I adore The Final Frontier

[Josh]

This has to be the best written album in the modern Maiden era. Not to mention the most experimental with the guitar work when it comes to songs like Starblind and The Man Who Would Be King. I just love this record. I get it isn't prefect but on a whole, this is a great Maiden record. I'm shocked that When The Wild Wind Blows isn't a staple in concert.

 

[Yax]

It has some great moments. Aged better for me than TBOS did anyway.

 

[MindRuler]

Together with BNW and AMOLAD my 3 favourite reunion albums. Aged indeed better than TBOS, @Yax

 

[JudasMyGuide]

Out of the reunion albums I have it in second/third place with BNW - TFF has higher highs and lower lows, whereas BNW is more consistent. And thrice shall it be said - indeed it aged better than TBOS.

I just wish Bruce's vocals weren't so strained and grating.

 

[chaosapiant]

Starblind is my favorite Maiden song of all time. It’s the embodiment of 30+ years of pushing their comfort zones and Bruce’s lyrical genius. On the whole the album is absolutely fantastic and I tend to far prefer it over AMOLAD. I do think Book of Souls is the better album, but it’s like a 9.8 vs 10 for me.

 

[JudasMyGuide]

Bruce’s lyrical genius

 

[Ascendingthethrone]

I think it is a solid album. Better than BOS. I think the track listing is odd though. Too many long songs at the end. They need to be spread out.

 

[Kalata]

I think it is a solid album. Better than BOS. I think the track listing is odd though. Too many long songs at the end. They need to be spread out.

I agree about that TFF has too many long songs at the end. It's a good album though - The Talisman is a classic, WTWWB and IOA are great epics, The Alchemist is a good rocker, the title track (without the intro) is a song which I like more and more, Coming Home is an awesome sort of a ballad song, Starblind is great, Mother Of Mercy and El Dorado are not bad too and the only song which I don't like is TMWWBK.

I like TBOS album a little bit more.... to think, you can't go wrong with any of the reunion era albums.

 

[Deleted member 7164]

TFF is one of their best. A top 5 for me.

The album holds a 94% score on Google. Coincidentally, if you remove 2 to 3 peasants such as Rolling Stone or The Guardian from the metacritic certified reviews, the album's rating becomes "universally acclaimed" - by the metal press.

 

[chaosapiant]

As far as reunion albums go, I tend to think each is better than the last. BNW is my least favorite reunion album and I love the shit out of it. It just gets better from there.

For the most part, you can hear Maiden actively taking what works from previous albums and throwing out stuff they don’t care for, while pushing forward in other areas.

The exception is Book of Souls. Book of Souls brings back a lot of classic Maiden motifs while keeping the progressive nature of Final Frontier. However, I think Final Frontier definitely edges it out in terms of weird time signatures and experimentation. There are no songs as complex and layered as Starblind on Book of Souls. It’s as if they married the two things they do best: fast rocking melodies, and their progressive epic nature.

Lastly, and this could just be my untrained ear, but Final Frontier is the only Maiden studio album where I can distinctly hear all three guitars most of the time. There’s always an interesting melody or riff happening. Adrian is soloing almost constantly throughout Starblind, but it kinda comes and goes volume-wise, like a rising/falling tide.

 

[DoctorDee]

Would love to hear The Alchemist live!

 

[Travis The Dragon]

Would love to hear The Alchemist live!

I'd give anything for this! However, because of all the quick changes and 5 different vocal parts all in a row, it might be a bit too much of a challenge live.

 

[Whooten]

I also agree that TFF has held up quite well. In the long periods between albums I often wonder about what could have been and how the years and years that stretch on between releases could have been made more bearable. In my revisionist dream scenario, TFF would have been originally released as an 8-song album more in the format (length) of 80s classics like Somewhere in Time.

Side A: Satellite 15/The Final Frontier/El Dorado/The Talisman
Side B: Mother of Mercy/The Alchemist/Starblind/When the Wild Wind Blows

Then to make it completely mind-blowing, Maiden play Coming Home on the second leg of the tour and release the Coming Home EP
Side A: Coming Home (studio)/Isle of Avalon/The Man Who Would Be King
Side B: Coming Home (live)/These Colours Don't Run* (live)/The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg* (live)

* or any of the songs that were played on the first leg, but not on En Vivo.

This way you get a full cracking good album, time to digest it and then three more songs (2 epics!) 18-24 months later to help get you through until the next album.

 

[Saapanael]

I like the experimentation and bold choices on TFF. It's an exotic Maiden album, and it's quite on par with BNW and AMOLAD for me.

 

[chaosapiant]

I also agree that TFF has held up quite well. In the long periods between albums I often wonder about what could have been and how the years and years that stretch on between releases could have been made more bearable. In my revisionist dream scenario, TFF would have been originally released as an 8-song album more in the format (length) of 80s classics like Somewhere in Time.

Side A: Satellite 15/The Final Frontier/El Dorado/The Talisman
Side B: Mother of Mercy/The Alchemist/Starblind/When the Wild Wind Blows

Then to make it completely mind-blowing, Maiden play Coming Home on the second leg of the tour and release the Coming Home EP
Side A: Coming Home (studio)/Isle of Avalon/The Man Who Would Be King
Side B: Coming Home (live)/These Colours Don't Run* (live)/The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg* (live)

* or any of the songs that were played on the first leg, but not on En Vivo.

This way you get a full cracking good album, time to digest it and then three more songs (2 epics!) 18-24 months later to help get you through until the next album.

That's like a 45 minute EP.

 

[Whooten]

That's like a 45 minute EP.

The E stands for extended

 

[THESEVENTHMARINER]

It's probably my favourite. When the Wild Wind Blows was not only the first Maiden song I heard, but it was the first metal song I had properly heard and enjoyed. I had just turned 13 in 2011, and it just blew my mind. I can trace my love of Iron Maiden and metal back to that song and the album in general.

I don't listen to it that much nowadays, but when I do, I feel like that 13 year old all over again. It's criminal that it's joined Somewhere in Time and No Prayer in the forgotten albums bin when it comes to live performances.

 

[Fabio Maiden]

My personal favourite after Somewhere In Time, and maybe right after / on the same level of Brave New World. If BNW is the great comeback's solid work, SIT and TFF are the ones where Maiden experimented the most, where they let their creativity flow. Or, at least, where they experimented in a way that fully suits my music taste. Set aside the timeless, unmatchable masterpiece that SIT is, TFF has got all that Maiden of the new era is about, to me. Songs like Starblind and The Man Who Would Be King are a unicum in their catalogue.
To me, just those two middle-breaks of those two songs are enough to make the album the most interesting, chilling and emotional record they have written since BNW, or probably even since SSOASS. Not to mention Coming Home, the best ballad they'ever written. There's something about TFF that only the ones who adore it can understand and fully get. I keep reading comments and judgements on the web on how this is Maiden's worst record ever along with Virtual XI. And all I can do is smiling about it. I couldn't care less, since the album reached me in a way that is difficult to even put into words. There's a special room in Maiden's Heaven, waiting for all of us TFF lovers.
Greetings from Italy.

 

[Maturin]

I didn't adore it directly when I came out, but a year or so in, I did and have since. It's diverse and has some true highs and lows. Which works for it in the long run, I'd argue. There's a song there for every mood (which isn't true with its predecessor which is mostly one-mood, though more consistent both songwriting and performance-wise). Definitely my favourite Iron Maiden-album, followed by The X Factor and possibly A Matter of Life and Death. Brave New World is great... but that's more due to the impact of its excellent production than the songs themselves... Which in itself has begun to feel quite dated ("Fallen Angel" and "The Nomad" are stinkers).

 

[Ascendingthethrone]

I didn't adore it directly when I came out, but a year or so in, I did and have since. It's diverse and has some true highs and lows. Which works for it in the long run, I'd argue. There's a song there for every mood (which isn't true with its predecessor which is mostly one-mood, though more consistent both songwriting and performance-wise). Definitely my favourite Iron Maiden-album, followed by The X Factor and possibly A Matter of Life and Death. Brave New World is great... but that's more due to the impact of its excellent production than the songs themselves... Which in itself has begun to feel quite dated ("Fallen Angel" and "The Nomad" are stinkers).

Brave New World is a bit like Californication by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. A decent album with some really strong songs. However like Californication, it is a ‘comeback’ album so most people swoon over it. As a result the album very rarely gets criticised by fans or the press.