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Iron Maiden: Seventh son of a seventh son
02/09/11 || Smalley
As you already know , I do love a few of Iron Maiden’s post-“Powerslave” works, but as reluctant as I am to admit this, I have to say that 1988’s “Seventh son of a seventh son” is a record that doesn’t quite make it into <3 territory for me. Granted, there are a few tracks here that I would include among Maiden's very best, and if everything on "Seventh son" was that good, this would be a motherfucken 10 outta 10 beyond a shadow of a fucken doubt, but alas, that just isn't so. It's definitely a good record, but still, ultimately a mild disappointment. Mild , I stress, ‘fore I’m rendered asunder.
First, I want to get the weakest tracks out of the way first so we can save best for last: “The clairvoyant” has a nice bass intro by Harris, but the ensuing songwriting lacks momentum and memorability somewhat, and also feels somewhat confused in its transitions, and while “The prophecy” has a soothing guitars ‘n synth intro (continuing the prog-ier trend that “Somewhere in time” started), and a wonderfully classic-y outro, again, the song lacks the kind of power and energy that an 80’s Maiden cut should have. Finally, “Can I play with madness?”, while enjoyable on a kind of guilty pleasure level, still sounds overly, inappropriately campy, especially on the vocals front (there’s this one Pee-Wee Herman like part I absolutely HATE).
But to assure you that this isn’t just another “Slaughter of the soul”-like mismatched review on my part, let’s talk about the great tracks for a while; the shatteringly powerful “Infinite dreams” has one of the best dramatic arcs of any song I’ve ever heard, sustaining an incredible, relentless momentum from quiet beginning until dramatic ending, a constant build-up that doesn’t make a single mis-step in its entire running time. You really do feel like you’re sharing in the protagonist’s soul-obsessing hopes and fears as Bruce emotes here; just incredible.
“The evil that men do” is another excellent cut, with an incredibly catchy main melody and a chorus where Bruce Bruce really gets to belt out with that opera-caliber voice of his, and the title track, while not the Maiden song I listen to the most (just on account of its almost-10 minute length), still objectively qualifies as the band’s best-written song, with its excellent use of heavenly choral vocals, wonderful integration of synth work, and incredibly epic, climatic lyrics. It’s hard to express this song’s awesomeness in simple words, but just know that it’s almost 10 minutes long, and I can’t ever remember getting bored during it, not once. Never, ever, EVER fails to give me the ol’ goosebumps from head down to toe.
And on top of all that, “Moonchild”, while not a great song overall, has a brilliant intro that goes from a soft, dramatic acoustic guitar (accompanied by a subdued Dickinson), which the album’s excellent closer, the driving “Only the good die young”, puts in a nice callback to at its end, making sure the tail of the snake circles around into the mouth, so to speak.
So there’s no question that “Seventh son of a seventh son” has some absolutely incredible songs, but the weaker, “just good” tracks prevent me from liking it any better as a whole, even though I really, REALLY fucking want to. I like the continuity that it keeps from “Somewhere in time” with the additional prog-iness, but coming directly after that record, which is my favorite Maiden, and more consistently successful with its songwriting, I still have to call “son” a slight disappointment. I apologize fellow Maidenheads, I know some of you really, really love this one, but I hope me just liking it overall (but absolutely loving certain moments) will be satisfactory enough. If not, then the way’s still open for someone to Class6 this, so get going to it if you want.
- Information
- Released: 1988
- Label: EMI
- Website: www.ironmaiden.com
- Band
- Bruce Dickinson: vocals
- Dave Murray: guitars
- Adrian Smith: guitars
- Steve Harris: bass
- Nicko McBrain: drums
- Tracklist
- 01. Moonchild
- 02. Infinite Dreams
- 03. Can I Play With Madness?
- 04. The Evil That Men Do
- 05. Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son
- 06. The Prophecy
- 07. The Clairvoyant
- 08. Only The Good Die Young
