Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son Voted The Greatest Iron Maiden Album

Last week, Kerrang! asked you to vote for the best Iron Maiden album of all time. Over their epic, 45-year career, the east London heavyweights have released a whopping sixteen studio albums – ranging from the punked-up debut to the grandiose, Mayan-inspired double album of The Book Of Souls, the breadth and depth of Maiden’s output is unrivalled.

But, which album is the best? Thousands upon thousands of you voted in the Kerrang! poll, and we can reveal that their 1988 high-concept album Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son has claimed the top spot.

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Maiden’s seventh album was nothing short of ambitious. It tells the story of a boy with supernatural powers – the seventh son of a seventh son, a repeating character in religious tales and folklore – and as the songs unfold, it details how the kid is seen as dangerous and a freak in his village for his ability to see the future. However, as the threats against him from his angry neighbours intensify, things go badly wrong.

Pretty crazy stuff, right? Small wonder why frontman Bruce Dickinson once described it as “a heavy metal Dark Side Of The Moon”.

“We’ve never managed to pull anything off like this before,” bassist and mastermind Steve Harris told K! in 1988 shortly before its release, as the album was blasted out for press in the fittingly spooky surroundings of a German castle. “For me, it’s like the enormous leap we suddenly made from our first two albums to releasing Number Of The Beast – very much a step forward, a step up.”

Here are the top five Iron Maiden albums of all time, as voted for by Kerrang! readers.

1. Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son (1988)
2. Powerslave (1984)
3. The Number Of The Beast (1982)
4. Somewhere In Time (1986)
5. Piece Of Mind (1983)

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