Review Summary: A masterpiece of atmosphere.
Just one of the many joys of having any band with a large and sprawling, comprehensive discography be your favourite band- be it Rush, Yes, Motorhead, or in this case, Iron Maiden- is that the large amount of albums for one to listen to, and with nary a weak album, make for both an exciting discovery upon initially getting into the band and, years after the fact, difficulty being able to choose which to listen to when you need your "fix". About 10 or so years ago, when I was getting into Maiden, I thought I'd never be able to hear all the albums with 14 already under their belt, and the possibility of more to come. As a result, my favourite album of theirs changed regularly, in no small part due to the band's consistency and devotion to their craft that was well on display. When you have a band like Iron Maiden whose selection of music spans decades and several "eras", you're bound to have that one album that, even if it isn't your favourite album, remains etched into your memory in some form of another. In my many years of listening to the band, several albums of theirs are candidates for that position, but I can't think of any album of theirs that fills that quota any more than their aptly named seventh album,
Seventh Son of a Seventh Son. Now, to the novice Maiden fan, this isn't going to sound much different from most Maiden albums, as their "trademarks" are full on display- dual guitar harmonies, soaring vocals from Dickinson, a bass-centric mix and all that jazz, but those who listen to the album at least a few times and look past the superficial qualities see something truly strange- an album where instead of those trademarks, the ambient elements are pushed to the forefront rather than the trademarks.
Now, true, later albums are similarly atmospheric, but
Seventh Son of a Seventh Son gets under your skin in a different way. The artwork is definitely where it starts. Most people who have gotten into Maiden after a few albums are probably used to Eddie surrounded by elaborate settings and in some detailed costume, but not here- Eddie is only shown with his upper torso intact, holding a womb, and surrounded by a desolate, icy wasteland. The rest of the album artwork isn't much more elbaorate than that- mostly icebergs and icy water, with a book with golden page lining in the background for good measure. And it's also a good indicator as to what the album sounds like- eerie, dreamlike and permeated with synthesizers and choirs. It's also worth noting that the artwork is a good indicator as to how the album "feels"- most of the songs have a cold, detached and almost desolate feel to them. Even more upbeat tracks like "The Clairvoyant" and "The Evil that Men Do" have the dreamlike synths hang over them like a stormcloud. Strangely enough, the album is also a loose concept album centered around the mythological belief of the seventh son of a seventh son- in folklore, such an honour is said to be a special birth, and said seventh son is blessed with powers and divine abilities. From here on, the album's loose storyline follows Orson Scott Card's
Seventh Son novel, about a family who welcomes a seventh son of a seventh son into their lives, only to be challenged constantly by Lucifer. So this combination of a more eerie sound, different artwork and a concept inspired by folklore and ancient beliefs make for something that is definitely recognizable as Maiden, even if it's done differently.
Seventh Son's strongest aspect, as far as performance goes, is how the band manage to evoke the sense of unease in simplest form, and probably the best place to start as far as this goes is Bruce Dickinson's vocal performance- over the course of eight tracks, Bruce is given a number of different characters to interpret, and while he doesn't pull any vocal tricks or gimmicks to differentiate them, he does, however, give them personalities of their own with how he delivers each line. This is detectable right off the bat with "Moonchild", where he assumes the form of Lucifer, and the minute he storms in with "
I am he, the bornless one/The fallen angel watching you", not only is he truly believable as such a character, but he transcends it with how he manages to go from sounding creepy in one line to psychotic in the next, and the track climaxes with a diabolical laugh, really hammering the point home. This is just the first of 8 tracks where he manages to add complexity by keeping it simple. Likewise, the performances from the band show Maiden doing what Maiden have always done, albeit with a bit more headroom for the synthesizers. Like
Somewhere in Time,
Seventh Son uses synths in a tasteful way, rather than making the whole song revolve around random bursts of synthesizer like a boot to the face, which is what their peers Judas Priest had been criticized for at around the same time.
As for the songs themselves, this album has no shortage of tracks that are sure to be instant classics. Fun fact, four of the album's eight tracks were hit singles- at the time, the most amount of hit singles they had from a single album, and it isn't hard to see why. Easily the most pop-sensible track here is "Can I Play With Madness", a relentlessly catchy number that alternates between cowbell-punctuated verses and an infectious chorus, and even a gorgeous instrumental middle section with one hell of a gorgeous solo to boot. The other tracks include "The Evil That Men Do", the "gallop" track of the album that stays at a consistently fast pace and is built around one of the band's most memorable choruses to date- and it's even made several times for an electric live track that will have the audience belting "
The evil that men do lives on and oooooonnnn..." at the top of their lungs. "The Clairvoyant" follows a similar pattern as "Can I Play With Madness", only this song is an epic crammed into four minutes, and a bloody gorgeous one at that too. The verses feature one of the band's most beautiful chord progressions complimented by some of Bruce's most passionate vocals yet, lamenting lines like "
I feel a strength, an inner fire/But I'm scared I won't be able to control it anymore", followed by one incredibly beautiul combination of synth and typical Maiden riff, leading into a faster-tempo chorus that's bound to get people on their feet in an instant. But ultimately the best of the "singles" is "Infinite Dreams", one gorgeous proggish juggernaut that alternates regularly between tempos and is permeated with Bruce begging for an answer as to why he's up late at night all the time, or for what's troubling him. Mid-way through he gives a CHILLING evil laugh that, combined with the quick tempo of the music, thrusts you into a tortured man's decreasing sanity in one of the most chilling fashions possible.
As far as the other songs go, the aforementioned "Moonchild" opens the album in a fashion that openers such as "Aces High" and "Caught Somewhere in Time" albeit in a far more sinister and evil fashion. If this song hadn't had children running to hide behind the couch back in its day, nothing would have- beginning with Bruce singing "
Seven deadly sins/Seven ways to win/Seven holy paths to Hell, and your trip begins" over acoustic guitar (to date the only album opener with a lyrical cold open), a Styx-like synthesizer riff and some power chords create an increasingly threatening atmosphere before a drumroll and Bruce welcome the listener into the palm of Lucifer's hand. The song is consistently tense, unnerving and boasts two of H and Dave's most brilliant solos to date, making for one memorable album opener that will for sure remain in your head long after the album is over. "The Prophecy" is a slower-paced tune for the most part that shifts tempos quite a few times and has Bruce alternating between the Seventh Son and Lucifer, talking about how the son must come up with a solution before Lucifer devastates mankind- but the son is too late, and the world has been destroyed. The sheer tension he evokes through his vocal performance, leading up to the revealing line, over the increasingly tense music and closing out with the acoustic outro make for one of the most unforgettable Maiden tunes to date. Album closer "Only the Good Die Young" is another gallop track, but with the lyrics being Lucifer bidding adieu to the listeners with lovely lyrics like "
The demon in your mind will rape you in your bed at night" and most chillingly, "
So I think I'll leave you with your visions and your guilt/So until the next time, have a good sin!". While this isn't one of the better tracks, it's a great one, and most special about it is at the very end, we get a repeat of the album's opening "Seven deadly sins..." ditty, except whereas the opening evoked intrigue, this one evokes dread, guilt and melancholy, and closes the album out on a sombre note. And special mention must be given to the album's centerpiece track- the title track. At a few seconds shy of 10 minutes, everything about this track is pure magic. From the mid-tempo first half to the speedy and upbeat second half, choirs, moody and tense middle section that is trippy, dreamy, surreal and entrancing, not to mention tense, this one will guaranteed become an instant favourite.
Seventh Son of a Seventh Son is one of those albums that will stay with you immediately upon the first listen. It's somewhat fitting that it marked the end of an era- it was the last album to feature Adrian Smith until 2000, when he returned (alongside Bruce Dickinson, who left in 1993) for
Brave New World, primarily due to creative differences. It's a shame that the band didn't explore the direction found on this album for the next one, but simultaneously, this album and its predecessor feature the early seeds of Maiden's current more epic and progressive sound. Whereas previous albums can be loved for the epic riffery and choruses, and later albums can be loved for their epic sweep and tasteful modernization of a classic sound, this one can be loved for the atmospherics on display- and makes for an album that will get under your skin and stay there... and at the back of your head for days, too.
