Axemen...Iron Maiden's Dave Murray & Adrian Smith

Dave (left) and Adrian - this is after Smith's return to Maiden

In a slight twist on my Axemen posts, it became apparent that they tend to follow just those famous as 'front and centre' players. But there are plenty of great guitarists who possibly don't get the recognition they deserve as themselves, but have made a following as half (or less) of a partnership, as in the two above, the finest in this class in my mind. As I explore this side of music, it will become somewhat clear that twin attacks will be based mostly around heavy rock and metal.



Dave Murray, trademark Strat



Adrian Smith on Les Paul



Iron Maiden are in their own right a heavyweight in a heavy genre. While a lot of this is down to the mercurial Bruce Dickinson, it cannot be denied that the dual guitar attack of Murray and Harris (who grew up as childhood mates) has made the songs of Maiden, Eddie and Co the hits and crowd pleasers they have become.

While these two have played together in Maiden they generally share lead solos, however it would be fair to say that Murray is the stronger technically and more influential of the two. His guitar playing seems so fluid and his Strat has a clean and mellow sound compared to the high treble and enhanced sound of Smith, who is no slug on the six string himself! Together they seem to have a perfect harmony where there is no distinguishing one from the other which is a great sound when listening to heavy guitar based rock.

You could count through the night the number of hits where the rhythm and lead licks of these two are memorable especially when they list amongst my favourite bands, but here are a few video links of songs that best show their respective skills and sounds..head banging!

• Number of the Beast - a classic and their first mainstream hit (Murray playing what looks like a 'Fat Strat')
• Wasted Years - one of my favourite tunes, album cut
• Rime of the Ancient Mariner - die-hard fans know this well, and a great example of different styles of playing - this is the second part of the song (it's over 14mins!) but shows the two styles, and the 'Fat Strat' again.