Final Frontier: one year later

mckindog

mckindog

Living for Sanctuary from the law
Staff member
It's been out for a year gentleman (and you occasional ladies).
You've gone through initial impression, discovery, fade, and rediscovery.
You've had a chance to gain perspective, give it some sober second thought and (hopefully) see some of it performed live.
How does the last album stack up?
 
Well. When it first came out it was awesome. But once that new album high wore off, it became an average Maiden album. Which it still is. The only 2 songs that were really good, were Isle of Avalon and Starblind. The rest was either good, or meh. Isle of Avalon is probably my new favorite maiden song. I always compare every album to the previous effort. That said, A Matter of Life and Death is a much better album, but Starblind and Isle of Avalon are better than every track on there in my opinion. However, it is still a good album, and definitely better than Dance of Death. I do like Mother of Mercy, Coming Home, and Alchemist. But everything else I rarely listen to. Talisman and the Title track are very weak in my opinion.

I like the idea of 5 short songs then 5 epics. The first 5 songs seem to be like an intro, and then Isle of Avalon starts, taking you on a journey for the rest of the album. I think this is Maiden's most atmospheric record. I can picture the stories of every song. Even songs I don't like, such as Talisman, I can listen and see the water, and the raging storms. The Man Who Would Be King is also great with this. I can picture the mountains, and the rivers in Isle of Avalon. The warzones of Mother of Mercy, and the airplane in Coming Home.


Overall, it's a good album, worth the wait, has good songs, but against other albums, I don't think it stacks up to AMOLAD, or Powerslave etc. 7/10
 
There are 3 awesome songs on The Final Frontier - Coming Home, Starblind and The Talisman, and one less awesome that those 3, but still very awesome: When The Wild Wind Blows. First 3 songs, Isle Of Avalon and The Man Who Would Be King have their moments, but I listen to them only when I listen to the full album. The Alchemist is very bad. With all this being said, this album is still much better than anything released last year, but still not up to (sky high) Maiden standards.
 
Much like AMOLAD, it's a grower, and I love it now. El DDorado and The Final Frontier, which I wasn't too keen on initially, have gone up in my books big time. (Especally after seeing them live at Nottingham Arena).

Song ranking (Best to worst):

-The Talisman
-Starblind
-When The Wild Wind Blows
-Isle Of Avalon
-El Dorado
-The Final Froniter
-Mother Of Mercy
-Coming Home
-The Man Who Would Be King
-The Alchemist (Never eally got into this song much)
 
Isle of Avalon is, for me, the best song Maiden have recorded in over 20 years. Smith is a fucking God on this album and Maiden are just not the same without him. There's no skip songs for me but some of the lyrics in The Man Who Would Be King are questionable. I love the album over all but still think AMOLAD is Maiden's best.
 
I love it more then whan it was released. I haven't come to comparing all albums, but I rate this rather high.

seely said:
Song ranking (Best to worst):
Click to expand...

Isle Of Avalon
Starblind
WTWWB
Coming Home
The Talisman
The rest..
 
I guess I should rank it too.

Isle of Avalon
Starblind
Mother of Mercy (Really!)
Wild Wind
The Alchemist
El Dorado
Coming Home
The Man Who Would Be King
Talisman
Satellite 15... ...The Final Frontier
 
Mosh said:
I guess I should rank it too.

Isle of Avalon
Starblind
Mother of Mercy (Really!)
Wild Wind
The Alchemist
El Dorado
Coming Home
The Man Who Would Be King
Talisman
Satellite 15... ...The Final Frontier
Click to expand...

Talisman 9th? Fair enoguh...
 
I was only just thinking about this earlier. Now it's sunk in properly, I'm not sure it is as great as I thought it was. Certainly top half, thats for sure.

I think my issue with it is that the album as a whole is actually not greater than the sum of its parts. I don't like the pacing and feel of the album. I think the epics, although good, are somewhat hard to listen to in one sitting. I have always felt that The Alchemist is the most important song on the album, because it breaks up the first part of the album from the rest of it. I think MoM falls into the same category as Ghost of the Navigator or Fear of the Dark in that it is kind of like an epic, without being 8 minutes long, and Coming Home, being a ballad(ish) tune, also complicates things. This to my mind leaves only El Dorado as another straight forward rocker.

Obviously, the same could be said for AMOLAD, and frankly, it would be true. I think AMOLAD somehow flows that little bit better than TFF, perhaps because despite having a very similar "layout" tracklist-wise, the songs are a touch better.

Unfortunately for TFF, I just re-listened to DoD recently, and thoroughly enjoyed it, meaning I'd have to place TFF as the weakest of the four newest albums. Still, I'd place it in the middle of the pack for all the albums, behind stuff like Somewhere in Time, Seventh Son and the other Reunion era stuff, but definitely ahead of stuff like Number of the Beast, Fear of the Dark or Killers.
 
As for a song ranking...

Starblind
Mother of Mercy
The Alchemist
Coming Home
The Talisman
El Dorado
Isle of Avalon
The Final Frontier
When The Wild Wind Blows
Man Who Would Be King

There really isn't a lot separating the top 6 or 7 though.
 
I would say my views on the album have not changed all that much. The first 3 tracks are still my 3 favorites. I think El Dorado is among the best songs they're done in the past 20 years (go ahead, press the 'kick' button), I really like the acoustic flourishes on TFF, Satellite 15 is still a departure from what I expected (though I have split the into from the TFF section and skip over it a lot). Mother of Mercy rounds out the top 3 for me now as it did last year. I go back and forth on Starblind and The Talisman with Starblind usually winning. I could see that one sneaking up further, but The Talisman too often reminds me of Ghost of the Navigator which I like much more. WTWWB and IOA have their moments, but I just can't get into them like so many of you have. I thought they would have clicked by now, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Coming Home has suffered the most in the intervening year (perhaps if I saw it live it would rank higher), but that one wears on me. The less said about TMWWBK and The Alchemist the better.

I do think TFF has held up better than AMOLAD over time, however.
 
Shadow said:
Wait, what? There been a year?
Click to expand...

Well Facebook earlier reminded me that a year ago today I posted a status saying 'The new Maiden album has arrived!".

There is no higher authority.....
 
Here is a personal one. Year ago, I started a relationship that seemed like the "right one". While all the nice things were happening, this particular record was on constant rotation - at home, at work, while walking the streets, while waiting for that particular person to come out of her house. A few days ago, the "right thing" ended, so right now I'm not in the mood for Final Frontier spin. Thus, I have a sort of wicked connection to this record, it followed me throughout one of best periods of my life (if not the best), but right now those memories do not evoke a smile. It will always be a special one.

Emotional attachment aside, it stood up really well and still lands in my top 5.
I would die to hear and see Isle Of Avalon and Starblind inside some studio sessions like Abbey Road. Controlled performance with concentration and first class sound setup.
 
This album is still getting played all the time in my world, but I find myself skipping over tracks that just don't grab me: the first 4:34 of S15TFF, El Dorado, and The Talisman. For whatever reason, WTWWB has become something less for me than it once was...I couldn't even tell you why. In comparison to the other reunion albums, AMOLAD and BNW still get played start to finish every time... I love 'em that much. DOD has some stronger songs, but even more tunes that I usually skip over. I think that in comparison to the pre-reunion albums, TFF is superior to all of them except the first three... IM, Killers, TNOTB, and is the equal of POM.

Yeah, I know that some of you look with disdain at those of us that regularly skip over certain tunes, but I never write off a Maiden tune until I've made a concerted effort to appreciate what the band has created. Some of it just doesn't click.
 
I agree with your last sentence. Around October, Talisman was on non-stop, look where it is in my rankings now. Not because I've overplayed it, (Then I wouldn't like IOA anymore) but because it doesn't do anything for me anymore.
 
So only three more years until we get another Maiden studio album? :p

When it came out I though this was Maidens best album ever. I don't think that anymore. But it might still be in my top five. It's a really good album. There is lots of great guitar work on this album. Jan does one of his best solos on Wild Wind Blows, and the instrumental parts of the title track and El Dorado are by far the best parts of the songs. And Dave shines on The Man Who Would Be King. As for Steve and Nicko they are doing a great job as always. Bruce however, shows a couple of sings of aging. The chorus of Mother of Mercy, most of Isle of Avalon and parts of The Final Frontier and El Dorado.

Starblind is one of Maidens best songs, and my favourite on the album. For me it sounds like a mix between Paschendale and Lord of Light. Other songs I would mention are Coming Home, The Man Who Would Be King and When the Wild Wind Blows. Terrific pieces all of them. The Talisman has also grown alot on me ever since I heard the first live versions of it. Isle of Avalon on the other hand is a song I like less now than last year. Particulary Bruce's singing is annoying. He is straining all over the place. The Final Frontier is the weakest opening since Be Quick Or Be Dead, but it's still ok.

4,5/5 from me.
 
Its one of my favourite Maiden albums, in my top 5 as anyone who has been following my thread knows. No bad songs at all IMO. This consistency allows it to beat most of the albums.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top