There is a greater use of synths and keyboards here than anything Adrian had tried before, but the songs themselves are more just in a progressive rock kind of theme than anything else. The tunes are catchy enough and as such enjoyable. To be completely honest, I enjoy it more now than I did when it was released 23 years ago, mainly because at the time I WAS searching for that Maiden Heavy Metal music with Adrian's great guitaring. What you actually get is completely different.
This album's roots can be found from a number of jams Adrian and Maiden drummer Nicko McBrain did following the Powerslave tour, with ex-band mates of Adrian's from his first band Urchin, Andy Barnett, Dave Colwell and Richard Young, to relieve the 'boredom' of their break from touring and recording. The band wrote some songs for the "project", which when they were performed live at two gigs was recorded and released as the bootleg The Entire Population of Hackney. From these gigs, the song "Reach Out" was used as the B-side to the Iron Maiden Wasted Years single, and "Juanita" and "That Girl" were used as the B-side to the Iron Maiden Stranger in a Strange Land single. More importantly, a band friendship had been reunited, and a song called "Silver and Gold" would be a catalyst.
When Adrian decided to leave Iron Maiden in 1989, he gathered together these former bandmates, and recorded this album, Silver and Gold as his new project , A.S.a.P (Adrian Smith and Project). No doubt the fan enthusiasm with the three songs the 'band' had written that had been released as Iron Maiden B-sides gave them hope that they could replicate it in their own band. Of course, the material written and performed was directed more to the AOR/hard rock side of music than the blazing heavy metal of Smith's former band.
The first three songs on the album, although immediately bringing to the fore the synth/keyboard aspect of the band which sets it apart from the true heavy metal genre, are good hard rock songs, which show off the best of the band. "The Lion", they previously mentioned "Silver and Gold" and "Down the Wire" showcase Adrian's lead vocals in a band setting, and his guitar work is instantly a stand out from partners Barnett and Colwell. These three songs are the best on the album.
"You Could Be a King" is one of the weaker songs on the album, not really offering anything musically and the vocals just don't produce anything to build some strength. Adrian's guitar solo on "After the Storm" is the best part of this song. It is a slippery path. The album from this point descends into a motley of slide guitar, synth programming and rock ballad-type songs that they simply are unable to pull off. The middle of "Kids Gone Astray" and "Fallen Heroes" are almost comical in their strict adherance to bland rock playbook, but without the strength of musicianship or vocals to give them any semblance of credibility.
"Blood on the Ocean" completes the album in a wash of piano and synth keyboards melodrama, almost wishing itself to be a Whitesnake ballad. By the time this song closes out the album, one begins to wonder exactly what is was that made Adrian believe that this was worth leaving Iron Maiden for. Maybe by this time he was wondering that himself.
Even taking in the fact that this album never had any pretence of being a heavy metal album, it does eventually come to disappoint. It has a few moments of clarity, where you can see some good coming into the world, but overall this just doesn't cut it. Fans of all ages - 1989 and 2012 included - will see that the story hasn't really changed much because of this.
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