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The song is composed in the key of E minor. 5"'s epilogue) in the " Be Quick or Be Dead" single. Later, a similar comedy piece called "Bayswater Ain't a Bad Place to Be", again mocking Smallwood, was released as an unlisted untitled b-side ("Space Station No. The main guitar riff and verse vocal melodies are borrowed from the song "Life in the City" by Smith's prior band Urchin. The song opens with the spoken line "We're on a mission from Rod", a parody of the tagline for The Blues Brothers, "We're on a mission from God". Smallwood was unaware of the composition until it was released on the single, as the band had kept it secret from him. Apparently he had trouble adjusting to the LA lifestyle and often complained to the band about it. The demential song "Sheriff of Huddersfield" is about Iron Maiden manager Rod Smallwood's decision to move to Los Angeles and buy a house in the Hollywood Hills. This song was previously performed live by Nicko McBrain and Smith's side project The Entire Population of Hackney. The B-side "Reach Out" was sung by Adrian Smith, with regular lead singer Bruce Dickinson providing backing vocals. "Wasted Years" is featured in the 2007 video game Rock Band.
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The promotional video features black-and-white footage of the band playing the song in a studio in Frankfurt, West Germany, mixed with various scenes from band's previous promotional videos, together with clips of off-show activities during the World Slavery Tour. It's a technical illustration of a keyboard of a time machine, with Eddie reflected in the window, because it was the only thing we could think of that wouldn't give Eddie away". Riggs describes the illustration as "a duffer.
Iron maiden wasted years series#
As with the Somewhere in Time album sleeve, the single cover also features the TARDIS from the BBC series Doctor Who. According to artist Derek Riggs, this is because the band did not want to reveal the mascot in his new cyborg guise until the album was released a few weeks later. Only a part of Eddie's face is seen, as a reflection in a screen. The cover depicts the band mascot Eddie's point of view as he flies a time machine. The original working title was "Golden Years", as can be heard on numerous Somewhere on Tour bootlegs. At the same time the chorus suggests the idea that one should move beyond past troubles and look forward.
Iron maiden wasted years free#
If these free lessons help you, please donate to keep new ones coming daily.The song deals with subject of homesickness and alienation, as well as the negative aspects of the band's nearly year long previous tour and personal problems that Smith and other band members were going through in that period. The fast descending lick is also very challenging and I will give you a couple different options of picking it.Īll-in-all, "Wasted Years" is a great workout for any guitarist. He plays the exact same pattern later in the solo albeit in a higher position of the scale which makes it even more difficult to play. It is a repeated 6 note lick that starts with a note of the high E string, played with an upstroke followed by downstroke on the B string and legato stuff on the B string from there. It isn't a simple legato lick on the B string. This solo starts with a very challenging legato lick that I usually see played incorrectly by people doing covers on YouTube or wherever. We will also take an in-depth look at Adrian Smith's amazing guitar solo. It has a big sound, but isn't very easy to play. The chorus uses the "Iron Maiden G power chord" as I like to call it. It is a long progression to, so it will work best if you know the sound of the song well. The chord progression is pretty ambitious using mostly power chord chords but with a couple of different chord voicings thrown in there as well. The verse section, although not overly challenging to play, is sort of confusing to memorize. There are some sparse power chords underneath this riff before the band launches into the verse. Those melody notes require you to have good synchronization between the fret-hand and the picking hand. The lick uses rapid alternate picking on the open high E string while also adding a melody within it. Written by guitarist Adrian Smith, "Wasted Years" starts with a signature guitar lick that is instantly recognizable.
Iron maiden wasted years how to#
In this Wasted Years guitar lesson video, I will show you how to play this Iron Maiden classic off of their 1986 album Somewhere In Time note-for-note.
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