Iron Maiden Album: “Seventh Son of a Seventh Son”

It has been interesting to read the disparity of opinions held about this album. I bought this CD when it was released and have always enjoyed listening to it, but for some reason I have not yet familiarized myself with this band's other work. Thus, I can't put this particular album in any context when it comes to the history and evolution of Iron Maiden. All I can do is to comment on my own appreciation of each of the eight songs collected here in and of themselves. By my count, there are five really good songs and three absolutely great songs on this album; you won't have to go reaching across the dash to find the Next Track button when you have this CD rocking you down the road. My favorite has always been Can I Play With Madness. The band jumps right out at you from the very start with an a cappella delivery of the question at hand before proceeding with the heavy rock instrumentation. The lyrics are quite catchy, and the idea of playing with madness is not a novel concept to my somewhat abnormal mind. Infinite Dreams may really be the most impressive track here, however. The words of this song really carry a deep if not philosophical meaning, as the subject at hand deals with life's ultimate meaning. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son is the third true standout track on the album; it is a lengthy musical tour de force that conveys the image of the ultimate archetypal battle between good and evil, helped immeasurably by a segment in which the lead singer speaks as if he is reading from some ancient tome of sinister origins.

The remaining five songs, as I said, are all keepers as well. Moonchild gets the album off to a terrific start, giving us none other than Lucifer himself making threats of Biblical proportions while conjuring up the musical accompaniment of screaming mandrakes. The Evil That Men Do has the listener balancing on that razor's edge and taunted by the inevitable truth that the evil that men do lives on and on. The Prophecy warms the cockles of evil's black heart, while The Clairvoyant's metaphysically potent chorus takes the listener to a plateau inhabited only by the most psychically formidable (or disturbed) of minds. Only the Good Die Young is probably the weakest song on the album, but its seemingly endless refrain that only the good die young while the evil seem to live forever stays with you as you go out to interact with the denizens of an increasingly bewildering world. I don't know where the music on this album stands in terms of Iron Maiden's formidable musical discography, but I do know that these eight tracks are certainly most agreeable to my dark soul.

I remember when this album first came out. I had just become a huge Maiden fan after the previous record Somewhere In Time. By this time, I had bought their back catalogue of studio albums and was swept up by the hype surrounding the release of Seventh Son. I remember Bruce Dickinson being interviewed on MTV's Headbanger's Ball and stating this album would be "quite popular to people who have never seen this band before" because it was the best album they had made to date and it was going to take Maiden in new, exciting directions. Then I saw the video for "Can I Play With Madness," and that whetted my appetite even more (O.K., many fans at the time thought the song was too commercial, but it is still awesome and one of their best singles ever!). I recall bugging the record store clerks many times with "Have you got the new Iron Maiden album in yet?" I don't think I have ever been so excited about an album release before or since! When I finally bought it (I wanted it on cassette, but the store was out so I opted for vinyl because I couldn't wait), I think I was slightly disappointed at first. My expectations were a bit too high. But the more I played it, the more I liked it. When I listen to it now, after all this time, I can really appreciate the genius of it. A true conceptual album about a child born with clairvoyant powers (the seventh son of a seventh son), who did not ask to be born this way and has problems dealing with the strange circumstances he finds himself in as well as the forces of good and evil battling for his soul. The music is brilliant, with accoustical guitar, keyboards and other additions to transform Maiden's sound. In retrospect, Seventh Son was the last great Maiden album. Instead of being a stepping stone to more Maiden innovations, it proved to be Maiden's peak. Things seemed to go down hill after this record, with Adrian Smith and Dickinson eventually leaving to work on their own projects.

All Iron Maiden albums from "The Number Of The Beast" to "Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son" are absolute classics and timeless masterpieces. I grew up listening to these records, and I know every lyric, every pause, every guitar tone and every tempo change by heart. So, more than sad, I'm really angry to have to say that all the "enhanced" 1998 releases are complete sonic disasters, "loudness war" productions with the audio dynamic range slaughtered by whoever was responsible for doing the remastering. It seems that the idea was to turn all the way up the sound of every single instrument and vocal line with no regard to the equilibrium between them within the music's context. I almost cried in anger when I heard those guitar chords at the start of the song "Moonchild", with the originally carefully distorted tone turned into a mass of just plain annoying, pointless distortion, and all the feeling lost.

Every time I get to write about a dear album destroyed by a "loudness war" remaster, I ask people to go to a search engine like Google and look up the expression (between quotes for an exact match). There are over 47,000 results for it on Google alone. The "loudness war" refers to a trend which started in the late nineties in the music industry to record CD's at increasingly higher volume levels, in an attempt to lure buyers into believing that they were getting a better product because it's a "remaster" and it sounds louder. What happens most of the time is the exact opposite - masterpieces like this album are sonically cannibalized, and often (although not the case here) the audio volume is pushed beyond the limits of the CD format's specifications, which causes parts of the sound to get "clipped" (cut off, lost) because they don't "fit" within the available range. I specially recommend that people at least read an online article called "The Death Of Dynamic Range" and watch to a very popular video available on YouTube called "The Loudness War", both of which explain in an easily understandable way what this thing is all about. Things have reached such an extreme point that you can find people on P2P networks sharing lossless files with digitized versions of the original vinyl recordings of entire discographies of seminal bands like Iron Maiden because the CD's currently available are just unbearable to listen to.

As always, it's hard to tell if the band had any say in these releases, but anyway, they are an unacceptable insult to the band's musical legacy and their fans. If you want to hear Iron Maiden closer to how the original records used to sound, look for the first "non-remastered-nor-enhanced" CD releases of their albums.

Iron Maiden's 1988 concept album SEVENTH SON OF A SEVENTH SON captures the metal legends at an artistic and commercial peak. Maiden has always had progressive elements in their music, especially on the epic tracks like "Hallowed Be Thy Name" and "Rime of the Ancient Mariner," but by the time they released 7TH SON, they had become a full-blown progressive metal band. Certainly one of the originators of the genre, I might say (along with Rush and Queensryche).

Don't worry - the band's galloping musical attack is still present, but Maiden is experimenting quite a bit with their trademark sound. The band began using synthesizers rather lightly on their 1986 release SOMEWHERE IN TIME, but on this album the synths were more noticeable and there's even a couple of keyboards on there for good measure. I can't understand why Maiden fans said the band "sold out" with the synths. They didn't sell out. In fact, they enhanced their sound with the lush synth textures, which I found to be very creative. Also, this is the first Maiden album I've heard that has acoustic guitar in it. There's even some bluesy guitar parts courtesy of Adrian Smith which gives greater feel to the album.

Like many concept albums, SEVENTH SON tells a story. And what a compelling story it is! The plot focuses on a young man who keeps having strange prophetic visions in his dreams. It turns out that he was born with clairvoyant powers (a mix of psychic and healing powers) and has had them all his life. Angels and demons are having a power struggle with his soul, not knowing which route he will take. Apparently, the townspeople have known about his powers. That's why they are frightened of him. When he has a vision that the town will be destroyed by dark forces, he tries to warn them but they ignore his pleas. Alas, the town is ruined and they automatically blame him for the disaster. Feeling shunned by the people, the man decides to let them suffer with their sins and guilt and faces an eternity in Hell. If that isn't deep enough for you, I don't know what is.

Here's a song-by-song overview:

1. "Moonchild" - A solid energetic opener that starts out with gentle acoustic strums and Bruce Dickinson singing in a relaxed tone before the keyboard riff comes in and the band is off and running. Lots of attitude on this track. You gotta love Bruce's evil laugh at the end!

2. "Infinite Dreams"-One of Maiden's best songs, this is the first track that combines the band's melodic metal sound with progressive stylings. Brilliant lyrics from Steve Harris, great vocals from Bruce, and soaring guitar solos. A perfect song.

3. "Can I Play with Madness?" - A lot of people seem to hate this track, but I like it. Sure, it's commercial, but it's also very complex for a 3-minute song. Reminds me of Rush's early '80s period.

4. "The Evil That Men Do"-Another solid rocker with prog. stylings. Bruce's voice soars really high on this one, and the chorus is impossibly catchy.

5. "Seventh Son of a Seventh Son"-At 10 minutes, this is the epic of the album. Musically, this is probably Maiden's most sophisticated and versatile song. Great lyrics, a fantastic build-up, awesome synth inflections, and a wild instrumental section to close it out. Dave Murray and Adrian Smith show why they are the greatest guitar duo in metal.

6. "The Prophecy" - A remarkably slower piece that gives you time to rest after the sprawl of "7th Son." The blues influence really shines on this one and the tricky time changes are absorbing. The song ends with Murray doing a lovely, Jethro Tull-like acoustic solo. Buy this album just to hear the solo alone!

7. "The Clairvoyant"-A speedy bass intro by Harris opens this one and a triumphant-sounding guitar riff follows. Haunting melodies abound in this track. Deep and meaningful. The most melodic song on the album.

8. "Only the Good Die Young" - Along with Dream Theater's "Finally Free" and Transatlantic's "Stranger in Your Soul," this is one of the best grand finales ever recorded. The fastest song on here, with insane musicianship and a powerful chorus. It ends the way it begins.

Armed with an intriguing tale, excellent music, plentiful melody, and that distinctive Dickinson voice, SEVENTH SON OF A SEVENTH SON is truly an unforgettable experience.

like i said in the title i'm very pleased with this CD and amazon. Why amazon? because i ordered this and in 1 exact week it came. i thought it would come in a few weeks but they snapped it here as soon as possible. i'm also very pleased with the cd. its a great album filled with mystical guitar riffs, catchy drum beats, and amazing vocals from the one and only BRUCE DICKINSON! on with the tracks!

Moonchild:9/10 this song never really got to me as it did with others. its number 3 on the list of great openers (1 being "aces high" off powerslave and 2 being "be quick or be dead" off Fear of the dark). the introduction with the "seven deadly sins...." and the great synthesizers is smashing. the verses are great but the way they are song aren't that great. but fortunately the sing a long chorus "MOONCHIIILDD! HERE THE MANDRAKE SCREAM!!! AHHH!" is great and boosts up the score. the only reason i didn't give this song a 10 is beause the end just doesn't seem fulfilling.

Infinite dreams: 10/10 what hasn't been said about this song? this song receives the "best lyrics award". I do this to all the albums i review and i must say that this song is great. they really make you think about not only the story line but really about your self and why we exist. pretty deep stuff. but hey thats what iron maiden does to ya! the solo is great and so are the melodic riffs throughout the song. the ending is very calm as it enters to the great and radio friendly song....

Can I play with madness:10/10 i know this song has been on the radio for quite some time now and that it gets annoying to listen to when you hear it. But nonetheless this is a great song that has an even greater chorus and solo. this song is just an all around friendly hit thats fun to listen to.

The evil that men do: 10/10 this song is a great listen. its a very unique song. and by unique i mean great. i first found this song a bit annoying because of the never ending chorus. but i soon found out that this song is actually superb because the verses and the chorus is a great sing along. I'm not exactly sure how this fits in with the story line though. the solo is again great. and bruces voice has never been better with this one. his growls are better than anyone on this planet!

BREAK: so the first half of the album is great. filled with classics that are hard to forget. SCORE: 39/40

Seventh son of a seventh son: 10/10 Wow. this is basically one of the greatest songs that iron maiden has ever written. its great. harris's contribution to this song is big. he wrote the lyrics himself and he has his very fast fingers which come in handy when playing his bass. This is one of the bigger songs that contribute to the story line. its about the seventh son of the seventh son being born. the first half of the song is basically great riffs and bruces amazing vocals. the second half is where the fun begins. the 2nd half is an instrumental with great solos from both dave murray and Adrian smith. with the help of grand master bassist STEVE HARRIS! and with the help of amazing drummer NICKO MCBRAIN! okay i'm done. the end is great with nicko's snare drumming and the duos guitar. just believe me, its a great great great song. probably best song on the album.

The prophecy:9/10 not as bad as everyone says. the intro is great with the lyrics even better. a great solo and bruces voice is top notch. theres not much to say about this song. but around the 4 minute mark you hear acoustic guitars. they play a delightful little thing and it slowly fades away.

The clairvoyant: 9/10 not as great as everyone says. i mean its good. especially the intro with the bass. and the verses are great too. but the chorus gets a little boring after a while. but otherwise this song is filled with classic guitar licks and drum beats. The solo is the best on the album.

Only the good die young: 10/10 this song is very underrated! it has a lot of mixed reviews. i thought that this song was very pleasing especiallly the infectious chorus. the solo is great and the 2 fake endings are great. the verses are song beautifully and the lyrics are amazing.

"If I cancel tomorrow the undead will thank me today

Fly in the space of your prophets I mock your morality plays

The moon is red and bleeding

The sun is burned and black

The book of life is silent

No turning back"

thats pretty deep if u ask me!!

BREAK:so the 2nd half of this album is also amazing especially with the help of the epic of this album "seventh son of a seventh son". SCORE:38/40

FINAL: this album is an amazing album from the guys but sadly it would be one of their last progressive attempts until "Brave New world". FINAL SCORE: 77/80 This album in my opinion IS BETTER than SOMEWHERE IN TIME. no offense to anyone. Filled with great guitar riffs, solos, basslines, drumfills, and almost everything in between! Get this album if your a maiden fan. a good 2nd or 3rd album. But we mustn't forget to thank iron maiden for such a gift and trying their hardest on this one. Rock on iron maiden, rock on.