Iron Maiden - The Final Frontier

Fire breath

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Feb 20, 2002
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I know there is another TFF thread but I guess we can discuss the album as a whole here now since it leaked and I couldn't wait for my pre order to come. 1. Satellite 1.

1. Satellite 15….The Final Frontier 8:40 Beginning is just scene setting and not musical. Song proper is ok but nothing special and we needed a far more energetic start. 6.5/10
2. El Dorado 6:49 - Can't get into this song though it's getting better..slowly! 5.5/10
3. Mother Of Mercy 5:20 - first listen was fairly boring though might grow. 6/10
4. Coming Home 5:52 - wow love this ballad, very melodic. 9/10
5. The Alchemist 4:29 - liked this typical old school maiden song a lot. 8/10
6. Isle Of Avalon 9:06 - epic. so so needs more plays but good. 7/10
7. Starblind 7:48 - so so needs more plays. 7.5/10
8. The Talisman 9:03 - Best track I heard by a mile. 10/10
9. The Man Who Would Be King 8:28 - little bit uninteresting needs more plays. 7/10
10. When The Wild Wind Blows 10:59 - epic and multi faceted. Pretty cool and needs plenty plays but still very good. 8/10

Overall I rate the album 7.5/10 but it might possibly grow. It's probably just a typical modern day Maiden album overall. Good but not great and very much lacking more energetic songs.
 
Playing it right now. This has the very same pattern that bugged me with recent Maiden. Too many songs (so far I'm at track #8) has a boring mellow intro with Dickinson singing over. Cut that crap, shorten the songs and it will be much better IMO. OK, track #1 doesn't have that kind of intro, but it's still boring for more than 4 minutes before the actual song starts...

So, this is another Maiden album that will improve a lot with some editing...Cause there are some fine riffing to be heard and lots of good ideas.
 
Yeah you just have to get used to the fact that there's plenty of fat to chew through before you get to the meat. Actually the slow start at the beginning of Talisman sounds quite cool for me. The first part of Final Frontier the song is just s waste of time though. Bruce's voice is in questionable form though. Sometimes he sounds really very good and other moments he sounds very flat. I guess it's something to do with the production style. Not being an expert of course, however I notice that the vocals sound very separate from the music sometimes. It seems like he's given too much room in the mix. If he was mixed a little "closer" maybe we wouldn't worry about these imperfections so much. I think this album is probably a solid latter day Maiden album in the end with not many surprises. The only thing is the last few albums had a couple of it singles but I can't really see one on TFF. El Dorado is very weak as a single. I will take any of the early released Maiden singles from the last 3 albums over it. However there are a couple of songs here worthy of making into a post Bruce comeback best of disk.
 
I know there is another TFF thread but I guess we can discuss the album as a whole here now since it leaked and I couldn't wait for my pre order to come. 1. Satellite 1.

1. Satellite 15….The Final Frontier 8:40 Beginning is just scene setting and not musical. Song proper is ok but nothing special and we needed a far more energetic start. 6.5/10
2. El Dorado 6:49 - Can't get into this song though it's getting better..slowly! 5.5/10
3. Mother Of Mercy 5:20 - first listen was fairly boring though might grow. 6/10
4. Coming Home 5:52 - wow love this ballad, very melodic. 9/10
5. The Alchemist 4:29 - liked this typical old school maiden song a lot. 8/10
6. Isle Of Avalon 9:06 - epic. so so needs more plays but good. 7/10
7. Starblind 7:48 - so so needs more plays. 7.5/10
8. The Talisman 9:03 - Best track I heard by a mile. 10/10
9. The Man Who Would Be King 8:28 - little bit uninteresting needs more plays. 7/10
10. When The Wild Wind Blows 10:59 - epic and multi faceted. Pretty cool and needs plenty plays but still very good. 8/10

Overall I rate the album 7.5/10 but it might possibly grow. It's probably just a typical modern day Maiden album overall. Good but not great and very much lacking more energetic songs.

So in other words, you need to listen to this more before you give it an opinion. :lol: I'm really mixed in terms of if I want to buy this thing or not the first week. I loved AMOLAD but the two songs I have heard didn't grab me. El Dorado in particular I think is just bad.
 
It's a first day purchase for me. Of course, I'm bias seeing as how I think they're greatest band in metal history....check that....in music history!! UP THE IRONS!! :worship:
 
I have a feeling that this thread will turn into.....

1. some who will love it just because it is Iron Maiden.
2. some who will hate it just because they want to be the first to say it sucks.
3. some who will say that only "TRUE" Maiden fans can enjoy an album like this. aka ...the same people who didnt like this past tour set list.
4. some who will say that they need to listen to it more to see if they like it or not.
5. then there will be the ones who wont like it at first but after a few years go by it will grow on them more.

I cant wait to hear it. I think the real last disc they did that I really enjoyed was Brave New Worlds. Hopefully it will be an enjoyable disc.
 
Yeah you just have to get used to the fact that there's plenty of fat to chew through before you get to the meat.

This is a very very very good way of putting it. I have listened to the album at least 25 times by now and it's probably the slowest to get used to from all the post reunion albums.
I was disappointed that the extra 4 minutes missing of Satellite 15...The final frontier was just an intro sounds before it went to the same song that we got in that video. Isle of Avalon, Talisman and Where the wild wind blows stand WAY out from this album, they are by far my favorite tracks off this cd.

I don't think they are breaking any boundaries and it's pretty much what you'd expect from 2010 Maiden.

I will say it is by far one of the darkest albums since The X Factor.
 
I have a feeling that this thread will turn into.....

1. some who will love it just because it is Iron Maiden.
2. some who will hate it just because they want to be the first to say it sucks.
3. some who will say that only "TRUE" Maiden fans can enjoy an album like this. aka ...the same people who didnt like this past tour set list.
4. some who will say that they need to listen to it more to see if they like it or not.
5. then there will be the ones who wont like it at first but after a few years go by it will grow on them more.

I cant wait to hear it. I think the real last disc they did that I really enjoyed was Brave New Worlds. Hopefully it will be an enjoyable disc.

You forgot

6. A debate over the ethics of illegally downloading this album.
 
I'm waiting until I get the CD in my hands on release day before I sit down and listen to it.

Just kidding! However, I did pull out the headphones while listening to it the first time in the office though, which I never do (I usually listen through speakers at low volume).

This is a very very very good way of putting it. I have listened to the album at least 25 times by now and it's probably the slowest to get used to from all the post reunion albums.

ha, and I was going to say just the opposite: I think I had a better first-listen experience with this one than any other post-reunion album.

So at the moment, my extremely uninformed and highly-likely-to-change opinion is that it's pretty awesome. Nothing unexpected, but no one else is making music anywhere close to this. And there *are* some interesting new sounds (the solo in the middle of "The Man Who Would Be King" is so groovy), it's just that those innovations come at exactly the expected level.

I will say it is by far one of the darkest albums since The X Factor.

Maybe that's part of why I dig it!

Neil
 
For the love of God, shut up, nobody cares that you're waiting a few weeks to buy the real album. Downloading is going to be around no matter what and you're not a better person for not downloading the record.
 
For the love of God, shut up, nobody cares that you're waiting a few weeks to buy the real album. Downloading is going to be around no matter what and you're not a better person for not downloading the record.

who said downloading was bad? I believe you can download the entire album Tuesday through iTunes. Stealing is bad. And yes it will be around forever just like murder and other things that are simply wrong.

Just because a lot of people prefer to steal stuff rather than pay for it doesn't make it any better. And you are a "better person" for going the legal route rather than the illegal one.

None of us should support efforts to undermine the future of the artists that we love.
 
who said downloading was bad? I believe you can download the entire album Tuesday through iTunes. Stealing is bad. And yes it will be around forever just like murder and other things that are simply wrong.

Just because a lot of people prefer to steal stuff rather than pay for it doesn't make it any better. And you are a "better person" for going the legal route rather than the illegal one.

None of us should support efforts to undermine the future of the artists that we love.

Alright then. Continue to force yet ANOTHER thread into a downloading debate so you can feel good on your moral high horse.
 
"Oh, downloading the album early, stealing, it's bad!" Get off of your moral high horse and go fuck right off. I download plenty of music and guess what, it's no different than test driving a car, as long as you buy it if you keep it. I'm really goddamn tired of every new album thread turning into this debate so that those of you who refuse to do it can sit back and feel like you're somehow better than us that do. Go play in traffic, it's a better use of your time.
 
"Oh, downloading the album early, stealing, it's bad!" Get off of your moral high horse and go fuck right off. I download plenty of music and guess what, it's no different than test driving a car, as long as you buy it if you keep it. I'm really goddamn tired of every new album thread turning into this debate so that those of you who refuse to do it can sit back and feel like you're somehow better than us that do. Go play in traffic, it's a better use of your time.

The majority don't sadly though. The record sales and industry data definitely proves this. Nothing wrong with sampling at all, but be careful when supporting torrents and the like as many of the leechers have no intention of supporting the band as you plan to do (just be sure to keep this in mind). Most bands have started putting several songs to the entire album on the website or myspace to help promote sampling as well.

If one were to test drive a car and then take it home w/o paying.. what happens? At a recent show we promoted for smaller band there were ~300 attendees which were surveyed on entrance as to owning the headliners current album. 261 had heard the album and possessed a digital copy of it. Only 23 had bought a physical copy. The problem is that this album was not available through the digital retailers yet. This really hurts the labels ability to prmote the artist and in this case was really frustrating as the latest release took alot of effort from everyone involved.

Also all the record stores outside of the US i have been to always allow for listening of the albums before you buy them. Very good practice.

Before reacting with blind anger, think about the further-reaching ramifications of the actions that are supported.