Guitar Greats Part I
February 26, 2007 by Jo Minor
Tony Iommi (Black Sabbath)
Tony Iommi from proto-metal band Black Sabbath was probably the man who started it all. Back in the days when the word “metal” was only used to describe a particular element, Iommi and his band - with vocalist Ozzy Osbourne on the microphone - were rehearsing in a studio when he spotted the movie poster for the classic horror movie Black Sabbath across the street. He went on to change the band name to Black Sabbath, and the music he helped create would soon weave grotesque, macabre mental imagery in the minds of the band’s fans.
Iommi is probably the best guitar riff writer in the vast realms of the music business - and those riffs of his were unheard of in the days the members of Black Sabbath started making a name for themselves, performing in clubs all over their native England. Iommi’s guitar playing, at the time, was both revolutionary and strangely familiar: he was known to coerce some of the scariest guitar riffs out of his down tuned Gibson SGs, while still paying homage to his blues roots when it came to his guitar soloing.
To this day, many metal fans would testify to the impact the band, and Tony Iommi in particular, has had on the metal scene today. Black Sabbath rose up from the ashes around 40 years ago and single-handedly created the genre of heavy metal, without even intending to do so in the first place. They can also be credited for inspiring the numerous sub-genres of metal we have today, including doom metal and death metal - some fans even consider Black Sabbath to be the first doom metal band in existence.
Adrian Smith & Dave Murray (Iron Maiden)
It would be impossible to credit just one of these guitarists for the tremendous success and influence Iron Maiden has garnered in their twenty-plus years of rocking the world with their signature brand of traditional metal.
Iron Maiden was formed in the late 70s but only released their self titled debut album at the start of the next decade. They have gone through numerous lineup changes in their years - including the departure and return of vocalist Bruce Dickinson - only to emerge as the greatest metal band of all time.
Adrian Smith and Dave Murray have been in the band since the beginning, and forged Iron Maiden’s signature twin guitar attack - similar to Judas Priest’s guitar duo of K. K. Downing and Glen Tipton. Even though Smith once left the band - only to rejoin them for the Brave New World album - his replacement guitarist Janick Gers is still in the band to this day, bringing the tally of guitarists in Iron Maiden to three (four, if you include bassist/songwriter Steve Harris).
Smith and Murray are known for sharing lead and rhythm guitar duties in Iron Maiden, and possess a very different approach to the instrument that helps create a welcome variety in the guitar parts of the band. While Smith is a no-nonsense, straight-up player who has a penchant for firing away the band’s energetic rhythm parts, Murray is your gentler guitarist who has the time of his life belting out the melodious guitar solos of Iron Maiden.
Smith and Murray - and now with Gers as well - have teamed up to play some of the most memorable heavy metal songs of all time. Their contributions to such classic albums like Killers, Number Of The Beast, Powerslave, Piece Of Mind and Somewhere In Time are priceless, and its wonderful to know that they, like fine wine, have only gotten better in time. Their latest effort - A Matter of Life and Death - is their 14th studio offering and is an amazing piece.
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