Southy
Proud Brisbane Metaller
Like Blitzy I expect more of a standard Maiden album, but you never know, might get blown right out of the water with this one
The Final Frontier - the trailer
- Thread starter Spiff
- Start date
The video was okay.. I'm excited for August 17th, I'll definitely be getting the album. The coverage of the Maiden album is pretty good on FEARnet. Anyone agree that horror and music mix well together?
Southy
Proud Brisbane Metaller
Depends on what the horror is, I mean it works well in old school DM, dunno that I would say Maiden use horror really, Eddie isn't scary or anything is he?
Not sure who to credit this to but it's doing the rounds on forums:
Reseña 1:
After 4 years maiden gets back on the shelves with their 15th album of their fantastic career.
Just one listen is never enough to judge any album, let alone such a long one (76 minutes and 37 seconds) which will need way deeper listening sessions. WE'll give you our first impressions and emotions anyway of this "The Final Frontier".
First thing we want to say is: the hardcore fans can relax: Maiden still love to play, and with this album they show they want to risk again, to experiment and to gift the fans with fantastic moments like just a few other groups can do.
As for the critics or those who haven't like the post reunion albums...well maybe them won't even listen to the album, committing a mistake since we are in front of one of the most interesting albums of the last decade.
There's a progressive side that emerges here and there, there are riffs and moments inspired by blues and seventies (Purple and Led Zeppelin are there, at times), there are 5 long songs in the second half of the album that are brilliant and make the listener to feel so involved in it.
There are less repeated chorus than in the past, less orchestrations compared to the last album, the guitars are starring in this album and the structures that the three axes put together are very enjoyable. Dickinson varies his singing a lot, using the medium-high frequencies less than in the past and globally the album is faster and with more rhtyhm thatn the previous "A matter of life and death".
The bad things? Well, first the single:
El Dorado is not representative of the mood of the album and could have been better if it was shorter. There are those 2-3 songs that could have been left out (all in the fist part of the album) that aren't really comparabile and up to the level of the songs that follow.
The slow intros and arpeggios in the beginning of the songs are standardised and even if functional to the songs they are now too predictables.
Difficult to understand why the songs on the tracklist where placed this way since the album really takes off and gets to a whole new level after the first 5 songs...but now we stop talking in general and let's focus on a proper track by track.
WE are aware these are just our opinions to take them with a pinch of salt...these are the emotions we felt during a one hour and fifteen minutes of listening.
1)Satellite 15...the final frontier:
We haven't understood a single thing in the first 4 and a half iminutes: a futuristic and effected drumming (we thought of "Eat the rich" by Aerosmith) with electronics effects opens the song, Bruce try to find a space singing while the song developos in a structured way that could remind us the Dream Theater of Metropolis part 2 especially when the alternation of snare drum and double pedals (or so it seemed although nicko used it only on face in the sand) makes us think of Petrucci and co. At half song starts the "Iron Maiden" like song, a classic mid tempo that has a Hard Rock feeling to it. 2 solos leads us the to last part of the song with has an ending that it's re-taken in the second one.
A great way to start the album.
2)El Dorado
we all now this one now and the beginning is the final of the previous track. Although being more metal, this song could have been better if it was shorter. The impact is very live, like the whole album anyway...and we know that the post reunion maiden have nowadays a live approach in the studio without too much clean sound.
Live this will be a great song, in studio we are happy to hear it ending.
3)Mother of mercy
This one has a arpeggio intro (one of the many we were talking about in the introduction)and as we said this is one of the songs that we could have easily lived without. This is a mid tempo that some nostalgic fan would define Heavy but that honestly doesn't take off due to an anonymous refrain.
The solo it's not bad but we find asking each other why this song occupies the third spot on the tracklist.
4)Coming home
This is a ballad that leads us to Bruce Dickinson solo, that has some familiar bits in "Man of Sorrow" style and that could have been under the hands of a Desmond Child...so you get an idea of it.
Globally it's a very well structured and thought song, with a nice refrain and overall is a good track although it's a fall in the rhythm of the album that doesn't make it take off yet.
5)The alchemist
Just by reading the tracklist we could guess that this would have been the fast track of the album. The rhythm is very fast indeed even if the song isn't aggressive or rageful.
This song makes us awake from the sleepy feeling we were starting to have although being at the fifth track we start to think that maybe this album is not much inspired.
The melodies and speed of The alchemist come to and end and luckily here we will discover that the REAL interesting part of the album is going to start.
6)Isle of Avalon
The first big song of almost 10 minutes is one of the most beautiful song of the Final Frontier.
It starts with the trademakr slow intro that takes off with a uptempo part after 2 minutes and 40 seconds. Then the song surprises us with a a break at the fourth minute that reminds us of Rush with organ sounds under the solos in the middle part of the song. The ending reminds us of the Powerslave title track and the excitement now it's back at full force just thinking about how great this song is and how many interesting things the guys put in this track.
7)Starblind
Another adrenalinic song with prog rhythmics that shows a great Bruce Dickinson on medium high notes. A sort of Led Zeppeling riff gets in the song right after 4 minutes and introduces the solo part in which the rhythm changes several times.
A mood that reminds us of Infinite Dreams under the refrains of the last part makes us absolutely enjoy this song again, for another hit of the album that is now on a completely new level compared to the first half...these songs seems to come out from a jam session in which the guys really enjoyed surprising the usual Iron maiden fans.
8)The Talisman
Reminding us of "The Legacy" we start getting inside the eight track of the album. Dickinson narrates theatrically (with the usual slow intro) and then after 2 minutes the song becomes a strong up-tempo with an high register singing by Bruce. The classic maiden gallop is back, the fantastic refrain gets in getting along with the guitar melody until the six minutes mark when a Deep Purple break arrives. Another very interesting song.
9)After a sort of melodic power metal intro this song is then filled withanother strong up-tempo. A fantastic break after 4 minutes cuts what we have heard so far turning into a middle part almost blues with very well structured solos.
Excluding the big surprise at mid song the song is quite linear and it's another hit of this album that it's getting to end.
10)When the wild wind blows
To be the third longest song of Iron Maiden history the ending to the Final frontier must be something really special..and it is.
Blood Brothers and Dance of Death echoes follow each other until at three minutes and a half a Holy Diver-like riff kicks in. The song is played on mid-tempo with slow parts and unexpected changes of register and with a vocal line that surprises again after 7 minutes of song.
This song has a vintage and seventies atmosphere and it's a fantastic way to end the album.
This album is a work that it's a sort of Brave New world meets A matter of life and death, it's very free from pre-concepts and it's structured to be listened to many times as it's not immediate.
Who loves Iron maiden for their coherence and their post reunioh albums will be happy to have listened to The Final Frontier.
The final frontier will make people talk and will be considered another arrival point of this band that has been said to be dead too many times and that has always proved their critics wrong.
Ethernal respect for Iron Maiden, hoping the The Final frontier won't be their really last frontier but with the with that there will be more of them in the next few years.
Reseña 2:
The Final Frontier is good. Very good. I've been listening to Maiden for 26 years, and I know a good or bad Maiden album when I hear it. And based on the listens I had, my initial reaction is to rank it alongside Brave New World. Not necessarily a reinvention, but a reassertion of just how driven and inspired the band continues to sound eleven years after Bruce Dickinson and Adrian Smith returned to the fold. At 76 minutes, there's a whole heckuvalot to digest, but this isn't a case like Metallica where they use the 79 minute running time of a CD as an excuse to egotistically cram whatever subpar material they can using the excuse that they want to "give their fans as much as possible." These ten songs hold up, or at least it feels like they will upon further listens. Each one is memorable.
I like how the album is sequenced. After the absolutely insane intro "Satellite 15", which is the heaviest piece of music Iron Maiden has ever put on record, the first few songs settle into a very strong 70s hard rock groove. Not surprisingly, Adrian Smith is behind these catchy riffs, and he and Steve Harris unapologetically admit the heavy UFO and Thin Lizzy influences they had fun exploring. "The Final Frontier", as you probably know by now, is a great little tune, a fantastic way to kick off the album, and "El Dorado" is a solid galloper that's already turned into an exceptional live song. "Mother of Mercy" is darker but still just as concise (with a very catchy chorus, it still buzzes in my head), while "Coming Home" slows things down just a touch, and while it's not exactly a ballad, it's still a wistful look back at the Flight 666 tour, Dickinson's lyrics inspired by his view from the cockpit of the big plane.
After the John Dee-inspired "The Alchemist" (probably the weakest or plainest song on the album), things really get interesting. Songs get longer, more labyrinthine, a little more experimental. "Isle of Avalon" is wickedly good, highlighted by a theatrical crescendo, dissonant guitars that add tension, a cool break led by Harris, and the best guitar solos on the album. "Starblind" revisits the synth-infused sounds of Somewhere in Time and is led by a powerhouse performance by Dickinson. "The Talisman" is quintessential Maiden, the one songs that pushes all the buttons that fans have grown accustomed to: slow build, explosive tempo change, big chorus. Formulaic, but unlike some past songs, it doesn't feel tired. You can tell "The Man Who Would Be King" came from a Dave Murray idea, you can tell those melodies of his from a mile away. The biggest surprise is saved for last, as "When the Wild Wind Blows" is an eleven minute Steve Harris epic, but not in the vein of "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" or "Sign of the Cross". Over the years Harris's solo songwriting has tended to wear on me. The fact is, he can get predictable, and in our interview he admitted that...on a Harris song, you always know what's coming next, he's been using the same template since "Alexander the Great" or even earlier. So "Where the Wild Wind Blows" comes across as a bit of a shock, because for once Harris bucks the trend completely with a song that's more understated than grandiose. It's built around a very simple yet memorable melody, but while it does build up here and there, it never bursts into those gallops we expect, instead keeping the same controlled pace. Dickinson follows suit, too, his singing not over the top, instead much more disciplined, Harris's lyrics an elegiac character sketch that touches on severe paranoia. It closes the album on a very melancholy note rather than a big final flourish.
I'd like to hear the album again just to see how it holds up, but like you, I have to wait until August 17th. Aside from a couple of listening sessions, that's it as far as advance music goes, there won't be any promo copies serviced in an effort to protect their product, so I wouldn't expect this album to leak at all, the security is that tight. But at the very least I can say that a little over a month from now, the wait will have definitely been worth it.
Reseña 1:
After 4 years maiden gets back on the shelves with their 15th album of their fantastic career.
Just one listen is never enough to judge any album, let alone such a long one (76 minutes and 37 seconds) which will need way deeper listening sessions. WE'll give you our first impressions and emotions anyway of this "The Final Frontier".
First thing we want to say is: the hardcore fans can relax: Maiden still love to play, and with this album they show they want to risk again, to experiment and to gift the fans with fantastic moments like just a few other groups can do.
As for the critics or those who haven't like the post reunion albums...well maybe them won't even listen to the album, committing a mistake since we are in front of one of the most interesting albums of the last decade.
There's a progressive side that emerges here and there, there are riffs and moments inspired by blues and seventies (Purple and Led Zeppelin are there, at times), there are 5 long songs in the second half of the album that are brilliant and make the listener to feel so involved in it.
There are less repeated chorus than in the past, less orchestrations compared to the last album, the guitars are starring in this album and the structures that the three axes put together are very enjoyable. Dickinson varies his singing a lot, using the medium-high frequencies less than in the past and globally the album is faster and with more rhtyhm thatn the previous "A matter of life and death".
The bad things? Well, first the single:
El Dorado is not representative of the mood of the album and could have been better if it was shorter. There are those 2-3 songs that could have been left out (all in the fist part of the album) that aren't really comparabile and up to the level of the songs that follow.
The slow intros and arpeggios in the beginning of the songs are standardised and even if functional to the songs they are now too predictables.
Difficult to understand why the songs on the tracklist where placed this way since the album really takes off and gets to a whole new level after the first 5 songs...but now we stop talking in general and let's focus on a proper track by track.
WE are aware these are just our opinions to take them with a pinch of salt...these are the emotions we felt during a one hour and fifteen minutes of listening.
1)Satellite 15...the final frontier:
We haven't understood a single thing in the first 4 and a half iminutes: a futuristic and effected drumming (we thought of "Eat the rich" by Aerosmith) with electronics effects opens the song, Bruce try to find a space singing while the song developos in a structured way that could remind us the Dream Theater of Metropolis part 2 especially when the alternation of snare drum and double pedals (or so it seemed although nicko used it only on face in the sand) makes us think of Petrucci and co. At half song starts the "Iron Maiden" like song, a classic mid tempo that has a Hard Rock feeling to it. 2 solos leads us the to last part of the song with has an ending that it's re-taken in the second one.
A great way to start the album.
2)El Dorado
we all now this one now and the beginning is the final of the previous track. Although being more metal, this song could have been better if it was shorter. The impact is very live, like the whole album anyway...and we know that the post reunion maiden have nowadays a live approach in the studio without too much clean sound.
Live this will be a great song, in studio we are happy to hear it ending.
3)Mother of mercy
This one has a arpeggio intro (one of the many we were talking about in the introduction)and as we said this is one of the songs that we could have easily lived without. This is a mid tempo that some nostalgic fan would define Heavy but that honestly doesn't take off due to an anonymous refrain.
The solo it's not bad but we find asking each other why this song occupies the third spot on the tracklist.
4)Coming home
This is a ballad that leads us to Bruce Dickinson solo, that has some familiar bits in "Man of Sorrow" style and that could have been under the hands of a Desmond Child...so you get an idea of it.
Globally it's a very well structured and thought song, with a nice refrain and overall is a good track although it's a fall in the rhythm of the album that doesn't make it take off yet.
5)The alchemist
Just by reading the tracklist we could guess that this would have been the fast track of the album. The rhythm is very fast indeed even if the song isn't aggressive or rageful.
This song makes us awake from the sleepy feeling we were starting to have although being at the fifth track we start to think that maybe this album is not much inspired.
The melodies and speed of The alchemist come to and end and luckily here we will discover that the REAL interesting part of the album is going to start.
6)Isle of Avalon
The first big song of almost 10 minutes is one of the most beautiful song of the Final Frontier.
It starts with the trademakr slow intro that takes off with a uptempo part after 2 minutes and 40 seconds. Then the song surprises us with a a break at the fourth minute that reminds us of Rush with organ sounds under the solos in the middle part of the song. The ending reminds us of the Powerslave title track and the excitement now it's back at full force just thinking about how great this song is and how many interesting things the guys put in this track.
7)Starblind
Another adrenalinic song with prog rhythmics that shows a great Bruce Dickinson on medium high notes. A sort of Led Zeppeling riff gets in the song right after 4 minutes and introduces the solo part in which the rhythm changes several times.
A mood that reminds us of Infinite Dreams under the refrains of the last part makes us absolutely enjoy this song again, for another hit of the album that is now on a completely new level compared to the first half...these songs seems to come out from a jam session in which the guys really enjoyed surprising the usual Iron maiden fans.
8)The Talisman
Reminding us of "The Legacy" we start getting inside the eight track of the album. Dickinson narrates theatrically (with the usual slow intro) and then after 2 minutes the song becomes a strong up-tempo with an high register singing by Bruce. The classic maiden gallop is back, the fantastic refrain gets in getting along with the guitar melody until the six minutes mark when a Deep Purple break arrives. Another very interesting song.
9)After a sort of melodic power metal intro this song is then filled withanother strong up-tempo. A fantastic break after 4 minutes cuts what we have heard so far turning into a middle part almost blues with very well structured solos.
Excluding the big surprise at mid song the song is quite linear and it's another hit of this album that it's getting to end.
10)When the wild wind blows
To be the third longest song of Iron Maiden history the ending to the Final frontier must be something really special..and it is.
Blood Brothers and Dance of Death echoes follow each other until at three minutes and a half a Holy Diver-like riff kicks in. The song is played on mid-tempo with slow parts and unexpected changes of register and with a vocal line that surprises again after 7 minutes of song.
This song has a vintage and seventies atmosphere and it's a fantastic way to end the album.
This album is a work that it's a sort of Brave New world meets A matter of life and death, it's very free from pre-concepts and it's structured to be listened to many times as it's not immediate.
Who loves Iron maiden for their coherence and their post reunioh albums will be happy to have listened to The Final Frontier.
The final frontier will make people talk and will be considered another arrival point of this band that has been said to be dead too many times and that has always proved their critics wrong.
Ethernal respect for Iron Maiden, hoping the The Final frontier won't be their really last frontier but with the with that there will be more of them in the next few years.
Reseña 2:
The Final Frontier is good. Very good. I've been listening to Maiden for 26 years, and I know a good or bad Maiden album when I hear it. And based on the listens I had, my initial reaction is to rank it alongside Brave New World. Not necessarily a reinvention, but a reassertion of just how driven and inspired the band continues to sound eleven years after Bruce Dickinson and Adrian Smith returned to the fold. At 76 minutes, there's a whole heckuvalot to digest, but this isn't a case like Metallica where they use the 79 minute running time of a CD as an excuse to egotistically cram whatever subpar material they can using the excuse that they want to "give their fans as much as possible." These ten songs hold up, or at least it feels like they will upon further listens. Each one is memorable.
I like how the album is sequenced. After the absolutely insane intro "Satellite 15", which is the heaviest piece of music Iron Maiden has ever put on record, the first few songs settle into a very strong 70s hard rock groove. Not surprisingly, Adrian Smith is behind these catchy riffs, and he and Steve Harris unapologetically admit the heavy UFO and Thin Lizzy influences they had fun exploring. "The Final Frontier", as you probably know by now, is a great little tune, a fantastic way to kick off the album, and "El Dorado" is a solid galloper that's already turned into an exceptional live song. "Mother of Mercy" is darker but still just as concise (with a very catchy chorus, it still buzzes in my head), while "Coming Home" slows things down just a touch, and while it's not exactly a ballad, it's still a wistful look back at the Flight 666 tour, Dickinson's lyrics inspired by his view from the cockpit of the big plane.
After the John Dee-inspired "The Alchemist" (probably the weakest or plainest song on the album), things really get interesting. Songs get longer, more labyrinthine, a little more experimental. "Isle of Avalon" is wickedly good, highlighted by a theatrical crescendo, dissonant guitars that add tension, a cool break led by Harris, and the best guitar solos on the album. "Starblind" revisits the synth-infused sounds of Somewhere in Time and is led by a powerhouse performance by Dickinson. "The Talisman" is quintessential Maiden, the one songs that pushes all the buttons that fans have grown accustomed to: slow build, explosive tempo change, big chorus. Formulaic, but unlike some past songs, it doesn't feel tired. You can tell "The Man Who Would Be King" came from a Dave Murray idea, you can tell those melodies of his from a mile away. The biggest surprise is saved for last, as "When the Wild Wind Blows" is an eleven minute Steve Harris epic, but not in the vein of "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" or "Sign of the Cross". Over the years Harris's solo songwriting has tended to wear on me. The fact is, he can get predictable, and in our interview he admitted that...on a Harris song, you always know what's coming next, he's been using the same template since "Alexander the Great" or even earlier. So "Where the Wild Wind Blows" comes across as a bit of a shock, because for once Harris bucks the trend completely with a song that's more understated than grandiose. It's built around a very simple yet memorable melody, but while it does build up here and there, it never bursts into those gallops we expect, instead keeping the same controlled pace. Dickinson follows suit, too, his singing not over the top, instead much more disciplined, Harris's lyrics an elegiac character sketch that touches on severe paranoia. It closes the album on a very melancholy note rather than a big final flourish.
I'd like to hear the album again just to see how it holds up, but like you, I have to wait until August 17th. Aside from a couple of listening sessions, that's it as far as advance music goes, there won't be any promo copies serviced in an effort to protect their product, so I wouldn't expect this album to leak at all, the security is that tight. But at the very least I can say that a little over a month from now, the wait will have definitely been worth it.
Shadow298
UNLEASH THE GUAN
