IRON MAIDEN — Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son (review)

IRON MAIDEN — Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son album cover

Album · 1988 · Heavy Metal

4/5 · 2011-03-20
paroxix

i would expect nothing less than this beign rated the number one NWOBHM Album on website started by members or prog archives :)

As many have said before, this is the last of maiden's "perfect" albums. their seventh album no less is aptly named seventh son of a seventh son.

it's follows the concept of a seventh son of a seventh son with the mystic powers of second sight and clairvoyancy, while a daunting task for any band to pull of a concept album well, maiden was more than up to the challenge here. from the opening track to closign track this album wil take you on a journey through a young mystic's life with amazing music no less.

1.)Moon Child

the first track is what i call the streotypical maiden acoustic intro then a cool arppegio type thing played on the keyboard(? correct me if i'm wrong)then the slow build up with drums and guitar,and it explodes right into the song bruce is just outstanding on vocals as always and nicko makes his kit come to life an were only 2 minutes into this album. the chorus though is not really what i like to think as being true maiden the reference to the mandrake tells me already this album is going to be proggy as the only tiem i've heard references of mandrakes is in prog. no as far as the concept goes i think this is the birth of the child. and teh mother doesn't want to keep the child but the father wants the 7th son or it will mean doom for the world. i must say not classic maiden in terms of content but the music holds up impecably

2.)Infinte Dreams

Honestly this song sounds years ahead of anything else it sounds like some of the maiden from brave new world it's basically maiden at theire abosolute best. also it's the olbigitory slow song every maiden album seems to have (children of the dammed,To Tame A Land,Rime Of The Ancient Mariner(the middle part,etc etc). i like the song yet dislike it. it's too far ahead of it's time i feel it doesn't work that well (sound wise),with teh rest of the album but still an amazing track. concept wise its the seventh son contemplating the dreams he has for hiself great guitar in this song i gotta say,also the instrumental section at about 4:20 is great.then bruce comes back in and goes to town on the rest of the song even though theres a guitar solo in between.

3.)Can I Play With Madness

Oh boy the "single" from seventh son. the shortest song by far more than a minute shorter than anything else though this is one of maiden's greatest songs,i love nicko's fills in this song there just amazing also is that a cowbell he's playing? for the concept the prophet warns him not to have sons but the first seventh son is "too blind to see" great music here as well. not much really to say here other than it's a great song,great for radio, and maiden kicks ass, as per usual.

4.)The Evil Men Do

this is only song i don't understand what it has to do with the concept (please help me out). but still an epic maiden track still. the chorus is a bit repetive but bruce manages to keep the listener hooked until he screams the evil that men do lives on and on. racing bass lines and guitar add nicely to the sound and atmosphere of this song. i swear though everytime bruce says cry he's going to sing don't cry for me argentina. then theres more classic maiden with instrumnetal section that arn't exactly solos yet are solos they just blend so well with the song. then the repeating chorus. this song is maiden at their best it's no wonder why this is widely considered of of maiden's best albums.

5.)Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son

the intro of the title track is just the seventh son of the seventh son is born and theres a choir of angels? bruce sounds liek he's makin gan annocement which would make sense becuase a child is about to be born. this is one of iron maiden's most compelx and progressive song's of all time at almost 10 minutes it has lots of time to explain the concept in further detail,but bruce just wants to say seventh son of a seventh son. the 2nd seventh son is growing up in this song and discovering his powers to see what he can manipulate.an amazing guitar riff to lead us into the 2nd part of the song where the prophet? is speaking about the powers the seventh son posseses, second sight, and he is the chosen one.nice ominous music and a choir comes in after this delacration making the atmosphere really creepy feeling and gradualy it builds and builds until, into the 3rd part dave murray creates this amazing collage of guitar with the solo and rythm a very progressive sound here too using minor scales a lot to make it soudn more sinister and evil. then a creepy choir adds in as yo ufeel like your bobbing an weaving yourself all over the place. the last 20 seconds or so are more of the same maiden instrumental sections.

6 .) The Prophecy

here they start with the same recipe they used on most of Final Frontier. the slow guitar intro then the heavy verse that just outright sounds cool. the title suggests of a porphecy foretold of the seventh son,making te conept just a little bit cooler. then theres a odd guitar solo that i don't think flows with the song at around 2:25 then the tempo changes again(something maiden has mastered by this point in their career). and back into the main "theme". personally i dislike the song buts its a must listen if you want to undertstand the concept. th fade out though onto acoustic guitar is really cool and sounds similar to some of alex lifeson's guitar playing on farewell to kings-rush.

7.) The Clairvoyent

the seventh son at this point is tired of using his powers for good because of humanity's ungratefullness(is that a word :P). he can't seem to tell whats real or what's a vison thats how much of a toll humanity has taken upon his. he's this is honestly the worst maiden song on the album it's gotten old and repetive by this point their formula of son gmaking has gotten boring and unintresting your almost wishing for an end to this :(.

8.)Only The Good Die Young

an excellent ending to a excellent ending still sounds like classic maiden but it's gotten a but stale at this point but still an epic ending to this story, basically the seventh son is porcliaming only the good die young while evil seems to never end