It's been four years since Iron Maiden's last album, the (naturally) epic A Matter of Life and Death. Since then, Maiden have been busy, playing to over two million fans worldwide on the (naturally) epic "Somewhere Back In Time World Tour". After the engines of Flight 666 cooled down and Maiden took time off, they hit the studio again. Their latest creation is their fifteenth studio album, The Final Frontier, set for August. The tour to support the album (with Dream Theater as openers) kicks off June 9th, in Dallas. To whet the ravenous appetite of their fans, Maiden have released one song off The Final Frontier (which will spearhead the promotion of the album). The song is called "El Dorado".

After a bombastic intro (which should go over really well live), Maiden launch into a groove that is reminiscent of Heart's 1977 hit "Barracuda". The pre-chorus lags a little, but the verses have an unstoppable flow to them, and the chorus sees Maiden (and vocalist Bruce Dickinson) return to their soaring, powerful best. Three solos (left channel, middle channel and right channel) indicate that all three Maiden guitarists - Janick Gers, Adrian Smith and Dave Murray - get a chance to show off their chops, before the song heads towards its finale. Interestingly, the guitar flourishes during the intro and the outro both sound a bit like the classic lick that opens the Maiden favorite "Wasted Years".

Iron Maiden didn't need to do anything to get us more interested in The Final Frontier, but releasing "El Dorado" did not hurt at all. It's a fun, rollicking number that will appeal to fans of all Maiden's styles - the faster, punk years or the progressive, technical material. The tracklist of The Final Frontier might suggest we're in for more of the same - the shortest song is "The Alchemist" at 4:29, while "When The Wild Wind Blows" will be Iron Maiden's third-longest studio track at 10:59. "El Dorado" suggests that four years after their last studio album, and thirty years after their first, Maiden are as strong and as fresh as ever. The final frontier might just be the beginning.