Why did Adrian change his solo in Stranger in a Strange Land on Ed Hunter tour 99?

naikon

Nomad
The solo in SIASL is one of my favorite in the whole world and I love to watch the few live recordings of the song that exists. Both from the 86/87 tour and the Ed hunter tour in 99.
But im surprised and sad that Adrian changed a big part of the solo to the worse in the 99-tour
Listen to this at 4:27
That should be one of the best and most melodic part of the solo, but instead he plays some boring tapping thing.

Why do you think he changed it, would it be to hard for him to play? I dont think he would be that much slower in his fingers just 10 years later.
 
He might have felt like improvising for a bit, he might have forgotten what lick comes next, he might have thought that it's too uncomfortable a lick to play at the time. You play the same songs every night and you're bound to switch out a couple of things once in a while.
 
He might have felt like improvising for a bit, he might have forgotten what lick comes next, he might have thought that it's too uncomfortable a lick to play at the time. You play the same songs every night and you're bound to switch out a couple of things once in a while.
Yes but he played the same thing for all the dates of the tour, so I wouldnt call it improvising. Obviously its something he choose to do, but why
 
Because he exactly always does that with his solos?
 
I can't answer why he did it, but I agree with you, naikon, that I find both his choices and executions of the 1999 editions of his Stranger in a Strange Land solo not good. If this song ever comes back, I hope he sticks to the original: no meddling with these iconic, mindblowing passages please.
The solo in SIASL is one of my favorite in the whole world.
It is also the favourite Iron Maiden guitar solo in this community (here the top 10 if interested):
I bet the 1999 (build-up) edition wouldn't have come far in the tournament.
 
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^ that's your conjecture. I like 1999 renditions better. Comparing to studio or to SoT tour live?
 
I can't answer why he did it, but I agree with you, naikon, that I find both his choices and executions of the 1999 editions of his Stranger in a Strange Land solo not good. If this song ever comes back, I hope he sticks to the original: no meddling with these iconic, mindblowing passages please.

It is also the favourite Iron Maiden guitar solo in this community (here the top 10 if interested):
I bet the 1999 (build-up) edition wouldn't have come far in the tournament.

Thanks Forostar thats exactly what i was trying to say. He played like the original in the 86/87 tour, which sounds so much better.
But unfortunatly I dont think we will hear this song live again. I read somewhere that Adrian wouldnt like to play it just cause his father passed away in 99 when he just resurrected this song.

By the way Im happy to see that it won the guitar solo contest. I would also vote for the Dave Murray solo in Powerslave as the #2
 
By the way have you noticed that it sounds like someone says "Hey!" at 3:51

Is that Bruce or Adrian or what do you think?
 
I read somewhere that Adrian wouldnt like to play it just cause his father passed away in 99 when he just resurrected this song.
No verification of that, but it's 100 % percent true that the band dropped the song after Adrian left the Ed Hunter Tour for a couple of shows after his father had died, and when he returned the song wasn't put back in.

On a sidenote, Janick did well on the solos in Aces High and Powerslave during these shows, and stayed close to the originals actually, so I guess he wouldn't have had any problems with this solo either.
 
Always wondered what that was about. Nice touch.
 
The solo in SIASL is one of my favorite in the whole world and I love to watch the few live recordings of the song that exists. Both from the 86/87 tour and the Ed hunter tour in 99.
But im surprised and sad that Adrian changed a big part of the solo to the worse in the 99-tour
Listen to this at 4:27
That should be one of the best and most melodic part of the solo, but instead he plays some boring tapping thing.

Why do you think he changed it, would it be to hard for him to play? I dont think he would be that much slower in his fingers just 10 years later.

Is it just me or are the guitars playing the little fill at the end of each line of lyrics too often during the verse, i.e.

it should be

was many years ago that I left home and came this way, was a young man full of hopes and dreams FILL

instead they play

was many years ago that I left home and came this way, FILL was a young man full of hopes and dreams FILL
 
Is it just me or are the guitars playing the little fill at the end of each line of lyrics too often during the verse, i.e.

it should be

was many years ago that I left home and came this way, was a young man full of hopes and dreams FILL

instead they play

was many years ago that I left home and came this way, FILL was a young man full of hopes and dreams FILL
youre absolutely right, nice find
my guess is that they add it because they're playing live and want to add some more color to the sound. They maybe thought it would be a bit too quiet without the double fills.
 

Naikon, you can doubt the choice of using the Road To Hell/Wickerman medieval riff in there, I don't think it fits as well as the original blues lick but that's what Smith does, he always alters the solos tour from tour. On the other hand, the Fender/Marshall stack here gives it a timeless, Floydish feel, and overall other changed licks are improved, like that small alternating scale in the first part.

This solo is voted by this board as no 1. If you ask me - "is this the best Maiden solo ever", yes or no, I'd have to abstain from voting. In any case the linked performance is by far the best, from live bootlegs I've ever heard. Only studio version compares, for me.
 

Naikon, you can doubt the choice of using the Road To Hell/Wickerman medieval riff in there, I don't think it fits as well as the original blues lick but that's what Smith does, he always alters the solos tour from tour. On the other hand, the Fender/Marshall stack here gives it a timeless, Floydish feel, and overall other changed licks are improved, like that small alternating scale in the first part.

This solo is voted by this board as no 1. If you ask me - "is this the best Maiden solo ever", yes or no, I'd have to abstain from voting. In any case the linked performance is by far the best, from live bootlegs I've ever heard. Only studio version compares, for me.
Hey man yes I've listened to it a couple more time and you are right, he does add some cool features that isn't there on the original. Surely it compensates a tiny bit, but I still miss that original blues lick! :)
 
Yeah that rendition would be perfect if he didn't replace it :)

But to answer your original question : no. The replacement lick is technically harder than the original one, so that was down to stylistic choice. Smith is known to expand his prowess all the time and I'm sure he can play original version as-is any day.

On the other hand, getting that Somewhere in Time guitar sound just by dialing amps might be a bit tricky...
 
He does this all the time with a lot of solos. Listen to HTBN from 82 vs 83, and 86/87 vs 88 (and there's multiple variations in those as well among them). I noticed with a lot of songs he changes things up after a while, especially if they're played often.
 
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