The Final Frontier

[Unknown Caller]

A lot of you are going to roll your eyes at this thread, but if Dickinson was about twenty years younger, this would be by far their greatest piece of work. I wasn't expecting anything, but I am pleasantly surprised.

Too bad they're all ninety or some shit, and ol' Bruce's voice is shot.

[seely]

The album is awesome...and imo bruce is actually singing the best he has since Brave New World...he still manages to hit the high notes well on 'The Talisman'

Can't wait to see them again in July

And what difference does their age make anyway?

Edited December 27, 2010 by seely

[Mansin Humanity]

i really enjoyed this album. when the wild wind blows is a masterpiece. one thing i really liked about it was that not EVERY song had a soft intro, heavy middle, soft outro structure as AMOLAD did (not saying that that isn't a great album). the talisman is one of my favorites.

[moreblack]

They've been outstanding since they brought Bruce and Adrian back. TFF definitely keeps up there with all their recent work.

[The Matinator]

great album, though it was a bit much to take in at first (being a 75 minute record) but it's one of those records that gets better with every listen.

& Dickinson is still fantastic my friend, sure his voice is a bit aged, but he always gives 110% on stage which you don't see frontmen men anymore.

Edited December 27, 2010 by The Matinator

[Powerage5]

A lot of you are going to roll your eyes at this thread, but if Dickinson was about twenty years younger, this would be by far their greatest piece of work. I wasn't expecting anything, but I am pleasantly surprised.

Too bad they're all ninety or some shit, and ol' Bruce's voice is shot.

Right, because he sounds SO much worse than he did on No Prayer For The Dying and Fear Of The Dark.

Sorry, but you're absolutely ignorant if you think he's worse now than he was in the 80's even. Bruce's live voice was shit all through the 80's once he blew it out on the Beast On The Road tour. You think Live After Death was an off night? No, listen to virtually any bootleg from the World Slavery tour, it's representory of what he sounded like in the 80's. His live voice didn't start becoming more powerful until the mid 90's, after he'd quit Maiden.

[Unknown Caller]

I have not listened to much of Fear if the Dark, but I'd have to say his voice for the title track sounds better than his vocals in Frontier.

Secondly, from someone who has only listened to it once as background music, I feel that his voice gets better as the album progresses. I'm in the process if giving it another listen.

Good album, though.

[Unknown Caller]

Would it be a terrible thing to say if I thought it was their best album they've ever created? While there isn't a standout track, every single song is solid.

Well done Iron Maiden. What an amazing career they've had - saving some if their best for last.

[Shuffle]

the final frontier didn't do much for me. I'm not a huge maiden fan and I've only heard their first five or so records (nothing after live after death except for a matter of life and death), but this one isn't particularly good. it's alright, not bad but certainly nothing special.

[GivenToFly]

It's a really good album, just like the 3 before it. It's amazing how this late in their career they can put out such consistently good music. The only other I can think of who does that is Bob Dylan. Maybe the Stones, but they only put out 3 albums in the last 20 years.

My favorites on TFF are Isle of Avalon and When the Wild Wind Blows.

[Shuffle]

maiden's recent stuff is a lot better than the stones' (and they're my favourite band of all time). dylan's got them both beaten easily. so this does tom waits. neil young and robert plant are slightly better than maiden too (young goes from great to terrible, while plant - and maiden - are more even).

[Powerage5]

Would it be a terrible thing to say if I thought it was their best album they've ever created? While there isn't a standout track, every single song is solid.

Well done Iron Maiden. What an amazing career they've had - saving some if their best for last.

Not at all, I'd say TFF, along with Brave New World, are probably their most solid albums to date. Sure, All the 80's albums are classics, but every album has at least one song which feels like filler, except for maybe the first album. And TFF is certainly their most original album to date.

[GivenToFly]

maiden's recent stuff is a lot better than the stones' (and they're my favourite band of all time). dylan's got them both beaten easily. so this does tom waits. neil young and robert plant are slightly better than maiden too (young goes from great to terrible, while plant - and maiden - are more even).

Now we'd have to establish what we mean by recent...

With Maiden I can't find any fault with their post-reunion albums. Maybe (MAYBE!) I could say there aren't enough songs that stand out on their own, and you have to listen to the full album for a good listening experience, I guess songs from the 80s had more of an individual identity, but still, there are some stand outs.

The others, what can I say... I don't know about Neil Young, I don't listen to his music, I might start some time, I know he's supposed to be pretty good.

Dylan: I find Time Out of Mind and Modern Times brilliant. Not good, not very good but nothing short of masterpieces. People tend to glorify past work but I think these two easily beat so called classics like Blonde on Blonde or Highway 61 Revisited. All they lack is the cultural significance those had, but I don't see that as a problem in itself. Together Through Life and Love and Theft I think are just good, not great, a few very good tracks making up for mostly unnoticeble (real word?) stuff. (Although you could have Mississippi and 13 other tracks of recorded farts and the album would still be a masterpiece on account of Mississippi alone) But then go before that and you get a string o sub par ones. Oh Mercy (1989) is an exception, absolutely worth listening to.

Rolling Stones: A Bigger Bang (2005) and Bridges to Babylon are after Exile, Sticky Fingers and Let It Bleed my fav Stones albums. I know a lot of people (who know what and they're talking about and who don't just go 'yeah, the Stones have been shit lately') really like them as well. I mean, other than not producing hits I don't see what kind of reproach you could find for them. As far as music as craft (as opposed to art) goes it's the shit (in the parlance of our times ). Textbook rock: this is how you make good music: *and put on Bridges to Babylon* and it doesn't sound contrived, it sounds natural, just... right. Then you have Voodoo Lounge (1994) but is that recent? It's not quite as good as BtB or ABB but it still works pretty damn well, same with Steel Wheels (1989) which is about on par with VL, maybe a bit too 80s. Even if you don't like the albums as a whole it's impossible not too like at least a few of the songs. Hell even those weird 80s records, Undercover and Dirty Work have some hidden gems.

Good point with Robert Plant, I had forgotten about him, it's just that looking now at his list of albums, they're not as even as the others'. Nor overall quite as good. But I guess it's up to tastes here. For example I see Fate of Nations (1993) up there with any Zeppelin albums, actually only behind Physical Graffiti, but it's not his most famous or appreciated, is it? Extremely underrated if you ask me. Then there's Mighty Rearranger (2005), how can you not like that one. It got good reviews and I think was also commercially successful. But I personally don't like Raising Sand (200?) Tastes.

I don't know about Springsteen. I mean, The Rising (2002) is The Rising. It's good, what can you say? Then there's Devils & Dust (2005) which imo is even better, I think it might actually be my favorite Boss album. We Shall Overcome (2006) is so fun to listen to, count is another good one. But I don't like The Ghost of Tome Joad, but that one's pretty old isn't it? I haven't heard Magic or The Promise yet, so I can't give you an assessment. But I'm planning to.

Pearl Jam keeps putting out decent albums. Problem is they're mostly boring with a handful of songs each that save the day. Usually the ballads. Apparently it all goes better live, I don't know, I haven't had the pleasure.

I still Maiden and Dylan as the best at this. Maiden have more... regularity (so to say) about it. 3 years between albums, 2 or 3 instant classic tracks on each, and then if you listen to all 4 albums it's impossible to say which one's your favorite.

Edited December 28, 2010 by GivenToFly