Iron Maiden guitarist fired for liking Queen too much

Before having one of the most talented guitarists in heavy metal, Adrian SmithO Iron Maiden he had Dennis Straton doing double with Dave Murray. The participation of stratton in the band’s studio discography was restricted to one album: the self-titled debut, released in 1980.

His entry into the group took place in a somewhat “run over” way, in the midst of the recordings for the album. Until then, the project was in a quartet configuration, with only Murray on guitar. It ended up not lasting long for a curious reason: he wasn’t that big of a heavy metal fan and enjoyed the sound of bands like Queenwhich is no demerit, but it doesn’t match the maiden.

In a statement to the channel The Metal Voice (via SleazeRoxx), in the year 2018, stratton recalled the circumstances of his entry into the band.

“They needed a guitarist who could sing, could play second guitar and had experience. They gave me the demos of ‘Soundhouse Tapes‘ and I listened. I realized I only had one guitar. It sounded like a boy band, more punk. I was used to working with two guitars and three vocals. I was asked to join the band and I accepted.”

The guitarist not only showed himself willing to settle with Dave Murrayas well as bringing the drummer Clive Burr (former member of samson) for training.

“I told Dave Murray: ‘I’m used to playing with two guitars in harmony and I know that you usually play on your own, you’re a solo guitarist, but let’s do harmonies and make the sound bigger’. He agreed and I asked Steve [Harris, baixista e líder], who also accepted. So I called my friend Clive Burr to be the drummer. From then on, the band was formed.”

Dennis Stratton and “Fucking Queen”

One situation in particular showed how Dennis Stratton was at odds with the rest of the Iron Maiden. In the recording of the song “Phantom of the Opera”, he tried to include falsetto backing vocals, in the style of Queenand guitar harmonies more in the style of Wishbone Ashsomething that was partially maintained since the bassist and leader, steve harriswas a fan of the group.

In an interview with Rock Candy Magazine, in 2017, himself stratton remembered:

“I got ‘Phantom of the Opera‘, which has always been a great song at its core, and I put in a lot of guitar harmonies and falsetto vocals. The sound engineer helped create the layers. When we played the final result, it sounded like Queen. I thought it was fantastic. But as we listened to the recording, (the manager) Rod Smallwood came up behind me in the control room – I didn’t know he was there – and said, ‘you can get rid of all that, it sounds like the f*ck Queen‘. So we didn’t make it that way.”

Already to The Metal Voicehe added:

“Rod Smallwood He asked us to take it all off and we were like, ‘Okay, it’s your band, but can we have the vocals in harmony and a harmony for guitar?’ He agreed, but said that he could only keep that, so as not to get so Queen.”

What does Steve Harris say?

in the biography Iron Maiden: Run to the Hillswritten by Mick Wall, steve harris made it clear that Dennis Stratton did not fit so well with the proposal of the Iron Maiden. He exemplified by mentioning that the guitarist played “with a very different passion” the most melodic songs of the group, such as “strange world”. In the weight ranges, he wasn’t so excited.

Another point highlighted by harris is that during a tour opening for kissin 1980, stratton preferred to travel with the roadies than with his own colleagues maiden. It was a sign that they didn’t get along so well.

Ultimately, Dennis was fired and replaced by Adrian Smithwho formed the historic guitar duo with Dave Murray. The discharged musician joined bands like Praying Mantis It is lionheartbut without the prominence of yesteryear.