Making my way through the Maiden catalog with the fifteenth studio album and fourth release of the reunion era of the band. With an alien Eddie on the cover the album again leads to speculation that this is a concept album and while there are many songs about space, travel, and history it’s just more of a loose theme and not a concept. With each album of the reunion era the band seemed to push boundaries musically and stretch out with longer songs but while this album has several longer songs there’s also have the album in the four to six minute length.
Opening with “Satellite15….The Final Frontier” they make a major misstep by not separating the tracks and cutting the opening instrumental Satellite 15 from four and half minutes to maybe a minute at the most. Full of drum machines and weird percussion it was supposed to be a lost in space type vibe to set up the title track but all it does is frustrate the listener into fast forwarding to the actual good part “The Final Frontier”. A good song and what should have been the real opening track. I like the chorus and vibe of that song if only it was separated from the instrumental part. Lyrically most likely about an astronaut being lost in space.
“El Dorado” was the first single and one of the better tracks on the album. A good hard rock song and not too long at around six minutes or so. Good chorus and one that was good layer live a lot on this tour. Telling the tale of greed and financial crime in the wake of the mortgage bubble and financial crisis of 2008.
“Mother of Mercy” is about a soldier questioning the mission while fighting a battle they have no part in deciding to fight. Musically faster paced and upbeat and to the point and not to long. Very good song.
“Coming Home” is about as classic as it gets during the reunion era. What a song and chorus. The best of the almost Maiden power type ballads. Could be about the band coming home after a tour but could be anyone coming home to a loved one after a long time away.
“The Alchemist” is uptempo and classic 80s Maiden style. The shortest song on the album and a very good song. Supposedly about John Dee a 16th century mathematician and scientist and alchemist. A strange topic about an alchemist but one Bruce did a whole album about it with the Chemical Wedding.
“Isle of Avalon” at nine minutes fits in with the more recent albums longer epic tracks. Slower build for several minutes and going into a heavier direction at the chorus and mostly remaining at that pace throughout the song. There’s some really cool melodies and solos from Adrian Smith on this one. Lyrically it seems to be about Celtic mythology and some King Arthur references.
“Starblind” is a great progressive track and should get more attention. A very quick slow opening right into the drums and heavier sound. The lyrics are pretty great with Bruce barely taking a breath while questioning life and religion.
“Talisman” is another epic track at eight minutes and another favorite of mine on the album. About a sea voyage that sets off for a new land when everything goes wrong. Kind of in the same universe of Rime of the Ancient Mariner.
“Man Who Would Be King” is tedious and long and has an odd sound in the middle of the song that I don’t care for. Slower start like many of the longer Maiden tracks and it does eventually pick up but at eight plus minutes it seems even longer and could have been edited down to six or seven minutes. Lyrically about a man who lost everything when he killed someone in self defense and struggles with atonement and getting over the terrible decision he had to make. I like the lyrics and the topic but the overall song has never worked for me.
“Where the Wild Wind Blows” is another long epic song and at eleven minutes is just too long and slow. A great lyric based on a story of a couple locking themselves in a bomb shelter thinking it’s a nuclear event but it was only an earthquake. Eventually they hide in the shelter and take their own lives. Based on a novel it’s an interesting story but overall the song just goes on a little too long.
This album gets mentioned a lot as the least favorite of the reunion era and I get that to a point but I also think there’s some great songs especially the first 5-6 songs minus the weird intro. Really the first 8 songs are really good but the last two are kind of boring and needed more editing and along with the intro hurt the quality of the album in my opinion.
Iron Maiden – The Final Frontier (2010)
