614. A.S.a.P. / Silver and Gold. 1989. 2.5/5

The seeds of what eventually became Adrian Smith’s solo project, and indeed began germinating his eventual departure from Iron Maiden when the band was at its theoretical peak, can be traced back to the downtime the band took following the enormous World Slavery Tour in 1984 and 1985, which had been to promote the band's “Powerslave” album. During this six month hiatus from all band activities, drummer Nicko McBrain found himself at a loose end, and so hiring a rehearsal studio he invited fellow band member Adrian Smith to come along and jam. This then extended to other mutual friends being asked along to join in, including Adrian’s former bandmate from their band Urchin, Andy Barnett, guitarist Dave Colwell and bass guitarist Martin Connolly. The band jammed covers along with some original music, and eventually Nicko booked two gigs for the band to play together, one under the band name The Entire Population of Hackney and the other under the name The Sherman Tankers. The first show became a heavily distributed bootleg recording, with the other three members of Iron Maiden coming on to play three songs at the end of the set. While this filled time for both Smith and McBrain, it also provided three songs that would become B-sides of singles released from Iron Maiden’s follow up album “Somewhere in Time”. The song “Reach Out”, written by Colwell, appeared on the B-side of the “Wasted Years” single, notable because it was Adrian who provided the lead vocal for that tracks recording. Also, the songs “Juanita”, co-written by Connolly from his band Marshall Fury, and “That Girl”, co-written by Barnett from his band FM, appeared on the B-side of the “Stranger in a Strange Land” single. Perhaps more importantly going forward, a friendship and professional relationship had been re-established, and another song from these sessions written by a combination of those artists, called “Silver and Gold”, would be a different catalyst.

Flash forward four years, and after another two seminal albums, Iron Maiden are again on a break after their “Seventh Tour of a Seventh Tour”. This time around it is Adrian who is looking to fill in his time, although on this occasion it is to write and record an album outside of the Iron Maiden scope. In recruiting members for what would become Adrian Smith and Project, shortened to A.S.a.P, he decided to go with the core of those who had been a part of those session four years earlier – Andy Barnett and Dave Colwell on guitars and support vocals. Robin Clayton came on board to play bass, while another former member of Urchin, Richard Young, took on the keyboards. Adrian had wanted Nicko to retain his place as drummer of the band, but as he was in the process of getting married, he was unavailable to join up. Instead, Adrian found a willing ally in Zak Starkey, son of another reasonably famous drummer from another band, Richard Starkey. Adrian himself, along with playing guitar, also became lead vocalist of the project. And so was born he side project and the album that became “Silver and Gold”

Here is a little bit of free advice. Don't come looking for this album if you are looking for an Iron Maiden album, or anything like an Iron Maiden album. In the same way that another solo project that was recorded in 1989, Bruce Dickinson's “Tattooed Millionaire”, is a step away from the style of music that Iron Maiden was pursuing at that time, this is also on a different plane - except that it is a big giant moon step away from that. Iron Maiden had certainly used synths and keyboards in a much greater way in their music over their previous two albums, but there is a greater use of both here than anything Adrian had tried before. The songs themselves move in a more progressive rock kind of theme than anything else. The tunes, the majority of them at least, are catchy enough and are as such enjoyable. No doubt the fan enthusiasm with the three songs that had proliferated the Iron Maiden B-sides gave Adrian and his band hope that they could replicate it in their own project. And the material written and performed on this album is directed more to the AOR/hard rock side of music than the blazing heavy metal of Smith's then-main 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" immediately showcases Adrian’s lead vocal in its best aspect, energetic, forthright and with enough emotional toughness to be the highlight of the track, lifted by a solid riff and great solo in the middle of the song. As an opener it is a great start. The title track “Silver and Gold” follows, a less guitar and more keyboard standout song, which given the three guitarists in the band does seem a little odd. The three part vocal melodies during the song can be slightly off-putting as well. “Down the Wire” is the second single released from the album, settling into a mainstream rock theme flavoured again with synth, though not as overpowering. Adrian’s vocals at times through the track have a Springsteen character about them, though in a harder fashion that The Boss’s music. All three of these tracks showcase Adrian's lead vocals in a band setting, and really do show his singing ability away from short opportunities in a backing role in his other band, and his guitar work is instantly a stand out from partners Barnett and Colwell. These three songs are by far 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. It settles into its rhythm early and doesn’t sprout any wings vocally or musically. Adrian's guitar solo on "After the Storm" is the best part of this song, one that feels like a missed opportunity to make it a far more epic song than it comes across as. It is a slippery path. “Misunderstood” channels the Joe Lynn Turner era of Rainbow in trying to make a rock song with dicey lyrics work as a song to draw in fans of all genres. Everyone gets a chance to contribute a vocal line in the song, and while intentions seem to be good, the application is questionable.
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 adherence to the bland rock playbook, but without the strength of musicianship or vocals to give them any semblance of credibility in this regard. “Wishing Your Life Away” and "Blood on the Ocean" then complete the album. “Blood on the Ocean” in particular comes 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, some would begin to wonder exactly what it was that had Adrian believe that this was worth leaving Iron Maiden for. Once you’ve listened to this, you can truly understand why Adrian parted with Maiden because of differences in the opinion of where the music was heading, because they were absolutely poles apart.

Time travel back to 1990, and let’s watch as young Bill makes a fatal mistake. I head to Sydney to Utopia Records, looking for new albums to add to my collection. And there, in the racks, is a new album by Adrian Smith and Project. You beauty! And then – even better! In the cheaper second hand racks, I find a copy of the album as well! So I take it to the counter, pay my cheaper price and make the two hour journey home... only to find that despite the cover, the album on the CD is NOT the titled album, but a pirated version of some other band that I never discovered who it was. Dammit! It wasn’t until the next opportunity I had to go to Sydney with some dollars in my pocket that I was able to purchase said A.S.a.P album, and bring it home – REASONABLY confident I had the right album this time.
But then I put it on my stereo... and I’m not really sure again. Because what I get immediately is an awful lot of synth coming out of the speakers at me, and that can’t be right... can it?! And then the vocals begin, and I think, ok, that’s Adrian... it MUST be the right album! And I play it to the end, reach the conclusion, and find myself in one of those quandaries we all find ourselves in at certain times of our lives. Could it be that I hate an album by one of my favourite artists? Of course, this can’t be, and over several months, I continue to listen.
Has there been an album that I have tried more to love than this one? I recently did an episode on the debut album by Blue Murder and expressed during my epilogue on that album that had tried very hard over a number of different instances to find a way to get into that album. But I can confirm that I tried far harder with this album. I wanted to love it unconditionally. How could you not, with Adrian doing his thing? Not only playing guitar, but singing, just like he had on “Reach Out”, which I loved from the first time I heard it. I just wanted to adore this album – and I couldn’t. I could like a few songs; even go out of my way to suggest they were ‘excellent’ to friends... but that was about the best I could do. And over the years I gave it any number of opportunities to graft itself on to me, and all with the same lack of success as before.
So, it has come out of its CD case once again over last month, and I was looking forward to it no matter what the end result was going to be, because I know I enjoy the album’s opening. And I have once again, each and every time. It has been fun to listen to, overall. And I certainly enjoy it more now than I did when I was 20, but the question remains as to do I like it more now because I am old and more tolerant of these kinds of albums, or is it just the nostalgia aspect that gives me these feelings? There’s a bit of truth in both aspects. The answer probably lies to the question ‘how often would I choose to listen to this album ahead of anything else in my collection’? That answer remains, ‘not often’.
Even taking into 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 hear some good coming into the world, but overall this just doesn't cut it. Fans of all ages - 1989 and 2024 included - will see that the story hasn't really changed much over time. As an historical antiquity, it is worth experiencing. Beyond that, there are a lot of better albums out there.