SIT or SSOASS ?

SIT or SSOASS

  • Somewhere in Time

    Votes: 17 45.9%

  • Seventh Son of a Seventh Son

    Votes: 16 43.2%

  • Any other Maiden album

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Adrian Smith

    Votes: 4 10.8%
  • Total voters
    37
That's a very tough dilemma for me. I can't tell, they are both straight 10/10. I guess the difference would be that SiT appeals to me more personally (I love the sound, the brave approach, the imagery, the melodies, it's just so fascinating) whereas SSoaSS is perfect more... objectively (although it's hard to speak about objectivity in music). If not the SSoaSS title track and The Evil That Men Do, I would choose SiT without hesitation, but these two tracks are so unearthly.
 
Potential top 10 songs:

Wasted Years
Sea of Madness
Alex the Great
Infinite Dreams
Seventh Son

Both albums are very consistent. No bad songs to be found (not even Can I Play), some top-tier songs and many around the 8/10 area. I prefer the sound of Seventh Son because it feels wider and more natural than the more compressed SiT, although both, especially the latter, have a unique signature sound. Both have amazing album covers, but Seventh Son's has that great atmosphere, superior to any other Maiden album cover.
There was a time when my answer would've certainly been SiT but now it's a complete and utter tie. My two favourite Maiden albums.
 
Somewhere in Time, but the difference is minimal.

Somewhere in Time
The first Iron Maiden studio-albums, I owned, were Piece of Mind and Somewhere in Time. But Somewhere in Time was really the one I was going for.

The “12 Wasted Years” video accelerated everything. The funny playback-show of “Wasted Years” from German TV and the short clip of “Caught Somewhere In Time” in Japan made me very eager to check out this product. Adrian brought the best out of himself. He delivered three excellent tracks, which had more of a melancholic feel than most other Maiden songs. In the beginning I had to get used to the riffs of “Sea Of Madness”, and still I am not that fond of the vocal melody in the “Stranger In A Strange Land” chorus. The only other weak point of the album is the vocal melody in “Heaven Can Wait”, but for the rest I love it all very much! “Déja-Vu” is a dynamic up-tempo gem.

The sound on this album really does it for me. What I like about the production is the drum sound which seems to blend so well with ‘Arry bass and the rest of the music. There’s a big chance that Nicko’s playing and his drum sound might influence my total appreciation for Somewhere in Time. Like on Powerslave we can hear that Adrian does a lot of different things than Dave. There’s so much melody on this album and the production fits perfectly to that.

All studio versions of these songs I like better than all the live versions I have ever heard. This says enough about how special this album is, doesn't it?


Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
This was the second Iron Maiden studio album that I heard. I borrowed the LP from a classmate (together with Killers). I was very impressed. The album was not as rough as the first Maiden album and naturally it didn't have the raw live sound of LAD, but songs like "Infinite Dreams", "The Evil That Men Do", the title track and "Only the Good Die Young" really blew me away. Especially "Infinite Dreams" touched me with its dramatic vocal lines and lyrics!

What I like so much about Seventh Son of a Seventh Son is the songwriting, not per se the sound. As much as I love the sound of the keyboards – they contribute immensely to the atmosphere – I think that the drums and also the guitars sound a bit thin to my ears. A “soft” production, and therefore not the heaviest album.

Coming back to the title track, it projects a threatening side of the band (only beaten by ROTAM). Its notable aspects are the heavy riffing during the couplets, the haunting melodies of Dave in the pre-chorus, the haunting melodies of Adrian in the "post"-chorus. And of course the sublime midpiece, which is one of the most atmospherical parts of the whole Maiden catalogue. The lyrics (and the way they are sung) are intruiging as well.
 
REALLY hard to say, both albums are perfect to my ears...

I'd say i like the production on SIT a bit more mainly because it is so unique, but on the other hand SSOASS sounds more well-rounded. I honestly don't know what album is best, but... Maybe, maybe SSOASS. Or SIT. :censored:
 
For me, it's not even close - Seventh Son. The title track, Moonchild, Evil and Infinite Dreams are easily among Maiden's best. There is nothing of quite that quality on SIT. The closest I think would be Alexander the Great (which is great, except for a pretty uninspired chorus) and Caught Somewhere in Time, which I think is one of Maiden's most underrated tracks. Deja Vu and Loneliness are pretty good, but not outstanding... and I'm just not that keen on Heaven Can Wait or any of the Adrian-written tracks
 
Somewhere in Time is my favorite Iron Maiden album, and my second favorite heavy metal album of all time. It was also the first Iron Maiden I ever heard. I love SSoaSS, it's probably my 2nd or 3rd favorite IM album; it just depends on how I feel about Powerslave that day.
 
Sorry if it came across like a statement of fact.... it gets a bit tiresome writing "I think" or "in my opinion" in front of everything.... I thought the fact it was just opinion was implicit!
As for the Adrian tracks, Stranger has its moments, particularly the solo, but Wasted Years & Sea of Madness don't do anything for me I'm afraid. Nothing against Adrian - I think he's co-written some of Maiden's best tracks, but he must have been having a bad spell in '86... in my opinion! ;)
Yeah I think Caught is underrated... it doesn't seem to be cited very often as a great track, and was dropped from setlists after the Somewhere tour.
 
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