Iron Maiden: EVERY Album Ranked Worst To Best
4. Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son
From the opening acoustic verse of Iron Maiden's seventh studio album, it was clear things were going to be different. Just how different however, didn't become apparent until the keyboard kicked in. Never before had the band utilised such an instrument in six albums and eight years, but this signaled their progression into something special.
Two years after Somewhere in Time took the band in a completely different direction to before, Seventh Son built on this, doubling down on the prog rock style and diving head first into their first true concept album.
Telling the story of the titular son, the album delves into the ideas of mystical powers and prophecies, as all the tracks harmonise together with the same themes. The absolute highlight in the 45 minutes full of highlights is the three song stretch of Can I Play With Madness, The Evil That Men Do, and Seventh Son of a Seventh Son.
The album indicated a whole new direction for the band, one that was so strong that when they decided to revert back to their previous style with No Prayer For The Dying, they put out one of their worst ever albums and lost Adrian Smith. So sure was he that the Seventh Son sound was the direction that the band needed to follow, he wasn't prepared to stay if they didn't. It would seem that he was right.