Continuing my way through the Maiden catalog with studio album #7. This was the first Maiden album I heard back in 8th grade and is still one of my favorites and is either my second or third favorite depending on the day. Following a similar style to previous album Somewhere in Time with the keyboards or synthesizers filling out the sound, I always felt it worked better on this album and overall there was a little less filler. A cool concept album lyrically with many catchy melodic songs but also darker subject matter and unlike the previous album there was a lot of input from Bruce Dickinson in the songwriting. There were four singles released that included “Can I Play with Madness”, “The Clairvoyant”, “The Evil that Men Do”, and “Infinite Dreams”. The album sold well reaching #1 in the UK and #12 in the US but only reached Gold in the US but it seemed at the time the album was much bigger than that but the US market was changing a lot at the time with “Hair Metal” getting bigger and even thrash on the rise so many of the older guard were starting to struggle. The album opens with “Moonchild” which is a long time fav of mine. It’s upbeat from the first note with Harris’ bass driving the song forward and it opens the album in a great way. “Infinite Dreams” follows and is more melodic and starts softly with the verses and picks up as it approaches the chorus and is another great song. “Can I Play with Madness” is probably the best known song and follows in the footsteps of the more catchy melodic songs that each of the last several albums had such as Wasted Years, Two Minutes to Midnight, Flight of Icarus, and Run to the Hills. “The Evil that Men Do” was the second single and was featured in the live set for many tours off and on over the years. Not quite as catchy as the Madness single it’s still very melodic and I can hear the crowd singing part of the chorus(lives on and on!!!) as I type this. Great song and ending to side one of the vinyl/cassette. Side two kicks off with the title track “Seventh Son of a Seventh Son” and it’s almost 10 minutes of glorious progressive metal. It seems like they keep songs like this to close albums but with this being a concept this is where it fit and it’s a nice change of pace for the band to not do the obvious. The Prophecy” is another underrated Dave Murray composition that seems to get better with age for me. Similar to Deja Vu on the previous album this one doesn’t get talked about enough.
“The Clairvoyant” was the third single and is another melodic Catchy track but with progressive touches throughout. Similar to “Infinite Dreams” with a softer style on the verses and then guns blazing at the chorus. The line “as soon as you’re born you’re dying” still hits hard to this day. The album closes with “Only the Good Die Young” and it almost feels like it’s more introspective and thoughtful with the whole story coming to a conclusion. The song has the opposite flow from most songs on the album with the verses coming at you faster and the chorus being more reserved but it’s also cool to have a non long Maiden epic close the album. Great album, great album cover, and many great classic Maiden songs. The only bad part of this album is realizing this is the end of the classic lineup and sound with Adrian Smith leaving after the tour and the band taking a different path on the next album without Adrian’s melodic playing style and songwriting contributions. He always seemed to be yin to Steve Harris’ yang and without him it affected the balance they had over the last few albums.
Iron Maiden – Seventh Son of a Seventh Son (1988)
