted with “Wildest Dreams”, A Matter of Life & Death with “Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg” and The Final Frontier with “El Dorado”. I couldn’t help but be disappointed with “El Dorado” but it was only the first taster of the album. When, “Satellite 15… The Final Frontier” was released with a snazzy music video I fell in love. The music video however did leave out the ultra-techno intro that the album begins with. It will certainly have you curious to why its there but it is pretty cool. Once it’s finished (about four minutes of it) the song kicks off with a great introduction riff which hits you immediately. Bruce then sings and everything about “El Dorado”’s kind of dreary singing is wiped away. This was the second single before the album came out and it got me so stoked for the album. Lyrically it’s about an astronaut stranded in space. Very simple but Steve Harris’ storytelling makes it so exciting from start to finish. This is one of the few albums where Steve Harris gets all the writing credits.
“El Dorado” is up next and as I already said I was disappointed with it. It isn’t a bad song but I was expecting more. Happily a lot of the content on the album for fills that wish so I can enjoy “El Dorado” a lot more. The bass at the beginning accompanies the tapping of cymbals (cymbals?) nicely giving the guitars a great foundation to build upon. This much like a lot of The Final Frontier’s songs tells a story. With a chorus to die for and a gorgeous solo, you can’t go wrong at all to be honest. “Mother of Mercy” is a personal favourite of mine; it begins with a slow guitar intro which sets your sights on a slow song. Bruce then starts to sing where until the 1:25 mark the song picks up the pace and continues to get faster with one of the best pre-chorus-chorus-post-chorus sections I think Iron Maiden have ever made. Once again Steve Harris’ rhyming and lyrics are a triumph and of course Bruce’s voice has just got better I think with age. Seriously, at 52 (well 51 while he was recording the album) Bruce sounds totally immune from a rusty voice. Whereas people such as Brian Johnson in my opinion are far away from how good they used to sound.
“Coming Home” starts with not the best of Iron Maiden intros but then it goes straight into an “Out of the Shadows” structure and vibe of a song to create one epically stunning song. Seriously a breathtaking song. “The Alchemist” reminds me of “Futureal” in many ways, probably the fastest song on the album. It’s relentless in its speed and you’ll be hooked from start to finish. “The Alchemist” also reminds me of Maiden’s classic work such as “Invaders”, plainly, Iron Maiden have not lost any sense of speed which makes this a standout of the album. “Isle of Avalon” is a haunting track which starts very slow. This is no surprise considering Maiden has songs all over the board that start slow and pick up speed. “Isle of Avalon” almost pushes its luck too far when it gets quick during the brilliant chorus and then after an instrumental it slows the tempo right down again. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad if the song was a few minutes shorter.
Bruce is at his best during “Starblind”. Beginning with a slow almost spoken introduction the guitars break in with an amazing rhythm. Kudos to Steve Harris for his brilliantly crafted lyrics which Bruce sings amazingly. Certainly one of the catchiest songs on the album. “The Talisman” is a song easily compared to Brave New World’s “Ghost of the Navigator” because of the subject matter. Although “The Talisman” is a much more story-driven song than “Ghost of the Navigator” I don’t think it’s as good. “The Talisman” has a very similar if not identical slow opening to that of “The Legacy”. It does however have great energy with fantastic melodies. “The Man Who Would Be King” is by far the weakest song of the album. It has a beautiful opening melody and Bruce’s singing is still amazing. It just seems to be unnecessary filler for the final track. Maybe I’m wrong but for me this song is a little dreary.
The final track is a standout on the album for a million reasons. Its slow speed which only really speeds up during the instrumentals, the subject matter and also (personally) how it scared me into not listening to it again after hearing it. “When The Wild Wind Blows” is one of the saddest songs I have heard. The first few minutes has a beautiful guitar solo/melody teamed with Steve Harris’ storytelling and Bruce’s voice, it’s a recipe to tear up. This is a song (especially for me) that will leave you awe-inspired and unable to forget the song. Its fitting it’s the closing song on the album because the ending itself is as sad as the beginning. Truly a flawless song.
The Final Frontier is an album that will most likely require a few listens to truly appreciate. A few listens I recommend highly. Some songs are disappointing but this is as good a Maiden album as any of them. The slower pace of the album may disappoint those who really embraced the faster speed of A Matter of Life & Death but there is enough here to satisfy any Iron Maiden fan.
