Like exact, I'm finding new things on each spin. It's a definite grower for me!

I have been listening to this a bit more and I guess it's just not a good album to me. Bruce sounds tired half the time just like the songs sound. TIRED. I did find that I liked The Alchemist and The Talisman but those are the only 2 songs that I can tolerate. The rest of this album is boring. I think they need to find some new inspiration.

I havn't really "enjoyed" a maiden lp since like 86' or so ! I havn't listened to an entire lp since "fear of the dark". Don't know if that says something about me or Maiden ?

Either I've become less picky in my old age (highly doubtful) or I just like the new Maiden album. Sure, it's not "Number Of The Beast", but it's enjoyable enough.

Just bought it back yesterday.

Somehow i felt i had to add it to my collection again, eventhough it won't be a regular spinner.

That songs just seems a little too "contrived power ballad" for my tastes. When the Wind Blows is a fantastic song however. The only Maiden ballads I enjoyed were the early ones with Dianno.

Favorite track from TFF is still Isle of Avalon.

I would probably rank the "return of Bruce" albums in this order:

A Matter of Life And Death
The Final Frontier
Brave New World (I prefer the live versions of most of these songs)
Dance Of Death

detuned if you could have seen them perform the new songs live, they sound incredible and are about 1000000000000000x better then the studio versions.

From my Site www.rockcityonline.net

Quote:

I am not exactly sure what to really say about this album, While I admit I am relatively new to the catalog of Iron Maiden, and this is really the first Iron Maiden album I've owned. I am not exactly sure what to really say about it. Don't get me wrong I do like this album. It does seem very progressive, with alot of emphasis on long tracks. The album opens with Satalite 15... The Final Frontier, it's a great song but in my opinion you could cut this track and make it 2 seperate tracks. All in all I feel the album is very "wordy" or the music equivilant to being "Wordy" That's just me though. The band had given the fans "El Dorado" as a free download, and hearing this song is the reason why I went out and bought this album. All in all I feel the first 4 songs on the album are the strongest, Though my favorites so far are Satalite 15...The Final Frontier, El Dorado, Mother of Mercy Coming Home, Starblind, and When the Wild Wind Blow

I gave it a 7/10

I only liked 3 or 4 tracks from this album

This album has been an absolute 'grower' for me. Hated it at first....but the more spins I gave it, the more it grew. It's now become one of my fave Maiden releases....ever. Personally, I hope they continue in this vein.

Easily their best work since Seventh Son. The absolute pinnacle of their progressive decade.

It has held up incredibly well!!!! I still love it and it is a great listen!!!! The new tracks are even better live!

Since you guys mentioned this being a grower -

13 months ago:

Lari wrote:

I still cannot decide what I think of this album. And I've been listening to it intensely from when it was released. There's just so much material to digest. I really like a lot of the tracks and the song-writing challenges you. But for instance I would have no idea where to place it if I was to rank Maiden's discography. I guess that comes from my approach of not thinking too much HOW GOOD the music I listen to is, but just from trying to ENJOY listening to whatever I am at the moment. So far I think I like the last three tracks really a lot though. Possibly my favourite string of songs to end a Maiden album since Number of the Beast. Mother of Mercy is infectious too, I cannot get it off my head. Same with Starblind and Isle of Avalon. I don't know. I'll come back at trying to rate it when I try and figure out my favourite albums of the year.

- well, I still cannot decide what to think of it. It's really good, and thoroughly enjoyable, but how do you rate bands you love? To prove a point: A Matter of Life and Death was my favourite Maiden album when it came out. Probably still is: it's just as good as Powerslave, just longer.

Final Frontier, well, all the tracks are excellent and have held up real well. I'm thinking it'll be a classic and a personal favourite after two decades.

I love this album and hardly notice it is 80 mins. (Didn't know that until I read this thread). The Alamemist is a stand out track along with The Man Who Would Be King and When The Wild Wind Blows, Starblind and Isle Of Avalon. I like all the Maiden releases without exception and just took it as the lad's were getting on and the times along with everyone else were doing the same. The band now has 3 guitarists and that alone explains how the songs have crept up on the counter. The band has been around awhile and has endured quite a bit of change both in and out of the band. I enjoy listening to how the songs unfold and take you on a journey. What I hear in this album is the band enjoying themselves and letting go and just playing good music. I find the post reunion albums get the most spin time with me and maybe it's because I've spent so much time with the others that I find these to refreshing and exciting. I grew up with Maiden and enjoying every bit of it.

I was thinking about this earlier, Maiden has evolved and so have my musical tastes. In 1984 Maiden sounded exactly like I wanted them to sound...now almost 30 years later I still get great enjoyment from their new albums because they have changed, if they stayed exactly the the same I would have gotten bored with them years ago. Luckily their evolution has continued along lines I can appreciate.

There are many bands from the 80's that I view in the past tense, most actually, groups whose sounds I enjoyed at the time but don't mesh with who I am now and what inspires me. When I'm in the mood to hear those bands I'll pull out a classic 80's platter and revisit it...but most of the time these are not artists I still follow and probably haven't purchased a recording in 15 to 20 years or more.

Maiden is one of the few exceptions and that's why I still consider myself a "fan"...and not for wholly nostalgic reasons.

I STILL need to get this........

I actually jammed this album the other day. It's overall a great record, but I still don't like El Dorado very much.

I bought this album when it came out and I still haven't listened to it. 80 minutes? Ugh. I think I buy Maiden albums at this point for completist purposes.