El Dorado was a visual kei

Visual Kei

is a movement among Japanese musicians, that is characterized by the use of make-up, elaborate hair styles and flamboyant costumes, often, but not always, coupled with androgynous aesthetics. Some sources state that visual kei refers to a music genre, or to a sub-genre of Japanese rock, with its...

 rock band formed in January 1999 with members Kaede, Shunsuke, Shoki, Yuu and Ruli. Their first live was on November 10. The band started out by releasing 3 demos that were heavier visual rock. The mini album Egoism was released on March 21, 2001. After the band managed to sign with Tristar, they presented their new musical style that was lighter and more romantic. In autumn 2001, Ruli left the band and Tetora subsequently joined in as the new guitarist. Their new album Aula was a success despite that. Kaede then changed his name to Yuki and Tetora to Tomo.

January 29 was the release day of their first DVD, Venus. In between the songs, there are lots of additional off-stage material. The mini album Birth continued in this new direction and this time the band was sent to France to record new PVs (Music Videos). The record company promoted the band a lot, which is unusual for smaller acts. Their trip to Paris was used for filming material for their next DVD, Video Birth, and for releasing a photo book called Birth in Paris.

In 2003, ElDorado tired of searching for their final breakthrough and they decided to return to their roots. In order to symbolize the change, the band's name was changed to EllDorado and they changed their logo. The DVD Ekiribako was the first official material from the new style.

EllDorado met trouble in the year 2004. Single releases were pushed back and the CD PUZZLE was cancelled completely. They officially disbanded on August 26, 2004.

However, Elldorado returned together once more for a concert on August 26, 2006 at HOLIDAY Shinjuku. On the same day, they also released another 'Best of' collection, this time including a DVD as well.

Members

• Kaede/Yuki was the vocalist of El Dorado, and started the band Glamorous Honey with two ex-members of New Sodmy.
• Yuu, guitarist, went to the band Siva (as Youichi or Yuuichi), which disbanded July 2009. He played in a session band called "Casket" on December 24, 2009.
• Tetora/Tomo (Real Name: Katakura Tomohiro) was born August 31 in Saitama. He is now in the band CODE
  Code (band)
  Code are an English/Norwegian black metal band that formed in 2002.The band formed out of Aort's solo project Seasonal Code with which he had released three demos between 1998 and 2001....
  
   after changing his stage name again.
• Shunsuke, the band's bass player, is now a part of the band BIS
  Bis (band)
  Bis are a Scottish indie pop band composed of Steven Clark , John Clark , and Amanda MacKinnon . Formed in 1994, the band broke up in 2003, but reformed briefly in 2007 for a series of concerts.-History:...
  
  . He died in 28 March 2010.
• Shouki played the drums.
• Ruli started as a guitarist for El Dorado but left in 2001.
• Rui was a vocalist for El Dorado.
• Ayame was the previous guitarist for El Dorado.

Albums

• Egoism (mini-album) 2001-03-21
• Aula 2001-11-28
• Silence (mini-album) 2002-11-28
• Fragrance Set (mini-album) 2002-12-21
• Flying Dragon 2003-06-25
• Puzzle 2004-01-28
• Freedom 2004-08-11
• Saikai (再会) 2006-08-26

Singles

• "otogirisou" 2001-08-20
• "Birth" 2002-04-24
• "Moment" 2002-12-21
• "kamisama no usotsuki" 2003
• "mujouken houfuku" 2003
• "zetsubou shou" 2003
• "sabu karuchaa" 2003
• "Refrain (Shunsuke version)" 2004-01-05
• "Refrain (Tomo version)" 2004-02-04
• "Refrain (You version)" 2004-03-03
• "Refrain (Shoki version)" 2004-04-07
• "Refrain (Yuki version)" 2004-05-12

Video

• Venus 2002-01-29
• Video Birth 2002-07-17
• Daydream 2002-08-01
• Special Box 2nd Version 2003-03-26
• Ekiribako (絵桐箱) 2003-05-02

Demo

• Kisagi (如月) 1999
• Shinbatsu to Kaikisen (神罰と回帰線) 2000-02-24
• Kakumeiron (革命論) 2000-04-28
• Tensei no Tsubasa (転生の翼) 2000-08-9