Guitar solos ratio

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Burning the midnight oil (actually, i've burned a barrel already, since it's 0630 o'clock here...), i found a good way to amuse myself. I've calculated how many solos Maiden's guitarists played per song they recorded. Only A-sides and only studio recordings, without Virus. I've decided to discard small licks (ala Murray's on Rainmaker verse), to discard harmonies, no matter how complex they are (Running Free, Deja Vu), but to include intros, no matter how simple they are (Murray on Children Of The Damned), and more complex and longer licks (Adrian after mid rhythm shift on Alexander The Great). So here goes :

Dennis Stratton : featured on 8 songs, played 6 solos. Ratio : 0.75
Dave Murray : featured on 131 songs, played 127 solos. Ratio : 0.969. Most solos played - 14 on No Prayer For The Dying. Least solos played - 6 on A Matter Of Life And Death and Somewhere In Time.
Adrian Smith : featured on 82 songs, played 78 solos. Ratio :0.951. Most solos played - 15 on Somewhere In Time. Least solos played - 4 on Brave New World.
Janick Gers : featured on 72 songs, played 61 solos. Ratio : 0.847. Most solos played - 12 on No Prayer For The Dying, Fear Of The Dark and The X Factor. Least solos played - 4 on A Matter Of Life And Death.

Conclusion :

Dave Murray wins the statistics, with the same gap of four solos less played than songs featured on, as Adrian Smith. However Davey played on all 131 (- Virus) recorded Maiden A-sides so he has better ratio. He was the main lead in Di'Anno days, and achieved 14 solos on No Prayer probably because Janick was too new and wasn't releasing himself fully yet. Altrough Dave did wonderful stuff on Somewhere In Time, he got shadowed by Adrian's surreal work on that album. Again, on A Matter Of Life And Death, Adrian contributed more material than his two guitar buddies in songwriting process, hence Dave got only six solos on each of those two records. Nevertheless, one expects the original Maiden axe that's been there for 32 years to come up first.

Adrian Smith quickly adapted to the songwriting process when he got into Maiden in 1981. Altrough Killers featured longer and more compelling solos from Murray, Adrian managed to get only one less than Dave (11 and 12). Next three albums featured equality between two golden age players, but Adrian skyrocketed on Somewhere In Time, performing 15 solos. His weak point was Brave New World, he didn't contribute much material on his first reunion record, getting to play only 4 solos. However, the other two reunion records featured Adrian delivering better and more again, playing 14 solos on them compared to Murray's 13 or Janick's 9. Worthy score for the best Maiden axeman (as voted on official Maidenfans poll  ;)).

Janick Gers was constant in '90s. 12 solos per first three albums he recorded, and those '90s records were filled with solos and backed to original guitar-sounding roots without much atmosphere. His biggest contributions were probably on the Brave New World, achieving 9 solos (one more than Murray and five more than Smith). Two lattest albums are a statistical downfall, with him playing less solos than other two amigos. However, we should not be concerned since (at least in my ears) his less material grants better quality (Monsegur, Dance Of Death, The Legacy, The Pilgrim...). A predictable ratio, however in this case, his solography doesn't project his best material (Brave New World).

Enjoy this almost worthless piece of statistics  :D
 
Nice work! But to be honest, it would be easier to look into if you would mention all the solos you're counting.

Can I ask a question about Dave Murray?
I count 5 solos on Somewhere in Time, the intro solo of Deja-vu included.
So like this: 1. CSIT, 2. HCW, 3. TLOTLDR, 4. Deja-vu, 5. ATG

Where is the 6th?
 
Well, Adrian did several in ATG, but

-Some people count his solo in Stranger in a Strange Land as two seperate solos. I'd never do that, for I see it as one complete solo.
-Perhaps Zare also counts the small solo in the final chorus of Sea of Madness.
-And the intro melody in Loneliness, but I rather call that a melody-solo/lead (a repetition). A real solo contains in my eyes variation, and not repetition of complete patterns.
 
Forostar, i counted in Dave's ATG intro line. As i said, i am counting intro lines.

And how does Adrian have 15 soloes on Somewhere In Time?  I count 7: every song but "Deja-Vu".
Click to expand...

There are three solos on Sea Of Madness. There are two solos on Stranger In A Strange Land. There is intro to Loneliness Of The Long Distance Runner. There is intro to ATG after Murray's, and there are three smaller sections before main solos. I said i'd be including more complex and longer licks. The criteria is same for all guitarists.

In essence, i thought about just taking the "main solo" into consideration, but i think that ending lead guitar on Sea Of Madness, for example, is a real guitar solo. Just as Adrian loves to do, also on SIASL and TETMD.

So my criteria may be a little broad, but it's constant and doesn't affect the ratio.
And yeah, i don't mean SIASL main solo as two separate, there's a minute-long main solo and the stuff at the end that goes into fade.
 
Hmm i think that intro goes first Dave then Adrian.
 
It's the sound, the touch, the way the snares are pressed (left hand) that have always made me feel it's Adrian. I hope we'll get a 100% proof one day who it is.
 
Forostar said:
It's the sound, the touch, the way the snares are pressed (left hand) that have always made me feel it's Adrian. I hope we'll get a 100% proof one day who it is.
Click to expand...
Not trying to sound like a complete arse, but by the "snares" you mean the frets, right?
 
Forostar said:
Yes. The snares against the frets. ;)
Click to expand...
Again, not wanting to sound like an arse; You mean the strings against the frets? A snare is a drum. Or perhaps I'm not too well familiar with the English terminology. Some native English speaking member to the rescue?
 
Yax is right - guitars have strings, snare drums have snares.
I'm assuming this is merely translation difficulty for Forostar, since it's odd for him to make a mistake like that.
 
Indeed SMX. In Dutch we use the same word for these items on both instruments. So I wasn' t being stuborn, just a bit forgetful. I know the term string. Mostly I think about something else though when I hear that word. ;)

Some more info about these words.

snare (1) 
"noose for catching animals," c.1100, from O.N. snara "noose, snare," related to soenri "twisted rope," from P.Gmc. *snarkho (cf. M.Du. snare, Du. snaar, O.H.G. snare, Ger. Schnur "noose, cord"). The verb is attested from 1388.
snare (2) 
"string across a drum," 1688, probably from Du. snaar "string," from same source as snare (1).


string (v.) 
c.1400, "to fit a bow with a string," from string (n.). Meaning "to thread (beads, etc.) on a string" is from 1612. To string (someone) along is slang from 1902; string (v.) in this sense is attested in British dialect from c.1812. Stringer "newspaper correspondent paid by length of copy" is attested from 1952, probably from earlier fig. sense of "one who strings words together" (1774).
string (n.) 
O.E. streng "line, cord, thread," from P.Gmc. *strangiz (cf. O.N. strengr, Dan. streng, M.Du. strenge, Du. streng, O.H.G. strang, Ger. Strang "rope, cord"), from base *strang- "taut, stiff," from PIE base *strenk- "tight, narrow; pull tight, twist" (see strain). Gradually restricted by early M.E. to lines that are smaller than a rope. Sense of "a number of objects arranged in a line" first recorded 1488. O.E. meaning "ligaments, tendons" is preserved in hamstring, heartstrings. Meaning "limitations, stipulations" (1888) is Amer.Eng., probably from the common April Fool's joke of leaving a purse that looks full of money on the sidewalk, then tugging it away with an attached string when someone stoops to pick it up. To pull strings "control the course of affairs" (1860) is from the notion of puppet theater. First string, second string, etc. in athletics (1863) is from archers' custom of carrying spare bowstrings in the event that one breaks. Strings "stringed instruments" is attested from c.1340. String bean is from 1759; string bikini is from 1974. 
 
Wow great work Zare! I don't think those are useless statistics, they are quite fascinating in my opinion. :) B)
 
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