The Final Frontier Reviews Thread

Private Benjamin Breeg said:
Not to sound like a gushing fanboy here, but after about 9 listens now I can't even isolate a favorite song anymore, nor can I a least favorite....(at the risk of getting a sheep label).  Being honest here.  On AMOLAD I knew I liked The Pilgrim the least -- though I enjoy that song -- and it's still my least favorite.  But damn it to hell, every time I listen a favorite gets trumped.  It's a good problem to have as a fan, I must say!
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Agree 100%.  Only weak one for me right now is Man Who Would Be King
 
Forostar said:
No punch pulled? Not a single negative note and still an 8?
I never understand grades when they don't correspond with the reviews.
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Well, they have their own rating system (it's on the right hand side near the bottom).  8 is excellent; to get above is 9 (Very nearly perfect) or 10 (the best of the best).  I like it.  Giving everything that's excellent a 10 degrades the value of getting one.
 
GuineaPig said:
Well, they have their own rating system (it's on the right hand side near the bottom).  8 is excellent; to get above is 9 (Very nearly perfect) or 10 (the best of the best).  I like it.  Giving everything that's excellent a 10 degrades the value of getting one.
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I couldn't agree with you more GuineaPig! People are throwing around tens like they are a dime a dozen.
 
I agree, even though I've certainly been guilty of it myself at times.
I'm trying to be tough in my ratings on the current daily poll — a six is a good song, a 10 is a rare song.
It's tough not to get carried away though.
 
This album - very much thankfully - has nothing to do with AMOLAD! The only riff I found similar to past albums is a riff on Isle Of Avalon which is exactly like Paschendale's main riff after the morse code pattern, which is the intro of the song, too.
 
GuineaPig said:
Well, they have their own rating system (it's on the right hand side near the bottom).  8 is excellent; to get above is 9 (Very nearly perfect) or 10 (the best of the best).  I like it.  Giving everything that's excellent a 10 degrades the value of getting one.
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But the review was super positive. All punches pulled. That should be higher than an 8. You give an 8 when there's something not right.
 
After days and days of listening ,sadly i stil dont like most of the album.I like the final frontier,El dorado,Comming Home and...not at the same level The alchemist and The talisman.

And i have to make a Special commentary of the song "when the wind blows wild".First i didnt like it,but because of the lyrics,the ambient,the music and the vibe,this song will be placed in the heavens of classics for me.What a amazing song,very different than the classic Steves classics.Awesome.
 
Here's the review of allmusic, an all time reference site of mine, cause they are quite objective & cool, 3 1/2 out of 5

Review by Eduardo Rivadavia

When Iron Maiden's classic lineup famously reunited in the year 2000, their first new album, the quite excellent Brave New World, neatly reconnected both musicians and fans with the band's heritage, while simultaneously promising a prosperous future still to come. However, their next two efforts didn't fare quite as well, and whether Maiden was choosing to repeat the same moves without as much imagination or consistency on 2003's Dance of Death, or becoming bogged down in tiresome prog rock excess on 2006's desultory A Matter of Life and Death, it seemed that neither playing it safe nor taking risks was a surefire recipe for success anymore. And so the heavy metal icons took an extra year -- for them, a record-breaking four -- to work on their fourth post-reunion opus, and 15th career studio album overall, 2010's The Final Frontier, which, like many of their original mid-'80s classics, was recorded at legendary Compass Point Studios in the Bahamas, and aimed to reestablish an ideal balance of past and future, familiarity and freshness, complexity and immediacy. By and large, this is accomplished, and we're not just saying that because of the futuristic themes spread across these songs, either -- nor the science fiction imagery used throughout the album's artwork, including the latest metamorphosis of the band's inseparable mascot, Eddie, this time into a hulking, green alien predator. No, there really is an unquestionable freshness about the futuristic themes and novel sonics explored by the intriguing percussive warm-up, "Satellite 15," which leads straight into the anthemic, arena-friendly opening title track; the muscularly riffed "Mother of Mercy," which recalls Bruce Dickinson's better mid-'90s solo efforts; and the remarkable "Coming Home," which is easily Iron Maiden's most convincingly executed semi-ballad since Fear of the Dark's "Wasting Love," and probably better to boot. The album's first half is rounded out by the surprisingly complex and cerebral first single "El Dorado," which was clearly written with "2 Minutes to Midnight" as a template (but isn't that good), before finally striking out with the efficient but ultimately somewhat forgettable speedster "The Alchemist," yet, all in all, this is a very impressive start. Too bad The Final Frontier's second half doesn't hold up so well, being stacked in worrisome fashion with five straight, longish compositions ranging from eight to eleven minutes in length. Even by Maiden standards, this is a tall order for fans to cope with (again!), and, sure enough, top marks are only deserved by the evocative Arthurian fantasy "Isle of Avalon," which is first out of the gate and captures all of the majesty and power you'd expect of an Iron Maiden epic, despite being no "Hallowed Be Thy Name" or "Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner" -- a "Paschendale," maybe. The remaining five-song monoliths produce only isolated moments of excellence and, amazingly, all begin in suspiciously similar fashion: via quietly plucked, déjà vu-inducing melodies framed by synthesizers before heading off on their individual, long-winded journeys. The "moments" include a strikingly aggressive riff sequence and reminisces of Somewhere in Time contained on "Starblind," and the vaguely psychedelic harmonies nestled somewhere deep within "The Man Who Would Be King," whereas "The Talisman" and Gaelic-inspired "When the Wild Wind Blows" merely recycle spare parts, for the most part, cherry-picked and reassembled from across the Maiden canon. This late dip in quality at the mercy of the band's more-is-more philosophy definitely leaves one pining for the days when heavier, punchier, and just plain shorter songs held equal appeal for Steve Harris and company; but, in good ways and bad ways, by hook or by crook, The Final Frontier still brings Iron Maiden closer to their aesthetic legacy and triumphant year 2000 rebirth than its two predecessors. And, at this stage in their career, Iron Maiden knows that nothing is more important than giving fans -- of all stripes -- what they want and expect. Why mess with a winning team, after all? [The Final Frontier's special -- aka "Mission" -- Edition was delivered with bonus content in a deluxe package outfitted to resemble a spaceship porthole.]

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=am ... foxzedldje
 
Forostar said:
But the review was super positive. All punches pulled. That should be higher than an 8. You give an 8 when there's something not right.
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Not by their standard.  To be above 8 is to be more than just excellent; they have to be very near perfect.  It has to be extremely innovative, or culturally significant, or you get the picture...  To get above an 8, the reviewer should be going into histrionics over how good it is.  An 8 is a very good score (rightfully) on this site; for one has to have flexibility with scores.

The reviewer may have fault with some minor things (for example, he mentions that "The Talisman" is very cliché) but they're inconsequential to the overall review.  The point is, albums don't automatically start at a 10, and then lose points for faults.  An album, or a movie, or any work of art, has to go above and beyond to get there imo.
 
I'd go with GuineaPig here, though 8 does intuitively seem low.  The extreme grades (both good and bad) should be hard to reach, so when something truly unique or amazing comes along, it stands out.  I would have given TFF a 9 on their scale, though.

This issue sort of reminds me about my granddad, really.  He used to say that "10 belongs to God" in grading.  I don't agree with this literally, but perhaps I do metaphorically.
 
Travis_AKA_fonzbear2000 said:
The Blabbermouth review was just posted: http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbe ... iewID=2060 Everyone, register and give it a 10! :D
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Was enjoying this review until I got to this line:

"We get all the way to "Starblind" before we find a song that's less than awesome, and even it's not terrible - just a bit bland, especially given the high quality of the tracks that have come before it."

:blink:

That's like saying Hallowed Be Thy Name is the low point of NoTB...
And this line: "The Final Frontier" is better than "Brave New World".

Curious what LC thinks of that  :bigsmile:
 
I just listened to The Final Frontier and then AMOLAD back to back to re-affirm my thinking about where Final Frontier ranks among the "reunion" albums.   IMHO, nothing touches AMOLAD yet.   TFF is a GREAT album, especially considering Starblind and Isle of Avalon, not to mention Mother Of Mercy.  But, as a body of work, AMOLAD is just a masterpiece.  Directly comparing the "throwback" songs "The Alchemist" and "The Pilgrim" (both Janick songs ? )  Pilgrim wins in my opinion.  And, as far as Epics, nothing on TFF surpasses what is on AMOLAD, even WTWWB.  I think The Legacy is better, if only because of the mostly wasted 3:40 of repetitive verse in WTWWB.  Ballads?  Yea, Coming Home is MUCH better than Out of the shadows...and Starblind is probably in the running for the top 5 all-time Maiden songs EVER. But, even though I LOVE El Dorado, as far as "singles" ( or first songs released before album comes out ) Breeg is better than El Dorado. So,  my ranking is still this...

1.  AMOLAD
2.  BNW
3  TFF
4. DOD

Special Mention for DOD....Paschendale is the best Maiden song EVER.
 
The Final Frontier is not only better than Brave New World, it surpassed even Dance Of Death. The guy who said Starblind is bland must have serious auditive problems, this song alone is better than the whole of AMOLAD.
 
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