The Final Frontier released 16th August

The release date for IRON MAIDEN’S new studio album THE FINAL FRONTIER is now confirmed for Monday 16th August. The new album pictured here features artwork illustrated by Melvyn Grant and, to mark the occasion, the band have made special arrangements for one new album track 'EL DORADO' to be made available Worldwide as a FREE digital download MP3 with immediate effect.

Singer Bruce Dickinson explains ‘El Dorado is a preview of the forthcoming studio album. As we will be including it in the set of our Final Frontier World Tour (which opens in Dallas On 9th June - full dates below) we thought it would be great to thank all our fans and get them into The Final Frontier mood by giving them this song up front of the tour and album release’
The band reunited with long-time Maiden producer Kevin “Caveman” Shirley in early 2010 at Compass Point Studios, Nassau to record the album and then moved to LA to finish the recording and do the mixing. Compass Point Studio is very familiar to the band, it was where they recorded the Piece Of Mind (’83), Powerslave (’84) and Somewhere In Time (’86) albums.
Bruce comments “The studio had the same vibe and it was EXACTLY as it had been in 1983, NOTHING had changed! Even down to the broken shutter in the corner...same carpet....everything... It was really quite spooky. But we felt very relaxed in such a familiar and well-trodden environment and I think this shows in the playing and the atmosphere of the album”
Thirty years on from their eponymous debut album in April 1980, The Final Frontier will be Maiden’s 15th studio album, making a remarkable average of a new album every two years for 30 years and totalling over 80 million album sales during this period.
The full tracklisting for the album (total running time 76:35) is:



THE FINAL FRONTIER

1. Satellite 15....The Final Frontier 8:40
2. El Dorado 6:49
3. Mother Of Mercy 5:20
4. Coming Home 5:52
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 10:59


The Final Frontier World Tour begins in Dallas on June 9th with 25 shows in major cities across the USA and Canada, playing to an expected 350,000 fans or more. Following this the tour will ship over to Europe starting in Dublin on July 30 and playing a few selected major festivals and stadiums , finishing in Valencia, Spain, on Aug 21 and including a concert in Transylvania.
Says bass player and founder member Steve Harris “We’re hugely excited about this tour. I think the fans will really like the brand new stage production and lights and we will also be debuting one of the new album tracks , El Dorado. Our Texan fans will be the very first people anywhere to hear it live, so it will be interesting to see their reaction and how it goes down with the crowd on the night! Eddie has changed a bit for this tour but is possibly the most outrageous one to date... I can’t say too much about him as don’t want to spoil the surprise but I guarantee he will scare the hell out of you!”

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If the Eddie is anything like the one on the cover, I want my money back!! That's not Eddie. It's like the bastard love child of Snaggletooth and Predator! Ugh! Just awful!! :yuk:
 
Just listen to the new song and I am really not keen on it so far. The intro is just alot of noise (with a hint of Wasted Years) and the verses remind me of Confeos from The Chemical Wedding bonus tracks. Hopefully it'll be a grower cos I really didn't like it that much.

Uh oh, that's a bummer. :erk: Must go listen to it myself....
 
I really love the new song. Yep, it is a different style for Maiden, it sounds more like something Roy Z would write for a Bruce solo album, but that isnt a bad thing!

Ive already learned how to play the song. :p It's got a lot of palm muting riffs and stuff which is very unusual for Maiden, so its a very easy song to play! \m/
 
Okay....maybe because I was expecting to not like it so much I was actually pleasantly surprised. True--doesn't sound like classic Maiden--but it's got a certain groove to it. I expect it to grow on me more. I'm very keen to hear the rest of the album.
 
The release date for IRON MAIDEN’S new studio album THE FINAL FRONTIER is now confirmed for Monday 16th August. The new album pictured here features artwork illustrated by Melvyn Grant and, to mark the occasion, the band have made special arrangements for one new album track 'EL DORADO' to be made available Worldwide as a FREE digital download MP3 with immediate effect.

Singer Bruce Dickinson explains ‘El Dorado is a preview of the forthcoming studio album. As we will be including it in the set of our Final Frontier World Tour (which opens in Dallas On 9th June - full dates below) we thought it would be great to thank all our fans and get them into The Final Frontier mood by giving them this song up front of the tour and album release’
The band reunited with long-time Maiden producer Kevin “Caveman” Shirley in early 2010 at Compass Point Studios, Nassau to record the album and then moved to LA to finish the recording and do the mixing. Compass Point Studio is very familiar to the band, it was where they recorded the Piece Of Mind (’83), Powerslave (’84) and Somewhere In Time (’86) albums.
Bruce comments “The studio had the same vibe and it was EXACTLY as it had been in 1983, NOTHING had changed! Even down to the broken shutter in the corner...same carpet....everything... It was really quite spooky. But we felt very relaxed in such a familiar and well-trodden environment and I think this shows in the playing and the atmosphere of the album”
Thirty years on from their eponymous debut album in April 1980, The Final Frontier will be Maiden’s 15th studio album, making a remarkable average of a new album every two years for 30 years and totalling over 80 million album sales during this period.
The full tracklisting for the album (total running time 76:35) is:



THE FINAL FRONTIER
1. Satellite 15....The Final Frontier 8:40
2. El Dorado 6:49
3. Mother Of Mercy 5:20
4. Coming Home 5:52
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 10:59


The Final Frontier World Tour begins in Dallas on June 9th with 25 shows in major cities across the USA and Canada, playing to an expected 350,000 fans or more. Following this the tour will ship over to Europe starting in Dublin on July 30 and playing a few selected major festivals and stadiums , finishing in Valencia, Spain, on Aug 21 and including a concert in Transylvania.
Says bass player and founder member Steve Harris “We’re hugely excited about this tour. I think the fans will really like the brand new stage production and lights and we will also be debuting one of the new album tracks , El Dorado. Our Texan fans will be the very first people anywhere to hear it live, so it will be interesting to see their reaction and how it goes down with the crowd on the night! Eddie has changed a bit for this tour but is possibly the most outrageous one to date... I can’t say too much about him as don’t want to spoil the surprise but I guarantee he will scare the hell out of you!”

------------------------------------------------

If the Eddie is anything like the one on the cover, I want my money back!! That's not Eddie. It's like the bastard love child of Snaggletooth and Predator! Ugh! Just awful!! :yuk:
Looking forward to hearing the whole thing!:kickass:
 
Am i the only one hearing shades of Green Manalishi in The Final Frontier?

Jim
 
Ok, so I've listened to the whole album twice now.

I was slightly disappointed when I heard Satellite 15. To me, it doesn't really go with The Final Frontier and takes too long to go anywhere.

My three favourites are...

Coming Home - when I heard that chorus, total goosebump moment and a bit teary eyed to be honest. Absolutely incredible.

The Alchemist - the most upbeat and straight forward rocker of the album. Reminds me a little of The Pilgrim.

When The Wild Wind Blows - without a doubt, the highlight of the entire album is this closing epic. Holy fuck, what an incredible song. Here's hoping that one makes the new live setlist.

Instantly loved every song (apart from the intro) and usually albums take time to grow on me. El Dorado was the only song which required repeated listens to love.

I cannot wait to hear some of these songs live.
 
Im now on my second listen to the album!:cool:

Highlights for me so far:

Mother Of Mercy - Ominous war themed track, which almost sounds like a mini version of "The Longest Day". The last 40 seconds are tense as hell, a modern Maiden classic for sure.

Isle Of Avalon - A wondrous prog workout with a blissful intro and a huge, majestic chorus. It also ends a classic, crashing Maiden finish.

The Talisman - I love the mystical intro, with Bruce in his captivating "storyteller" mode. When the song explodes into life at around 2:22, it grabs you by the throat and doesnt let go until the end. The verses are very reminiscent of "Ghost Of The Navigator". Which is no bad thing!

The opening track is definitely the weakest for me. It just feels out of place with the rest of the album, and its not particularly great either.