SEVENTH SON OF A SEVENTH SON

When Iron Maiden released Seventh Son, it was at a much different time than when they released Powerslave four years prior. Metal was either commercial or thrash. Commercial metal was at its zenith with all the power ballads and 3-4 minute formula songs and the genre was flooded with artists. Thrash was really taking hold of the non commercial crowd becoming harder, heavier and faster. Iron Maiden was becoming yesterdays news. What move would they do for this release? Would they try to be commercial and write hit singles like Motley Crue or Poison etc. or would they try to get heavier in the vein of Metallica or Slayer?

Neither and thank God!! Although many people got the wrong idea about this album, at least in the US, when Can I play With Madness was released as a single. Many thought the Irons were "selling out" but as it turns out SSoSS is Maidens' proggiest effort up to this point.

Maiden still sounds like Maiden here and still did not abandon ideas from their past, like their dual guitar solos, harmonizing leads, galloping bass, operatic vocals and the same song structure for the long songs where there is always that quiet bass section in the middle. Still using synths, Adrian Smith and Dave Murray experiment further by creating atmospheres and theatrical backgrounds. I prefer their rawer guitar tones of Powerslave and before but they never let it sound cheesy. Iron Maiden broadened their scope on their already successful foundation. They got a little heavier and darker in some spots (Moonchild, Seventh Son) and commercial (Can I Play With Madness, The Evil That Men Do) but they also succeed in uncommon time sigs like The Prophecy and dynamics like Infinite Dreams and in other spots while keeping the Maiden spirit completely intact.

All in all Seventh Son is a fine album, I wouldn't put it up there with Powerslave but it is a very consistent collection that despite its variety maintains a nice dark feel throughout the album. Sadly Adrian Smith would leave after this album and they would go for a more commercial sound and keep on rehashing old ideas and after the departure of Bruce Dickinson, Iron Maiden would release a series of lackluster albums for over a decade.

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