Your favourite Maiden guitar [i]duet/trio[/i]?

[Dr. Eddies Wingman]

We have a thread for greatest guitar solo already. But what about all the classic duels where one of the guys starts melting your face and then the other one takes over? Or more recently, all three of them play solos after each other (think No More Lies)? For a start, exclude those where there is an interlude between the solos (like Number of the Beast, Afraid To Shoot Strangers).

Dave and Adrian produced a shitload of great duels in the 80's. But some are of course more memorable than others. I'll give mine, sorted by album:

- Killers
- Hallowed Be Thy Name
- The Trooper, Revelations
- Aces High, Rime of the Ancient Mariner (my favourite)
- Alexander the Great
- Moonchild, Infinite Dreams (SSOASS also has great solos, but here you have interludes between each solo part)

Then Dave and Janick produced some good ones, too. My favourite ones all come from classic songs from the 90's:

- Fear of the Dark
- Sign of the Cross
- The Clansman

And after Bruce and Adrian returned, they have given us some memorable ones: First place goes to Adrian and Dave for:

- PASCHENFUCKINGDALE!

The trio on No More Lies gets honorable mention. The one in The Fallen Angel isn't bad either, but not on par with No More Lies.

Finally I'd like to mention the one in Lord of Light - Dave does a good solo and then Adrian does a great one.

But still I think the best duels/duets belong to the era from 81 to 88.

 

[Deleted member 7164]

Hallowed Be Thy Name is a classic...it's probably the greatest dual-guitar solo of all time. Seventh Son tour version IMHO is best. Adrian does some great runs, tappings, etc...

I like Prodigial Son, then Revelations/Still Life, Powerslave/ROTAM, Caught Somewhere In Time (the best Dave/H combo after HBTN), Moonchild...

Regarding Dave and Janick...Sign Of The Cross, Lightning Strikes Twice, Fear Of The Dark.

And in 21st century, great Dave/H combos include Mercenary, Lord Of Light (you got it wrong, H plays first solo). The best three-piece is No More Lies, followed by Dance Of Death.

 

[Dr. Eddies Wingman]

Yes, of course H plays first. I just messed the order of the solos up (I remember who plays what, and now you say it I also recall how Adrian's last very high note is followed by some standard Davey legato stuff).

 

[Forostar]

No first album material because H didn't play on it and we'll exclude the ones with interludes? Alright but I'll still give some special mention to Blood on the World's Hands & The Duellists. Great solos by all gentlemen involved.

From the 80s:

-The Ides Of March
-NOTB album: none, I'm not that fond of Adrian's lead stuff (and sound) on Hallowed and some other tracks. I do like some of his leads on the album, but those are parts seperated by other music.
-Quest For Fire, The Trooper, Flight of Icarus
-ROTAM (my favourite!), Aces High, 2 Minutes, Powerslave
-Caught Somewhere In Time, ATG, TLOTLDR
-Infinite Dreams (by far the coolest combo of this album)

Later I'll do the next decade.

 

[seely]

80's:
-Iron Maiden (Dennis Stratton deserves an inclusion, even though he only did one album)
-Hallowed Be Thy Name
-ROTAM
-Caught Somewhere In Time
-Number Of The Beast

90's:

-Fear of The Dark
-Sign OIf The Cross
-Afraid To Shoot Strangers
-The Clansman

00's:

-Brave New World (Dave's solo is superb!)
-Pasvhendale
-Dance Of Death
-No More Lies
-Dream Of Mirrors
-The Legacy
-Brighter Than A Thousand Suns

 

[Dr. Eddies Wingman]

The Legacy and Dream of Mirrors have only one guitar solo each (both by Janick and both among his best solos, but a bit on the side of this topic ...)

 

[Deleted member 7164]

-NOTB album: none, I'm not that fond of Adrian's lead stuff (and sound) on Hallowed and some other tracks. I do like some of his leads on the album, but those are parts seperated by other music.

I also don't dig Killers and NOTB solos as much as i do ones that came after. However, in it's original '82 form, Hallowed Be Thy Name has probably the first modern dual-lead that's not mere jamming, but two solos complement each other perfectly, each being totally different. I like how the solo progressed on H's part, peaking in '88 IMHO, but post '84 versions on Dave's part are worse than, let's say Beast Over Hammersmith performance. I think he overdoes legato stuff and plays fast throughout the whole length of the solo, while in original, he had few interesting timings, few diversities, a lot of fast-fluid stuff, but you could also whistle the melody. On the post '88 period, Janick just doesn't do justice to this part like H did. If you recall early performances, such as Donington '92, Janicks' renderition is just too similar to Dave's part. Too similar. On later performances he managed to do some stuff like in original, and invent some stuff on his own, but the main problem is the rudimentary difference in style between him and Adrian. If any of you saw / heard any quality bootlegs, you might have noticed on the

Spoiler

Moonchild

performance that Janicks plays the solo. What's great about Adrian's solo in that song, is that first note right after Bruce's

Spoiler

This child was born to die...

The first note immediately breaks away from the mix, puts itself into the foreground, catches your attention, and at the same time, blends perfectly with Bruce's last word. Janicks renderition doesn't. Altrough it has speed and shredding, it's muddy and undefined. That's the same thing with HBTN solo. Dave's solo does a great energizer on the part that starts rampaging after the drum fills, and then H's very beginning and style catchs your attention with the first note, developing into a great melody. In that combination, it seems like integral part of the song, just like the lyrics and riffs and the main theme. In combination of Dave's overdoing fast legato stuff, and Janicks's undefined and muddy shredding, it seems like solo is just there for the sake of solo, like you have in your average metal band.

On the other hand, i love the Dave's little lick on post-'86 HBTN performances, right when the Bruce is finishing "Hallowed Be Thy Name" sentence. It really adds something to the song.

So, for the ultimate HBTN performance, Dave would play a bit more similar to the original, Adrian would play like he did in '88, and even could add something more (i thought that some of his solos were perfect until i saw him do them on SBIT tour, he added stuff that makes them even better!), and Davey would do that nice lick of his at the ending.