Iron Maiden
The Final Frontier

Introduction: this review will be as long and verbose as the album it discusses: you have been warned!

I’m not impressed! This Iron Maiden album doesn't appeal to me, or at least not enough as their albums did years ago, those that wrote the history of heavy metal. "The Final Frontier" is a highly self-referential album, almost at the level of plagiarizing themselves, and apart from a few pieces and interesting ideas, I find it boring.

And to think that the "voivodian" intro "Satellite 15" had intrigued me... I would have never expected such a piece from the Maiden: modern, futuristic, and with rhythms entirely unusual for them. I also liked the following title track because it's one of those songs that gets into your head, is direct, and makes you want to sing along right from the first/second listen.

"El Dorado," which even stones knew by now since it had been released for download a few weeks ago, is a piece I like; the initial bass gallop, while being as Maidenesque as possible, fits perfectly, broken by some hefty guitar riffs and made dynamic by good work from Nicko behind the drums. A classic start then supported by a nice vocal section and a darker bridge that opens up to a chorus just waiting to be shouted at the top of your lungs; the solo part is also nice where the three guitarists take turns highlighting their stylistic differences (oh my...Gers...!!!).

The following "Mother of Mercy" is not a bad song, perhaps the best-crafted of the entire album, with good guitar work and a particularly inspired Dickinson; a really nice track, structurally very Maidenesque but very well done. And here come the painful notes: "Coming Home" opens with a nice double-guitar riff and a syncopated tempo that gives high hopes, but then it becomes practically a copy of "Lord of Light" (from the previous album), while the chorus vaguely reminds one of "Blood Brothers." The solos are nice, but they alone can't uplift the judgment on a song that remains mediocre.

"The Alchemist" is the poor copy of "Man on the Edge," from which it takes nearly everything but ends up being more monotonous; maybe it's because the drum part never changes from start to finish? Who knows...

"Isle of Avalon" lasts 9 minutes, but considering that the first two and a half minutes are an initial arpeggio that has nothing to do with the rest of the piece, and that at the sixth minute it instead of ending starts over, you have 4/5 minutes of song which, apart from the central part with a very progressive solo, does not make you scream a miracle and will certainly not become a classic to remember.

"Starblind" is a track that could easily start at minute 2, cutting out the ever-present (and useless) initial arpeggio. This time, however, the piece is quite interesting and seems almost as if it came out of the Dickinson-era "Skunkwork"; it's not banal, and even the riffs, accompanied by some nice solos here and there and some keyboard inserts, make it interesting and worthy. The last part is a nice instrumental piece, with well-inspired concatenated solos; it's a shame that even this time, at the sixth minute, when the song is practically over, it starts over again, so the last two minutes only serve to weigh it down unnecessarily.

"The Talisman" starts with a vaguely Celtic arpeggio which, guess what, refers to "The Legacy," the final track of the previous album, while after two and a half minutes, the actual piece starts, which, however, is devoid of interesting notes and feels overly familiar and clichéd. The last two tracks, perhaps to not contradict themselves right at the end, last 20 minutes in total. You will find here also initial arpeggios with some keyboard pads, tempo accelerations around the third minute or so, solos, and long instrumental parts, and around the sixth minute, the songs will start again from the verse and continue until filling every square millimeter of the CD's optical surface. Of course, don't expect them to even come close to "Rime of the Ancient Mariner," "Alexander the Great," "Hallowed Be Thy Name," or "To Tame a Land," even these long tracks that closed other albums, but with quite another style and inspiration.

In conclusion, we have 10 tracks and a good hour and twenty minutes of music, of which about half or a little less is worth saving; in my opinion, this is the weakest of the last 4 albums of the Dickinson era 2.

What went wrong? First of all, the duration is excessive and, if I haven't made it clear enough, several tracks are "artificially" lengthened with 2 unnecessary minutes of arpeggios and another equal amount attached when the song should instead end, reiterating everything from the beginning. As if that weren't enough, some tracks reminded too much of other songs always written by Iron. The vocal lines are constantly at very high pitches, and although the beauty and grandeur of Dickinson's voice is not in question, it is always at the limit, which flattens the pieces a bit too much. A guitarist like Smith, thank God returned to the band during "Brave New World," should have more space, both from a compositional point of view and regarding solos; we still want pieces like "Stranger in a Strange Land" and "Wasted Years" and maybe to hear solos again like that of "Powerslave" or "Moonchild." Instead, all pieces on this "The Final Frontier" were written by Harris (and it shows), and Adrian's solos, despite being the most beautiful, are blended into the pieces and do not stand out as they should. Perhaps, in short, it's time to give more space to everyone and allow different sounds to manage to contaminate the monolithic sound of the Maiden; coincidentally, "Seventh Son..." and "Somewhere...", where Iron tried to experiment with something new, after initial suspicion, today are considered not only classics but two of the group's most beautiful albums. Finally, a memorable piece is missing: there's no "Clansman" of the situation, which even in an ugly album like "Virtual XI" managed to emerge and even today gives chills. It's not expected that Iron will produce another "2 Minutes...", "The Trooper" or "Run to the Hills," but this time, I can't even find a track that could remain over time and be remembered.

Is there nothing positive? No, firstly because the Maiden will return to tour (they have already passed through Italy) and it will as always be a spectacle for eyes and ears. And then, there are some beautiful songs, and all in all, even the most die-hard Maiden fans (like me) will not be completely disappointed. However, it is true that, if I listened to their most beautiful albums so much that I ruined the tape of the cassettes or scratched the vinyl, in recent years I haven't felt the need to put one of their latest albums in the CD player, least of all this "The Final Frontier," which I assume will play very little on my stereo.

The Maiden are back: long live the Maiden! However, I am going to listen to powerslave...