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''The Final Frontier'' is the fifteenth studio album by English heavy metal band Iron Maiden, released on 13 August 2010 in Germany, Austria and Finland, 17 August in North America, 18 August in Japan,〔 and 16 August worldwide. At 76 minutes and 34 seconds, it is the band's second-longest studio album to date,〔 a duration surpassed only by 2015's ''The Book of Souls''. Melvyn Grant, a long-time contributor to the band's artwork, created the cover art.〔 The album received largely favourable reviews from critics and peaked at No. 1 in 28 countries. This included the United Kingdom, where it became the band's fourth release to top the UK Albums Chart following 1982's ''The Number of the Beast'', 1988's ''Seventh Son of a Seventh Son'' and 1992's ''Fear of the Dark''. On top of this, ''The Final Frontier'' also charted at No. 4 in the United States, marking their highest placement on the ''Billboard'' 200, in addition to gaining the band their first Grammy Award in the Best Metal Performance category for the song "El Dorado", released as a free download on 8 June 2010. EMI released the album in most of the world, while in the United States and Canada it was released jointly by Universal Music Enterprises and Sony Music Entertainment – the successor to the Sanctuary Records/Columbia Records joint venture that had previously controlled the Iron Maiden catalogue in North America. ==Overview== On 22 April 2009, during a ''Rock Radio'' interview promoting ''Iron Maiden: Flight 666'', drummer Nicko McBrain mentioned that Iron Maiden had booked studio time for early 2010. On 8 June, the album artwork, release date, and track listing were revealed, along with a free download of the track "El Dorado."〔 The album was released as a regular CD, an iTunes LP, a digital download, a vinyl picture disc, and a limited collector's "Mission Edition", containing interviews and a game entitled ''Mission II: Rescue & Revenge''. The North American leg of their tour in support of the album started in Dallas, Texas on 9 June 2010,〔 with a European tour beginning in Dublin on 30 July. As these dates preceded the record's release, "El Dorado" was the only new song played in 2010.〔 The full album tour commenced in Moscow on 11 February 2011, and would see the band visit South East Asia, Australia, South America and Florida, as well as returning to Europe. The tour led to the release of a live album and video, entitled ''En Vivo!'', which was released in March 2012. Prior to its release, bassist and band founder Steve Harris was quoted as saying that he imagined the band would release a total of fifteen studio albums. The title, which also shares its name with its supporting tour and opening track, fuelled further rumours that ''The Final Frontier'' would be Iron Maiden's last, however the band members admitted they hoped to make further releases and continue touring in the future. Harris in particular has stated that "if there's time and we all wanna do it, then why not? It would be sad if we don't make another album, and sad for the fans too", while vocalist Bruce Dickinson admits that the title was largely mischief.〔 In June 2010, Dickinson stated that he thought up the album's title 15 months previously: "I just thought 'We should call the next album ''The Final Frontier''!' because it sort of is... It could be, but it might not be! It means we can go back to space for an Eddie and things like that, and we haven't done that for a while. It has a certain romance to it." 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Final Frontier」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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