Album
Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
Seventh Son of a Seventh Son is Iron Maiden's seventh studio album, released on 11 April 1988 through EMI in the UK. It is a concept album inspired by Orson Scott Card's novel Seventh Son, and it leans into progressive rock, most clearly in the length and tangled structure of its title track. It is also the first Maiden record to use keyboards, building on the synth effects they had introduced on Somewhere in Time. It went straight to number one in the UK, and the lead single "Can I Play with Madness" reached No. 3.
Bruce Dickinson co-wrote several songs here after his contributions were turned down for the previous album, and he has said the process renewed his enthusiasm for the band. It was the last album with the Piece of Mind-era line-up until Brave New World in 2000, as guitarist Adrian Smith left in January 1990. The tour that followed recreated Derek Riggs' cover artwork on stage and included Donington Park.
Seventh Son of a Seventh Son on Riffology
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Seventh Son of a Seventh Son: tracklist, credits and charts
8 tracks · 44:06Tracklist
- 1MoonchildBruce Dickinson and Adrian Smith5:42
- 2Infinite DreamsSteve Harris6:09
- 3Can I Play With MadnessDickinson, Harris, Smith3:31
- 4The Evil That Men DoDickinson, Harris, Smith4:35
- 5Seventh Son of a Seventh SonSteve Harris9:54
- 6The ProphecySteve Harris and Dave Murray5:06
- 7The ClairvoyantSteve Harris4:27
- 8Only the Good Die YoungBruce Dickinson and Steve Harris4:42
- Produced by
- Martin Birch
- Recorded at
- Musicland (Munich, West Germany)
- Recorded
- February–March 1988
- Mixed by
- Martin Birch
- Engineered by
- Martin Birch, Bernd Maier
- Label
- EMI
- Length
- 44:06
Line-up
- Steve Harris · electric bass guitar, synthesizer
- Nicko McBrain · percussion, drums (drum set)
- Dave Murray · electric guitar
- Adrian Smith · synthesizer, electric guitar
- Bruce Dickinson · lead vocals
Singles
- “Can I Play with Madness” · 14 March 1988
- “The Evil That Men Do” · 1 August 1988
- “The Clairvoyant” · 7 November 1988
Peak chart positions
| Chart | Peak |
|---|---|
| UK Albums Chart · 1988 | 1 |
| US Billboard 200 · 1988 | 12 |
| Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts) · 1988 | 1 |
| Dutch Albums · 1988 | 2 |
| Swiss Albums · 1988 | 2 |
| New Zealand Albums · 1988 | 3 |
| Norwegian Albums · 1988 | 3 |
| Swedish Albums · 1988 | 3 |
| German Albums · 1988 | 4 |
| Austrian Albums · 1988 | 6 |
All 25 charts
| Italian Albums (Musica e dischi) · 1988 | 8 |
| UK Rock & Metal Albums · 2019–2024 | 8 |
| Croatian International Albums (HDU) · 2019–2024 | 9 |
| Canadian Albums (RPM) · 1988 | 12 |
| Spanish Albums (AFYVE) · 1988 | 14 |
| French Albums (SNEP) · 1988 | 16 |
| Australian Albums (ARIA) · 1988 | 19 |
| Japanese Albums (Oricon) · 1988 | 22 |
| Hungarian Albums · 2019–2024 | 38 |
| Portuguese Albums · 2019–2024 | 38 |
| Finnish Albums · 2010–2013 | 40 |
| Greek Albums · 2010–2013 | 45 |
| Italian Albums · 2010–2013 | 80 |
| Scottish Albums · 2019–2024 | 97 |
| Belgian Albums (Wallonia) · 2019–2024 | 116 |
Certifications
| Region | Certification |
|---|---|
| Canada · 1988 | Platinum |
| Germany · 1993 | Gold |
| Italy | Platinum |
| Switzerland · 1990 | Gold |
| United Kingdom · 1988 | Gold |
| United States · 1988 | Gold |
From MusicBrainz, Wikipedia and Wikidata. Only what the sources record is shown.
77.9
Popularity (0–100, vs the whole vault)
5.2k
ListenBrainz listeners
179k
Wikipedia views, last 12 months
37k
Deezer fans (all editions)
Also released on 11 April
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1986
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1987
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1990
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1993
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1993
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1993
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1999
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2002
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More on EMI
The label →The Number of the Beast
Iron Maiden · 1982
A Night at the Opera
Queen · 1975
Piece of Mind
Iron Maiden · 1983
Powerslave
Iron Maiden · 1984
Fear of the Dark
Iron Maiden · 1992
Hot Space
Queen · 1982
Somewhere in Time
Iron Maiden · 1986
The Works
Queen · 1984
A Kind of Magic
Queen · 1986
13
Black Sabbath · 2013
Queen II
Queen · 1974
Dance of Death
Iron Maiden · 2003
Releases and pressings
How we know the release date wikipedia + musicbrainz + wikidata
| Source | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|
| MusicBrainz | 11 April 1988 | |
| Wikipedia infobox | 11 April 1988 | |
| Wikidata | 11 April 1988 | |
| US release | 1988 | earliest US date |
| UK / Europe release | 11 April 1988 | earliest UK or European date |
27 editions
| Date | Country | Label | Barcode | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | FR | EMI | 077779025817 | other |
| 1988 | US | Capitol Records | 7777902582 | other |
| 1988 | CA | Columbia House | other | |
| 1988 | NL | EMI | 077779025824 | other |
| 1988 | FR | Pathé Marconi EMI | 077779025848 | other |
| 1988 | CA | Capitol Records | 077779025817 | other |
| 11 April 1988 | GB | EMI | 077779025824 | original |
| 11 April 1988 | GB | EMI | 077779025817 | original |
| 24 April 1988 | JP | EMI | 4988006622296 | other |
| 1993 | RU | Gala Records | other | |
| 1995 | JP | EMI | 4988006708082 | other |
| 9 October 1995 | US | Castle Records | 600234010921 | other |
| 3 November 1995 | XE | EMI United Kingdom | 724383587520 | other |
| 1998 | XE | EMI | 724349686403 | other |
| 1998 | GB | Raw Power | 602923013428 | other |
| 1998 | CA | EMI Music Canada | 724349686403 | other |
| 1998 | XE | — | 724349686403 | other |
| 1998 | US | Metal-is Records | 696998621527 | other |
| 14 September 1998 | GB | EMI | 724349686403 | other |
| 26 March 2002 | US | Sanctuary Records | 696998621527 | other |
| 6 September 2006 | JP | EMI | 4988006846821 | other |
| 24 November 2014 | US | BMG | 881034121455 | other |
| 2015 | XW | Parlophone | 0825646129164 | other |
| 2015 | XW | Sanctuary Records | 881034134493 | other |
| 16 November 2018 | XW | Parlophone | 190295524166 | remaster |
| 29 March 2019 | XE | Parlophone | 0190295567699 | other |
| 29 March 2019 | US | Sanctuary Records | 4050538427110 | other |
Cover art sources
itunes · native: native 1500x1500
| Source | Size | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| itunes ✓ | 1500×1500 | native: native 1500x1500 |
| deezer | 1200×1200 | upscaled |
| fanarttv | 1000×1000 | upscaled |
| coverartarchive | 500×500 | upscaled |