Adrian's Solo Discography Ranked - The Complete List

Jer

Jer

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Adrian Smith has been a critical part of Iron Maiden's sound for 11 studio albums, but he's also created a significant amount of music outside of the band, spanning multiple genres and vocalists (including himself!).

Inspired by the Bruce Dickinson ranking thread, I thought it would be interesting to do the same for Adrian's solo work. After some discussion, I've decided to include every album track and B-side from projects where Adrian was a primary songwriter (A.S.A.P., Psycho Motel, Primal Rock Rebellion), every studio track that Adrian co-wrote from collaborations where he was not a primary songwriter (Bruce Dickinson, Michael Kiske), and every studio track from his work that only saw limited release, but is still readily accessible online (Urchin, The Untouchables). This adds up to 82 tracks in all. The full list is in the spoiler tag below, complete with links.

A.S.A.P. - Silver & Gold
  • The Lion
  • Silver And Gold
  • Down The Wire
  • You Could Be A King
  • After The Storm
  • Misunderstood
  • Kid Gone Astray
  • Fallen Heroes
  • Wishing Your Life Away
  • Blood On The Ocean
Psycho Motel - State Of Mind
  • Sins Of Your Father
  • World's On Fire
  • Psycho Motel
  • Western Shore
  • Rage
  • Killing Time
  • Time Is A Hunter
  • Money To Burn
  • City Of Light
  • Excuse Me
Psycho Motel - Welcome To The World
  • The Last Chain
  • A Quarter To Heaven
  • Rain
  • Believe
  • With You Again
  • Into The Black
  • No Loss To Me
  • Underground
  • Welcome To The World
  • Something Real
  • Innocence
  • I'm Alive
  • Hypocrisy
Primal Rock Rebellion - Awoken Broken
  • No Friendly Neighbour
  • No Place Like Home
  • I See Lights
  • Bright As A Fire
  • Savage World
  • Tortured Tone
  • White Sheet Robes
  • As Tears Come Falling From The Sky
  • Awoken Broken
  • Search For Bliss
  • Snake Ladders
  • Mirror And The Moon
Collaborations with Bruce Dickinson
Collaborations with Michael Kiske & Kai Hansen
Limited releases with Urchin
Limited releases with The Untouchables

Since a lot of this will be new music to some people, I'll be leaving the voting open through the end of August.

Thanks in advance for participating -- I look forward to seeing how it all turns out. In the meantime feel free to share your thoughts on the music in this thread, but remember that the votes entered into the forms above will be the only ones that count!

As a bonus, check the spoiler tag below for official promo videos for songs from this list from Adrian's various bands. (If I'm missing any, let me know and I'll add them.)

A.S.A.P. - Silver And Gold
Psycho Motel - Psycho Motel
Primal Rock Rebellion - No Friendly Neighbour
Primal Rock Rebellion - No Place Like Home
Primal Rock Rebellion - Tortured Tone
Bruce Dickinson - Road To Hell
Bruce Dickinson - Killing Floor
The Untouchables - City Of Dreams

EDIT: The countdown starts here!
 
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Other than ASAP and Bruce’s stuff, this will all be new stuff for me. I’ll start listening to this, er, “ASAP”.
 
Done!

But I'm not sure if my votes are registered. Earlier, when I re-clicked the link I could see/edit my votes. Now when I click it again it's as if I've never voted. Is that in order @Jer ? I wanted to list my highest ratings but I can't access these (anymore).
 
Forostar said:
Done!

But I'm not sure if my votes are registered. Earlier, when I re-clicked the link I could see/edit my votes. Now when I click it again it's as if I've never voted. Is that in order @Jer ? I wanted to list my highest ratings but I can't access these (anymore).
Click to expand...
I've got one set of responses registered for each form, so those must be yours.

I'm not super familiar with the Forms platform, but I checked the box to allow edits. I didn't require sign-in to vote, though. Did you access it from the same device and browser?
 
Yes I did. Perhaps there is a maximum of 1 edit. Or a time limit.

Here (thanks to you) my highest votes (8 or higher).

A.S.A.P. - Silver & Gold
  • The Lion - 10
  • Silver and Gold - 9
  • After the Storm - 10
  • Misunderstood - 9
  • Blood on the Ocean - 9
  • When She's Gone (B-side) - 10
Psycho Motel - State of Mind
  • Sins of Your Father - 9
  • Psycho Motel - 9
  • Western Shore - 9
  • Rage - 8
  • Killing Time - 8
  • Money to Burn - 8
  • City of Light - 9
  • Excuse Me - 9
Psycho Motel - Welcome to the World
  • The Last Chain - 8
  • Rain - 9
  • Believe - 9
  • With You Again - 9
Primal Rock Rebellion - Awoken Broken
  • I See Lights - 8
  • Tortured Tone - 10
  • White Sheet Robes - 9
  • Search for Bliss - 9
  • Mirror and the Moon - 9
Collaborations with Bruce Dickinson
  • The Ghost of Cain - 8
  • Return of the King - 9
Collaborations with Michael Kiske & Kai Hansen
  • The Calling - 8
  • New Horizons - 9
Limited releases with Urchin
  • Black Leather Fantasy - 8
  • She's a Roller - 8
  • Countdown - 10
  • Countdown (Alternate Version) - 10
  • My Lady - 9
  • Animals - 9
State of Mind comes out best! I used to play it a lot when it came out. The 2nd half of the second Psycho Motel album is not very good imo.

EDIT: Should have given Return of the King a 10!
 
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May as well start. I'll hold off voting until I hear the entire discography, but this is what I think thus far.

A.S.A.P. - Silver and Gold
  1. "The Lion" - Love the feel of this song, and Adrian's vocals are great. 10/10
  2. "Silver and Gold" - Standard kinda song for this type of music, but I like it. Very catchy. 8/10
  3. "Down the Wire" - Nice song, not as good as the previous two but enjoyable. 7/10
  4. "You Could Be A King" - This was probably my favorite last time I heard the album, and I still like it now. 9/10
  5. "After the Storm" - I like this song a lot more than I did last time I heard it. 8/10
  6. "Misunderstood" - Lots of nice elements, but ultimately a weaker song. Besides, since when was H misunderstood? We all know he's a god.... 6/10
  7. "Kid Gone Astray" - Better song than "Misunderstood". 7/10
  8. "Fallen Heroes" - I like this one. 8/10
  9. "Wishing Your Life Away" - Good, but probably the most "paint-by-numbers" song here. Still better than "Misunderstood". 6/10
  10. "Blood on the Ocean" - Figures that they would keep the deepest song for the end. Other than "The Lion", it's the best one here. Great closer. 9/10
Overall: very good album. I love Adrian's voice, I love the guitars and the keyboards and all. Maybe a little long; could've omitted a couple tracks, but ultimately a very enjoyable listen. I hope the next ones are just as good.
  • "Blood Brothers" - Good but nothing special. 5/10
  • "Fighting Man" - Oh wow, I like this one a lot! 10/10
  • "When She's Gone" - Jesus Christ, this song is awesome too. 10/10
  • "School Days" - Unlike the previous two, this one's the definition of a bonus track. Got boring fast. 5/10
 
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A.S.A.P. - Silver & Gold
  • The Lion - Great vibe, nice imagery, catchy chorus. I really like Adrian's voice on this, even if he pushes a little past his limits. 9/10.
  • Silver And Gold - Nice atmospherics, catchy chorus with interesting backing vocals. Cool solo. 8/10.
  • Down The Wire - I like the rhythmic changes in the clean arpeggiated parts. Catchy chorus with nice acoustic accents, and a classy acoustic break. 7/10.
  • You Could Be A King - A little twangy with a hint of cheese, but that chorus definitely sticks in your head. I really like the bridge, too. 7/10.
  • After The Storm - Great verses with great vocals. The chorus is a bit odd, but the strong female backing vocals are pretty neat. Nice first solo, OK second solo. 7/10.
  • Misunderstood - Nice opening riff. I really like the verse and pre-chorus. The chorus is kind of dumb, but still undeniably catchy. Excellent solo, maybe the best on the album. I can't help myself, I've gotta give this an 8/10.
  • Kid Gone Astray - I love the dark musical twist in the verse and how it plays off the happiness of the rest of the music. Pretty good chorus. Nice bridges and solos. 7/10.
  • Fallen Heroes - Disjointed intro. OK verse, great pre-chorus, so-so chorus 1, pretty good chorus 2. Disjointed musical break, but a great solo. 6/10.
  • Wishing Your Life Away - I like that lead synth. OK verse, nice pre-chorus, good catchy chorus. Vocals are a little uneven, and the solos are a bit odd. 7/10.
  • Blood On The Ocean - Cool intro. Heartfelt verse, anthemic chorus. The instrumental break is cool, but feels a bit out of place. Very nice solos, with a truly epic ending to the final one. 8/10.
  • Blood Brothers (B-side) - This song is kind of a mess. The verse and solo are pretty good, but the chorus doesn't fit the song at all. 4/10.
  • Fighting Man (B-side) - Great verses and solos, but the chorus is a little weak. 7/10.
  • When She's Gone (B-side) - Consistently good, but the only part that reaches greatness is the first solo. 7/10.
  • School Days (B-side) - Great solo, but the rest of the song is completely forgettable, and that chorus is downright embarrassing. 4/10.
This album was actually a bit stronger than I'd remembered (album tracks averaging a 7.4), and I was pleasantly surprised by "Fighting Man" and "When She's Gone". Good stuff.

(Master review index >)
 
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I will do my voting later in July, once I am back from my holidays. It will give me an opportunity to listen to some of those albums again after some time (Primal Rock Rebellion and Psycho Motel are often featured in my playlists though).
 
Psycho Motel - State of Mind
  1. "Sins Of Your Father" - What the fuck, I wasn't expecting THIS. This is Chemical Wedding levels of heaviness. Holy shit. 8/10
  2. "World's On Fire" - This is bordering on thrash. Wow. 7/10
  3. "Psycho Motel" - Still heavy, but with a country kinda twang. Nice. 8/10
  4. "Western Shore" - Ooh, a quieter song. The heavy part is pointless but the rest of the song is great. 8/10
  5. "Rage" - Back to heaviness. I like the pre-chorus, the rest is okay. 7/10
  6. "Killing Time" - Also heavy, yeah. 7/10
  7. "Time Is A Hunter" - I heavy, bluesy type song. Kinda boring, IMO. 6/10
  8. "Money to Burn" - This one's better. 7/10
  9. "City of Light" - It's okay. 7/10
  10. "Excuse Me" - The majority of this album is basically "okay but not amazing", so I was wondering how the song with the least interesting title would sound. And wow. They really saved the best for last. It's like a heavier attempt at grunge, and I love it. One of the best songs so far. The chorus is excellent. 9/10
Probably a stronger album than Silver and Gold, but I'm not quite sure which I prefer. The ASAP album has better stand-outs; everything on here (except for "Excuse Me") is pretty much in the same kinda boat. But overall a good album.
  • "Last Goodbye" - Better than most of the album and should've been included instead of some of those songs. 9/10
  • "(Can't) Wait" - Looser, more of a "jam" than the other songs here, and it's better for it. 8/10
Again, holding off from voting till I hear the rest.
 
Seriously though, I just assumed it was Roy Z who was leading the charge for extreme heaviness and Adrian was all "hey, this is cool, I can join that". But Jesus, I think I've been mistaken.
 
Psycho Motel - Welcome to the World
  1. "The Last Chain" - Yeah, this is different from the previous album. Production is slicker, the vocalist is more grungy... I like it. 8/10
  2. "A Quarter to Heaven" - This one is good too. The chorus isn't as good as the pre-chorus, but as a whole the song is quite strong. 8/10
  3. "Rain" - Another good song. This seems like it'll be a strong album. 8/10
  4. "Believe" - A bit more aggressive, lyrically. Still very strong. 8/10
  5. "With You Again" - A more peaceful song. Pretty nice. Apparently Dave Murray guests on it? Cool. 8/10
  6. "Into the Black" - Love the opening bit. Heavy song. Very good. 8/10
  7. "No Loss To Me" - Another nicely assembled song. 8/10
  8. "Underground" - Most of the song is good. The chorus is fantastic. It's huge. Very great. 8/10
  9. "Welcome to the World" - Very good title track. There's a riff here that's kinda similar to "Killing Floor". 8/10
  10. "Something Real" - Good song once again. 8/10
  11. "Innocence" - Another quieter track. I like this one a lot. 8/10
  12. "I'm Alive" - And back to heaviness. Good song. 8/10
  13. "Hypocrisy" - Good song. Though, they could've literally used any other song to close the album, lol. 8/10
Best album thus far; the production is good, the feel is what I want from the album cover and the band's name. The singer's Layne Staley / modern Dave Mustaine vocals aren't exactly perfect, but they're decent. Otherwise, strong album. Nicely done.
  • "Just Like A Woman" - Good cover of a Bob Dylan song. The vocals are actually really good here. 8/10
@Jer I was reading and saw there was another bonus track called "Wait" released on the 2006 reissue. Was it left off for a reason?
 
Diesel 11 said:
@Jer I was reading and saw there was another bonus track called "Wait" released on the 2006 reissue. Was it left off for a reason?
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That's the same song as "(Can't) Wait", which was a Japanese B-side for State Of Mind, which has the same singer as State Of Mind (Solli). Didn't want to duplicate.
 
The second Psycho Motel album might sound better (better production) but don't be "fooled" by that. After a while the music gets less and less interesting. The first is much more consistent. A lot more, better songs. The melodies and riffs from the debut endure longer. It also has more a sound and sphere of its own.
 
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I'm not, I just thought it was a better album as a first impression. We'll see what I think as the years go by.
 
Psycho Motel - State Of Mind
  • Sins Of Your Father - The opening riff makes a statement. Nice verse and pre-chorus. The chorus is OK, but kind of flat. Nice atmospheric guitar in and around the chorus, as well as the interlude. Very nice solo. 7/10.
  • World's On Fire - Cool intro, but the verse is blah, the pre-chorus is lame, and the chorus is merely OK. Nice instrumental break, and a cool solo and guitar outro, but otherwise this song fails to impress. 5/10.
  • Psycho Motel - An outstanding intro leads into a fat, badass bluesy riff that sets the tone for the whole song. Great verses, strong pre-choruses, and...wait a minute, the chorus is the verse! Excellent solo followed by a cool moody interlude. Neat outro, too. A very robust 9/10.
  • Western Shore - A sweet and effective ballad. Nice acoustic work with tasteful string accompaniment. The electric bridge is well done, but feels totally out of place until it slides back into the chorus. Still an 8/10 for me.
  • Rage - Nice guitar work. The verses grow on you and the pre-chorus is decent, but I'm on the fence about the chorus. Great solo. Terrible "eeyow!" at the end. 7/10.
  • Killing Time - Boy, is that song title apropos. Aside from some nice guitar atmospherics the verses kinda blow, and the chorus is only vaguely catchy. The solo and interlude are pretty decent, but it's not enough to raise the song above mediocrity. 5/10.
  • Time Is A Hunter - Wait, if we just killed time, how can it hunt anything? Hmm. Anyway, this is a slow bluesy number with some Beatles influence that's pretty snooze-inducing except for the solo. There's nothing particularly bad about it, but I keep wanting to skip to the next song when I listen to it. 5/10.
  • Money To Burn - Nice riff, nice verse, great pre-chorus, but a disappointing chorus. Good solos. 7/10.
  • City Of Light - Cool intro. Nice verse, strong pre-choruses, and a pretty good chorus. The first solo section is bizarre, but the second one is good. Nice outro. 8/10.
  • Excuse Me - Great moody verse, decent pre-chorus, and a great chorus that unfortunately gets beaten into the ground through the second half of the song. Still an 8/10.
  • Last Goodbye (B-side) - This song has some appealing parts and an interesting chorus, but it never quite gets off the ground. 6/10.
  • (Can't) Wait (B-side) - I really like the vibe of this song. The guitar work and the verses are great. The pre-chorus is weak, the chorus isn't as strong as it needs to be, and the "doo-doo-doos" at the end are cringe-inducing, but this one still builds up enough good will for a 7/10.
This album has some great material (especially that killer eponymous track), but it's also really uneven, and that brings down the average rating (6.9 for the album tracks). The mixture of styles is interesting -- very heavy bluesy rock with some metal and alternative influence. Adrian definitely toned down the bluesy feel after this album, for better or for worse.

The production is a bit muddy for my taste, and I'm not the biggest fan of the singer Solli, so I'm glad they swapped vocalists for the next album. But there's still a lot to like here.

I hadn't heard the B-sides before, and they were pretty good too. Definitely better than the weakest album tracks.

(Master review index >)
 
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Jer said:
Killing Time - Boy, is that song title apropos.
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Jer said:
Wait, if we just killed time, how can it hunt anything?
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I just realized how funny it is that "Killing Time" could mean three things: literally to kill time; doing something because you've nothing else to do; or, as I initially thought, time for a killing. Interesting.
 
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Never gave any of ASAP, Psycho Motel or PRR a fair listen before. I'll try getting it done and throw in my votes before it closes :)
 
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