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
I might have purchased a different X-Factor that the rest of you :)
 
I agree about the bad production and I feel the performence is kinda "dead" and not very inspired, except for Blaze who's doing some really good singing.
But there are so many great songs! An official live release from the x-factour would be the best thing ever!
 
Maturin said:
The X Factor is the second best Iron Maiden album if you ask me (only beaten by A Matter of Life and Death). The production is better than that of half of the catalogue - easily. And to tie that discussion to this thread - that album really is the beginning of the direction they have continued with through The Final Frontier - the long, clean intros, and the drawn out instrumental sections were made into the norm rather than an exception.
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You could argue it actually started on Fear of the Dark. You have several long clean intros there. ATSS, Childhood's End being the prime examples, but The Fugitive and Fear of the Dark also have a long clean part (albeit after a heavy first few bars). It's easy to overlook it because in all other aspects, FOTD and TXF feel so different. Different singer, but also very different production.

If I have an issue with TXF, it is that after Lord of the Flies, the rest of the songs feel like they all have more or less the same pace. That makes it feel quite long-winded sometimes. The Final Frontier, for example, is better in this respect. The second half of the album has only long songs, but each feels quite different.

For the new album, I'm curious to see if Maiden have managed to create something that flows well, With 90+ minutes of music, this is very important if I'm going to listen to the whole thing frequently, and not just pick particular songs.
 
Dr. Eddies Wingman said:
You could argue it actually started on Fear of the Dark. You have several long clean intros there. ATSS, Childhood's End being the prime examples, but The Fugitive and Fear of the Dark also have a long clean part (albeit after a heavy first few bars). It's easy to overlook it because in all other aspects, FOTD and TXF feel so different. Different singer, but also very different production.
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I would argue the seeds were sown with Somewhere in Time. Sure, most intros there are distorted, but it has a greater number of comparatively quiet intros than any album before. The trend continues with Seventh Son.
 
However in both SIT and SSOASS the intros and the quiet parts are very tasteful
 
Gk1 said:
However in both SIT and SSOASS the intros and the quiet parts are very tasteful
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I think the same is the case for most of them on FOTD and TXF. If there's a problem with quiet intros on TXF, it is that they are overused. I think most of them are actually good.
 
I know it's not as well liked as other albums, but I completely agree, TXF is brilliant. It's in my top three Maiden albums.

I also think TFF is fantastic. Another of my top three, actually. I liked it when it first came out and like it even more with every listen!
 
stannar_kvar said:
I agree about the bad production and I feel the performence is kinda "dead" and not very inspired, except for Blaze who's doing some really good singing.
But there are so many great songs! An official live release from the x-factour would be the best thing ever!
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I'd love to see live releases from both albums--carefully selected, of course, since Blaze's live performances were quite up and down, particularly on The X Factour. If the Gothenburg show from '95 (where the Best of the Beast "Afraid to Shoot Strangers," plus the live B-Sides came from) got a live release, that would be pretty damn awesome. I really wish they would put them out, but the cynical side of me says it'll never happen, they've pretty much swept that era under the rug.

Nice to see all the love The X Factor's getting here, though. :ok:
 
Five years later: I still do not like it. IMO, one of their worst work. It's a shame because I love many of the ideas but they are puttet together very badly.
 
When TFF came out was a total disapointment for me. After AMOLD (which i consider a masterpiece) my expectation was very high and i found the album very flat. I never listened to it again until a couple of weeks ago when i decided to give it another chance. After many playbacks i can say that some of the tracks are really good (out of the shadows, tha alchemist, starblind, the talisman) but still one of their weakest albums.
 
CriedWhenBrucieLeft said:
What would be considered a modern day classic anyway? Brigs, any you'd consider?
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If you define that as a song equal parts well-known and respected by the fan base and popular in the set list, I'd have to say it begins and ends with Wicker Man, with some love for BNW and Blood Brothers. DoD and PFD might qualify from the fan perspective, No More Lies and TCDR from the band's.
 
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