At
Metacritic, the album has a score of 71 out of 100 based on 15 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
Classic Rock praised it as "densely layered and substantial", as well as "beautifully paced and disarmingly complex" and "a fresh take on a sound that has admirably withstood three decades of fashions and fads".
Kerrang! called it "a record that'll still bowl you over in a decade's time" and
MusicRadar stated that "Iron Maiden have created a work full of hypnotic excitement, unconventional structure and dizzying vision...the group have succeeded beyond their wildest dreams."
Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles called it "a thrilling and deeply satisfying glimpse into a brave new future for the people's metal band," while the
BBC praised the album as "a remarkable achievement", complimenting the band for "no compromises, just complexities and challenges and more moments of brilliance than perhaps even they thought they still had left in them". Many reviewers, such as
Metal Hammer, deemed it "a demanding album, but one that most Maiden fans are going to absolutely adore".
The Quietus commented, "
The Final Frontier takes time, it takes effort, but it's overwhelmingly brilliant. They haven't just served up the easy option – that would have been boring for us and, more importantly you feel, boring for them."
PopMatters considered the record "in some ways ... the most ambitious album Iron Maiden has ever made, a 76-minute opus." Many critics commented on where
The Final Frontier rates in comparison to the band's past releases, with
Consequence of Sound deeming the album "easily the best from the six-piece since 2000's
Brave New World."
AllMusic agreed with this, stating, "
The Final Frontier still brings Iron Maiden closer to their aesthetic legacy and triumphant year 2000 rebirth than its two predecessors."
Blabbermouth.net, on the other hand, praised it as "better than
Brave New World", explaining that "this is the reason
Bruce Dickinson and
Adrian Smith rejoined the band, the fulfillment of a decade of promise, and arguably the first time that
Steve Harris's post-
Fear of the Dark cinematic vision has been backed up with consistently strong songwriting, spot-on production, and a fire-in-the-belly performance from the whole band".
The Guardian were more critical of the release, commenting that "with four songs alone clocking in at 40 minutes,
The Final Frontier becomes less an exercise in experimentation than old-fashioned endurance, and the hushed-intro-bombastic-chorus dynamic begins to grate a little".
Drowned in Sound agreed, commenting that "standards sink fast after ["The Alchemist"], and don't rise again for another half an hour", although going on to add that "the epic 11-minute closer, 'When the Wild Wind Blows' ... shows the subtlety and craftsmanship of the four songs that preceded it, but adds an emotional depth that they seemed to lack". ==Commercial performance==