Re: Discussion thread for Final Frontier/El Dorado single
When I received the Maiden newsletter yesterday, I was at work. I immediately tried to access the site and download the file, but it took a few attempts - then I e-mailed the song to myself so I could listen to it on my iPhone. I closed my eyes and sat down under headphones, turned it way up and off it went. But after a minute or so I just had to stand up and walk around, and there were parts where I actually couldn't hold myself back from laughing out loud! It was a great experience. I guess I had not expected this kind of song, like so many others.
I share a lot of the impressions of other people here: the song feels more classic, 80s-like to me too, but with some modern Maiden flair included. I also think the comparison to Bruce's solo stuff is justified, but you can clearly hear the difference in the music!
Kicking off with the intro, I didn't really know what to make of that first, but by now I feel that this could very well be a great opener, not just for live, but for the album as well (which it won't be, but still). Maybe there's more to it than just "let's do an intro/outro this time"! The 8-minute title track might be some sort of epic introduction to the album which is then followed by this straightforward rocker, which would work pretty well too IMO.
The gallopping bass reminds me a lot of earlier Maiden stuff. The drums kick in hard, but Nicko's playing, while being straighter than usual, is still good old Maiden drumming. Nothing has changed here, but the guitars playing this "daa-daa-da-da" riff (that reminds me of three other songs) is kind of fresh, since they didn't do that a lot on previous records. Bruce's singing has been compared here to "Confeos" and "Book of Thel"; I couldn't agree more. But I like it! I like the lyrics (thanks to everyone for writing them down and improving them) and they flow well with the style of his vocal lines and the music. The song simply builds up suspension and momentum until it blows up in the chorus, where they doubled Bruce's voice giving it that thick, slightly artificial sound (maybe that's what people keep pointing out here about the strange-sounding vocals). And they actually make us wait for the first chorus until the 2:55 mark, dropping after the pre-chorus back into the verse the first time around. Classic!
The sound of the song isn't that much different from AMOLAD and as an audio guy I'd say this has been played live, at least in part, just like the last album. It's also interesting how they keep that "live" feeling by never doing any "impossible" overdubs; there's always one voice, three guitars, and in the solo section every solo is played on the center/left/right side where the specific guitarist is supposed to be standing. I like it! I also like how Maiden still go against the industry by NOT popping up the volume to chart levels, keeping a very natural and dynamic sound to the record.
The solo section with the marching rhythm in the beginning is typically Maiden these days and it gives the song a break, pushing it out of the straight line it's otherwise going, but no tempo changes happening here! The solos themselves are great; not too much on the long-winded side but making up for that with all three guys getting screen time. I was blown away by the third solo because I never expected all three of them to make an appearance! When the song gets back on track with Nicko's hi-hat intro (where you can clearly hear it's played live and not one hit corrected for timing
), the song builds up suspension again and it feels like it's only been four minutes when it's through, not almost seven!
Someone mentioned that El Dorado was more fun than the previous albums, which were a lot more serious and dark. I thought exactly the same after the first three or four spins, and I think it's about time Maiden tried something different in the line of what they did best back in the 80s. Actually I was hoping for an album that would go a little back to the roots and while it will never happen, this brighter side (that includes the single's cover art, great work!) is a welcome detour from the darker stuff, at least to me.
I also like the fact that the song keeps getting better the more you listen. I agree with some people's opinion that it's not THE Maiden song of all time, but as a single it's way better than the one-off numbers like "Different World" because it has so many more details to offer, yet it's easier to get into and just more fun than "Benjamin Breeg" and the like.
By the way, I've recorded and uploaded the Steve and Janick radio interview for keeps
here (minus songs). In case it's taken down sometime in the future
Now it's time for me to get back into the rehearsal room and jam along to this beautiful song!
