SSOASS: individual album judgement by yours truly

Moonchild, 7/10
Infinite Dreams, 8/10
Can I Play With Madness, 6/10
The Evil That Men Do, 9/10
Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, 8/10
The Prophecy, 9/10
The Clairvoyant, 7/10
Only The Good Die Young, 8/10.


Moonchild: A good song, the intro is perfect and sets up the stage for the rest of the music. It sounds like "Battle On The Edge" from Daytona USA 2 in some parts. But is amazing for what it is.

Infinite Dreams: Absolutely amazing and experimental, the swashbuckling guitar solos and the magical ethereal keyboards, the intro is very similar to "The Clansman", which was a later song with Blaze Bailey involved. The intro guitar is very Red Hot Chili Peppers esque. Also, it's a shame that due to how structurally complicated this song is, like Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" it is never played live these days, they were going to play it live at Download 2013 but they found it too structurally complicated. And that's a shame because I love structurally complicated songs.

Can I Play With Madness: While a very catchy song, this may be a controversial opinion of mine but even though I sing it a lot, it gets a 6 due to being the most popular and mainstream song from the Album, the music video was amazing though with Graham Chapman, but the guitar solo is way too short. It is though, a very anthemic song, with an arena rock vibe. And you can hear motifs of it in "Bring Your Daughter To The Slaughter", which probably is derided for being more mainstream than Can I Play With Madness. But the solo is what I have an issue is, it takes 20 seconds to build up the solo. Which lasts about 16 seconds. That 20 seconds, another controversial opinion of mine, would have been better used to extend the solo or cause a "Number Of The Beast" style post-solo.

The Evil That Men Do: Very Anthemic, yet extremely likeable, the guitar solo at the end, I heard this song live in 2013 and did not remember it, but now I find it is a very likeable song. It has a 17 second build up, and a 25 second Guitar Solo which in my opinion is a perfect ratio for a guitar solo build up and solo.

Seventh Son of a Seventh Son: If the album was a musical, this would be the beginning of the second act, the chanting at the beginning give it a very mysterious vibe and the story it tells is amazing. However, the guitar build-up on bass, with the chanting, while amazing, does drag on, for 2 minutes and 33 seconds. But I think it went a little longer than it should and you couldn't tell when it would end. But after that, one of the most amazing Solos ever happens.

The Prophecy: I love this one, it sounds like Medieval Warriors preparing to go to battle. And the inclusion of the "Seven Whistlers" reference was a neat touch, the Justin Hawkins esque Guitar Solo by Adrian Smith is awesome, then it goes into another Guitar Solo that has a tempo similar to the beginning of "Hangar 18" by Megadeth. The Medieval/Greek Guitar playing at the end is absolutely beautiful as well.

The Clairvoyant: A very good song, the solo though, in my opinion, sounds a bit discordant. But whenever I Hear it I think of Mega Man X and Colonel Fighting. For some reason, because it just seems like a song that would play while swashbuckling with Colonel. The main refrain, "There's a time to live, there's a time to die, there's a time to meet your maker" is one of the best refrains I have heard on the album.

Only The Good Die Young: Not a very noticeable song, this is due to being overshadowed by a Billy Joel song of the same name(I know it happens but it irritates me when people do this, Maroon 5 also had a song called Wasted Years). And the refrain is a very true statement that happens today. The song I Think is mainly about the unfairness of death. But it is an amazing song and it ends with the refrain that the album begins with about "Seven ways to win".

Overall, the album is my favourite Iron Maiden album, very experimental, Infinite Dreams and The Prophecy are wonderful, if structurally complicated songs that are never really played live. Seventh Son and Can I Play With Madness seem to be the centrepieces of the album. But The Evil That Men Do and Only The Good Die Young deserve a lot more love.

I have yet to listen to the whole of Piece Of Mind though, but I've listened to this record on Vinyl and it is amazing.

Overall about 9/10.
 
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I was just thinking about my old review here.
ScarfaceOne said:
Moonchild, 7/10
Infinite Dreams, 8/10
Can I Play With Madness, 6/10
The Evil That Men Do, 9/10
Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, 8/10
The Prophecy, 9/10
The Clairvoyant, 7/10
Only The Good Die Young, 8/10.


Moonchild: A good song, the intro is perfect and sets up the stage for the rest of the music. It sounds like "Battle On The Edge" from Daytona USA 2 in some parts. But is amazing for what it is.

Infinite Dreams: Absolutely amazing and experimental, the swashbuckling guitar solos and the magical ethereal keyboards, the intro is very similar to "The Clansman", which was a later song with Blaze Bailey involved. The intro guitar is very Red Hot Chili Peppers esque. Also, it's a shame that due to how structurally complicated this song is, like Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" it is never played live these days, they were going to play it live at Download 2013 but they found it too structurally complicated. And that's a shame because I love structurally complicated songs.

Can I Play With Madness: While a very catchy song, this may be a controversial opinion of mine but even though I sing it a lot, it gets a 6 due to being the most popular and mainstream song from the Album, the music video was amazing though with Graham Chapman, but the guitar solo is way too short. It is though, a very anthemic song, with an arena rock vibe. And you can hear motifs of it in "Bring Your Daughter To The Slaughter", which probably is derided for being more mainstream than Can I Play With Madness. But the solo is what I have an issue is, it takes 20 seconds to build up the solo. Which lasts about 16 seconds. That 20 seconds, another controversial opinion of mine, would have been better used to extend the solo or cause a "Number Of The Beast" style post-solo.

The Evil That Men Do: Very Anthemic, yet extremely likeable, the guitar solo at the end, I heard this song live in 2013 and did not remember it, but now I find it is a very likeable song. It has a 17 second build up, and a 25 second Guitar Solo which in my opinion is a perfect ratio for a guitar solo build up and solo.

Seventh Son of a Seventh Son: If the album was a musical, this would be the beginning of the second act, the chanting at the beginning give it a very mysterious vibe and the story it tells is amazing. However, the guitar build-up on bass, with the chanting, while amazing, does drag on, for 2 minutes and 33 seconds. But I think it went a little longer than it should and you couldn't tell when it would end. But after that, one of the most amazing Solos ever happens.

The Prophecy: I love this one, it sounds like Medieval Warriors preparing to go to battle. And the inclusion of the "Seven Whistlers" reference was a neat touch, the Justin Hawkins esque Guitar Solo by Adrian Smith is awesome, then it goes into another Guitar Solo that has a tempo similar to the beginning of "Hangar 18" by Megadeth. The Medieval/Greek Guitar playing at the end is absolutely beautiful as well.

The Clairvoyant: A very good song, the solo though, in my opinion, sounds a bit discordant. But whenever I Hear it I think of Mega Man X and Colonel Fighting. For some reason, because it just seems like a song that would play while swashbuckling with Colonel. The main refrain, "There's a time to live, there's a time to die, there's a time to meet your maker" is one of the best refrains I have heard on the album.

Only The Good Die Young: Not a very noticeable song, this is due to being overshadowed by a Billy Joel song of the same name(I know it happens but it irritates me when people do this, Maroon 5 also had a song called Wasted Years). And the refrain is a very true statement that happens today. The song I Think is mainly about the unfairness of death. But it is an amazing song and it ends with the refrain that the album begins with about "Seven ways to win".

Overall, the album is my favourite Iron Maiden album, very experimental, Infinite Dreams and The Prophecy are wonderful, if structurally complicated songs that are never really played live. Seventh Son and Can I Play With Madness seem to be the centrepieces of the album. But The Evil That Men Do and Only The Good Die Young deserve a lot more love.

I have yet to listen to the whole of Piece Of Mind though, but I've listened to this record on Vinyl and it is amazing.

Overall about 9/10.
Click to expand...
Now I know what you are going to say "This has nothing really to do with Iron Maiden", but last month, I was on the Halsey Discord and I watched a Discord members only showing of "If I can't have love I want Power". And let me tell you, the film with the music videos and the songs really gave off a "Seventh son of a Seventh Son" vibe. There is a character in it called Lilith, and one of the themes is, "If you have a boy, you will be executed" and it really reminded me of "Seventh Son", it's set in Medieval Era and Lilith is a Demon. But anyways, it is set in Medieval/Renaissance times and I absolutely loved it, I do wonder if Halsey was influenced by Iron Maiden in some ways, even if she can't really say due to people thinking that "Pop singers who like metal are poseurs" but hey, at least Lady Gaga likes Iron Maiden.
 
I remember when being new to Maiden, I would find the album cover a bit absurd. But soon as I began to appreciate the whole concept behind it, I could finally dig the artwork as well. So to quote Dan Brown, "We fear, what we don't understand". Well, so is exactly the case with our protagonist in this iconic concept album! Somewhat based on the novel Seventh Son by Orson Scott Card, the band took their newfound synth based sound (used in Somewhere In Time album) and their storytelling chops to another level. The entire band sounds tight, the music continues with intricate passages and prog rock influences throughout most of the album. Another notable development I find is that, Bruce's vocals which did come as constrained in the previous record (after going through one of the lengthiest tours in Metal history) has gotten much better. He sounds fantastic and even has that raspiness in them in the songs that require so.

I really like the atmosphere in the opening song, Moonchild. The acoustic intro with accompanying vocals and then the synth effects totally set it up. The tritone part during the solo is a good callback to the main harmony. Loosely based on another novel, Moonchild by Aleister Crowley. We are introduced to the protagonist of the story who, though remains unborn, has already created a tension between the good and the evil. Great storytelling in the lyrics, really good riffs and Bruce's evil laugh in the end, just awesome. Infinite Dreams is of the moodier tracks on the album. A very engaging intro, got a great harmony in it, and when it gets upbeat at the mark "Someone's chasing, I cannot move..." is totally awesome. Plus, it adds a lot to the storyline. It is probably from the the child's father's perspective (the original Seventh Son) of getting visions of what could be, with him "waking in a sweat". Hints that those supernatural aspects and clairvoyance will be inherited by the son. Contrary to what many fans say, I'd like to add that Can I Play With Madness fits perfectly in the album! Music-wise, it totally presents the chaos that the protagonist's father is going through while visiting a "prophet with a crystal ball", his helplessness to could not foresee what awaits. The mid-section is a total jam (one of Steve's best compositions)! Love the melody in the intro to The Evil That Men Do, which also comes during the chorus. Great driving rhythm, not to mention the "breakdown" section in the middle. Adrian plays a really good solo. The title of the song is taken from Marcus Antonius's speech while addressing the crowd of Romans after Caesar's murder in William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar: "The evil that men do lives after them; The good is oft interred with their bones." Even though the lyrics are not related to the play but definitely indicates that the Seventh Son may not actually be a result of a prophesied fate but a direct culmination of debauchery. A reap of one has sowed. The title-track Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son was actually one of the first Maiden songs I listened to. Again, a moodier first-half, a unique marching-drums/synth sound and the later half being complete shred-fest. Its the fifth song and now we finally evidence the birth of the Seventh Son. The listener can easily picture that everyone surrounding during his birth are in awe of what would become of him. I have come to appreciate this song more than I did earlier. A really great one by the band and the key changes throughout and vocal harmonies make it even more interesting. Even though often considered a filler, The Prophecy is actually a great song! That clean intro is just magnificent, also like the somewhat contrasting harsh backing vocals in the verses and the classic acoustic outro. It just does it's job. Dave's style really shows here, an underrated writer in the band but has more better stuff under his kitty! We see one of the first antics by the Seventh Son who, after warning the villagers of the upcoming mayhem, is actually denied and looked down upon. The Clairvoyant just got everything I love about Maiden. Great harmonies, tight rhythm, great vocals by Bruce, also has a bass intro and how it further carries along the premises on which the album is based upon. Our protagonist is having a hard time to come in terms with his powers that unfortunately and ironically it would turn out to be an instrument of his own demise. Only The Good Die Young is in the same lines of Moonchild and The Clairvoyant, musically. Love the main riff and the callback in the acoustic outro to end the album. The protagonist finally decides that it is easier to succumb to evil than using his powers for the good (well young lad, that was lazy!) or in a symbolic way, all that was good in him has died down soon.

To recall, Bruce doubting that did Queensryche's Operation: Mindcrime (came out the same year) actually outclassed their album, to which Steve replying, that it is a good record but theirs is a masterpiece! Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son has definitely stood the test of time with still sounding as fresh as it always has. The guitar tone in particular has that uniqueness that even if you listen to songs that are out of context, recorded during the same sessions like the re-recorded versions of Prowler, Charlotte The Harlot and Thin Lizzy's Massacre does not sound out of place at all. I, myself was a bit late to get entirely into it, during my journey to discovering Maiden but it has definitely become a top-tier record for me. As they say, good albums, like good people and good books, take long to be understood.

Thanks for reading. Up The Irons! :edmetal:

(to read my other reviews - click here)
 
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  1. Moonchild: 8/9 - the first non-Harris opener of their career is a great track with a great guitar duet by Dave and Adrian
  2. Infinite Dreams: 9/10 - this is almost perfect and remained their best track until Dance of Death
  3. Can I Play with Madness?: 7 - had they sold the song to Europe, this would've been a radio hit comparable to The Final Countdown
  4. The Evil That Men Do: 8 - ah, good ole Maiden gallop; great intro and solo by Adrian; not the best way to end a LP side tho
  5. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son: 6 - and only because it's here; after a solemn overture, the "song" section is as uninspired as they (Steve) hadn't been since Another Life; the middle section feels a bit too long on the LP and has the same problem as all their slow sections: it needs the live vibe; the coda is HUGE tho, musically it is either the best or the second best moment of the album
  6. The Prophecy: 8 - Dave's melodic sense is put on work in the dreamy intro; the song is a clear turn from it tho, the riff is aggressive and its marching tempo makes it one of the heavier moments in the tracklist; SSOASS's coda is either the best or the second best musical moment of the album because The Prophecy's coda is the contender
  7. The Clairvoyant: 9 - always LOVED this track, it takes some classic Maiden elements and innovates them to fit with the album's style
  8. Only the Good Die Young: 7 - fast, melodic, galloping, with a sudden dark solo (love the bass part); but it essentially repeats itself for the second part (not even a small variation?); good jam at the end
Bonus:
  • Charlotte the Harlot '88: 4.5 - the original wasn't a genius song either but it had a punk vibe that honestly would've been better left untouched; always wondered why out of an entire catalogue they choose to re-record this particular song, and why at that point they didn't play it in the tour
  • Prowler '88: 4/5 - same, only sliiiightly better; same question tho, I would've understood Wrathchild (which they re-recorded in 1999), but I always wondered why re-record Prowler and Charlotte out of all the songs they did
  • Massacre (Thin Lizzy cover): 8 - this was more leaning towards Maiden's style at the moment
Overall: 8/5 /10 - this was a GREAT album trying to introduce different sounds in their catalogue; and it has succeeded; and it is less heavy and more melodic than everything they had ever done before (and probably after), which is probably why many non-diehard fans consider it their masterpiece
 
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