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GhostofCain said:
Thanks for sharing this.

No disrespect to Nicko, but I find it hard to believe that they did not play Alexander the Great on the Somewhere on tour because Adrian did not want to. Steve was calling the shots and if he had wanted them to play it live, they would have played it live.
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Steve calling the shots doesn’t mean he’s immune to the influence of the other band members. Maybe Steve was on the fence about the song and Adrian swayed his opinion.

It’s still ultimately Steve’s decision, but if Adrian was excited and wanting to play Alexander, odds are they would have.
 
Adrian was being a pain in the ass for Steve in 1987-1988. First he didn’t want to play Alexander, then he didn’t want to play at a fast tempo. So Steve fired his ass.

Steve has never hesitated to fire great musicians if they weren’t in line with his vision. He fired Dave, Paul, Clive, and Adrian. Who does that? Only Steve.
 
well, maybe it's good for him to refuse alexander at the time, maybe if they played it then, the song wouldn't have the cult image it has now. then they would play only at that tour... then we wouldn't able to hear it now :)
 
The Red and the Black said:
Adrian was being a pain in the ass for Steve in 1987-1988. First he didn’t want to play Alexander, then he didn’t want to play at a fast tempo.

Steve has never hesitated to fire great musicians if they weren’t in line with his vision. He fired Dave, Paul, Clive, and Adrian. Who does that? Only Steve.
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Yeah, but I'm sure Steve is complying with the guitarist/s and the vocalist, even back then. I also don't think Steve wanted to play the song live that much (didn't the song start out as an instrumental? That could be the reason, idk), but maybe in 1986 he wanted to play it though (every epic of his had been played live up until then). We have to say that the song has a specific/different vibe than Rime or even To Tame A Land.
 
Ascendingthethrone said:
I think he was pushed towards the door.
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Not according to every source I’ve ever come across, books, magazines, dvds and various other interviews. I’m not saying I’m an authority but I’ve never ever thought of Adrian being pushed out of the band until a couple of people mentioned it here.

I became a fan when no prayer was the latest album and I have read/seen a lot of stuff over the years. I was always under the impression Adrian left because he didn’t appreciate the back to basics approach the band were taking with NPFTD. He wanted to carry on in the vein of SIT and SSOASS and go even bigger with the keyboards, melody and commercial sounding aspects.

Maybe @Luisma could confirm.
 
AncientMariner_Essex said:
Not according to every source I’ve ever come across, books, magazines, dvds and various other interviews. I’m not saying I’m an authority but I’ve never ever thought of Adrian being pushed out of the band until a couple of people mentioned it here.

I became a fan when no prayer was the latest album and I have read/seen a lot of stuff over the years. I was always under the impression Adrian left because he didn’t appreciate the back to basics approach the band were taking with NPFTD. He wanted to carry on in the vein of SIT and SSOASS and go even bigger with the keyboards, melody and commercial sounding aspects.

Maybe @Luisma could confirm.
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He wasn't pushed out the door

Adrian had been dealing with personal problems and wasn't satisfied as a artist and person within the band. Everything accumulated by the start of 1990 so when the band (Steve) decided to record the album + a rawer sound, that was just the final drop in the ocean that had built inside Adrian, but the reason why he ended up leaving was far more deeper than just the sound or speed of the songs
 
AncientMariner_Essex said:
Not according to every source I’ve ever come across, books, magazines, dvds and various other interviews. I’m not saying I’m an authority but I’ve never ever thought of Adrian being pushed out of the band until a couple of people mentioned it here.

I became a fan when no prayer was the latest album and I have read/seen a lot of stuff over the years. I was always under the impression Adrian left because he didn’t appreciate the back to basics approach the band were taking with NPFTD. He wanted to carry on in the vein of SIT and SSOASS and go even bigger with the keyboards, melody and commercial sounding aspects.

Maybe @Luisma could confirm.
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Steve has given his own version of the phone call. He asked H if he was willing to go into the direction Steve had indicated. Smith wasn't that sure and that was it. To me, it looks like a very polite way to sack someone.
 
harrisdevot said:
Steve has given his own version of the phone call. He asked H if he was willing to go into the direction Steve had indicated. Smith wasn't that sure and that was it. To me, it looks like a very polite way to sack someone.
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Maiden lore always twists things a bit in order to not really perjudicate anyone.

Before the band went to write what ended up being SSOSS, Steve, who was close friends with Adrian, knew things weren't all that good with H, sat and talked with him before they went to rehearsals for the album. One of the things that Maiden (Rod and Steve) knew they had to do in order to try and protect the band was give each member (and especially Adrian) the chance to record solo albums because they knew that Smith wanted to develop more as an artist and felt that Maiden was holding him back.

Move forward to January 1990. The band starts sharing ideas and recordings for the album. Adrian isn't all that convinced he wants to move forward with the band because he feels he is just a cog in the Maiden machine (amongst other things) and yet he does try to keep going and wents into various writting sessions with Bruce... Move a bit forward and he tells Nicko, during a rehearsal/recording session he's leaving... Nicko opens his mouth, a meeting is called... Disscussions happen.. Things got a bit ugly and Steve and H agree a split has to happen
 
When you think about where Maiden was at in 86, it totally makes sense that H had enough sway to keep a song out of the setlist. He was a primary writer in the band, had helped write some of their biggest hits, and was heavily involved in the production of SIT. Wasn't he able to convince them to move out of Nassau for part of the production process?

IMO leaving Alexander out is pure politics on the part of H. Adrian is the sole writer of 3 out of the 8 Somewhere in Time songs, the most sole contributions anybody has had on one album outside of Steve. All three were played live. I think there's a pretty good chance that Sea of Madness doesn't make it if Alexander the Great is on the setlist back then. I also don't buy that Adrian couldn't pull it off back in the 80s. I'm sure he could, but maybe being a perfectionist combined with not typically being known for the big epics put him off of wanting to perform the song.

So I buy it. I don't see any reason why Steve wouldn't want to play the song live, Adrian seems like a very likely holdout.
 
harrisdevot said:
Steve has given his own version of the phone call. He asked H if he was willing to go into the direction Steve had indicated. Smith wasn't that sure and that was it.
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Steve: Hello mate
Adrian: Who is this?
Steve: Steve
Adrian: Which Steve?
Steve: How many Steves do you know man?
Adrian: Quite alot actually
Steve: The musician
Adrian: Porcaro?
Steve: The bassplayer!
Adrian: Oh! DiGiorgio!
Steve: Dude...it's ´Arry!
Adrian: Harry? And you just said you were Steve?
Steve: ´Arry! Steve Harris. Your former bandmate!
Adrian: What do you mean former? Steve? Hello? Hello??? ´Arry???
 
I think a lot also had to do with the fact that Adrian had just become a father in 89. Every sane person that isn't 100% behind the musical direction of the band that has an insane work-rate would have commitment issues at this point.
 
Mosh said:
When you think about where Maiden was at in 86, it totally makes sense that H had enough sway to keep a song out of the setlist. He was a primary writer in the band, had helped write some of their biggest hits, and was heavily involved in the production of SIT. Wasn't he able to convince them to move out of Nassau for part of the production process?

IMO leaving Alexander out is pure politics on the part of H. Adrian is the sole writer of 3 out of the 8 Somewhere in Time songs, the most sole contributions anybody has had on one album outside of Steve. All three were played live. I think there's a pretty good chance that Sea of Madness doesn't make it if Alexander the Great is on the setlist back then. I also don't buy that Adrian couldn't pull it off back in the 80s. I'm sure he could, but maybe being a perfectionist combined with not typically being known for the big epics put him off of wanting to perform the song.

So I buy it. I don't see any reason why Steve wouldn't want to play the song live, Adrian seems like a very likely holdout.
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The song that was played instead of Alexander the Great was Rime of the Ancient Mariner…
 
I think (/believe/speculate) that the Alexander the Great '86 came down to bit of both, Adrian's hunch that it doesn't turn out live as they, or he would, want, especially with the live tempos at the time and Sterve & co. being honestly more than fine with another run of absolutely splendid Rime of the Ancient Mariner.

Playing Rime instead of Alexander was sure bit of a compromise, but probably one they were kind of happy to do anyway.
 
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I totally believe it was because of the solo issue. I've posted on here before an interview with Bruce on the Friday Rock Show album preview for SIT where he talks about the trouble they had recording that solo, they played the excerpt of it and all if I remember correctly. So it was clearly an issue, and I also saw him in the flesh lose his spot in the solo and stop playing for the remainder of it this year at Hellfest.

So people need to come to terms with the fact that Adrian is a mere mortal and can have difficulties playing something, the same way anyone can.

I also think that Steve didn't think it was as good as his other epics and that played a part too, as @GhostofCain says, they played Rime instead, which tells me that Steve probably thought it wasn't as good as his centrepiece from the previous album.
 
Luisma said:
Before the band went to write what ended up being SSOSS, Steve, who was close friends with Adrian, knew things weren't all that good with H, sat and talked with him before they went to rehearsals for the album. One of the things that Maiden (Rod and Steve) knew they had to do in order to try and protect the band was give each member (and especially Adrian) the chance to record solo albums because they knew that Smith wanted to develop more as an artist and felt that Maiden was holding him back.
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So Adrian wasn't that ''happy'' with SSOASS approach too? He was pleased the most with SIT. It's odd because he and band had a lot of artistic freedom and experimentation during 1986-1988 (the next one was from 1995 onwards).
 
Even if they played Rime instead of Alex, they started the tour with six Somewhere in Time songs. Playing Alexander the Great probably means a Somewhere in Time song gets cut as I really doubt they go for seven.
 
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