Final Frontier: one year later

SinisterMinisterX said:
BNW is still the best reunion-era album. AMOLAD and TFF are tied for second; my preference between them varies from day to day.

Those three albums share the trait of feeling like albums, if you know what I mean. There's a consistency there; even fillers feel like they just belong.

DoD doesn't feel like a consistent album. Can't explain exactly why; it just feels more like a collection of songs without any unifying factor. Some of those songs are superb; hell, one is my #1 Maiden song. But as an album, it falls below the rest.
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Yeah, I don't share the BNW love - I actually feel exactly the opposite about DoD v. BNW - to me, DoD sounds more consistent while BNW is a collection of (repetitive) songs. Also, it drops off so quickly from the brilliance of Wicker Man. But this isn't a BNW thread - and I promise I will put up a Jupz-like thread soon comparing the merits of BNW and DoD... it promises to be full of blasphemy and tears, crying, and Janick-love :)
 
Chartwell said:
Yeah, I don't share the BNW love - I actually feel exactly the opposite about DoD v. BNW - to me, DoD sounds more consistent while BNW is a collection of (repetitive) songs. Also, it drops off so quickly from the brilliance of Wicker Man. But this isn't a BNW thread - and I promise I will put up a Jupz-like thread soon comparing the merits of BNW and DoD... it promises to be full of blasphemy and tears, crying, and Janick-love :)
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Just so you know, you're not alone.  I've never been big on Brave New World either.  I love the first 3 songs and enjoy Blood Brothers but really struggle to get much past those songs.  Lots of repetitive songs far longer than they should be (worst offenders being Dream of Mirrors, Out of the Silent Planet and the title track).  I remember liking it when it came out, and the Summer of 00 was a blast having a new Maiden album and all, but have never loved it. 
 
[quote author=Tron l
And in respect to powerslave, SiT ans ssoass. I see powerslave as having two great songs a few OK songs and the rest filler (fillerslave)

  Oh my.  "Fillerslave"??????????????????  Come on now Tron!!!  This is more than blasphemy...this is treason!!!  LOL!! 

  But being serious now, TFF has slipped a bit from the initial euphoria it brought me.  I was hooked on Mother of Mercy and Coming home for a month or so.  Now they are with the pack.  I think Starblind is just an okay Maiden song.  Quite overrated here on the sight.  I also think TMWWBK is vastly underrated. 
 
    All in all it is seventh on my list of Maiden albums and third of the reunion beating out BNW.  But way behind AMOLAD and the almighty Dance of Death!!!  It has made this past year much better though!!!
 
yeh but those good ones on powerslave are really freaking good, read the rime of the ancient mariner to get the background to the song. now i can put myself there and its amazing. more great songs powerslave and aces high but everything else seems pretty average maiden to me. Still doesnt stop powerslave getting a pretty fair place in my ratings as you will soon see.  ;)

as for TFF its gone down over the year for me considerably. where i used to love coming home and starblind, coming home has fallen away and the talisman rose like a phoenix.
 
When I read Metal Hammer’s review ( I think they gave it 9*) I was busting to hear it but when I did I wasn’t sure what to make of it.  First few plays It didn’t really grab me and if honest I was slightly disappointed….but….the more I’ve played it the more I’ve come to love it and now some of the songs are up there with my fav maiden tracks.

Personally I think AMOLAD has better individual songs (Longest Day, Thousand Suns etc) but I think TFF is a stronger album overall. Credit to them for making the kind of album they wanted to make (Steve in particular with he’s known love of prog rock) rather than what was expected of them and it’s that kind of attitude that makes them the number one band in the world for me.  :yey:
 
TFF is still the shit as far as I'm concerned. Initially I was a bit meh with songs like Isle of Avalon and S15...TFF not quite being what I'd hoped but then I got into The Talisman which meant I had a trio of awesome songs on the album (When the Wild Wind Blows and Coming Home too) before Avalon finally clicked for me and I had 4 songs which are 9/10's or more. Starblind continues to be a more impressive song each time I play it. The Alchemist, El Dorado and TFF provide the highest number of "fun" songs on a Maiden album since Piece of Mind or Number of the Beast. Mother of Mercy and The Man Who Would be King are weaker but they're hardly filler tracks either.

The best thing about it is that it's 78 minutes long. That'd be bad if it was inconsistent or poor but instead you get an album that is awesome and never seems to end. It's such a journey, from the lonely depths of space to the shores of our golden promised land and when it finally ends I have to stop myself from embarking on it all over again.
 
I've been listening to The Man Who Would Be King a lot recently and I'm really starting to get in it.
 
Vap said:
I've been listening to The Man Who Would Be King a lot recently and I'm really starting to get in it.
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Y'know, it was one of my favourites on TFF from the beginning, and it has only grown in stature for me over the past year. Seems to be some ambivalence for it around here though... :blink:
 
I'm with SMX. I thought it was musically disjointed at first, but it has come together for me now.
Lyrically, I still don't know the story.
 
SinisterMinisterX said:
King has great music but the lyrics don't quite draw me in like most other songs on this album.
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here, here its just not got anything that ignites any passion, its got the technicality but misses that x factor
 
Ranking changes: Mother of Mercy lower and The Man Who Would Be King higher.

1. Isle of Avalon
2. Starblind
3. The Talisman
4. The Man Who Would Be King
5. Mother of Mercy
6. When the Wild Wind Blows
7. El Dorado
8. Coming Home
9. The Alchemist
10. Satellite 15... The Final Frontier
 
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