The Final Frontier

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There are two guitar solos, but it’s the first ( Dave Murray?), one which evokes the bluesy soul of David Gilmour, that really hits home. Further development in "Isle of Avalon" and reducing its timing (could be the modern homolog of The Duellists). Iron Maiden - The Final Frontier". Asociación Mexicana de Productores de Fonogramas y Videogramas. Mexicancharts.com. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013 . Retrieved 26 October 2011. Thirty years on from their eponymous debut album in April 1980, The Final Frontier will be Maiden's 15th studio album, making a remarkable average of a new album every two years for 30 years and totaling over 80 million album sales during this period.

Another interesting fan discussion around the cover was the fact that the skeletons in the spaceship are definitely not human beings, and the style of the spacesuits makes a reference to graphic novels of the 50s and 60s. I was absolutely delighted with the singles and promos that came out with this album. Their artworks were in exactly this retro comic style and were something that fans never saw before with Maiden. For me, they were quite interesting and refreshing. Young illustrator named Anthony Dry, who also did some illustrations for BBC’s “Doctor Who”, did all these artworks. Hampton, Tony (11 August 2010). "Iron Maiden – The Final Frontier". The Quietus . Retrieved 11 August 2010. Few bands within the metal scene are held in as high regard as Iron Maiden; and not without good reason. For more than three decades now the band has consistently set the bar very high for bands everywhere to attempt to match. Whilst it is almost certainly true that their newer works are not quite as hard hitting nor as powerful as album like "The Number Of The Beast"; each release the band has put out has had more positives than negatives. So when news arrived that the band was working on their first studio in four years, many a metal fan's hearts suddenly began to beat faster in anticipation and quite rightfully so. After all, 2006's "A Matter Of Life And Death" had arguably been the band's strongest work since "Seventh Son Of A Seventh Sun". The question that many would pose would be whether the band could pump out yet another album of a high standard despite the fact the band were rapidly ageing.Mother of Mercy is a reflection on war from the perspective of a dying soldier confessing to a priest. Lyrically it's nothing new for Maiden and musically it's nothing special, but it has a certain charm that makes it likable. EMI released the album in most of the world, while in the United States it was released jointly by Universal Music Enterprises and Sony Music Entertainment – the successor to the Sanctuary Records/ Columbia Records joint venture that had previously controlled the Iron Maiden catalogue in North America. He sounds far more inspired on the following song though, and his passion can be heard soaring (no pun intended) through the chorus of "Coming home" - as well it should do, as it is another recounting of his well documented love of flying and the freedom and togetherness that he at least seems to feel that it brings. This sort of thing is the real heart of what Iron Maiden are all about these days - we've heard it on songs like "Blood brothers" and ""The thin line between love and hate", and we here it on this one too; honest, heartfelt emotion. Fantastical lyrics still appear of course, but rather than channelling themselves through aggression or speed, Maiden often choose to lead their listeners on with songs of sweeping romance and plaintive beauty. Something really new is Starblind: progressive but different from what has been done on The Final Frontier’s immediate predecessor. It’s very difficult to bang your head to this one, as the vocals and the instruments meet at beginning and ending of a line but tread very different ways in between these to points. During the chorus one of the guitars starts playing a little solo melody (somewhere around 2:00), and some synthesizer can be heard if you listen closely. A very strange song, different from anything done before but when you listen to it you get the feeling that the formula is right. The different lines of the vocals, guitars, drums and bass are all contained within a wider melody. A potentially dangerous experiment but it turned out well.

Recalling the recording of cinematic closer When The Wild Wind Blows, he even said: “When we finished recording the song I turned to Steve and said, ‘Next to Hallowed Be Thy Name, I think this is the best song you’ve ever written.’ And he went, ‘Nahhh!’ And I said, ‘To me it is.’ That’s how I feel, I think it’s just immense.” The band reunited with longtime Maiden producer Kevin "Caveman" Shirley in early 2010 at Compass Point Studios, Nassau, to record the album and then moved to L.A. to finish the recording and do the mixing. Compass Point Studio is very familiar to the band; it was where they recorded the Piece Of Mind ('83), Powerslave ('84) and Somewhere In Time ('86) albums.We’ve just been asked to say ‘scream for me, Brazil’ by air traffic control,” he added with a laugh. “The things you’re asked to do…” The song's guitar solo, lasting from about 6:32 to 7:16, is a trade-off divided into two parts; the first is played by Adrian Smith (6:32-7:01), while the second is played by Dave Murray (7:01-7:16). Compiled the vocal for Starblind, and began the mix of it - it is proving to be a complicated mix and quite difficult. Iron Maiden Announces Support Acts For UK Tour". Blabbermouth.net. 18 February 2011 . Retrieved 20 November 2011. went straight to No.1 in the album charts in 28 countries worldwide.

However, after an hour of awesome, The Final Frontier grinds to what is an unpleasant halt for me. While the album flows expertly through a variety of styles that really exemplifies Iron Maiden's long and storied career, the Murray and Harris penned "The Man Who Would Be King", and Harris' solo piece "When the Wild Wind Blows" really just drag down the end of the record. Two major problems stand out with them. Firstly, both of them share some of the most rambling and, I'm going to be frank, bad lyrics that Harris has ever penned, and secondly, the song writing is really just ... subpar; slow, dragging and puzzled together without any comprehensible segues or thoughts for structure. While "The Man Who Would Be King" has some great parts in it, it is just too long. The lyrics, as well, are contradictory, poorly conceived and the only song that I can think of that has worse lyrics in the history of Iron Maiden is Steve's screed about how shitty the world is and about how he's old and bitter in "Age of Innocence" from Dance of Death. And while conceptually "When the Wild Wind Blows" is an awesome song, again, it's just too long, too drawn out and lyrically poorly executed. Really, it's reminiscent of the stuff Harris has been penning since X Factor, but without the emotional poignancy that was so strong on that album. This leaves an unfortunately poor aftertaste to what is otherwise a shining example of Iron Maiden's relevance in 2010.

19 Issues

More recording on some of the other songs - it gets a bit "Groundhog Day" in the telling and diarizing of it all, as it's a very similar process every day for all the songs and overdubs. We do various guitar overdubs, solos, harmonies, acoustic guitars...... the Three Amigos take turns and occasionally we record all three together to get that great rolling, galloping rhythm that only Maiden can really create - there's nothing mathematical about it, it's all feel. If you sort it out in Pro Tools, all that feel goes, so we don't!!! I'm in the studio early today. I FedExed my blown compressor out for repair - Brent Spear, my tech, is coming in for the day from Las Vegas to make sure everything is working perfectly, the Cable TV repairman is coming today to make sure Steve's English Premier League soccer is available on the telly, so it's all systems go around here. Bruce will be in from London tonight to sing ...... Iron Maiden now find themselves in an enviable but well-earned position where they are guaranteed sales based on brand recognition alone, and are under no pressure to write for anyone other than themselves. There are no forced attempts at reverting to successful styles of days gone by, and 'The final frontier', for better and for worse, simply is what it is.