The Prophecy: Probably the best intro they’ve ever done. Very emotional guitar interplay. Pre-chorus is fantastic with the vocals going back and forth between the left and right channel. Chorus is again soaring and some of Bruce’s best vocals. (I sound like a broken record with Bruce but he really gets to show off on this album) The guitar outro is nearly as good as the intro. I love the production that smoothly fades the outro in and then calmly out. I agree that The Prophecy isn't one of the best songs on the album but it stands on its own as an excellent track.
Seventh Son: I finally fell in love with this song about a year ago. As I mentioned, I struggled with this album since it’s release, finally falling all the way in love with it just recently. I think with this song, it was the long instrumental section that finally won me over. In particular, I decided that it reminded me of the opera section of bohemian rhapsody, in the way it built and turned and twisted through all the different parts of the last 5 minutes. Not sure if that makes sense, but it is intended as a compliment. Since my romance with this song started, I just can’t get enough of it.
Yea, he did do the leg out stand a lot on those shows. I did notice it but more unconsciously I guess. Something probably was hurting (old men do start to break down) Maybe less running made him sound better? Who knows It's awesome we got to go, and see them still playing at that level during Maiden England tour. Up the Irons!!
The Prophecy Well, that was quick! As soon as our "prophet" discovers his birthright (in the last song), he realizes nobody either believes or cares what he has to say - whether he's a true prophet or not. The lyrics can also be read as a man who realizes the better instincts of his nature have been overtaken by whatever earthly desires he has. The guitars on the intro and outro are beautiful and simple. Bruce also shines on this one. The guitar solos aren't among Maiden's most impressive, but they serve the song well.
The Evil That Men Do A true classic. It’s phenomenal. It’s fun live because it’s fun to sing along to the “lives on and onnnnn” part. And I love the guitars underneath the bridge, the way they kind of follow the vocal melody. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son This is the one. This is the song that made me fall in love with Iron Maiden when I first got into them in the mid-90s. I already said Phantom is my favorite, but this one was my first love, and I still love it today. The instrumental leading up to the end is one of the best moments in well....music. So awesome. The Prophecy Eh, don’t love this one as much as the rest of the album, but it’s good, competent, Iron Maiden. If this was on No Prayer or something it would stand out more, but on this record of stone cold classics it gets lost in the shuffle a bit.
I view it as that we are such massive fans, we should speak up when they miss the mark. We also hold them to a higher standard, which may not even be fair, but that's how it is. I think it ridiculous to love every single thing a band does. Some of it is going to be bad or boring.
I'm really new to Deep Purple other than the hits. First time I heard Child in Time...a couple of years ago I think...really blown away. I thought, "yep, this is where Bruce gets it from".
Infinite Dreams - personal top 3 Maiden song ever. From the slow tempo intro with the quintessential dual guitar melody that they do so well. From the song just goes and goes, from level to dynamic level. Perfect. Can I Play with Madness and The Evil That Men Do - Classic Iron Maiden singles. Live staples over the thirty years of creation. Nuff said. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son - Side B begins with dare I say a “Mariner/ Alexander”, and the main stay style Maiden are known for. This a Steve Harris composition, through and through. It’s that sound that here he further expanded on. The epic / historical / science fiction themed lyrics that is Iron Maiden. The Prophecy - A Dave Murray composition with Harris. Fantastic intro. Smooth and crystal clear. Just sets the mood for a cool overall story. A favorite off of this album.
I apologize for falling behind, so here is the review of..... The Clairvoyant: We arrive at the second to last track and the second single, credited solely to Arry. In this song, the Seventh Son is finally an all seer and has learned to control his visions, but soon they become overwhelming. The song is kicked off by Arry playing a little bass lick, which is pretty damn cool, if reminiscent of some Killers era tunes, with some riffage reminiscent of Number of the Beast coming in, and the band settles into a good pocket with I believe Murray plays some strong leads. Bruce comes in at :56, and has such a sense of overwhelming and anxiety which works off the guitars and synths perfectly. After some fairly eerie guitar/synth harmonies, the band speeds up at 2:02, giving the track a sense of urgency, and then Dave knocks out a pretty solid solo at 2:30, good sense of melody and pacing while Nicko relentlessly drives the song, although I think Adrian would have been a better fit for this song. Overall though, this is a great song, and certainly does not harm the album in any way
The Clairvoyant After the only song I don't really enjoy on the album, Steve's rumbling bass intro puts things back on course. As someone said earlier...what can you say sometimes? Whether negative or positive... sometimes all you can say is if you like or don't like a song. I like this one. 5/5
The Clairvoyant I can't help but smile every time I hear the intro for this song. That little 10 second bass intro was the thing that inspired me to pick up the bass and become a musician. One inspiration leads to so much, literally everything in my life changed since that day 27+ years ago. So yeah, this song always holds a special place for me. It's also my favorite Iron Maiden song. There are a lot of things I love about this song. The bass intro of course stands out, even all these years later it still just SOUNDS epically cool. It's not terribly difficult and Steve's played variants of that pattern over the years, but it continues to sound amazing. I'm partial, but I love hearing bass intros for Maiden songs. The build up is perfect - Starting with just bass then bringing in Nicko's hight hat and Adrian chugging along, then Dave's lead and Nicko's full kit, then Adrian drops the chugging and harmonizes the line with Dave before we get to the vocal. It's a perfect build up where in the course of a minute we start from one solo instrument to the full band. The pattern changes for the verse with a cool variant of the intro for the little bit between verses. I love how they don't play the whole thing either, they just tease it and come out with the full one after the second verse. The chorus has a spectacular feel and when they play it live the whole audience feels it too and everyone just MOVES. I love the change in feel for this chorus, it really makes it stand out from the verses. I also appreciate that nowhere in the song, especially in the chorus, do we hear the word "clairvoyant". It's a strong chorus with great lyrics. Well, I love the lyrics to the whole song, but the chorus is especially great. It's a nice touch on the repeat of the chorus that the guitars add some extra layers and then on the chorus after Dave's excellent extra long solo it drops key half way through. It's a brilliant musical move as it adds more darkness to the song. Of course, the last chorus also features another change to bring the lyrics full circle - as soon as you're born, you're dying...and be reborn again". I love this statement of reincarnation (which will be referred to in later songs as well) and how this whole process could happen again to our hero. It's a fantastic little left turn that Steve threw in lyrically right at the end. More of that kind of thing, please. The end reprises Dave's melody from the intro all while Bruce perfectly holds out the note of "again" and I LOVE how everyone ends the song at the exact same time. It's just a perfect ending to this amazing song. Wow. What an excellent song. Here's the live version from Donington '88 that was released as a single:
I'll see your Seventh Son tour... and raise you a goddamn Donington '88 !!! Iron Maiden - The Clairvoyant (Donington '88) I always thought the Donington show was never used for the Maiden England home video because of the tragedy that day, but if the band used it for 'The Clairvoyant' (video and single), maybe it wasn't that at all... in which case, WHY WASN'T IT USED??? It was one hell of a gig by all accounts...
Falling a bit behind as I am traveling on business in China, thus not only am I super busy and dealing with the extreme time change, but the internet sucks here and it’s hard to even get access to this site (clearly the Communist Party thinks that Iron Maiden is as dangerous as Facebook!). The Prophecy: Although this seemed like the weakest song on the album to me previously, now that I have fallen in love with this album from beginning to end, it’s still pretty great! The Clairvoyant: As others have clearly stated, this song really get things going again. I want to thank everyone on the site for helping me to discover what I missed in this album. It’s a pretty cool feeling, after 30 years, to discover what almost seems like a lost Maiden album. As I stated earlier, maybe it was just my headspace at the time this album was released, considering I have loved every single release before this, or maybe I was just listening to other types of music at that time and never really gave this a fair shake, but boy am I enjoying it now!
The Clairvoyant: “For all his power, couldn’t foresee his own demise”. Always loved that lyric. The lyrics do a great job telling a story and conveying the emotion of the protagonist struggling to deal with his own powers. The Clairvoyant sports one of the best Maiden chorus’ ever. I remember the first time I heard it: My brother and I just looked at each other dumbfounded. “Did we just hear that???”
The Clairvoyant I clearly remember listening to the UK chart rundown on Sunday afternoon, waiting to see where this went in. If i recall correctly it was a new entry at 13 or 12? (I think Pet Shop Boys - Left To My Own Devices might just have beaten it as highest new entry - i really should check back but im digging as deep as i can into my memory bank.) Then went upto a peak of 6 the next week. The 3rd single from the album, like it a lot, the bass intro is very good. Back in '88 they certainly knew how to be concise, no real excess. Change of tempo for the chorus. I like Davey starting the solo so high, perhaps might've worked splitting it between both rather than just Dave, I tend to prefer songs where both solo, not just one. Its better than Madness, Evil That Men Do is a better single though (perhaps I should stop stating the tracks as singles but that is what i remember.) A very good track, not the best on the album but fits nicely after Prophecy and before the last track. The end of this album is sadly coming into view.
I think Murray has spoiled the song now when playing live with using too much of the Wammy bar after the first riff, I hated that version when on a Real Live one, and it has continued like that to this day
I wish I could up like this like 200 times!!! F'n awesome and definitive live, the best damn version I have heard (and I saw these dudes live!) Thanks @Cheevyjames
The Prophecy: If there is a low point on the album it's this song for me. I do like the song but it's definitely not on my favorites list. I get it though as its kind of a tie in too... The Clairvoyant: Excellent song here! One of the best on the album (after Evil, and don't forget I'm a CIPWM lover) I absolutely love how this song ends, it's so definitive and powerful! Enough said...
The Clairvoyant My internet has been down all day and I hate typing a lot on my phone so this will be short. I love this song! 5/5
