Somewhere in Time and Seventh Son of a Seventh Son albums in 1986 and 1988 respectively, Steve Harris had decided that the band should go for a "stripped-down" and "street level" approach, which Smith thought was a "step backward." No Prayer for the Dying contained one last Smith song, co-penned with Bruce Dickinson, entitled "Hooks in You". After leaving, Smith started a family with his Canadian wife, Nathalie, and would not play guitar again until he joined Iron Maiden onstage at Donington Park in 1992 to "Running Free". That performance appeared on the live album Live at Donington. In the same year, after hearing King's X for the first time, he decided that he would "love to play in a band like that" and formed The Untouchables, which later became Psycho Motel. The band recorded two albums, State of Mind in 1995 and Welcome to the World in 1997, during which they supported Iron Maiden on the British leg of The X Factour. The project was put on hold, however, when Smith joined Bruce Dickinson for his 1997 album, Accident of Birth, after which he became a full-time member of Dickinson's solo outfit, embarking on two world tours and contributing to one further studio release, 1998's The Chemical Wedding. Return to Iron Maiden: 1999–present In 1999, Smith rejoined Iron Maiden, along with vocalist Bruce Dickinson, who commented, "When he left the band in 1990, I think everybody was a bit surprised at how much we missed him and certainly, I don't think anybody had realized how much the fans would miss him – big time. I wouldn't have rejoined Iron Maiden if he wasn't in the band. I just don't think it would have been complete without Adrian, and now, it's great having three guitarists." The band embarked on a short tour, after which the new line-up's first album, Brave New World, was recorded with producer Kevin Shirley and released in 2000. He remains in Iron Maiden, with whom he has released five further studio albums, 2003's Dance of Death, 2006's A Matter of Life and Death, 2010's The Final Frontier, 2015's The Book of Souls and 2021's Senjutsu. Smith claims that his guitar playing improved after leaving the band in 1990, in particular while working with Roy Z, from whom he "learned a lot about picking" and became "more disciplined." Since returning to Iron Maiden, he has also continued