Not sure. My crappy English fails me here. What do you mean by "lyrics proper"?
No, judging by that quote, I have really failed to make my point.
I apologise for the unwarranted sarcasm used earlier, I just thought the parody would be amusing. But I just noticed that Zare had done this sort of thing so much better in the thread Foro linked to. So, I'm going to expand on my thoughts on this now.
I think that these similarities are random observations that are in most cases purely coincidental, and have more to do with selective perception than any actual relations between the two albums. I could make any number of similar observations with any two albums from Maiden's discography. What bothers me is that I actually think that making comparisons on the content of individual albums and songs can be a highly interesting and rewarding tasks, if they actually lead to something and have actual meaning. But what has been presented here and in the thread Foro linked to are mostly random facts and numbers that are probably pure chance and really don't say anything. For example, what significance do the number of words in the album title or the fonts used in the booklet have? Or the fact that the second track has been released as a single, that is also true for most other albums, actually. I don't see how such things imply any sort of special relation between these two particular albums. Even some similarities in the content are really random: Don't Maiden have other songs which end with the death of the character? Apart from the mentioned elements,
Alexander and
Wild Wind are completely different songs altogether.
Of course, a number of observations are legit and interesting. For instance, it can't be denied that both albums have science fiction references. Then again,
Brave New World and
Virtual XI have those too, so I'd rather consider this one of Maiden's long-running themes. The Eddies on the
Somewhere in Time and
Final Frontier Covers really don't look anything alike (nor is the setting in any way similar), and the
Final Frontier Eddie looks a lot more like the one from
Virtual XI or
Fear of the Dark. I could, for instance, see a lot of similarities between
Final Frontier and
Fear of the Dark: The Eddie on the cover is in both cases a significant departure from any preceding depictions. Both albums have a song about greed and corruption (and if you want random facts, both these songs have incidentally been released as the first single).
Afraid to Shoot Strangers and
Mother of Mercy are very similar in the way they explore the theme of war. I think those are legit things to think about and discuss - but when such observations are made, you should think about their true significance and if it's worth pursuing this path further. I personally don't really think the songs
Caught Somewhere in Time and
The Final Frontier have very much in common. Yeah, they have comparatively odd intros, and, well, somehow deal with time, but I think that they are about completely different things.
Caught Somewhere in Time has a lot more to do, in my eyes, with
Moonchild, while
Final Frontier is more akin to
Different World and
Wildest Dreams.
Then again, a few peculiarities are certainly worth investigating. For instance, the wind blowing in the intro to
Alexander and
Wild Wind. I don't think this ties the two songs together in any way, but it could be interesting to examine the device of the wind blowing in both cases. What effect does it have, and is it different in both cases? If so, why?
You see, I'm not trying to deny that there are similar themes with
Somewhere in Time and
Final Frontier (
Wasted Years and
Coming Home are an interesting pair of songs, as has been noted by you guys), I just don't see how these two albums are in any way 'related' to each other more than any other two Maiden albums are. I think it would be a very worthwhile excercise to follow individual themes throughout all of Maiden's releases rather than forcibly tie two random albums together just because they are your favourite ones or because there is one particular eye-catching similarity. E.g., trace the idea of the struggle of good against evil in the Maiden discography. How does the perception change over time? What would that say about the time the songs were written in or the mindset of the song writer? Or how about the character of the devil? There are certain differences between the way he appears in Seventh Son and, say, Lord of Light, aren't there?
But really, that's just my personal opinion: If you guys think these two albums should be tied together and think you can prove that, godspeed to you.
