Adrian Smith

Introduction

Adrian Frederik Smith (Adrian Smith) is a famous guitarist born on the 27th of February 1957 in London, England. He is most famous for being part of the legendary heavy metal band Iron Maiden.

Early Days

Still at school Adrian became friend of Dave Murray, joining his band "Urchin", where he sang and played lead guitar. Dave would leave Urchin to join Steve Harris in Iron Maiden, while Smith remained as Urchin's frontman, until 1980 when he joined Iron Maiden for good.

Maiden

Smith joined Maiden just in time to release their second LP, "Killers". He composed some of his first songs for the third album of the band "The number of the beast", becoming one of the main band's composers ever after.

It was Dave Murray and Adrian Smith excellent connection that provided Maiden's signature sound, with their dual leads played at the same time creating perfect harmonizations and riffs that created some of the best albums in the history of New Wave of British Heavy Metal. Although both guitarists rely heavily on legato, Smith's style is flawless and deeply based on the blues, with a perfect control over modes, arpeggios and overall song structure. As such, he is widely regarded as on of the best heavy metal guitarists.