(Rated this album with 10 out of 10) Reviewed by
Peter J Marcroft
from England
This album shows just how deep and conceptual Iron maiden can be. This album is the only one I can think of by Iron maiden that actually has an on going story to it. The story is about an ancient legend where a god would have children and his seventh son would be gifted. That son would then have children and his seventh son would be the embodiment of a god with gifts like foresight and healing. The songs they wrote were a deep refelction of this, and were questions on whether the seventh son of a seventh son would be good and use his powers to help people, or be manipulated into evil and use his powers for his own ends. A common asked question is how these songs fit the concept yet most seem easy to conclude (although only the band know the whole truth). "Can I play with madness?" seemed to touch on the child hiding the truth of his visions to gain power over people, "the evil that men do" seems to talk of him being manipulated by the emotions of people who cause pain, "seventh son of a seventh son" seemed the easiest to understand as the lyrics clearly mentioned about the forces that were observing the child's growth and which side he'd choose (good or evil). Anyway enough of the concepts, what of the music? Well here it seems that they have created some great songs. "The clairvoyant" was good for its varied pace and awesome use of keyboards, "the evil that men do" was an epic all out track. while melodic underneath it still had some killer riffage and great vocals. The others all had their credits too, (Barr "the prophecy" as that song was weak) on the whole this experience will leave you thirsting for more. This is maiden at its best, in between all out speed tracks (previous examples being the trooper and aces high) and slow melodic songs (previous examples being "Alexander the great" and "Hallowed be thy name") with so much varied use of instruments and pace as well as concept and classic lyrics you understand why this album is held in such high stead. This album however will almost certainly flop with those who are only interested in Nu-metal as it is too mature to have roaring vocals and every track sounding the same. However if you liked albums such as "master of puppets" by Metallica, "Countdown to extinction" by Megadeath, "slave to the grind" by Skid Row and "Cowboys from hell" by Pantera then quite simply this album will appeal to you like honey to a bee, I shall end by saying buy this album as it is classic metal!
