Seventh Son of a Seventh Son

[The Mid-Distance Runner]

Re: Daily Song: Seventh Son of a Seventh Son

After the epicness of ROTM and Alexander the Great on the preceding two albums, I've never felt Seventh Son reached the same standards. The chorus is a little flat in my most humble of opinions. The song picks up during the second half and the guitar solo duel is impressive, yet I still feel the soloing throughout Somewhere In Time is where Dave and Adrian peaked as a duo.

8

 

[mckindog]

Re: Daily Song: Seventh Son of a Seventh Son

The definition of an epic, but not the definitive epic. The opening is grand, portentous and a little dark. The lyrics intriguing. The ending is pure instrumental genius. But it does veer into the realm of ponderousness and the chorus…meh at best. This is an excellent template that was eventually perfected with Sign of the Cross. An excellent song, but too flawed to award more than an eight.

 

[Unknown One]

Re: Daily Song: Seventh Son of a Seventh Son

Now I know where all the votes are coming from in the Maiden Survivor 

What needs to be said about the song has already been said. From the intro, to the atmospheric middle section that builds up the excitement and suspense. Finally to the spellbinding instrumental section, complete with mesmerising solos. There is no way that this song deserves anything less than a 10.

 

[Forostar]

Re: Daily Song: Seventh Son of a Seventh Son

Now I know where all the votes are coming from in the Maiden Survivor  

Haha indeed, those ignorant bastards!

I guess this song requires a certain feeling or taste to like it. It's really a very impressive piece of bombastic awesomeness.

 

[____no5]

Re: Daily Song: Seventh Son of a Seventh Son

That was a nice read! Have a praise!

That's very encouraging thanks! To tell you the truth, I was about not to post it at all; My feelings and thoughts are so rich about those solos and my English (including zero music terminology), well... rather poor to express such feelings, that I thought it would seem kind of ridiculous to someone else. I was not that happy with the result, but I decided to post as I put a big & sincere effort.

Something else that I decided not to write in my initial post: Is just me, or Dave's solo is one of his most Adrian-ish solos ever? I mean, yes; his 2nd part contains one of his signature techniques (Adrian's solo both contain signature techniques), but check the tones: They are almost identical!

 

[Perun]

Re: Daily Song: Seventh Son of a Seventh Son

This is another one that suffers when taken out of the album context. It contributes a lot to the general atmosphere of the record, but on its own, it is simply... well, cheesy. It has great instrumentals, and all in all it is a very good song, but when listened to on its own, the spoken midpiece for example just seems a bit over-the-top and Spinal Tap-ish. In other words, Maiden go eighties. 8/10.

 

[Forostar]

Re: Daily Song: Seventh Son of a Seventh Son

This is another one that suffers when taken out of the album context. It contributes a lot to the general atmosphere of the record, but on its own, it is simply... well, cheesy. It has great instrumentals, and all in all it is a very good song, but when listened to on its own, the spoken midpiece for example just seems a bit over-the-top and Spinal Tap-ish. In other words, Maiden go eighties. 8/10.

No one forces you to take it out of the album context. I mean, I can easily imagine the atmosphere of and estimate its role in the album when I want to hear or rate this.

Not unimportant: We're not rating all these songs in order for nothing. So, to me it seems that it's not logical to take a song per se out of the album context.

Especially not this song because it's a vital part of the album, a very representative track, the beating heart of the album.

So, it's a free choice.

 

[Taker]

Re: Daily Song: Seventh Son of a Seventh Son

This is another one that suffers when taken out of the album context. It contributes a lot to the general atmosphere of the record, but on its own, it is simply... well, cheesy. It has great instrumentals, and all in all it is a very good song, but when listened to on its own, the spoken midpiece for example just seems a bit over-the-top and Spinal Tap-ish. In other words, Maiden go eighties. 8/10.

Couldn't have said it better myself. For me, SSOASS was a continuation of what began with Powerslave... while the musicianship remained as top notch as ever,the Maiden gestalt had morphed. 7 out of 10.

 

[Perun]

Re: Daily Song: Seventh Son of a Seventh Son

No one forces you to take it out of the album context. I mean, I can easily imagine the atmosphere of and estimate its role in the album when I want to hear or rate this.

Not unimportant: We're not rating all these songs in order for nothing. So, to me it seems that it's not logical to take a song per se out of the album context.

Especially not this song because it's a vital part of the album, a very representative track, the beating heart of the album.

So, it's a free choice.

Well, most songs still work miraculously if taken out of the album context, but this one doesn't. To me, that means it is inferior.

 

[Forostar]

Re: Daily Song: Seventh Son of a Seventh Son

E.g. live? Yeah, many NOTB songs for instance.

SSOASS out of album context:
It was never put on an official compilation album, but it was for me the highlight on Maiden England.

 

[Black Thunder]

Re: Daily Song: Seventh Son of a Seventh Son

E.g. live? Yeah, many NOTB songs for instance.

SSOASS out of album context:
It was never put on an official compilation album, but it was for me the highlight on Maiden England.

Yea, but Bruce's voice wasn't in great shape...

ID works well live, too.

 

[Dr. Eddies Wingman]

Re: Daily Song: Seventh Son of a Seventh Son

Maybe the fact that SSOASS is intended to be a concept album also makes the individual songs feel out of place when played live? I've not heard many critical voices regarding TETMD and The Clairvoyant when it comes to liive performances, but Moonchild, Infinite Dreams and SSOASS are for some reason not getting the same recognition. Maybe it is because these songs were never meant to be on their own - they were more or less written as parts of the album rather than as individual songs? I'm just speculating ...

 

[Forostar]

Re: Daily Song: Seventh Son of a Seventh Son

Moonchild, Infinite Dreams and SSOASS are for some reason not getting the same recognition.

Don't forget: We were less indoctrinated with these songs live.
Just the 1988 generation, and regarding Moonchild: Somewhere on Tour. Compare that to the other songs. It really helps to admire a song when it's played live. With some songs it can be too much, though. FOTD!

 

[Babo 91]

Re: Daily Song: Seventh Son of a Seventh Son

10/10

best song on the album and easily a  top 10 or 20 maiden song. melodies sound really haunting and everyone is on  top of their game. one of maidens best solo sections as well.

 

[Perun]

Re: Daily Song: Seventh Son of a Seventh Son

SSOASS out of album context:
It was never put on an official compilation album, but it was for me the highlight on Maiden England.

Well... I know this is a bit contradictory, but keep in mind that I am not rating the songs in relation to anything else, but only in relation to other Maiden songs, which means that an 8 point rating is still very high.
Yes, it is a highlight on Maiden England, but on the other hand it is still very cheesy, even there. The thing is, I like 80's cheese, and cheese in total, but I still rate songs that aren't cheesy higher.

In other words, I like this song. So there's no need to defend it against my rating. I just like other songs better.

 

[Mega]

I think this song is magnificent on it's own as well.
As soon as I hear the beginning, I automatically get into the right state of mind, as if I have listened to the previous songs on the album before it.

 

[Prowler_108]

I don't listen to the album as a whole anymore, but this is a great epic, and gets a 9.

 

[The Flash]

Amazing epic. Deserves a 10/10.

 

[Deleted member 7164]

10.

The heaviness of the drowning riffs over the verses can only be heard in full extent on live performances. Apart from that, we all know that instrumental section of this song is one of the most epic ever, and possibly the hardest to play. Basically, this is the pinnacle of their 80's prog excursions they did, which are vastly different than prog stuff they do today.

 

[Mosh]

The highlight of SSOASS. I think it could've been longer with maybe a final verse as ending with the solos seems a bit like the band didn't want it longer than 9 minutes. Still a great song. 10/10