Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son

Seventh Son of a Seventh Son is a concept album by heavy metal band Iron Maiden, released in 1988 as the band’s seventh studio album on EMI in Europe and its sister label Capitol Records in the US (it was re-released by Sanctuary/Columbia Records in the US in 2002).

Seventh Son of a Seventh Son was the last Iron Maiden album 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, No Prayer For The Dying, titled “Hooks in You”, a loose tie-in to the Charlotte the Harlot saga).

At least four of the album’s songs (“Infinite Dreams”, “Seventh Son of a Seventh Son”, “The Prophecy” and “The Clairvoyant”) can be directly related to a main lyrical storyline inspired by the folklore concept.

Lyrically, the album centers around some main philosophical ideas: morality (good and evil), mysticism, prophetic vision, reincarnation and afterlife. Almost all the album includes direct or indirect references to questions regarding to these concepts and poetically refers the answers.

Stylistically, Seventh Son of a Seventh Son 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.

The album debuted at #1 in UK charts (The only since The Number of the Beast) 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. It is the last Iron Maiden album to go platinum in the USA.