Information AboutAdrian Smith |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT ADRIAN SMITH | |
| 1957 births | |
| living people | |
| iron maiden members | |
| english heavy metal guitarists | |
Adrian Frederik "H" Smith (born February 27 , 1957 in Hackney , East London , England ) is a songwriter and one of three Guitarist s/songwriters in the Heavy Metal band Iron Maiden . He also sings backing vocals on some songs, along with Steve Harris. BIOGRAPHY Whilst at school, Adrian befriended Dave Murray and founded his first own band Urchin as lead singer and lead guitarist. Adrian bought his first guitar from Murray, a Woolworths' Top 20, for five quid, his dad fixed it. Murray left to join Iron Maiden, the new band of another friend, Steve Harris . Smith continued to front "Urchin" until joining Maiden in late 1980 for the '' Killers '' album (released in 1981), replacing Dennis Stratton . Smith first wrote songs for Maiden on the 1982 album '' The Number Of The Beast '', and was the band's secondary song writer from then on (often in co-operation with Bruce Dickinson). Smith and Dave Murray combined playing dual lead guitars helping to forge the trademark sound of Iron Maiden. Some notable dual lead solos are "2 Minutes To Midnight", " Alexander The Great " and "Rime Of The Ancient Mariner". Notable solitary solos include "Wasted Years", "Stranger in a Strange Land" and "The Wicker Man". Adrian's solos are usually composed rather than improvised. His legato playing is very smooth and fast, and typically even his very fast passages have a musical function and relationship to the chord structure behind the solo, drawing from modes and arpeggios which are more often from the blues licks. Adrian is one of the most accomplished metal guitarists of this age. Smith released a solo LP with the band '' and '' Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son '' albums, Steve Harris had decided to take the band back to a more traditional hard rock direction which you can clearly hear on the '' No Prayer For The Dying '' album. This album featured one last song co-penned by Adrian with Bruce Dickinson, "Hooks in You". Bruce Dickinson 's comment on Adrian: ''When he left the band in 1990, I think everybody was a bit surprised at how much we missed him and certainly, I don’t think anybody had realized how much the fans would miss him - big time. I wouldn’t have rejoined Iron Maiden if he wasn’t in the band. I just don’t think it would have been complete without Adrian, and now, it’s great having three guitarists.'' In 1996, Adrian joined forces with former Helloween vocalist, Michael Kiske on Kiske's solo album Instant Clarity . He plays guitar on a few tracks and co-wrote a few songs. Later, Adrian formed his Alternative Rock -influenced band Psycho Motel . This band was a progression from an earlier music project of his, The Untouchables , which had featured some of the members from ASAP and Jamie Stewart . The band recorded two albums, '' State Of Mind '' (1996) and '' Welcome To The World '' (1997). Smith would also play on Bruce Dickinson 's '' Accident Of Birth '' and '' The Chemical Wedding '' albums. This more progressive direction's influence on Iron Maiden's own performances since he rejoined the band is clear. On August 22nd 1992 Smith made a brief appearance onstage with Maiden to play "Running Free" during the Donington Festival, much to the appreciation of the audience. In 1999, Smith re-joined Iron Maiden for the "'' Ed Hunter '' tour", a tour in support of the Video Game of the same name. Since then, Smith and Maiden have released 3 studio albums, '' Brave New World '' in 2000, '' Dance Of Death '' in 2003 and '' A Matter Of Life And Death '' in 2006. He remains with the band to this day. In his spare time, Adrian loves fishing, as can be seen on the '' Rock In Rio '' DVD. Adrian has a wife named Nathalie, and three children, son Dylan Smith (born in 1989) and twin daughters Natasha Smith and Brittany Smith (born in 1991). Dylan is currently in a unsigned band based in Buckinghamshire, England called "Turn From Despair". EQUIPMENT Guitars Smith's preferred guitar is the Fender Stratocaster , though he has used a variety of others over his career including several different Dean models, a custom built Jackson , Ibanez Destroyer, Gibson Les Paul s, a Gibson Explorer and Gibson SG s. On the '' A Matter Of Life And Death '' DVD he says the first guitar he bought was a Gibson Les Paul Goldtop that cost him £235 when he was 17; he's still using it, and "it's still probably the best guitar I've got". He had to work on a building site all summer to pay for it. His current Stratocaster features a DiMarzio Super Distortion Humbucker in the bridge position, which is the Pickup he uses almost exclusively, and a Floyd Rose locking Tremolo system. On the H/S/S strats he has been playing recently he uses the bridge humbucker almost exclusively. Adrian uses gauge 9 strings and has his action set slightly higher than average. Contrary to common belief, Adrian does not use the Seymour Duncan JB Junior pickup, which is favoured by fellow Iron Maiden guitarist Janick Gers . For his solo work with Bruce Dickinson he has used (at least live) a Jackson King V guitar tuned down to D, providing a darker and heavier sound. He has also used this setup on occasion after re-joining Iron Maiden . In the booklet of their album A Matter of Life and Death, Adrian is shown with a custom made two neck Jackson Soloist.
Specifications For the Fender American Stratocaster:
For the Gibson SG:
Effects, controllers and processors
Amplifiers
Loaded with 75-Watt Celestion G12-T75 Speakers
Units and tuners
Reference: Guitar World December 2006 DISCOGRAPHY Urchin
Iron Maiden
A.S.A.P.
Psycho Motel
Bruce Dickinson
Guest appearances
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