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When
Iron Maiden's classic lineup famously reunited in the year 2000, their
first new album, the quite excellent Brave New World, neatly reconnected
both musicians and fans with the band's heritage, while simultaneously
promising a prosperous future still to come. However, their next two
efforts didn't fare quite as well, and whether Maiden was choosing to
repeat the same moves without as much imagination or consistency on
2003's Dance of Death, or becoming bogged down in tiresome prog rock
excess on 2006's desultory A Matter of Life and Death, it seemed that
neither playing it safe nor taking risks was a surefire recipe for
success anymore. And so the heavy metal icons took an extra year — for
them, a record-breaking four — to work on their fourth post-reunion
opus, and 15th career studio album overall, 2010's The Final Frontier,
which, like many of their original mid-'80s classics, was recorded at
legendary Compass Point Studios in the Bahamas, and aimed to reestablish
an ideal balance of past and future, familiarity and freshness,
complexity and immediacy. By and large, this is accomplished, and we're
not just saying that because of the futuristic themes spread across
these songs, either — nor the science fiction imagery used throughout
the album's artwork, including the latest metamorphosis of the band's
inseparable mascot, Eddie, this time into a hulking, green alien
predator. No, there really is an unquestionable freshness about the
futuristic themes and novel sonics explored by the intriguing percussive
warm-up, "Satellite 15," which leads straight into the anthemic,
arena-friendly opening title track; the muscularly riffed "Mother of
Mercy," which recalls Bruce Dickinson's better mid-'90s solo efforts;
and the remarkable "Coming Home," which is easily Iron Maiden's most
convincingly executed semi-ballad since Fear of the Dark's "Wasting
Love," and probably better to boot. The album's first half is rounded
out by the surprisingly complex and cerebral first single "El Dorado,"
which was clearly written with "2 Minutes to Midnight" as a template
(but isn't that good), before finally striking out with the efficient
but ultimately somewhat forgettable speedster "The Alchemist," yet, all
in all, this is a very impressive start. Too bad The Final Frontier's
second half doesn't hold up so well, being stacked in worrisome fashion
with five straight, longish compositions ranging from eight to eleven
minutes in length. Even by Maiden standards, this is a tall order for
fans to cope with (again!), and, sure enough, top marks are only
deserved by the evocative Arthurian fantasy "Isle of Avalon," which is
first out of the gate and captures all of the majesty and power you'd
expect of an Iron Maiden epic, despite being no "Hallowed Be Thy Name"
or "Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner" — a "Paschendale," maybe. The
remaining five-song monoliths produce only isolated moments of
excellence and, amazingly, all begin in suspiciously similar fashion:
via quietly plucked, deja vu-inducing melodies framed by synthesizers
before heading off on their individual, long-winded journeys. The
"moments" include a strikingly aggressive riff sequence and reminisces
of Somewhere in Time contained on "Starblind," and the vaguely
psychedelic harmonies nestled somewhere deep within "The Man Who Would
Be King," whereas "The Talisman" and Gaelic-inspired "When the Wild Wind
Blows" merely recycle spare parts, for the most part, cherry-picked and
reassembled from across the Maiden canon. This late dip in quality at
the mercy of the band's more-is-more philosophy definitely leaves one
pining for the days when heavier, punchier, and just plain shorter songs
held equal appeal for Steve Harris and company; but, in good ways and
bad ways, by hook or by crook, The Final Frontier still brings Iron
Maiden closer to their aesthetic legacy and triumphant year 2000 rebirth
than its two predecessors. And, at this stage in their career, Iron
Maiden knows that nothing is more important than giving fans — of all
stripes — what they want and expect. Why mess with a winning team, after
all? [The Final Frontier's special — aka "Mission" — Edition was
delivered with bonus content in a deluxe package outfitted to resemble a
spaceship porthole.]
