SEVENTH SON OF A SEVENTH SON

With Bruce's "Seven deadly sins" speech to start this album, this album definitely sounds like it's heading into proggy territory. After all, this is supposed to be a concept album, something that several prog bands dive into at some point in their careers. I can't honestly tell you what exactly the story is about (if there even is one), and the music doesn't flow as smoothly from track to track as other concept albums in my collection. Despite this, Seventh Son of A Seventh Son, which one might correctly guess is the group's seventh album, is overall a rather good album.

"Moonchild", "The Prophecy", "The Evil That Men Do", and "The Clairvoyant" make up my favorite tracks of the album. "The Prophecy" has a steady marcher's beat to it and, along with chugging guitar riff, is somewhat reminiscent of "Quest For Fire" of their Piece Of Mind album. The guitar intro and outro add a touch of beauty to this otherwise metallic song. I don't have much to say about "The Evil That Men Do" or "The Clairvoyant" other than the fact that they have earned their place as virtual staples in Maiden's setlist for years. The guitar harmonies in these two songs are among the strongest in Maiden's discography.

Surprisingly, being a frequent visitor to these archives, the two longest tracks on SSOASS, "Infinite Dreams" and the title track (some may call these epics), don't peak my interest as much as the shorter songs. "Infinite Dreams" feels like a track that is around two minutes longer than it's supposed 6:09. There is something about the vocal delivery in this song that I find to be off-putting. "Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son" has a nice instrumental section in the middle of the song with great solos by the Murray/Smith combo, but my issue is with the unimaginative chorus (the shouting of the song name over and over), which in my opinion ruins the atmosphere built through the song's intro and verse. This song could have been reworked into quite a nice instrumental.

"Can I Play With Madness" is one of those songs that sticks in my head that I am still not certain that I welcome. A catchy song with a memorable guitar solo, but I'd say this is one of the band's more overrated tracks (at least in terms of their singles). "Only The Good Die Young" closes out the album and features an uncommon bass solo by Steve Harris, but other than that nothing really stands out.

Overall, this is still a good source for memorable Maiden melodies, but not so much for convincing concepts. Worthy of three solid stars.