Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This article is about the Iron Maiden album. For the folklore concept, see Seventh son of a seventh son.
| Seventh Son of a Seventh Son | ||
 |
||
| Studio album by Iron Maiden | ||
| Released | 11 April 1988 | |
| Recorded | Musicland Studios in Munich, Germany, 1987 | |
| Genre | Heavy metal | |
| Length | 43:57 | |
| Label | EMI (U.K.) Capitol (U.S. original) Sanctuary/Columbia (U.S. reissue) |
|
| Producer(s) | Martin Birch | |
| Professional reviews | ||
|---|---|---|
| Iron Maiden chronology | ||
| Somewhere in Time (1986) |
Seventh Son of a Seventh Son (1988) |
No Prayer for the Dying (1990) |
Seventh Son of a Seventh Son is an album by heavy metal band Iron Maiden. It was released in 1988 as the band's seventh studio album. This album was the last to feature guitarist Adrian Smith until the album Brave New World in 2000 (he did write a song that Bruce Dickinson finished for the next album, 'Hooks in You').
SSOASS remains one of the band's most popular albums. At least three of the album's songs ("Seventh Son of a Seventh Son", "The Prophecy" and "The Clairvoyant") can be directly related to a main lyrical storyline (apparently inspired by Orson Scott Card's novel Seventh Son). Several interpretations of the other songs allow everything to fit into this storyline, making this a concept album.
Stylistically SSOASS develops the sounds first heard on Somewhere In Time (1986), and continues the band's lyrical exploration of topics related to mysticism, power, and the occult. Much of the music on the album also follows the aesthetic of previous Iron Maiden albums by featuring dual lead guitars, Steve Harris's active bass lines, formally involved song structures (the title track in particular), and a crisp studio production quality.
With the departure of Smith following the lengthy world tour supporting the album, SSOASS marks the end of perhaps the second large chapter in Iron Maiden's musical history. Many of the musical and lyrical features prevalent on the albums The Number of the Beast through SSOASS disappeared as obvious musical markers on subsequent albums, and it is this 1982-1988 period in the band's history that stands as its "classic" period.
The album debuted at #1 in UK charts as well as #12 in the U.S, while the singles "Can I Play with Madness", "The Evil That Men Do", "The Clairvoyant (live)" and "Infinite Dreams (live)" reached #3, #5, #6 and #6 positions, respectively.
Contents |
[edit] Track listing
- "Moonchild" (Adrian Smith, Bruce Dickinson) – 5:39
- "Infinite Dreams" (Steve Harris) – 6:09
- "Can I Play with Madness" (Smith, Dickinson, Harris) – 3:31
- "The Evil That Men Do" (Smith, Dickinson, Harris) – 4:34
- "Seventh Son of a Seventh Son" (Harris) – 9:53
- "The Prophecy" (Dave Murray, Harris) – 5:05
- "The Clairvoyant" (Harris) – 4:27
- "Only the Good Die Young" (Harris, Dickinson) – 4:41
[edit] 1995 Reissue Bonus CD
- "Black Bart Blues" (Bruce Dickinson, Steve Harris) - 6:41
- "Massacre" (Brian Downey, Phil Lynott, Scott Gorham) - 2:53
- "Prowler 88" (Steve Harris) - 4:07
- "Charlotte The Harlot 88" (David Murray) - 4:11
- "Infinite Dreams (live)" (Steve Harris) - 6:03
- "The Clairvoyant (live)" (Adrian Smith, Steve Harris) - 4:27
- "The Prisoner (live)" (Steve Harris) - 6:09
- "Killers (live)" (Paul Di'Anno, Steve Harris) - 5:03
- "Still Life (live)" (David Murray, Steve Harris) - 4:38
[edit] Credits
- Bruce Dickinson – vocals
- Dave Murray – guitar
- Adrian Smith – guitar, backing vocals, synth
- Steve Harris – bass guitar, backing vocals, string synth
- Nicko McBrain – drums
- Martin Birch – producer, engineer, mixing, tape operator
- Albert Boekholt – engineer, assistant engineer
- Ronald Prent – engineer, assistant engineer
