Five years later: The Final Frontier revisited

Five years later, what do you think of the Final Frontier

  • I absolutely love it. It's among their best.

    Votes: 29 23.8%

  • It's a strong album that stands up well to the test of time.

    Votes: 61 50.0%

  • It's OK. I like it, or at least parts of it, but I don't listen to it much.

    Votes: 26 21.3%

  • For a Maiden album, it's pretty weak.

    Votes: 9 7.4%
  • Total voters
    122
tillyvick14 said:
The high water marks that are reached on TFF (Coming Home, The Talisman, When the Wild Wind Blows) are as good as any of the reunion era songs but the album as a whole is certainly not as good as A Matter of Life and Death. It is similar to Dance of Death in this way as it certainly has some tremendous Maiden songs, however I feel that Brave New World and A Matter of Life and Death are the best of the 4 reunion albums. Luckily we're about to get a 5th!
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One thing that is very different than Dance of Death is that there is a solid amount of consensus on what is strong and what is filler on DoD. That doesn't seem to be the case with TFF.
 
mckindog said:
One thing that is very different than Dance of Death is that there is a solid amount of consensus on what is strong and what is filler on DoD. That doesn't seem to be the case with TFF.
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I can see that. I can't wait to see what we're in for with the new one.
 
As an album it never really "clicked" with me...can't really tell you why but I acknowledge that there is some absolutely top moments on The Final Frontier.

Take for example the middle part/solos of The Man Who Would Be King. Unlike anything I remember hearing before by Maiden with that sweeping, almost calling lonely guitar tone over that almost staccato (?) drum and bass rhythm. Perfected with some lighting fast solo on top....

At 3:57 here:


Another musical highlight for me is the middle section of Isle of Avalon.

Following some absolutely crushing solos it sounds like Maiden is actually JAMMING in the studio? Very relaxed path to take in the song, sounds like they're just improving the whole thing, which is way cool.

At 4:11 here after the solos:


How do I make videos play at certain time doesn't seem to work for me :(
 
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I get what you mean. It sounds like jamming, but you hear how they (almost) take that riff one by one (so there's some organization).

First 'Arry
Then Dave and Adrian? (left and mid channel)
Then Janick? (right channel)
Then right guitar proceeds with doing long chords (Adrian starts his solo a bit earlier).

My favourite song from the album. My 6th favourite song from the current line-up:

1- Brave New World
2- Dance of Death
3- Ghost of the Navigator
4- Brighter Than a Thousand Suns
5- Paschendale
6- Isle of Avalon
7- Starblind
8- Lord of Light
 
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I'll listen it through now, let's see how it holds.
 
It's still one of my favourite albums! I started listening to Maiden mid to late 80's (first from my older brother, then on my own) and I think all albums have their strong and weak points, but for me, TFF doesn't really have any low points and many really fantastic moments. I also love that it's more varied in style than the album before and I'm actually quit a bit worried that the new one won't be able to keep up with quality I find in TFF.
 
I still feel a little cold about it. There are some great songs ("Isle of Avalon" and "When the Wild Wind Blows" are particular standouts), and none of the songs are really bad, but there's nothing on it that I feel like returning to all that often. I do appreciate that they're still trying to push their sound to new places, to some extent.

I'd rank it third among the reunion records, way ahead of DOD but definitely lower than BNW and AMOLAD (both of which are near the top for me).
 
Am I the only one who likes DoD?

While not every song is classic, there's only two real stinkers (Gates of Innocence). Face in the New Frontier is about average, and the rest of the album is at least good IMO. And of course, Paschenfuckingdale.
 
Admittedly, it's been ages since I last played the entire album. I should do it sometime and see how it holds up for me now.
 
SinisterMinisterX said:
and the rest of the album is at least good IMO
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Pretty much my issue with the whole album as far as I remember it....Just OK. A real lack of highlights. To me Paschendale is the only genuinely great track here...Montségur and Rainmaker are my other two go to track from this album....The rest I never listen to....

But yo - this is the FF thread! ;)
 
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SinisterMinisterX said:
Am I the only one who likes DoD?

While not every song is classic, there's only two real stinkers (Gates of Innocence). Face in the New Frontier is about average, and the rest of the album is at least good IMO. And of course, Paschenfuckingdale.
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I actually prefer DOD to TFF (I even like the 'stinkers'....weakest point being 'Age of old men grumbling' which is still good)

TFF is a bit of a chore to listen to for me, but I think mainly because of the running order, as I only consider TMWWBK to actually be 'weak' as such.
 
SinisterMinisterX said:
Am I the only one who likes DoD?

While not every song is classic, there's only two real stinkers (Gates of Innocence). Face in the New Frontier is about average, and the rest of the album is at least good IMO. And of course, Paschenfuckingdale.
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Yes, I like DoD. But there are far better Iron Maiden albums out there. Personally, I'd compare it to, say, a raw, less melodic and somewhat uninsipred BNW.
 
I missed the release and purposely didn't listen to this album fully until I'd caught up on the other Maiden albums I'd missed. It's been a steady grower, having only really liked two songs at the outset. It still sounds like the work of a mature band that's comfortable in itself.
 
Relistened the album after a long time tonight.

Satellite 15...The Final Frontier - still thinking that S15 would be way better if it was re-recorded, this way it has too much of a shitty production to be enjoyable, while title track is quite fun
El Dorado - still not liking the opening or the ending... very lame
Mother Of Mercy - actually liking it more than El Dorado now, much better atmosphere
Coming Home - fucking awesome as always, #3 favorite on this album
The Alchemist - still awful & annoying
Isle Of Avalon - about the same opinion as I had when I first heard it... it's good, it's something newish for Maiden, but not that awesome
Starblind - still fucking amazing, shame they never played it live... #2 favorite here
The Talisman - AWESOME... makes me really excited for Janick's songs on the new album, #1 favorite
The Man Who Would Be King - weakest epic on the album... nothing wrong with it, but it's just good
When The Wild Wind Blows - same as Avalon

And I really don't like the soft production... hopefully TBOS's production is closer to BNW and AMOL&D than DOD and TFF.
 
SinisterMinisterX said:
Am I the only one who likes DoD?

While not every song is classic, there's only two real stinkers (Gates of Innocence). Face in the New Frontier is about average, and the rest of the album is at least good IMO. And of course, Paschenfuckingdale.
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First post on this forum..also, I'm starting to think Dance is my favorite of the reunion albums.
 
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