El Dorado (song)
Encyclopedia
"El Dorado" is the second track from British
heavy metal
band Iron Maiden
's album The Final Frontier
. The song is the band's thirty-sixth single, and the only one from the album. It was made available as a free download on the band's official site at 00:01 on 8 June 2010 (UTC), one day before the album's supporting tour
began. The cover art was created by Anthony Dry and is based on the covers of the EC Comics
published by William Gaines
that were popular in the 1950s. Regarding the early online release of the song, vocalist Bruce Dickinson
explained, "El Dorado is a preview of the forthcoming studio album. As we will be including it in the set of our Final Frontier World Tour
, we thought it would be great to thank all our fans and get them into The Final Frontier mood by giving them this song up front of the tour and album release."
Dickinson explained the meaning of the song during an interview with Kerrang!
::
"El Dorado" won the Grammy Award
for Best Metal Performance
in 2011. It is the band's first win following two previous nominations ("Fear of the Dark
" in 1994 and "The Wicker Man
" in 2001).
The song's guitar solo, which lasts from about 3:42 to 4:23, is a trade-off divided into three parts; the first is played by Adrian Smith (3:42-3:53), the second by Dave Murray (3:53-4:06), and the third, which segues into the verse riff again, by Janick Gers (4:06-4:23).
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
band Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band from Leyton in east London, formed in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. Since their inception, the band's discography has grown to include a total of thirty-six albums: fifteen studio albums; eleven live albums; four EPs; and six...
's album The Final Frontier
The Final Frontier
The Final Frontier is a 1986 album by the heavy metal band Keel. It was the band's second album to be produced by KISS bassist Gene Simmons. Videos were filmed for the tracks "Because the Night" and "Tears of Fire."...
. The song is the band's thirty-sixth single, and the only one from the album. It was made available as a free download on the band's official site at 00:01 on 8 June 2010 (UTC), one day before the album's supporting tour
The Final Frontier World Tour
The Final Frontier World Tour was a concert tour by Iron Maiden in support of the band's 15th album, The Final Frontier, which began on 9 June 2010 in Dallas, Texas and ended in London, England on 6 August 2011...
began. The cover art was created by Anthony Dry and is based on the covers of the EC Comics
EC Comics
Entertaining Comics, more commonly known as EC Comics, was an American publisher of comic books specializing in horror fiction, crime fiction, satire, military fiction and science fiction from the 1940s through the mid-1950s, notably the Tales from the Crypt series...
published by William Gaines
William Gaines
William Maxwell Gaines , better known as Bill Gaines, was an American publisher and co-editor of EC Comics. Following a shift in EC's direction in 1950, Gaines presided over what became an artistically influential and historically important line of mature-audience comics...
that were popular in the 1950s. Regarding the early online release of the song, vocalist Bruce Dickinson
Bruce Dickinson
Paul Bruce Dickinson is an English singer, songwriter, airline pilot, fencer, broadcaster, author, screenwriter, actor and marketing director, best known as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden....
explained, "El Dorado is a preview of the forthcoming studio album. As we will be including it in the set of our Final Frontier World Tour
The Final Frontier World Tour
The Final Frontier World Tour was a concert tour by Iron Maiden in support of the band's 15th album, The Final Frontier, which began on 9 June 2010 in Dallas, Texas and ended in London, England on 6 August 2011...
, we thought it would be great to thank all our fans and get them into The Final Frontier mood by giving them this song up front of the tour and album release."
Dickinson explained the meaning of the song during an interview with Kerrang!
Kerrang!
Kerrang! is a UK-based magazine devoted to rock music published by Bauer Media Group. It was first published on June 6, 1981 as a one-off supplement in the Sounds newspaper...
::
[El Dorado] has a cynical lyric about the economic crap that's been happening. It seemed a bit like a perfect storm; people were borrowing money like crazy. I thought, "This is really going to screw people up" and sure enough, we're all in deep doo-doo! And that's what El Dorado is about, it's about selling somebody the myth that "The streets are paved with gold" and them asking, "Where do I sign up?"
"El Dorado" won the Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
for Best Metal Performance
Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance was an award presented at the Grammy Awards to recording artists for works containing quality performances in the heavy metal music genre...
in 2011. It is the band's first win following two previous nominations ("Fear of the Dark
Fear of the Dark (song)
"Fear of the Dark" is a song written by Steve Harris, bass player and main songwriter for Iron Maiden, as the title track to Iron Maiden's 1992 album Fear of the Dark...
" in 1994 and "The Wicker Man
The Wicker Man (song)
"The Wicker Man" is a song by Iron Maiden, released as the first single from their album Brave New World in April 2000. It was co-written by Adrian Smith, Bruce Dickinson and Steve Harris. It was co-produced by Kevin Shirley and Harris. The title is inspired by the British cult film of the same name...
" in 2001).
The song's guitar solo, which lasts from about 3:42 to 4:23, is a trade-off divided into three parts; the first is played by Adrian Smith (3:42-3:53), the second by Dave Murray (3:53-4:06), and the third, which segues into the verse riff again, by Janick Gers (4:06-4:23).
Personnel
- Bruce DickinsonBruce DickinsonPaul Bruce Dickinson is an English singer, songwriter, airline pilot, fencer, broadcaster, author, screenwriter, actor and marketing director, best known as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden....
– lead vocals - Dave MurrayDave Murray (musician)David Michael Murray is an English guitarist and songwriter best known as one of the earliest members of the British heavy metal band Iron Maiden.-Biography:...
– guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with... - Janick GersJanick GersJanick Robert Gers is an English musician, best known for being one of the three current guitarists in Iron Maiden, along with Dave Murray and Adrian Smith, as well as his earlier work with Gillan and White Spirit.-Career and Personal Life:...
– guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with... - Adrian SmithAdrian SmithAdrian Frederick "H" Smith is an English musician and one of three guitarists in the heavy metal band, Iron Maiden. He is also one of the band's regular songwriters and, along with bassist Steve Harris, performs backing vocals on some songs.-Biography:While at school, Smith purchased his first...
– guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, backing vocalsBacking vocalistA backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists... - Steve HarrisSteve Harris (musician)Stephen Percy "Steve" Harris is an English musician and songwriter, known as the bassist, occasional keyboardist, backing vocalist and primary songwriter of the British heavy metal band Iron Maiden, which he founded in 1975...
– bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, backing vocalsBacking vocalistA backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists... - Nicko McBrainNicko McBrainMichael Henry "Nicko" McBrain is an English musician, best known as the drummer for Iron Maiden, which he joined in 1982, prior to which he had played for Streetwalkers, Pat Travers, and the French political band, Trust.-Biography:...
– drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person .... - Kevin ShirleyKevin ShirleyKevin Shirley is a music producer and mixer for many artists, such as the bands Journey, Iron Maiden, Rush, Led Zeppelin, Joe Bonamassa, Marya Roxx, Dream Theater, Tyler Bryant, Mr. Big, and Europe.-Biography:...
– producerRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music... - Jared Kvitka – engineerEngineerAn engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...