Seventh Son of a Seventh Son

Artist: Iron Maiden
Label: Raw Power
Category: Music

Average customer rating:

Format: Import
Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1

UPC: 602923013428
EAN: 0602923013428
ASIN: B00000BKDZ

Release Date: 1998-09-29

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Listmania:

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The Best Of The Beast - The Essential Iron Maiden Albums
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Tracks:

Moonchild
Infinite Dreams
Can I Play With Madness
The Evil That Men Do
Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son
The Prophecy
The Clairvoyant
Only The Good Die Young

Similar Items:

Somewhere in Time
Piece of Mind
The Number of the Beast
Brave New World
Powerslave

Customer Reviews:

Iron Maiden tackles the concept album with great success.......2006-03-22

Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son (1988.), Iron Maiden's seventh studio album

Throughout the 1980's, Iron Maiden were a band that were hard to match. Every one of their releases were great, whether it be the definitive metal album in 'The Number Of The Beast' or the monstrous epic that was 'Powerslave'. The band had led the way in influencing many a metal band and had also along the way built up a massive fan base. With the band's previous effort, 'Somewhere In Time', Maiden's progressive tendencies became much more apparent. The band began to experiment more and more with epic tunes as well as the usage of synths in their music. When Iron Maiden released 'Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son', their popularity couldn't have been greater and the album duly debuted at #1 in the album charts. 'Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son' is another of Iron Maiden's highly praised efforts and is also regarded as one of their more accessible works. So how well does this concept album work?

Eventhough I wouldn't quite say this album is in the league of the band's earlier masterpieces such as 'Powerslave' or 'Number Of The Beast', there is no doubting this epic and greatly assured album succeeds on many levels. The album demonstrates the classic Maiden line up on top form, something which would not be seen for a long time after this album, as guitarist Adrian Smith would leave the band following the tour for the album. For a concept album, this album is remarkably accessible, as many fans have pointed out. Hit staples such as 'Can I Play With Madness' and 'The Evil That Men Do' are great tracks that succeed without consideration of the album's concept. All of the songs on the album are quite easy to get into, even if you don't get the album's concept. The concept of the album itself is built around a child born with mystical powers who is tempted by the good and the evil. The storyline works very well in the album - to date Maiden's only concept work! The other great success with this album is the integration of synths (played by Steve Harris and Adrian Smith) into Iron Maiden's heavy metal sound. The synths add a bright texture to the music but at the same time don't burden or cloud the band's metal sound. The work is distinctly Iron Maiden, through and through.

Not too long ago, the Iron Maiden catalogue got totally remastered and improved. Hence the 1998 remasters are the way to go. The remaster job is great and all of the songs shine through with no sound glitches but also the recent version features and excellent accompanying booklet. The CD itself also has an enchanced multimedia section and you can view video footage of the 'Can I Play With Madness' and 'The Evil That Men Do' songs from your PC.

Iron Maiden kick off their great concept album with 'Moonchild'. A spoken opening from Bruce Dickenson sets the scene for the album, before the synth heavy riffs kick in. This is a great opening track, and one of the best songs on the album. The song has a great riff and is really well underpinned by an insanely fast bass line played by Steve Harris. The song also has a really atmospheric bridge section with great vocals from Dickenson. 'Infinite Dreams' follows; a very underrated Maiden track. This song incorporates softer, synth filled passages which are contrasted well with heavier sections. The song fades out quite cleverly into 'Can I Play With Madness', one of Maiden's more famous songs. A great song, perhaps just a little overrated. Still it is really catchy, has a great chorus and keeps the album theme running very well. 'The Evil That Men Do' follows and what a track this is. The song has darker undertones and this is reflected in Dickenson's snarling and biting vocals. Again, a song with a great chorus line, which made it an instant successful single.

The second half of the album gets underway with the title track epic. This is a phenominal song filled with differently styled sections. The chorus is grand and strong and the interlude is soft but atmospheric and captivating. However, the song get's really special towards the end where the band let rip racing guitar lines, solos and great synth effects. 'The Prophecy' follows, a weaker track but still good. The opening is great however the following call and response styled verses get a little repetitive. Still, the song has a grand feel to it. 'The Clairvoyant' follows; a great progressive song. The bass opening is entrancing before the guitars steadily build to a great climax. Bruce Dickenson gives an inspired performance throughout over some timeless guitar riffs. Next, to finish the album is 'Only The Good Die Young'. This song is an OK closer, although the band have done much better and there are certainly plenty more superior songs on this album. The guitar work is great but you can't help but feel the song could develop a little more. The song closes with another Bruce Dickenson spoken passage.

So there you have it, Iron Maiden's concept album. 'Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son' is a awesome album which for me only marginally falls short of being a masterpiece due to a couple of average tracks. This aside though, this album has some thrilling stuff and also is a great mark of Iron Maiden's development as a band into progressive territory. Any fan of the band should definitely own this one. This is also a very accessible album and is one that even more casual fans of the band should fully appreciate. All in all 'Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son' is the final mark of the great innovative heavy metal that Iron Maiden put out in the 1980's.

MY RATING: 8/10

Almost Epic!.......2005-05-30

The best album Maiden ever,although many others will give this honor to PowerSlave, which is almost as good as seventh, but seventh introduces new sounds without becoming symphonic rock, giving the right balance of rock and mistic

An epic masterpiece.......2004-04-04

Coming out in the year 1988, where disposable hair metal trash like Poison and Cinderella, Iron Maiden released what would be the pinnacle of their creative genius, Seventh Son of a Seventh Son. This epic concept album brings forth an onslaught of power and emotion.

RANKING OF SONGS (*=1 star, 1/2= half-star. Example- ****1/2 would equal 4 and a half stars)

1) Moonchild- incredibly powerful track to open up such an intense album, musically and lyrically. Easily ranks amongst previous openers for albums (Ides of March, Where Eagles Dare, Aces High, Caught Somewhere in Time, etc.)

***** stars out of 5

2) Infinite dreams- a melodic and solid follow-up to moonchild. Dramatic song that is just amazing.

***** out of 5

3) Can I Play with Madness- Maiden's attempt at a huge poppy single. Descent song, but at times embarassing. They tried too hard and ended up with a bit of a let down.

***1/2 stars out of 5

4) The Evil that Men Do- 2nd single off album that succeded where "Can I Play with Madness" didn't. Overall great song, but isn't powerful enough to be amongst the lines of classics like the trooper or hallowed be thy name. Just short of a classic.

****1/2 stars out of 5

5) Seventh Son of a Seventh Son- Every good maiden albums needs an epic track. Here is 7th son's, the title track. Dramatic and impactful epic track. Easily amongst the ranks of Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Alexeander the Great.

***** stars out of 5

6) The Prophecy- a highly underrated song. Nice chorus and guitar work. Like the evil that men do, just short of a maiden classic.

**** stars out of 5

7) The Clairvoyant- a true maiden classic that is a fast-paced rocker that has one of the most memorable choruses (it's hard to get out of your head). I think this song is better than The Trooper or 2 Minutes to Midnight. Favorite song on the album.

***** out of 5

8) Only the Good Die Young- an emotionally strong and moving close to one of Maiden's best albums. It brings forth the end and ends it on a powerful note. Incredible song. Literary expression does no justice to how great this song is.

***** out of 5

Maidens Supposed Dark Side Of The Moon.......2001-12-07

Before I listened to this CD I had high expectations coming in. Judging from reviews on this sight this was supposed to be an epic concept-album and Maiden's greatest moment. I was expecting, from a lot of high reviews and some low reviews, that this album is going to be a masterpiece or a pretentious synth-laden mess. I actually found a little of both. This album is sure overated. No way this is better than the immortal " Powerslave " or even better than its predeccesor " Somewhere In Time " This is still a great album to buy after you've bought " Number Of The Beast ", " Piece Of Mind ", " Powerslave ", " Somewhere In Time, and the awesome " Brave New World " It's supposed concept isn't well put together. Even for a concept album it's pretentious. You don't even notice the story while listening to the songs except for in the beginning and in the title track. It's also dissapointing that there's no epic songs on this album. Sure the title track is almost 10 minutes, but 2.5 minutes of a song with an insanely repetive chorus plus pretentious chanting plus 7 minutes of wankery, very good wankery though, does not an epic make. This album is also notable in that it was Maiden's commercial peak. It spawned an unprecedented 4 singles, 1 which was classic, 1 which was great, 1 which was good, and 1 which was an embarassing slice of cheese. Anyway heres my grades.

Song Grades

1. Moonchild-The " 7 deadly sins " intro is a great moment, it also closes out the album, but this, while a good opener, isn't as good as " Where Eagles Dare ", " Aces High ", or " Caught Somewhere In Time " The D & D lyrics also bring this song down and they could have made a better chorus. Still a rockin' tune though.

Final Grade-B

2. Infinite Dreams-Every Maiden album, except for the two Bayley albums has a masterpiece song on it and this one takes the cake on this one. This " Revelations " like energetic semi-ballad is perhaps Dickinsons finest vocal performance. They would rehash the subject matter of this song on " Dream Of Mirrors " on " Brave New World " This is Maidens best song ever released as a single.

Final Grade-A+

3. Can I Play With Madness-Here comes the first mistep on the album. Sure this got them some radio-play, but this embarassing cheeze-fest is still one of their worst songs. The chorus (is bad) and the lyrics sound like Poison using fantasy lyrics. " Flight Of Icarus " was a little cheesy too, but at least it was emotional and had great guitar. It wasn't ruined by the synths as this song was. Not that great to begin with anyway.

Final Grade-D+

4. The Evil That Men Do-It isn't the greatest song in the world, but its sung in such an energetic way and it has a great haunting chorus that you can't help but like it. I can't get the " Living on a razors edge, balancing on a ledge, you know... " chorus out of my head. It's the 2nd best song on the album. Great choice for a single.

Final Grade-A-

5. Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son-You could view this either of two ways. If you view it as a song, it fails. If you look at it as a good mood piece on a concept album like " In The Flesh " from " The Wall " it's great. I'm still a little disappointed because as the title track it should be the best or close to the best song on the album. All of Maidens other title tracks are excellent by the way.

Final Grade-C+

6. The Prophecy-This is a pretty underated song. If they made better lyrics for this song it could have become a Maiden classic. The lyrics though bring it down.

Final Grade-B-

7. The Clairvoyant-Great guitar in the beginning. This was one of their big singles from this album. I really like the chorus on this song. This is a good song, but not as good as previous singles like " The Trooper " or " 2 Minutes To Midnight "

Final Grade-B

8. Only The Good Die Young-This song should have been released as a single instead of the retarded " Can I Play With Madness. The only problem I have is that as an album closer they could have made this song longer and more epic. This song had the potential. Could have made it into another " To Tame A Land "

Final Grade-B+

I feel that Maiden should have kept only the good material they wrote from 85-88. Then they would have had a tremendous album. They should have kept " Caught Somewhere In Time ", " Infinite Dreams ", " Heaven Can Wait ", " Alexander The Great ", " The Evil That Men Do ", " Sea Of Madness ", " Wasted Years ", and " Only The Good Die Young " Imagine what a great album that would have been.

An absolute masterpiece.......2001-10-10

This album shows just how deep and conceptual Iron maiden can be. This album is the only one I can think of by Iron maiden that actually has an on going story to it. The story is about an ancient legend where a god would have children and his seventh son would be gifted. That son would then have children and his seventh son would be the embodiment of a god with gifts like foresight and healing. The songs they wrote were a deep refelction of this, and were questions on whether the seventh son of a seventh son would be good and use his powers to help people, or be manipulated into evil and use his powers for his own ends. A common asked question is how these songs fit the concept yet most seem easy to conclude (although only the band know the whole truth). "Can I play with madness?" seemed to touch on the child hiding the truth of his visions to gain power over people, "the evil that men do" seems to talk of him being manipulated by the emotions of people who cause pain, "seventh son of a seventh son" seemed the easiest to understand as the lyrics clearly mentioned about the forces that were observing the child's growth and which side he'd choose (good or evil). Anyway enough of the concepts, what of the music? Well here it seems that they have created some great songs. "The clairvoyant" was good for its varied pace and awesome use of keyboards, "the evil that men do" was an epic all out track. while melodic underneath it still had some killer riffage and great vocals. The others all had their credits too, (Barr "the prophecy" as that song was weak) on the whole this experience will leave you thirsting for more. This is maiden at its best, in between all out speed tracks (previous examples being the trooper and aces high) and slow melodic songs (previous examples being "Alexander the great" and "Hallowed be thy name") with so much varied use of instruments and pace as well as concept and classic lyrics you understand why this album is held in such high stead. This album however will almost certainly flop with those who are only interested in Nu-metal as it is too mature to have roaring vocals and every track sounding the same. However if you liked albums such as "master of puppets" by Metallica, "Countdown to extinction" by Megadeath, "slave to the grind" by Skid Row and "Cowboys from hell" by Pantera then quite simply this album will appeal to you like honey to a bee, I shall end by saying buy this album as it is classic metal!

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