Iron Maiden have announced via their website that they have a new album, The Final Frontier, coming out on August 17. To commemorate the new album, as well as the tour that starts in Dallas on Wednesday (9), they’re givingaway a free MP3 of the first single, “El Dorado.” The announcement temporarily crashed the band’s site when the song was first made available at 7pm EST. The new album was recorded by Kevin “Caveman” Shirley, who produced their last few albums, and was recorded in Compass Point Studios, which was there the band recorded their mid-80s masterpieces Piece of Mind, Powerslave, and Somewhere In Time.
The band also unveiled artwork for The Final Frontier. Instead of original artist Derek Riggs, the artwork featuring a futuristic looking Eddie (if it even is Eddie) in a space setting was illustrated by Melvyn Grant, who’s done several other Maiden album covers, like Fear of the Dark and Virtual XI.
“‘El Dorado’ is a preview of the forthcoming studio album,” frontman Bruce Dickinson said in a press release. “As we will be including it in the set of our ‘Final Frontier World Tour’ (which opens in Dallas on June 9) 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.”
Track listing is after the jump.01. Satellite 15….The Final Frontier (8:40)
02. El Dorado (6:49)
03. Mother Of Mercy (5:20)
04. Coming Home (5:52)
05. The Alchemist (4:29)
06. Isle Of Avalon (9:06)
07. Starblind (7:48)
08. The Talisman (9:03)
09. The Man Who Would Be King (8:28)
10. When The Wild Wind Blows (10:59)
