Iron Maiden – The Final Frontier (EMI)
For the first five minutes of the opening track on Iron Maiden‘s 15th studio album The Final Frontier, you’ll be checking the player to make sure the music is indeed being made by Iron Maiden. “Satellite 15…The Final Frontier” takes its own sweet time reaching the familiar gallop of classic Maiden territory, which makes the moments leading up to it strangely unsettling.
That slow burn is prevalent throughout The Final Frontier. It’s their longest album to date and their most progressive, and for that reason it may a bit off-putting to fans hoping for a return to their ’80s form. The thing is, the band is more popular now worldwide than they were during the ’80s, and they got that way by staying true to their own rules and by not spending too much time looking back.