After leaving Iron
Maiden and dabbling with some side projects, guitarist Adrian Smith formed
"Psycho Motel".
Psycho Motel - State of Mind (Raw Power) 1996
1. "Sins
of Your Father" (4:56)
2. "Worlds On Fire" (4:12)
3. "Psycho Motel" (4:54)
4. "Western Shore" (4:46)
5. "Rage" (3:13)
6. "Killing Time" (4:46)
7. "Time is A Hunter" (5:31)
8. "Money to Burn" (4:07)
9. "City Of Light" (4:22)
10. "Excuse Me" (5:17)
'State Of Mind' is the debut release of guitarist Adrian Smith's post Iron Maiden project, Psycho Motel. As such it features some stellar guitar-work and is overall an impressive release that reminds me slightly of Badlands, Sun Red Sun or to a lesser degree Die Happy. The vocalist on this cd is Solli who reminds me a bit of Ray Gillen at time, thus giving the album a bluesy feel, and at other times like Robin 'Kyle' Basauri, which probably accounts for the above comparisons. "State Of Mind" features some experimental sounds and some experimentation with different instruments like the violin and cello, however, the majority of the disc is just melodic heavy metal with a bit of a groove. Being that this is Adrian Smith's band, "State Of Mind" is very much a guitar-oriented, guitar led album that also features some great soloing from Adrian Smith.
Psycho Motel - Welcome to the World (Victor/Japan) 1997
1. "The Last Chain"
(5:04)
2. "A Quarter to Heaven" (5:22)
3. "Rain" (4:30)
4. "Believe" (5:02)
5. "With You Again" (4:31)
6. "Into the Back" (5:57)
7. "No Loss to Me" (5:20)
8. "Underground" (5:26)
9. "Welcome to the World" (5:46)
10. "Something Real" (4:42)
11. "Innocence" (4:23)
12. "I'm Alive" (5:33)
13. "Hypocrisy" (4:25)
Disc number two follows closely on the heals of 'State of Mind" but takes a slightly different and less aggressive direction musically. While the4 band retains the groove and blues elements, their sound seems less melodic and leans more towards a modern rock sound. On first listen I wasn't sure how if I liked the disc, but after repeated listens I enjoyed it more and more. Of course with Adrian Smith still behind the song writing the guitar solos are still present, but this sound nothing even remotely like Iron Maiden. Guest musicians include Scott Gorham (21 Guns/Thin Lizzy) and Dave Murray (Iron Maiden).