SEVENTH SON OF A SEVENTH SON

Iron Maiden's seventh album is arguably their best. It is only one of four Maiden albums to reach number one on UK charts along with The Number of the Beast and later Fear of the Dark and The Final Frontier. It is actually a concept album that centers on the powers given to the seventh son of a seventh son and good vs. evil, mysticism, and reincarnation. At least five out of the eight songs have some reference to the subject. It continues this theme from their previous album Somewhere in Time.

This album is very solid with great keyboards by Steve Harris especially on "Moonchild". There are also those deep, heavy Maiden riffs throughout that really make this one special. The vocals added to the great drumming by Nicko McBrain and bass really give it that Iron Maiden feel.

One song that really shows this, is the title epic, "Seventh Son of a Seventh Son", which starts out with booming synths and drums. Bruce Dickinson's vocals are so goo and crisp that they just jump out at me. His little wails add such good definition to the song. Also I just love his chant in the middle, it adds a cool touch to the song that none of the other ones have. You can easily pick out the theme in this one, especially in the line. "?slowly revealing the power he holds". The chorus in this song is very chant-like, but that blends in nicely with the whole song.

Another classic on this album is "Can I Play With Madness" which has a great beat to it and has nice heavy riffs throughout. Bruce Dickinson really belts it out in this one which gives this song some very nice lines and choruses. This track also features some wicked guitar playing by Adrian Smith. It tells the story of a young mad who is riddled by nightmares, so he decides to see a prophet so he can see the future. But, the young man does not heed the others warnings and it ends in a quarrel. This all makes for a wonderfully rich ballad.

Other good songs on this album include? well, all of them. This album has as many good songs on it then most of the albums that I own. This CD has heavier and darker songs such as "Moonchild" which features great keyboards to lighter songs like "The Clairvoyant". Some of the songs even have a popier feel to them like "Only the Good Die Young" which has a very catchy chorus. For the diverse but yet the same Iron Maiden feel they get 4.5 stars.

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