Adrian Smith

Current revision

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 forged 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.

He stayed with Maiden 9 years until "No prayer for the Dying", when he decided to focus on his side projects with ASAP. But he would come back in the future!

Other Projects beside Maiden

Right after "Seventh son of a seventh son" Maiden tour Smith took the time to record an LP with his side project band ASAP (Adrian Smith and Project). The title of the album was "Silver and Gold", and was recorded in 1989.

Later on he would create a new band "Psycho Motel", recording two albums, "State of Mind" in 1996 y "Welcome to the World" in 1997.

He also joined forces with Maiden's singer Bruce Dickinson when the latter decided to go solo, leaving Maiden for a few years. Smith plays guitar in both Dickinson's LPs "Accident of Birth" (1997) and "The Chemical Wedding" (1998)

Back to Maiden

1999 was a great year for Maiden fans. Both Adrian Smith and Bruce Dickinson re-joined the band, and this time to stay.
From this year on Maiden sported not two but three guitarists, as Janick Gers also stayed in the band despite Smith's reincorporation, thus leaving Maiden with a mind blowing array of guitar swingers: Dave Murray, Janick Gers & Adrian Smith.

Adrian Smith

Gear

Adrian Smith has used lots of diferent guitars over the years, these are some of the most important:

Jackson Adrian Smith San Dimas DK
Fender Stratocasters with Floyd Rose
Gibson Les Pauls
Jackson Randy Rhoads
Gibson Explorers
Gibson SG

Amps:

Marshall 30th Anniversary 6100LM 100-Watt All-Tube Heads
300-Watt Marshall 1960A Angled-Front 8x12 Cabs with 75-Watt Celestion G12-T75 Speakers
1961 William Henderson Atom Amplifier

Effects:

Yamaha MFC10 Midi Foot Controller
Dunlop Uni-vibe Wah Controller
Digitech Whammy Pedal
Mike Hill B.I.S. Isolation hole
Ibanez TS-9 Tube Screamer
Peavey Tubefex Tube Preamp & Multi-Fx Unit

Discography

Urchin

Black Leather Fantasy (1977)
She's A Roller (1977)
Urchin (2004)- Best of/Compilation

Iron Maiden

Killers (1981)
The Number of the Beast (1982)
Piece of Mind (1983)
Powerslave (1984)
Live After Death (1985)
Somewhere in Time (1986)
Seventh Son of a Seventh Son (1988)
Brave New World (2000)
BBC Archives (2002)
Beast Over Hammersmith (2002)
Rock in Rio (2002)
Dance of Death (2003)
Death on the Road (2005)
A Matter of Life and Death (2006)
Flight 666 (2009)
The Final Frontier (2010)

A.S.A.P.

Silver and Gold (1989)

Psycho Motel

State of Mind (1996)
Welcome to the World (1997)

Bruce Dickinson

Accident of Birth (1997)
The Chemical Wedding (1998)
Scream for Me Brazil (1999)

Related GMC Lessons

Murray vs Smith
Iron Maiden Master Class
Iron Maiden Style
Aces High
The Trooper