Adapting old songs to the 3-axe lineup

Dr. Eddies Wingman

Dr. Eddies Wingman

Brighter than thousand_suns
Well, Maiden have had three guitarists for some years now - but I think considering the focus of the upcoming tour, it will be quite lot of work to do for the boys. I mean, the tour will be focused on the three albums released 84-88, and these three are perhaps the three were the typical Dave/Adrian-interaction is utilized to the fullest.

During the time when Adrian was out, things were simple - Janick would play his solos or improvise his own. After Adrian returned, it seems Janick still plays some of the old solos, while Adrian has taken back others. Dave of course plays his own solo parts for most of the time.

But what do you ladies and gentlemen think about how the band should approach this for a tour where all the songs played will be from the Smith/Murray-era? Of course, it would not be fair to Janick not letting him have any solos - I guess he will continue playing solos on the songs where he did so in H's abscence, but now they are (I hope) going to play a lot of songs that haven't been played since the 80's. What to you think is the best way to adapt these songs to three guitars?

- Adding extra solos here and there?
- Redistributing solos between the three amigos?
- Letting Janick make some interesting backing lines for H's old solos?

As for twin-guitar leads, who are abundant on Powerslave, SIT and Seventh Son, I guess they can easily add some rythm guitar or have three-guitar harmonies. I just hope they won't drown the fine details in the rythm work from these albums in a massive three-guitar thunderstorm.

Well, I guess the guys in Maiden have a lot of good ideas on this, I just thought it might be interesting to see what people on this board think of the topic.
 
I wonder how fans would take adding Janick solo's to songs making them longer especielly for Ryme of the ancient mariner.
 
It would be sweet if they simply added more solos to the songs for Janick...

On the Early Days tour, I liked it when Janick took some of H's solos because some of H's solos were lacking.. :S  But in this era, H actually barely has even an okay one.  Steve said before the Edhuntour that they might add extra solos now that they have three guitars, but it never happened.  I think that's what they should do for this tour.
 
I'd love to have Dave do some backing-melodies a la Out of the Shadows and Janick replace him in the rhythm-parts. As for the solos, I'd love new ones, or twin-solos (a la The Evil That Men Do).

I don't think adding the solos would affect length that much. 20 seconds added to a 13-minute song won't make much of a difference. It would probably affect pacing more than it would length. But I wouldn't have any problem with it.

I think there are way too few Maiden-songs with three solos :p
 
GuineaPig said:
On the Early Days tour, I liked it when Janick took some of H's solos because some of H's solos were lacking.. :S  But in this era, H actually barely has even an okay one.  Steve said before the Edhuntour that they might add extra solos now that they have three guitars, but it never happened.  I think that's what they should do for this tour.
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I'm sorry, but in no way were H's solos lacking during that period (or ever for that case!), he's the strongest player in the band, well in my opinion anyway. On Early Days, I specifically remember that Janick took H's solo spot during Revelations, and butchered some sort of improvised piece, which I was quite disappointed about, as I usually don't mind it when Jan takes a solo, but I really did love that original solo.

What I would really like to see is Walking On Glass adapted to the three guitar line-up. (For those who don't know what Walking On Glass was, it was a guitar duel between H and Dave during Somewhere On Tour, based on the song The Snowman [I think], which has the "I'm walking in the air" shite in it etc.)
 
I've said it before that my number one wish for this tour is a three-piece Walking on Glass. It's an amazing piece in itself, but could be even greater with a third guitar.
 
It would be great if Janick adds a third solo to majority of songs, or if all guitarists without a solo would add a solo to and existing song, it would be fun seeing their wicked styles complementing each other. :innocent:
 
Shrike said:
I don't think adding the solos would affect length that much. 20 seconds added to a 13-minute song won't make much of a difference. It would probably affect pacing more than it would length. But I wouldn't have any problem with it.
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When it comes to the pacing, I would seriously wish Nicko wouldn't speed ut all the songs ... I mean, for some songs this makes them better - like Flight of Icarus. But I still have not heard a live version of Hallowed Be Thy Name that I prefer to the studio version. Some songs just shouldn't be speeded up. Especially not songs where the singing is fast already -  letting the tempo be closer to the album versions would certainly be good for Bruce's singing. Imagine the verses of "The Duellists" played in 5:30 instead of 6:06 which is the original running time ... even Øystein Sunde wouldn't be able to sing fast enough.

(For non-Norwegians: Øystein Sunde is a Norwegian guitarist, singer and comedian who has a reputation for being able to sing his lyrics almost as fast as he plays guitar. And he sure has got quick fingers. His musical style is often bluegrass-inspired but elements of rock and blues are not rarely heard. He is regarded as one of Norway's greatest guitarists regardless of genre, although he sounds best in fast "bluegrassy" songs)
 
OK, I thought about this last night, but for some reason didn't post it then...

Maiden will never add material to live songs just to create another solo. Anyone hoping for such a thing is going to be disappointed.

They've done 3 nostalgia tours with the 3-guitar lineup now. They have never yet added any new solo sections. There's no reason to think they'll start now.
 
Correct me if I'm wrong, but they added a Janick solo in Drifter on the Early Days tour.

And I prefer Janick's solos to Adrian's on Revelations, Phantom, (not Hallowed).  Some of Adrian's earlier solos were just so slow and plodding, I like Janick spicing it up.

I know I may be a heretic, but I believe in what I say.  :)

However, I would not want him to take Wasted Years or Stranger In A Strange Land.  Just about every H solo from 1984 on is classic.
 
GuineaPig said:
Correct me if I'm wrong, but they added a Janick solo in Drifter on the Early Days tour.
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Hmmm, I don't recall that. I'll have to check out my boot from that tour more closely. I did see the show live, but I think I was caught up in the moment too much to notice if there was any funny business like that.

One thing to consider is that "Drifter" has, over time, developed a looser structure than most songs. They had the original version from their club days, then the Killers version, eventually developing into the long yo-yo-yo jam ... so the question is, what version do you use as the baseline for comparison? I'd be inclined to compare the 2005 version against the last time it made regular live appearances, which was (I think) the World Piece tour.

It's not quite as complicated as comparing, for example, live versions of "Whipping Post" by the Allman Brothers ... but there has definitely been significant variations in "Drifter" over the years.
 
GuineaPig said:
Correct me if I'm wrong, but they added a Janick solo in Drifter on the Early Days tour.
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Janick plays the third solo indeed. I might be wrong (please correct me if I am) but I wouldn't call it adding another solo. The live version has always had one solo more than the studio version. So the total amount of solos stays the same in the live situation.

I also thought all three amigoes did a solo on Phantom of the Opera in 1999, but after checking I couldn't find it, so it must have been a weird brainwave of mine. ;)

So I'm with SMX, Maiden will not add more solos to the old material just for the sake of it. I wouldn't like the idea to be honest. The amigoes can share enough cool parts with the three of them, without changing the song structures.
 
Janick took over Adrian's solos in

Revelations
Phantom Of The Opera
Hallowed Be Thy Name

I don't have direct access to my bootlegs, right now, and I don't know by heart if he also did 22 Acacia Avenue in 2003.

And if he did Die With Your Boots, Another Life, Charlotte The Harlot, Remember Tomorrow & Sanctuary in 2005.

Anyone?
 
Alright, on the album it was Stratton's solo, but Adrian played it from (end of) 1980-1987 but he didn't play a solo in Phantom.. in 1999, nor in 2005.
 
Heh :)

On a sidenote: when you compare the 1999 and 2005 bootlegs, you can hear the following difference when listening to the mid-tempo part in the middle -->
1999: Janick first solo - Dave second solo
2005: Dave first solo - Janick second solo
Just checked all songs and these are the only songs which Janick took over from Adrian (if I'm wrong I'd like to know! ;) ---> 

Revelations
Phantom Of The Opera
Hallowed Be Thy Name
Charlotte the Harlot
 
I know, I don't know if they purposely mixed up Phantom's solos or what.

Also, Janick did the whole shared solo w/ Adrian on 22 Acacia in '03.  Also, he did Charlotte the Harlot for the two gigs it was played.
 
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