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Iron Maiden - The Final Frontier



7.3 | 1403 votes |
Release date: 16 August 2010
Style: Heavy metal

Owners:

1291 have it
226 want it
2 trade it


01. Satellite 15... The Final Frontier
02. El Dorado
03. Mother Of Mercy
04. Coming Home
05. The Alchemist
06. Isle Of Avalon
07. Starblind
08. The Talisman
09. The Man Who Would Be King
10. When The Wild Wind Blows

Featured in "Getting Into: Iron Maiden"

Additional info
Produced by Kevin Shirley.
Co-produced by Steve Harris.
Mixed by Kevin 'Caveman' Shirley.
Recorded at Compass Point Studios, Nassau, Bahamas.
Engineer: Jared Kvitka.
Studio Technician: Terry Manning.
Additional recording and mix at The Cave, Malibu, CA.
Studio Technician: Brent Spear.
Assistant: James McCullagh.
SSL Duality Technician: Philip Scholes.
Mastered by Bob Ludwig at Gateway Mastering, Portland, ME.

Art Direction & Design by Peacock (Stuart Crouch, Andrew Yap, Anthony Dry, Rob Wallis).
Cover Illustration, working drawings and sketches by Melvyn Grant.
Photograph by John McMurtrie.
Background images pages 4/5 and 8/9 by Darkside Animations, background image pages 10/11 by Hangman.

Staff review by
Daniell
Rating:
7.2
Iron Maiden have had ups and downs, but they consistently stuck to their unique style. 2006's A Matter of Life and Death saw a serious departure from that style towards a darker, more progressive sound - it was only a partial success. Unfortunately, Steve Harris and Co. felt encouraged, and decided to go further in their departures. The first 4 songs on The Final Frontier rank among the worst this band has ever committed and most of the time sound nothing like the Iron Maiden everyone knows. Departure from style my ass. If they wanted to depart again, the previous album was the way to do it.

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published 16.08.2010 | Comments (255)

Guest review by
Death To Posers
Rating:
9.5
It seems like it's become trendy to dislike any music that becomes even somewhat mainstream. I am by no means bitter; I'm guilty of this prejudice quite often. So, when I saw the album votes go the way they did for The Final Frontier I wasn't shocked. But, in all honesty, I thought this album was pretty hard! This is one of Maiden's most successful albums to date and for a damn good reason. While it does sound different from anything they've done before, that doesn't make it worse. Do you really want three albums that sound exactly like Brave New World?

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published 18.01.2011 | Comments (46)

Guest review by
omne metallum
Rating:
6.6
An album that skirts the title of worst album in Iron Maiden discography by fortune of existing in a world where Dance of Death exists, The Final Frontier is a well-intentioned album that seems stuck on autopilot for the most of its running time, bravely going where the band had not gone before... mediocrity. If you want a quick and concise description of this album, think "The Angel And The Gambler" in seven new guises!

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published 15.04.2020 | Comments (2)

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Comments page 16 / 16

Comments: 471   Visited by: 2530 users
13.07.2015 - 22:14
Rating: 9
Hex_Omega
Gem Seeker
Written by Bad English on 13.07.2015 at 21:49

just question because I have only once and it sucked, tried 2 times and cant

Looks like its a love it or hate it album. I love it.
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14.07.2015 - 02:37
Marcel Hubregtse
Grumpy Old Fuck
Still a totally wothless shitty album for me.
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Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal

Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight
Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.)
05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996

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14.07.2015 - 11:16
Rating: 9
Hex_Omega
Gem Seeker
Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 14.07.2015 at 02:37

Still a totally wothless shitty album for me.

You really can't fell the epicness of songs like this one?

And that god damn bass 'n' solo in 4:31! prog-orgasmic
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15.07.2015 - 10:49
Rating: 9
Hex_Omega
Gem Seeker
Written by deadone on 15.07.2015 at 02:26

Actually I don't find any of the songs on this album to be epic ala Rhyme Of The Ancient Mariner or Mother Russia or Paschendale or even Brighter Than A Thousand Suns.

They're mainly just long songs.

Mother Russia is far from being epic IMO. Paschendale is overrated a bit. 'Rhyme...' and 'Brighter...' are both great and epic, just like 'Isle Of Avalon'.
The worst thing about The Final Frontier is IMO the single, 'El Dorado' is nothing special. And one more thing -> Production of this album is great and better than production of last two albums. I have completely no idea why some people complain about it.
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15.07.2015 - 20:19
Rating: 9
Vikcen
Metálico
Written by Hex_Omega on 15.07.2015 at 10:49


...
The worst thing about The Final Frontier is IMO the single, 'El Dorado' is nothing special.
...


The intro Satellite 15 is the worst thing. El Dorado was the first song i listened, and i said yes, i will buy this album. I don't have the previous two discs from them, are soulless, precisely what has this last record: soul and feeling.
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10.09.2015 - 19:53
Rating: 10
xxcorpseflowerxx

Starblind is a wicked tune!!!
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06.06.2016 - 22:08
Rating: 6
majormalfunction

One of the biggest disappointments in music for my part. I bought it on the release day and now 6 years later it's still probably Maidens worst album. The production is dry and boring and Bruce often strain his voice to the point that it becomes annoying. The first 6 tracks are just plain boring (Isle of Avalon is the best of the bunch and Mother of Mercy could have been good but that chorus is just too much), at many times in these songs it gives a feeling of lazy songwriting, there's just too much stuff here that doesn't hold up on a Maiden album. Luckily the second half of the album is far better, in fact both Starblind and When The Wind Blows are excellent Maiden tunes (both with incredible lyrics). The Talisman is also a pretty nice tune.
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Everything's twice as bright with money in your hands
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28.10.2016 - 15:19
Rating: 5
Joppe
Steelemeister
Shortly put: a boring album. I don't quite see why the band (or Harris) wanted to go for these longer type of albums, in this case 75+ minutes, which is clearly too much. The album is saved pretty much only by "WtWWB".
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My vision is augmented
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29.10.2016 - 13:26
Rating: 8
tominator
At best deranged
An album that is a bit like Killers (I know that won't be a popular opinion) for me. Half the songs on the album don't connect with me. And the other half are really good songs imo.

I really like: Mother Of Mercy, Starblind, Isle Of Avalon, The Talisman, The Man Who Would Be King and When The Wild Wind Blows.

However there are also some of their weakest 2000s tracks on this album. The opener is probably my least favourite 2000s IM song, The Alchemist is just "meh", El Dorado has some cool riffs but overall it's just an okay song imo and Coming Home... well I don't feel anything while listening to that song so I would say it's a disappointing song.

Would probably get a 7.8/10 from me.
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24.03.2017 - 20:23
Bad English
Tage Westerlund
Just re listened second time, in whole life, and 1th time in full. I have no opinion anymore
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Life is to short for LOVE, there is many great things to do online !!!

Stormtroopers of Death - ''Speak English or Die''
apos;'
[image]
I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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29.03.2017 - 00:18
Rating: 9
Toxik

Am I the only one who absolutely loves this album?
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29.03.2017 - 01:59
Rating: 8
tominator
At best deranged
Written by Toxik on 29.03.2017 at 00:18

Am I the only one who absolutely loves this album?


Nah, I like this album as well. The only songs I'm not really a fan of are the opening track and The Alchemist. El Dorado and Coming Home are okay songs. The rest I love. I really love songs like: Mother Of Mercy, Starblind, The Talisman and When The Wild Wind Blows,... In fact I find Starblind to be one of their best songs of the 2000s era (only Paschendale, Empire Of the Clouds and Ghost Of The Navigator would be ranked higher).

I mean 5:03 - 5:40 That's just some fantastic guitar work right there.
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29.03.2017 - 17:22
Rating: 9
Toxik

Written by tominator on 29.03.2017 at 01:59

Written by Toxik on 29.03.2017 at 00:18

Am I the only one who absolutely loves this album?


Nah, I like this album as well. The only songs I'm not really a fan of are the opening track and The Alchemist. El Dorado and Coming Home are okay songs. The rest I love. I really love songs like: Mother Of Mercy, Starblind, The Talisman and When The Wild Wind Blows,... In fact I find Starblind to be one of their best songs of the 2000s era (only Paschendale, Empire Of the Clouds and Ghost Of The Navigator would be ranked higher).

I mean 5:03 - 5:40 That's just some fantastic guitar work right there.


Actually I really like the whole Satellite 15 thing altough I do understand why people hate it... Besides that El Dorado isn't really a masterpiece but it's still enjoyable. The rest to me is gold, in fact the sequence os Isle Of Avalon, Starblind and The Talisman makes the album worth listening on its own and yes indeed Starblind is just amazing (that guitar work jeeeeez)
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17.11.2017 - 02:41
Rating: 8
Antares8001

I remember hating this album when i first listened to it. I recently went back to it and found to my own surprised that there are some real gems on here. While I still think that it has some of my least favorite Maiden tracks period, it also some of my favorite 2000s tracks. I especially love The Talisman(was really surprised that Dickinson could still pull of those vocals), Isle of Avalon, Mother of Mercy and the brilliant closer, When the Wild Wind Blows.
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22.11.2017 - 18:58
Rating: 9
Vikcen
Metálico
Written by Toxik on 29.03.2017 at 00:18

Am I the only one who absolutely loves this album?


No, you are not alone
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23.11.2017 - 09:58
Rating: 7
Cynic Metalhead
Paisa Vich Nasha
Written by Vikcen on 22.11.2017 at 18:58

Written by Toxik on 29.03.2017 at 00:18

Am I the only one who absolutely loves this album?


No, you are not alone


The only song impresses me here is "El Dildo".
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23.11.2017 - 17:33
Rating: 9
Vikcen
Metálico
Written by Cynic Metalhead on 23.11.2017 at 09:58

Written by Vikcen on 22.11.2017 at 18:58

Written by Toxik on 29.03.2017 at 00:18

Am I the only one who absolutely loves this album?


No, you are not alone


The only song impresses me here is "El Dildo".


Come on! one more: When The Wild Wind Blows
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28.05.2020 - 23:16
Rating: 3
Mountain King
K i K o
One of the worst albums I've ever heard. If it weren't Iron Maiden it would be rated way lower. fact.
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26.08.2021 - 10:20
Rating: 6
GrimReaper85

This is pretty bad and boring album. You can be an Iron Maiden fan and have an honest opinion.
No Prayer For The Dying and The X Factor are certainly better. This is Virtual XI bad and should be rated accordingly.
When The Wild Wind Blows is acceptable though.
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12.10.2021 - 07:06
Rating: 7
CobiWan1993
Secundum Filium
Been revisiting every Iron Maiden album and even though this is the first album I was able to see released as a fan, I have to say that this is the weakest one since Bruce and Adrian rejoined the band. A lot of the songs feel very paint-by-numbers and are not all that engaging to listen to. Bruce sounds EXTREMELY tired and strained here and I was thinking it might have been his age at the time, but then The Book of Souls came out five years later, Bruce was said to have had cancer during the recording of said album, and he STILL sounded far more energized there than he does on this album with the exception of the excellent song, The Talisman, where he sounds amazing. The Bruce that appears on The Talisman had been MIA for most of the album, which just sort of lulls and drags on and I was getting rather listless so that by the time I got to this song and the heavier instruments kick in, I just got "reactivated" all of a sudden. Honestly, without The Talisman, I would've ranked this album even lower than I did.

Then again, the tired, strained voice Bruce has here is actually quite effective with When The Wild Wind Blows, since it's about an impending apocalypse and he appropriately sounds like a world-weary man with experience who is trying his best to survive after a lifetime of struggle, so I'll give him that. Overall, compared to the works that have come before and after this, I view this as the black sheep of the post-reunion records and not one that I'm really interested in revisiting save for a few moments that spare this album from being ranked below a 7.
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Ordinary men hate solitude. But the Master makes use of it, embracing his aloneness, realizing he is one with the whole universe (Lao Tzu).
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02.05.2022 - 23:30
Rating: 5
Vinther1991

Another weak album late in Maiden's catalogue. Though maybe not as bad as some make it out to be. The Satelite 15 intro is pretty boring, and should at the very least have been a seperate track from the title track. Speaking of the title track, that is an absolutely amazing song with an solid groovy riff, memorable vocal lines, even some good solos. The song has such a great positive feeling to it. The repetitive chorus can't ruin all the things it has going for it.
Unfortunately El Dorado is just awful, with some of the most monotomous vocal lines in the bands history. Why the band decided to release this rather pathetic attempt as a single is beyond me.
Mother of Mercy and Coming Home are pretty average, the former has some okay melodies and riffs, but honestly Bruce is a little painful to listen to here. Coming Home is your typical tedious Maiden ballad, if you are into that stuff, it is probably one of the better, it is not for me. The Alchemist ups the pase a lot, unfortunately it doesn't contain a single good riff or melody. Neither does Isle of Avalon, unfortunately you have to be dragged through that one for a whooping 9 minutes, you would think that some tempo changes would be necessary for a long track like that. Isle of Avalon doesn't really have any of that, it stays in the same slow dreadful tempo for the 9 min, and the few times it changes tempo, it is just a little less slow. Starblind is Isle of Avalon pt 2, just with an even more painful performance by Bruce.
Thankfully The Talisman is next, which is another long song, but at least this one has parts that actually sound different to each other. Not all are equally interesting, but it is held up by the variety and some fast riffs that injects some energy into the album. The intro is way too long, but other than that I enjoy the song.
The Man who Would be King actually starts and ends pretty interestingly, it is just all the stuff in between that is kind of generic.
The last track When the Wild Wind Blows is really the stand out track here, it truly feels like a journey, with so many strong melodies that transition into each other, it shows what this band is capable of!
While I don't think this is a particular good album, I must admit I have a little weak spot for it. The production is certainly better than A Matter of Life and Death and Senjutsu. The mood is also more upbeat and fun than on either of those. The Final Frontier and When the Wild Wind Blows are the third and second best songs of the last five albums (only DoD tops them), and I would probably also rank them over most of Brave New World. The Talisman is also better than anything on the following albums, and everything except The Reincarnation of Benjamin Bregg on AMOLAD.
On the other hand El Dorado, The Alchemist, Isle of Avalon and Starblind are among the band's worst tracks ever.
Still this is probably the last Iron Maiden album I can listen to without falling asleep.
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