A bold statement, and one I hope to back up.
Despite a bumpy and punk influenced start, Iron Maiden finally reached maturity when it released the album The Number of the Beast. While Clive Burr left the band after a promotional tour for the album, the core of the band was there.
Despite having a few missteps over the years, the band, in my opinion have been consistent in slowly pushing the band and its sound forward, and while there were a couple of side steps (Somewhere in Time), and a mixture of styles (Nicko McBrain is a jazz drummer, Dave Murray a bluesman, Adrian Smith a rock guitarist), they came together to make something unique.
There have been instances where a band has toured with more than two guitarists on stage, but never as a permanent lineup for so many albums.
Traditionally when an ex-guitarist rejoins a band, the "newcomer" packs his bags and goes. Not with Janick. Instead the first time I saw them live was on the Rock in Rio DVD and while sonically it was Iron Maiden, visually it was a mess.
Dave Murray and Steve Harris have said the reason they kept three guitarists was because in the studio they already were double and triple tracking the guitar sound anyway, but as an audience member having three guitarists makes it harder to identify who is playing what.
At least when it was just Dave and Adrian you could distinguish between the two musicians in their solo styles. Janick has nothing going for him, nothing which makes him standout. Maybe Bruce has a soft spot for him as he was in Gillan and helped Bruce write the Tattooed Millionaire album with him? Janick's style is more blues based, and I think doesnt add much to the sound of Maiden.
My reasoning behind this is the albums where he was in Iron Maiden along with just Dave Murray, they managed to produce the weakest set of albums in their history.
No Rest for the Wicked
Fear of the Dark
The X-Factor
Virtua XI
Hardly a CV of proud music, and compared to the rest of their output, it genuinely looks like a consistently weak set of releases. There may have been other factors involved, but regardless a good guitarist makes a good sound.
My reasoning behind this is the albums where he was in Iron Maiden along with just Dave Murray, they managed to produce the weakest set of albums in their history.
No Rest for the Wicked
Fear of the Dark
The X-Factor
Virtua XI
Hardly a CV of proud music, and compared to the rest of their output, it genuinely looks like a consistently weak set of releases. There may have been other factors involved, but regardless a good guitarist makes a good sound.
