Iron Maiden - The Final Frontier

\r\nIRON MAIDEN.Two words which are causing awe to every metalhead who has respect for the roots of his beloved music. IRON MAIDEN in Greek refers to the medieval torture device, which nowadays still "tortures" our ears. Fifteenth album for the beloved veteran British, which even if it is rumoured to be their last one, ou can’t describe it as "least". It’s true that this group has been "accused" several times by the fans, for gettin Paul Di’Anno "fired" and replacing him by the, not so famous, singer of Samson , for becomming "soft", using keyboards in their albums, for replacing the "air Raid Siren" with the singer of Wolfsbane and even when they rehired their previous one for “money purposes” (as if they were in need)!!If the results are "Number of The Beast" which has been an influence for all the metal universe,"Somewhere In Time" and " Seventh Son of A Seventh Son" which are the roots and the beginning of the so-called "Progressive Metal", the dark "The X-factor" and the briliant “come back” of "Brave New World" respectively , I just bow before them and blame them for the "indoctrination" of thousands of people to metal music. \r\n

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\r\nEnough with the introductions and lets see what has "The Final Frontier" to offer nowadays. Starting with "Satellite 15...The Final Frontier" I admit that the intro was a surprise to me. Atmospheric, futuristic and ideal to start with, at the same time, with a desperate tone and groovy riffs. Next (and first to be officially free for downloading) "El Dorado". Triplet-feeling riff and a very melodic bridge combine another interesting song. In answer to every "Devil’s Advocate", who has misjudged these two songs, which were the first to be listened by the public, I would say that the fact that they reveal the "less interesting" (if we can use such a sentence for an Iron Maiden song),tend to be a “tradition”. For example "Holy Smoke" of the much misunderstood "No Prayer...", "The Angel and The Gambler", "The Wickerman" etc. As a proof of my saying I introduce you to the incredible "Mother Of Mercy" with its great chorus and the "slow" "Coming Home", with Bruce’s performance and the melodic guitar-leads, that makes your thoughts travel to other galaxies,making the song itself the first "huge" moment of the album. Next to come "The Alchemist" with the twin-guitar-maiden-style to make their first appearance! "Isle Of Avalon" which follows, with the "Somewhere In Time" style intro and the bass playing the main role, is the longest composition so far, with almost psychedelic (!) sounds at parts!! "Starblind" and "The Talisman" are not only my favourite tracks, but also the most powerful ones. The first with its clever rhythmic patterns, and the catchy chorus, travels you through time and space, while the second, not even has inspired changes and great melodies, but also another great chorus that makes it like a "modern diamond" to me. The “Man Who Would Be King” begins slowly and with the presence of unprecedented elements, comes to an unexpected outro which leads to "When The Wild Wind Blows". By seeing the duration of the song and the name STEVE HARRIS next to it , you have to know what is about to listen, that’s nothing less than an EPIC song.It’s like a trademark, like a curse, but you have to just sit back,open the ears of your soul and mind and listen to it.So simple!! Starting with a theme based on (what other) bass, continues with the voice of Bruce Almighty and guitar melodies that lead to, sometimes spooky and other times full of hope atmospheres, ending with the "catharsis" of the chorus and closing this release. \r\n

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\r\nTo sum things up, we deal with a more introvert and difficult (than usually takes for an IRON MAIDEN) to undestand cd, that needs a few spins to digest, but inspired by all means and even if it sounds funny, with new elements,for the band! About my rating, as I keep telling my chief editors and everybody who asks me about, I keep on saying:" 80% is for a good record, 85% is for a great record and the ones who will become (in my opinion) "Monuments" get 90%. Only WASP and IRON MAIDEN gets a higher rating than 90%,so...
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\r\nRATING: 95%
\r\nJohny "LOVE Machine" Litinakis
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\r\nFinal Frontier in my opinion is an album that has little similarity to the albums we listened to back in the 80s when the band was starting out. And in my opinion this is a natural result to the fact none of the members in the band is no longer young as they were back then. Take a look at yourself and ask yourselves, are you the same as you were 2 years ago, 5 years ago, or 10? Therefore it is irrational to expect the members of IRON MAIDEN to be the same 35 years after they formed the band. I love all their classics as I imagine most of you reading this review do but I also like their more recent releases, I have followed them through their evolution and like what I listen to.
\r\nI liked Final Frontier and I am sure that I will grow to like it more as time passes and I listen to it more. Like when I first listened to El Dorado when IRON MAIDEN gave it as a free download. Especially the songs Starblind, Talisman and the epilogue of the album When The Wild Wind Blows.  If I had to answer now I would say I will never love any of the new songs the way I love Wasted Years, Judas Be My Guide, Fear Of The Dark, Only The Good Die Young because these songs have been the soundtrack of my adolescence but then again maybe fresh memories get attached to the Final Frontier tracks and they make equally memorable and emotionally charged songs. Like I always say, time will tell and in this case time is what you have to give in order to decide whether you like the album or not. Don’t be fast in your decision as it’s not an album you grasp by the first time you listen to it. Listen to it more than once and then decide. \r\n

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\r\nRATING: 85%
\r\nHellena Mihailidou
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\r\nFirst off, when it comes to a new album the band doesn’t matter to me at all. In fact, the more I like the band, the more I criticize its work.
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\r\n“Final Frontier” is a challenge to me; IRON MAIDEN is the band that I was listening to since I was a teenage and grew up with, spending countless hours listening to their songs for fifteen years up to date. It is a band that I love and I respect because of their work, their devotion and their attitude, in general. Our “relationship” had its highs and lows throughout the years, but when the inspiration would follow the “odd” times, it would work out again and become stronger as time was passing by. Well, keeping a distance from such a lifetime- relationship and see things from an objective point of view can be a real pain in the a$$.
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\r\nThe brand new studio IRON MAIDEN album begins with spacey/psychedelic sounds that follow the track of “Satellite 15”, before it turns to “Final Frontier”. What follows the futuristic intro is what we call “Maiden”-like. Oh, yes it smells like Maiden.. All the “classical:, typical elements of their music are here, in these ten songs. What appealed to me the most? The imposing “Isle of Avalon”, which has something from the beauty of “The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner” and the feeling of the album “Somewhere In Time”, the stunning- especially after the change on 6.42- “When the Wild Wind Blows”, my so beloved bass lines from the expert Steve Harris, who always mesmerizes me, the colours and the images that Adrian Smith creates with his solos, the chemistry between the melodies and the riffs, the unique way in which the compositions are getting dark on some spots, the atmosphere and the lyricism, the strange trippy passages, which are new elements, never used in the past before from IRON MAIDEN, and can be found on “The Man Who would be King” too, apart from the intro track. I hope they will use them in the future too, because I really like the whole idea. “Coming Home” gave me shivers. It’s brilliant; I really want to listen to see/listen the band performing it live.
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\r\nFF needs time, it’ not a simple, nor a direct album. Maybe at the end of the first listening none of the songs will stick to your mind. The same happened to me. However, having realized that IRON MAIDEN of the 00’s and later on have a different perspective on music, which sometimes is very difficult for the listener to comprehend right from the beginning, I listened to it more than twice in order to pay attention to the album not 100% but 1000%. Thankfully, I did that.
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\r\nRATING: 80%
\r\nNicoleta Sarantou \r\n

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\r\nAnother Album for Iron Maiden and this time under the title “Final Frontier”, but the subject here is that I knew what I was about to listen , before ever push the ‘play’ button, and during the listening session I found my self being absolutely right. The Album musically is a classic example of the Maiden sound after 2000 without that meaning that the albums after “Brave New World” are not at least descent albums. So F.F. is the successor of “A Matter Of Life And Death”, but my impression is that the F.F. album lacks inspiration in comparison with the previous three albums, but without being boring or something, After all I could never say  a bad word for an album that features Bruce Dickinson, some people for me are already beyond any comparison for me. The only thing certain is that tracks like “Mother Of Mercy”, “Alchemist”, “When the Wild Wind Blows” are the strong features of Final Frontier. In conclusion let’s see what time will tell about this album, as for me I am waiting for the limited double picture disc edition of the album…Up The Irons!
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\r\nRATING: 75%
\r\nLampros “Witchfynder” Tennes
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