By 1988, Iron Maiden began to take themselves a little too
seriously.
Always a band who were able to take obscure material (such as
Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s “Rime Of The Ancient Mariner,” the boon
of sophomore English students across America) and turn it into
songs you could happily bang your head to, Steve Harris and crew
decided to try their hands at a concept album.
The end result,
Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son, is an album you either love or
hate. Me? When I first heard this record (bought it the day it came
out), I absolutely hated it. Even today, I have problems sitting
through this one (though I’m now working off of the 1998 CD
reissue). I can’t say I hate the album, but it sure as hell isn’t
the masterpiece some fans want to make it out to be.
The disc marked the final appearance of guitarist Adrian Smith
(at least until the recent reunion), and one had to wonder even
then if his departure (the first in the Iron Maiden camp since
drummer Clive Burr jumped ship five years prior) was a sign of
things to come.
The concept itself – the legendary powers of the “seventh son of
the seventh son” and the tragedy they cause him – isn’t terrible,
but the band tries to cram too much information into too little
time. Maybe, had the story been expanded and the disc gone to a
two-record set, the story line would be much clearer. As it is now,
it feels like we’re listening to the Cliff’s Notes version.
Musically, the band doesn’t always have the crispness they’d
been come to known for. The use of synthesizers – introduced an
album earlier – seems to take more of a starring role, though the
twin guitar attack of Dave Murray and Smith is always right at the
forefront as well. The title track seems to have hints of the old
ways, as does “The Clairvoyant,” but it makes you wonder why the
bulk of the disc doesn’t have this kind of freshness.
In terms of songwriting, Iron Maiden sounds tired, and many of
these songs have the feeling of “going through the motions” rather
than trying to make an album of equivalent quality to some of their
earlier works. “Can I Play With Madness,” despite being a
successful single for the band, is hardly on the same par as, say,
“Aces High” or “Wasted Years,” and set a dangerous precedent for
future Iron Maiden singles – namely, the weaker the track, the
better the chance it would be released as a single.
Yet I do have to admit, parts of
Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son have grown on me, especially as
I’ve been exposed to live versions of these tracks. As individual
songs go, tracks like “The Clairvoyant” turn out to be pretty good,
but lump them in with the whole scene, and it’s kind of like
watching a car wreck.
Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son is sure to continually divide
Iron Maiden fans into two camps: those who love the album, and
those who loathe it. Fact is, Iron Maiden had done better work, and
this was a step down in quality for them.
