Seventh Son of a Seventh Son by Iron Maiden

Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, Iron Maiden's seventh studio album, came out on EMI in the UK on 11 April 1988, with Martin Birch producing, and it's the band's full-blown concept album, built on Orson Scott Card's novel Seventh Son. Steve Harris, Bruce Dickinson, Dave Murray, Adrian Smith and Nicko McBrain go prog here: the title track is long and labyrinthine, and for the first time Maiden bring in real keyboards, following the synth effects of Somewhere in Time.

Dickinson, whose songs had been rejected for the previous album, co-wrote several this time and found his enthusiasm for the band again. It went straight in at number one in the UK, and "Can I Play with Madness" reached number three on the singles chart. The tour that followed recreated Derek Riggs' cover art on stage across more than 100 shows. It was the Piece of Mind lineup's last studio album until Brave New World in 2000, as Smith quit in January 1990.

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