IRON MAIDEN GUITARIST ADRIAN SMITH SAYS “I DON’T AGREE WITH USING TAPES [FOR LIVE PERFORMANCES]”

Michael Lello of the NY Post reports:

…Iron Maiden, in the vanguard of the New Wave of British heavy metal, really took off when Bruce Dickinson — who is also a commercial pilot who’s flown the band around on tour, a championship fencer and a best-selling author — replaced [singer] Paul Di’Anno in 1981, six years and two albums into the band’s run, and released the Beast album.

Dickinson and [guitarist Adrian] Smith each left the band for a few years but returned in 1999. The lineup has stayed intact since, with Dickinson and Smith joined by Dave Murray (guitar), Janick Gers (guitar), Steve Harris (bass) and Nicko McBrain (drums).

“There’s not that many bands that have been around as long as we have,” Smith says. “I left the band in ’89, I had a bit of a break, which was great for me. I appreciate every second of it now, but maybe in the ’80s it was slightly different.

I think we really enjoy playing live. It’s hard with the traveling, it’s hard for anybody. It’s unique, the fact that we’ve been together for so long, but I suppose as long as people want to come see us, we’ll keep putting on shows.”

While Maiden’s show is chock-full of high-production eye candy, Smith stresses that the music is all performed live — with no backing tracks. That, he says, is not the case with many groups, and he finds that trend alarming.

“I tell you what, I see it with a lot of younger bands, and I don’t think it’s a good thing at all,” the guitarist said. “I mean, the music is getting too technical now. You have computerized recording systems, which we use, but I think we use them more for convenience than because we need to. We’ve toured with a couple bands that use tapes — it’s not real. You’re supposed to play live; it should be live. I don’t agree with using tapes … I think it’s a real shame.”

Read more at the NY Post.

Iron Maiden’s Legacy of the Beast hits the Barclays Center, in Brooklyn, on July 26th and 27th.