Review: Iron Maiden – The Final Frontier

Sergio reviews Iron Maiden’s The Final Frontier.

Artist Name: Iron Maiden
Album Name: The Final Frontier
Year: 2010
Genre: Classic Metal

Regardless of your feelings towards Iron Maiden, you have to tip your hat to everything they’ve done for heavy metal over the past 35 years. Releasing their 15^th – and possibly final – studio album, Iron Maiden pulled out all the stops for this epic 76 minute audio journey titled The Final Frontier.

As I’ve mentioned, it’s an audio journey – think of this album as the musical equivalent of Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. As expected, the musical changeovers from acoustic to distorted revolutions are the highlights of the album. Take a track such as ‘The Talisman’, which begins with a solid acoustic foundation and then transforms into a typical galloping Maiden track. Thankfully, Bruce and the boys have continued down the same magical – dare I say, battle metal – path as before. Personally, I’ve always thought of Iron Maiden as King Arthur’s favourite band and can’t shake off the images of swordfights and horses when I listen to them.

No matter how good The Final Frontier is, diehards will always point to The Number of the Beast, Powerslave and Seventh Son of a Seventh Son as the benchmark and refuse to place this latest effort anywhere in that league. While I do agree to a certain extent, you also have to understand the timeframes involved. 20 years ago, Maiden were classified as heavier than an obese woman in a chocolate factory, while now they’d be classified as ‘classic rock’ at best – yet they’ve never changed their approach or sound. They’ve never done a grunge or nu-metal or metalcore album – just carried on with the galloping riffs, melodic solos and soaring vocals. No current band makes albums like The Final Frontier nowadays, hence its appeal and brilliance.

Many of Maiden’s competitors have already retired or disbanded or changed genres entirely, their longevity is testament to their talent and eternal passion for their craft. The Final Frontier is a timeless record. Whether you play it today or in 2020, you’ll still find yourself smiling when you play blockbuster tracks such as ‘El Dorado’ and ‘Starblind’.

Best Tracks: ‘El Dorado’, ‘The Alchemist’, ‘Starblind’ and ‘Isle of Avalon’

85/100

- Sergio Pereira
sergio@musicreview.co.za
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