The Final Frontier

On August 17th, 2010, the British heavy metal band Iron Maiden released their 15th album, The Final Frontier. For this review, I'm going to go track by track on the album and go into each song. Here's some general information about the album. It is 76 minutes long, which makes it Maiden's longest album ever, 2006's A Matter of Life and Death is the second longest which is 71 minutes long. I myself have been waiting for this album to come out for a long time, and i really hope it isn't their final album, which might be foreshadowed by the album cover. But i don't think that is a possibility, because as long as Steve Harris is alive and well, there will always be an Iron Maiden. Now to the review.

1. Satellite 15.....The Final Frontier

This song is one of those songs that has two parts to it, like Megadeth's Holy Wars......The Punishment Due. The first half starts off with Nicko McBrains drumming and the distortion of guitars. Some people might hate the first half of the song, but personally i love it. Around the 4:45 mark on the song, The Final Frontier starts, which sounds like a Maiden classic. Anyone going to see Maiden in the future should expect them to start off concerts with this song. The only gripe I have about the song is that the chorus is just Bruce Dickinson singing The Final Frontier, but that is a very minor problem with the song.

2. El Dorado

El Dorado starts off with a jam of sorts, then goes into the heavy gallop that Iron Maiden always has on their songs. It has a great chorus and the solo's are great on the song. It is one of the heavier songs on the album which is good, because without it the album would definately be worse. Bruce sings the crap out of this song, and seeing it live makes it that much better, expect to be seeing this in Maiden setlists for the foreseeable future. I just don't understand how El Dorado goes with a space themed album, but most of the other songs don't go along with it either.

3. Mother of Mercy

This is a Maiden classic. Period. This is the best song off this album, I hate to say this, but i don't think that Iron Maiden will be playing any of the other songs off this album live, these first three are the most concert worthy and they are the most mainstream sounding. But the song starts off with some beautiful guitar, they gets heavy, this song sounds like another of their epic songs like Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Stranger In a Strange Land. I say this a lot about Iron Maiden, but Bruce sings his heart out on this song, and the whole album.

4. Coming Home

You can tell that Bruce Dickinson had something to do with the writing of this song, it's about coming home from a flight. Now if you don't know, Bruce Dickinson is a trained pilot, and it's easy to tell this is about him. This is the only real ballad of the album(which is good, ballads most of the time suck), it's quite heavy for a ballad, so i give it a reccomendation.

5. The Alchemist

Right after the somewhat slow ballad, is a song that sounds like it could fit on an album like Piece of Mind or Powerslave. It has the same fast catchy quality of those two albums song's. It sounds great and is about some guy that is a sailor and an alchemist. I really like this song, as i love classic Maiden. The guitar is great and doesn't sound crappy. The lyrics really flow together also.

6. Isle of Avalon

Now starts the epic parts of the album, the shortest song from now on is, Starblind which is 7:46 long. Isle of Avalon is another of the classic songs off the album, it sounds like it could fit in on Dance of Death or A Matter of Life and Death. It's got the same epic quality that songs like Paschendale and The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg have. The chorus is absolutely awesome and the solo after the first chorus is great, then the prog rockish breakdown after the solo is unlike Iron Maiden, but I absolutely love it. Fans of Rush or any prog rock band should love this song.

7. Starblind

The beginning of the song sounds almost dreamlike or spacelike. The riff after the opening lines is awesome, and Bruce is a god on this song. It sounds like nothing i've heard before from Maiden, the chorus is great, and the guitar work from Adrian Smith, Janick Gers, and Dave Murray are great on this song. Another of the great songs off this album.

8. The Talisman

Starting off with a folky type of guitar at the beginning, it goes from soft to dark and brooding, despite being 9 minutes long, this song goes by fast, Bruce bellows out the vocals. It explodes after the beginning with a riff that sounds like it should be on A Matter of Life and Death, the guitar work is really great on this song. The song is one of the faster songs on the album, but it's still 9 minutes long. Might i mention the drumming of Nicko McBrain, which is superb, he is still one of the best in Metal.

9. The Man Who Would Be King

I hate to say it about this awesome song, but it is my least favorite on the album. That's not saying that the song is bad, it's not my favorite on the album. After the slow, beautiful opening, it goes into doom sounding chords and then goes into the great chorus and solo's for the songs. It's not really what i expected after the beginning, but it's still a very good song nonetheless.

10. When The Wild Wind Blows

This is the most beautiful song that Iron Maiden has ever written. It's a disaster/end of the world epic, but it's not as dark as some would expect, i really have to say that i like this song more than the darker heavier songs on the album. Bruce Dickinson shows his great vocal range especially near the end of the song. It's sort of depressing but so beautiful at the same time. It's not about the end of the world itself, but the end of the human race. It's definately my favorite song off the album, which might surprise people. This will be a song that i really hope that they play live.


Verdict: I think that this is the best album that Maiden has written since Seventh Son of a Seventh Son(1988). That's saying a lot. It's so musically diverse, and there is a song for everyone on the album. For the first time, there is not a bad song on this album. Most Maiden albums have at least 1 bad filler song, this album doesn't have any of that. I personally hope that they do what they did with A Matter of Life and Death in 2006 and play the whole album live in order, it's that good. I have no problem giving this a reccommendation to anyone. To clarify, I said that Mother of Mercy is the best song off the album, it is but it's not my favorite.

10/10 perfect