I'm a die-hard Iron Maiden fan. My favorite albums are Number of the Beast and Powerslave, and if you know about those, then you probably know about Iron Maiden's new album, The Final Frontier.

This is a great album for hard-core Iron Maiden fans and casual metal listeners alike. With a more progressive approach to some songs and a "new metal" approach to others, this album presents great guitar licks like in "Number of the Beast" and catchy choruses like in "Brave New World." It's as if old Iron Maiden made sweet love to new Iron Maiden, and had a prodigy of a son.

You are probably saying, "Oh he's a fanboy — he's totally biased." And you're probably right. But Bruce Dickenson sounds awesome, with standout vocals in "Satellite 15 ... The Final Frontier" and "The Man Who Would Be King." Adrian Smith and Dave Murray, some of the most-skilled guitarists of all time, shine in every song.

And of course, you can't talk about Iron Maiden without talking about Steve Harris, a master of bass and an excellent song writer, who clearly devoted a lot of time to this album.

Harris said in a recent interview that he imagines the band will release 15 studio albums. If all of them are equal to The Final Frontier, then I'm excited — but I know that half will be experiments gone awry.

If this album isn't on your radar, pick it up. You will need to block out your next couple of days because you will be listening to The Final Frontier for that long.

Ben Montoya is a freshman at Santa Fe High School. He can be reached at booga274@gmail.com.