THE FINAL FRONTIER

It's good to see the positive reviews here after hearing a lot of negative comments about this latest MAIDEN album. In fact my brother-in law who is one of the biggest IRON MAIDEN fans I know told me he thought this latest record was "crap". I'm glad I purchased it anyway.This is a concept album and a sci-fi one at that, and considering it clocks in at over 76 minutes it's taken me some time to appreciate. In fact it was the fifth listen before I felt they had pulled off another winner. It's interesting too how proggy this is, not since "Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son" have they delved so deeply into Prog-Metal.

I love how this starts with "Satellite Is...The Final Frontier" and the heavy, almost industrial feel as the drums pound.The drums let up 2 1/2 minutes in as the vocals cry out reminding me of FATES WARNING.The drums are back ! Check out the guitar 4 1/2 minutes in.Then the song kicks in with vocals. Nice. Ripping guitar solo 6 1/2 minutes in. "El Dorado" makes me shout "Hell Yeah !" Check out Harris ! We're galloping now then the vocals join in. Guitar solo before 4 minutes then back to Harris and that galloping rhythm. Killer track. "Mother Of Mercy" is more laid back including the vocals. It kicks in at 1 1/2 minutes then the tempo picks up. I like the chorus. Nice bass too. Guitar solo 3 minutes in followed by a great sounding rhythm. "Coming Home" settles right down before a minute then it picks up as contrasts continue.Tasteful guitar after 3 1/2 minutes then it becomes more passionate. Excellent track.

"The Alchemist" hits the ground running as vocals join in. Some nice chunky bass then the guitar lights it up. "Isle Of Avalon" is a top four track for me along with the opening two songs and the one that follows this one. Love how this sounds instrumentally. It kicks in at 3 minutes to a fuller sound. Great sound before 5 minutes as the guitar grinds it out with a heavy hythm.Themes are repeated. Amazing ! "Starblind" sounds so good when it kicks in before a minute.Vocals stop 4 minutes in as the guitar comes to the fore and we get a light show. Vocals return after 6 minutes. "The Talisman" features spoken words and acoustic guitar to start. It kicks in hard before 2 1/2 minutes. An interesting instrumental section from 6 to 7 minutes follows. "The Man Who Would Be King" is mellow with vocals to start. It kicks in before 3 minutes. Nice bass. It settles some to end it. "When The Wild Wind Blows" opens with the wind blowing before the vocals come in after a minute. It kicks in a minute later. A change before 4 minutes. It's heavier before 7 minutes with vocals. Nice bass. A guitar solo follows before 9 minutes then it settles after 10 minutes to how the intro sounded with the wind blowing.

This for me is a complete success and one where the band challenged themselves perhaps a little more than they have in quite some time. 4 stars but it could go up because i'm just starting to really appreciate it now (7th listen). For what it's worth my first MAIDEN album "Piece Of Mind" was purchased the year it came out and I went to their concert in Toronto that year in support of that album. Long time fan.