Dave Murray & Adrian Smith — consider how “simple” that key change is halfway through the solos and yet… the mood of the song changes on a dime. It signals Murray to hand off to Smith. It gives them each their own spotlight. So iconic, you’ll know the song... just from the solos ⚒️show more

Possibly the best example of this is in “The Trooper” — except this time, it’s Smith who hands off to Murray and that key change becomes 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 because you now can’t imagine one solo without the other

I’m so glad I finally after all these years got to see them live this month!

I have an uncle who gave me a few Iron Maiden tapes when I was 11 years old. “Transylvania” was the first Maiden song I ever heard. It changed my life! Don’t worry, he is still a fan and we went to a Maiden show together on their “Final Frontier” tour. Full circle!

Dave Murray never seems to get the recognition outside of Maiden fans. He's been the guitarist on every album, and his playing is just as recognisably his as someone like Dave Gilmour or Brian May. My absolute favorite guitarist.

Their solos on The Trooper never fail to give me chills. Beautifully crafted, and that key change is pure genius – Smith's phrasing at that point is breathtaking.

2nd post. 😀

The guitar work and tone on Live After Death make it one of the greatest, if not THE greatest live metal album of all time. A showcase of Dave and Adrian's legendary two guitar attack.

Such a blast to hear live, and an absolute cracker from my favourite studio album of all time.

my music composition professor always said when in doubt, modulate (change key). You can play more lines of melody and it sounds a tad different.

That’s right!! I don’t know music theory at all — but given how each guitarist has their own unique style, it just makes the switch from one to the other more ‘emphatic’ [Just remarkable that for the countless bands that try to mimic Iron Maiden, they miss these small details.]