In addition to Dickinson's return to writing, the album was also notable for its number of co-written pieces, in contrast to its predecessor, with five of the eight tracks being collaborative efforts. It's about good and evil, heaven and hell, but isn't every Iron Maiden record?" There was no attempt to see it all the way through, like we really should have done. '" Speaking about the record in later years, however, Dickinson remarked that "we almost did ", explaining that, "it was only half a concept album. I was like, 'Well, no, but give me a minute and I'll see what I can do. Then I read the story of the seventh son, this mystical figure that was supposed to have all these paranormal gifts, like second sight and what have you, and it was more, at first, that it was just a good title for the seventh album, you know? But then I rang Bruce Dickinson and started talking about it and the idea just grew." Īfter his songwriting contributions were rejected from the band's previous album, 1986's Somewhere in Time, Dickinson felt that his role within the band had diminished, as he "just became the singer", but felt renewed enthusiasm when Harris explained the concept to him "I thought, 'What a great idea! Brilliant!' And of course I was really chuffed, too, because he'd actually rung me to talk about it and ask me if I had any songs that might fit that sort of theme. Harris stated, "It was our seventh studio album and I didn't have a title for it or any ideas at all. The idea to base the album around the folklore concept of the seventh son of a seventh son came to bassist Steve Harris after he read Orson Scott Card's Seventh Son. From 2012–2014, the band revisited the Seventh Son era on their Maiden England World Tour.
The band played over 100 shows, including the Monsters of Rock festival at Donington Park, and recorded the Maiden England video at Birmingham's NEC. It was also the first Iron Maiden album to feature keyboards, after the band had introduced non-keyboard synth effects on their previous LP, Somewhere in Time (1986).Īfter his contributions were rejected for Somewhere in Time, Seventh Son of a Seventh Son features several songs co-written by lead vocalist Bruce Dickinson, who states that his enthusiasm for the band was renewed during the album's production stages.įollowing the album's release, the band embarked on the Seventh Tour of a Seventh Tour in which Derek Riggs' cover artwork was recreated on stage. 3 in the UK Singles Chart.Ī concept album inspired by the novel Seventh Son by Orson Scott Card, the record incorporates elements of progressive rock, seen in the length and complex structure of the title track. The lead single " Can I Play with Madness" was also a commercial success, peaking at No.
Like The Number of the Beast (1982) and later Fear of the Dark (1992), The Final Frontier (2010), and The Book of Souls (2015), the album debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart. It was released on 11 April 1988 in the United Kingdom by EMI Records and in the United States by Capitol Records. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son is the seventh studio album by English heavy metal band Iron Maiden.
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