𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐑𝐘𝐏𝐓𝐒 - 𝐂𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐁𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐏𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐀𝐋𝐁𝐔𝐌 𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐄𝐒 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐑𝐎𝐂𝐊 & 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐘 𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐋…
August 13, 2010 — Iron Maiden released their fifteenth studio album, The Final Frontier via EMI Records in Germany, Austria and Finland. (Listen: Apple Music or Spotify)
It was released on August 17 in North America, August 18 in Japan, and August 16 worldwide.
Background:
At 76 minutes and 34 seconds, it is the band's second-longest studio album to date, a duration surpassed only by 2015's The Book of Souls.
Melvyn Grant, a long-time contributor to the band's artwork, created the cover art.
It is the band's final album to be released through EMI Records, marking the end of their 30-year relationship. It is also the last album to use the band's alternate logo.
The album received favorable reviews from critics and peaked at No. 1 in 28 countries. This included the United Kingdom, where it became the band's fourth release to top the UK Albums Chart following 1982's The Number of the Beast, 1988's Seventh Son of a Seventh Son and 1992's Fear of the Dark. On top of this, The Final Frontier also charted at No. 4 in the United States, marking their highest placement on the Billboard 200, in addition to gaining the band their first Grammy Award in the Best Metal Performance category for the song El Dorado, released as a free download on June 8,
2010.
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 catalog in North America.
On April 22, 2009, during a Rock Radio interview promoting Iron Maiden: Flight 666, drummer Nicko McBrain mentioned that Iron Maiden had booked studio time for early 2010.
On June 8, the album artwork, release date, and track listing were revealed, along with the free download of the track El Dorado. The album was released as a regular CD, an iTunes LP, a digital download, a vinyl picture disc, and a limited collector's Mission Edition, containing interviews and a game entitled Mission II: Rescue & Revenge.
The North American leg of their tour in support of the album started in Dallas, Texas on June 9, 2010, with a European tour beginning in Dublin on July 30. As these dates preceded the record's release, El Dorado was the only new song played in 2010. The full album tour commenced in Moscow on February 11, 2011, and would see the band visit South East Asia, Australia, South America and Florida, as well as returning to Europe. The tour led to the release of a live album and video, entitled En Vivo!, which was released in March 2012.
Prior to its release, bassist and band founder Steve Harris was quoted as saying that he imagined the band would release a total of fifteen studio albums.
The title, which also shares its name with its supporting tour and opening track, fuelled further rumours that The Final Frontier would be Iron Maiden's last, however the band members admitted they hoped to make further releases and continue touring in the future. Harris in particular has stated that "𝚒𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎‘𝚜 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚊 𝚍𝚘 𝚒𝚝, 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚠𝚑𝚢 𝚗𝚘𝚝? 𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚍 𝚒𝚏 𝚠𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚗‘𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚕𝚋𝚞𝚖, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚊𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚊𝚗𝚜 𝚝𝚘𝚘", while vocalist Bruce Dickinson admits that the title was largely mischief. In June 2010, Dickinson stated that he thought up the album's title 15 months previously:
"𝙸 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 ‘𝚆𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚡𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚋𝚞𝚖 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙵𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝙵𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚎𝚛!' 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚜𝚘𝚛𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚒𝚜 ... 𝙸𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚎, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚖𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚋𝚎! 𝙸𝚝 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚜 𝚠𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚐𝚘 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚙𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊𝚗 𝙴𝚍𝚍𝚒𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚗‘𝚝 𝚍𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎. 𝙸𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚌𝚎𝚛𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚛𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚒𝚝."
On November 2, 2009, Janick Gers confirmed to BBC News that the band already had new material written and would head to Paris, France, to start composing and rehearsing the bulk of the new album. According to Dickinson, "𝚠𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚋𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚊𝚖𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚠𝚎‘𝚟𝚎 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚊𝚍, 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚌𝚑 𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚒𝚣𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚒𝚝’𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖." After taking time off for Christmas, recording commenced in January at Compass Point Studios, Nassau, Bahamas, with Kevin Shirley producing. This was the first time the band returned to the Bahamas since they last recorded at Compass Point in the 1980s, to which Dickinson remarked:
“𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚍𝚒𝚘 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚟𝚒𝚋𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚎𝚡𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚜 𝚒𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚒𝚗 𝟷𝟿𝟾𝟹, 𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚍! 𝙴𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚔𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚑𝚞𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚛... 𝚜𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚙𝚎𝚝... 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐... 𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚜𝚙𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚢. 𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚠𝚎 𝚏𝚎𝚕𝚝 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚊𝚡𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚜𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚊 𝚏𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚊𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕-𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚍𝚍𝚎𝚗 𝚎𝚗𝚟𝚒𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙸 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚠𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚝𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚙𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚋𝚞𝚖.”
After a month in Nassau, the production was moved to Malibu, California, where the songs were mixed and additional vocals were recorded.
On April 6, Shirley told Blabbermouth.net that he had completed mixing the album, and commented on the final stages of its production on May 6;
"𝙱𝚛𝚞𝚌𝚎 𝙳𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝚏𝚕𝚎𝚠 𝚒𝚗 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝚏𝚎𝚠 𝚍𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚊𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚕𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚕𝚘𝚋𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚂𝚝𝚎𝚟𝚎 𝙷𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚢𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚜𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚖𝚎. 𝙰𝚍𝚛𝚒𝚊𝚗 𝚂𝚖𝚒𝚝𝚑 [𝚐𝚞𝚒𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚜] 𝚍𝚛𝚘𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚏𝚏, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚋𝚊𝚗𝚍, 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚞𝚕𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚍, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚠𝚎 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎."
The album is the fourth for which Steve Harris receives writing credits for every track, following Killers (1981), Brave New World (2000), and A Matter of Life and Death (2006), although the final track, When the Wild Wind Blows, is the only song which he wrote on his own. Adrian Smith explains that, in recent years, Harris has become "𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚠𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚕𝚢𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚎𝚕𝚘𝚍𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚐" other members' tracks and only "𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚜" of his own.
As mentioned previously, El Dorado was released as a free digital download on the band's official website on June 8 and went on to win in the Best Metal Performance category at the 2011 Grammy Awards. According to Smith, the song's lyrics, penned by Dickinson, are based on the economic recession which began in 2007 and comment on "𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎’𝚜 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚊 𝚋𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎" and how "𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚞𝚐 [𝚠𝚊𝚜] 𝚙𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖" as a result of lending.
The album's first and only music video, containing the latter half of Satellite 15... The Final Frontier (Watch video), was filmed in Rendlesham Forest, south-east England, and released on July 13. Although the album has no official singles, both El Dorado and the second part of Satellite 15... The Final Frontier (along with its music video) were issued as radio promos before the album's release. Coming Home was also released as a radio single on October 27, featuring an alternative "𝚛𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚘 𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚝" version of the song.
In a July 1, 2010 interview with Billboard, guitarist Dave Murray commented that the album mixes "𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝-𝚊𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍, 𝚞𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚖𝚙𝚘 𝚛𝚘𝚌𝚔 𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚡", referring particularly to When the Wild Wind Blows, the band's fifth longest song after Empire of the Clouds, Rime of the Ancient Mariner, The Red and the Black and Sign of the Cross: Interviewed for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on July 14, guitarist Janick Gers discussed the album's overall sound:
"𝚆𝚎‘𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚎𝚡𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚜... 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎𝚍 [𝙴𝚕 𝙳𝚘𝚛𝚊𝚍𝚘] 𝚒𝚜𝚗’𝚝 𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚋𝚞𝚖—𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎‘𝚜 𝚜𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚍𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚋𝚞𝚖. 𝚆𝚎 𝚐𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚝𝚞𝚍𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎𝚜. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎‘𝚜 𝚊 𝚕𝚘𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚌 𝚝𝚞𝚗𝚎𝚜 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚋𝚞𝚖. 𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚟𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚖𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚌."
Speaking to Classic Rock Magazine in June 2010, Bruce Dickinson stated that "𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚋𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚍𝚎𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚜𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍. 𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝‘𝚜 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝, 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚍𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐, 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚐𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚏𝚏 𝚘𝚞𝚝. 𝚆𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚋𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚢 𝚒𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚕, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚠𝚎‘𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚋𝚟𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚕𝚢 𝚗𝚘𝚝."
Although El Dorado would be the only new song featured in the 2010 leg of The Final Frontier World Tour, Satellite 15... The Final Frontier, The Talisman, Coming Home and When The Wild Wind Blows were added to the setlist in 2011. El Dorado, Coming Home and When the Wild Wind Blows were later featured on the "Best Of" album From Fear to Eternity.
Notice: The reviews shared here are for historical reference. The views and opinions expressed within are not always supported (in full or in part) by Into the Wells. — E.N. Wells
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