Metal Reviews

that I see a lot of people dissing him? Is it because of his altering the solos/guitar work while playing live? I do find it interesting if the soloing is a bit different than the studio version. I have watched the Raising Hell DVD and Gers seemed to be pretty energetic and a good showman. I enjoyed watching him jump around more than Dave who just stood there and constantly made his mouth in the form of an "O" while playing the solos as if he's preparing to suck dick. Don't get me wrong, I love Dave Murray too. Just curious to know why a lot of people wonder why Gers is in Maiden and feel they could do without him.

His own solos are often very, well, crappy....Too many sound like he's just mashing the fretboard any old way. I do like him, and I think he's a good songwriter, but he had a very tough act to follow in Adrian Smith and I think it took him a while to find his feet in Maiden. He co-wrote two of their worst ever songs on the first album he had writing credits for.

Janick is pretty much an aloof goofball, which is cool, but stuff like that tends to rub the over-serious metalheads the wrong way.

I dont see whats the problem here, i think he is great live.

He's a terrible guitarist. He's an awful writer. The only thing going for him is his stage prescence. He can jump around on stage so much because Dave and Adrian are holding down the songs musically while he acts like an idiot. The reason people wonder why he's in Maiden is because Dave and Adrian were handling the guitar duties in Maiden quite well before this moron was given a position in the band. He really adds nothing to the Iron Maiden creative process in my opinion. Listen closely to his rhythm/lead work on the live CD's...my god it is horrific! I don't like any song he has written for Iron Maiden. I would imagine that as time goes on Steve and Bruce have become increasingly more tone deaf. That's the only explanation for allowing this HACK guitarist in Iron Maiden.

It seems like the band feels they owe him something. I can't think of another reason to keep Janick once Adrian came back

I just think he's sloppy.

Janick Gers is one of the most energetic ones! Yeah, his solos aren't the greatest, but look at Slayer. It sounds like they use the same solo for every song...

I think he's a pretty dull guitarist and a total knob on stage. When I was living at home and I was watching my Maiden videos, my brother would sit there and just take the piss out of me for liking this stupid band with that wanker guitarist (his words, not mine).

I dont see him as a HORRIBLE guitarist, but he isnt that great either, and I'm still not understanding why Iron Maiden proceeds with a three guitar line-up when Gers is clearly the filler guitarist now that Adrian is back. Musically, Iron Maiden was definitely at its weakest during the time period that it was only Murray and Gers on guitar, this is seen best on A Real Live Dead One, especially on the Trooper. While Gers can play the stuff from the albums that Adrian had no part of just fine, on those songs from Iron Maiden's better albums, Gers servers only as a poor imitator of Adrian Smith. Now it seems like he's more there for the entertainment factor(if throwing one's guitar in the air constantly is considered entertaining) than for any music skills he may have.

They do. And thats why I die a little on the inside everytime someone says Kerry King is a good lead guitarist.

As for Gers... Not bad, but not great. He's written some good songs lately, so I'm okay with him being in the band.

Pretty hard for me to figure out how a solo is sloppy or bad or watever. Pretty much enjoyed the solos on A Real Dead One. As you can see, I really can't make out much. Yeah, yeah, I'm an asshole.

HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAH

I'm not sure about the comments on his talent... but holy shit, was I ever glad he was on this last tour... AMOLAD in its entirety with Adrian constantly fiddling with his setup...Dave standing like a statue... Thank god someone had stage presence (other than Bruce of course... and well Steve can do no wrong imho)