SAXON

PAGE UPDATED IN 2022

Reviewed:
- Saxon (1979)
- Wheels of Steel (1980)
- Strong Arm of the Law (1980)
- Denim and Leather (1981)
- The Eagle Has Landed - Live (1982, live album)
- Power & the Glory (1983)
- Crusader (1984)
- Innocence Is No Excuse (1985)
- Rock the Nations (1986)
- Destiny (1988)
- Solid Ball of Rock (1991)

- Best of Saxon (1991, compilation)
- Forever Free (1992)
- Dogs of War (1995)

- The Eagle Has Landed - Part II (1996, live album)
- Unleash the Beast (1997)
- Metalhead (1999)

- Diamonds and Nuggets (2000, compilation)
- Killing Ground (2001)

- Heavy Metal Thunder (2002)
- Lionheart (2004)

- The Eagle Has Landed - Part III (2006, live album)
- The Inner Sanctum (2007)
- The Very Best Of 1979-1988 (compilation)
- Into the Labyrinth (2009)
- Call to Arms (2011)

- Oliver/Dawson Saxon: Motorbiker (2012)
- Sacrifice (2013)
- Battering Ram (2015)

- Thunderbolt (2018)

- The Eagle Has Landed 40: Live (2019, live album)

- Inspirations (2021)

- Carpe Diem (2022)

- More Inspirations (2023)

- Hell, Fire and Damnation (2024)

SAXON          1979          (EMI)
- Standouts: 'Rainbow Theme', 'Frozen Rainbow', 'Stallions of the Highway', 'Backs to the Wall',  'Militia Guard'

We just got another new studio album from Saxon, as of February 2022 - Carpe Diem. Obviously I've been listening to it a fair bit lately, and it led me to revisiting this page. Yep, this is another page in dire need of a rework. Some of these 'reviews' from five years ago seem like some of the worst crap I've ever written to me now. So, in the past two years I've (mostly) re-written my AC/DC, Anthrax, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Def Leppard, Judas Priest, Led Zeppelin, Motorhead, Suicidal Tendencies and Van Halen pages. Time to do another one...

This is quite the humble start for one of the UK's longest-running classic heavy metal bands. When you look at this Yorkshire band's massive discography as a whole, there's only a handful of albums that are musically noticeably different for better or worse; in general, Saxon are like Motorhead or AC/DC in that they are pretty damn consistent with their records. You can cut 'em some slack with this debut however - they were still finding their feet (despite gigging for a good two years prior). If I remember correctly, in the Saxon documentary Heavy Metal Thunder, this album is made up of songs that originally came from two different bands. What I mean by that is, half this album's tracks were written by Biff Byford (vocals) and Paul Quinn's (guitar) old band while the other half were written by Graham Oliver (guitar) and Steve Dawson's (bass) prior group. I think this is the case (99% sure), and if I am right, that means none of these tracks were technically written by any of the members when they formed Saxon.

Anyhow, the album starts off with the surprisingly progressive 'Rainbow Theme' and 'Frozen Rainbow'. They may be two separate tracks, but they're basically just two halves to form one song. Honestly, it would've worked just fine if they'd put them together and called it 'Rainbow Theme/Frozen Rainbow', but whatever. Nice introduction either way - melodic, proggy metal. Maybe even 'hard rock', actually. 'Big Teaser' is an insanely catchy little pop rocker - not exactly heavy then, and quite out of character for this band when compared to later albums, but still a fun, cheesy (in a good way) little number. 'Judgement Day' is fairly underrated, and again is quite a proggy piece with some nice and varied guitar work throughout. Some of the song's elements sound a little disjointed on first inspection, but they work overall. 'Militia Guard' is another underrated number that starts off with a militaristic drum beat, before transitioning into a mini epic, with a ballad-like quality to Biff vocal lines. The outro in particular, is really cool.

All the songs I've just discussed I do like overall, but they're not typical of this band. They wouldn't fit comfortably on just about anything that would come later. This isn't a bad thing necessarily, as they're all decent songs in their own right - they're just not what you'd expect to hear if you'd just come back from hearing Wheels of Steel, Strong Arm of the Law, Power & the Glory etc. (or any of the more recent stuff for that matter) and then listened to this debut for the first time. There are a couple of songs on here that could potentially have fit on the next album - 'Stallions of the Highway' and 'Backs to the Wall'. These two are both very solid straight-up heavy metal songs that could be considered tasters for what was to come. And Biff Byford still sounds like he always has done, even here. That might sound like a dumb thing to say, but some bands' debut albums can be a little odd on the vocal front. For example, Ozzy sang in that low, spooky range on Black Sabbath's first album, and then never sounded the same again. Joe Elliot sounded like a completely different man on On Through the Night... even James Hetfield sounded distinctly different on Kill 'Em All, to me at least.

Naturally, there are some issues here. 'Still Fit to Boogie' is just not a very good song full-stop. It's not completely horrible or unlistenable as such (although that title is silly), it just sounds like Saxon were attempting to do a fun rock n' roller in the same vein as a band like AC/DC or Status Quo, but it's just kinda weak at the end of the day. And the production on this album really isn't great either. It's tinny as fuck, and there's nowhere near enough distortion on the guitars. At least the bass is clearly audible. The last thing worth mentioning is the fact this album is over in under half an hour! This isn't punk rock! It really could've used another song or two. And the cover art manages to be both ridiculously awful and ridiculously awesome at the same time!

Scoring this thing was kinda difficult. I originally gave it a 7.7/10, and I think I'm gonna leave it at that because even though there's quite a notable list of issues here, I've genuinely liked all these songs since my school days - bar 'Still Fit to Boogie' that is. None of them are outstanding however, and I don't think I'll ever consider the album to be truly great for that reason. Given that this came out in 1979, if I'm not mistaken, I do believe that Saxon can take credit for releasing one of the first New Wave of British Heavy Metal albums.

Adam's rating: 7.7/10


WHEELS OF STEEL          1980          (EMI)
- Standouts: Everything bar 'Street Fighting Gang'.

A vast improvement on the 1979 self-titled debut, and a defining moment of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement from this period. Wheels of Steel is one of those albums that I'd hand to somebody if they knew literally nothing at all about heavy metal. Why? Because it's heavy, energetic, raw... but it also comes from a time when heavy metal still actually had hooks and melodies, so it's actually quite accessible for a newbie to the genre. Plenty of singles from heavy metal bands were actually charting in those days, at least in Britain anyway. This was an influential album for me growing up. I remember getting into Saxon when I was 14 and playing stuff like this, Maiden's Number of the Beast, Priest's British Steel, Motorhead's Ace of Spades to death back then, and since I was having guitar lessons in those days, I was trying to learn all the riffs too. I still remember how to play a lot of the songs on Wheels of Steel to this day. The songs aren't especially groundbreaking or even that ambitious musically - they're just great, plain and simple! 

This album begins with the speed metal classic 'Motorcycle Man', which is a stupidly fun song that rarely fails to put a smile on face at least. 'Stand Up and Be Counted' has a very infectious, upbeat riff that has my foot tappin' almost immediately. '747 (Strangers in the Night)' is one of the most famous tracks from the album, and features lyrics about a 1965 power cut that occurred in NYC, and forced a Scandinavian airline flight to land in the dark. Cool lyrics then, and the song itself has a ballad-like quality to the chorus. Great guitar harmonies on this one. The title track is a very simplistic three-chord stadium rocker that admittedly works better as a live anthem more than anything else, but this studio version is still a heavy metal classic. 'Freeway Mad' is a really fun, short and speedy number built around boogie rock riffage that breaks up the album nicely.

You also get 'See the Light Shining', which has the best chorus melodies of the entire album. Insanely catchy song, excellent stuff. 'Street Fighting Gang' might be the lowest point on this record, although I couldn't specifically tell you why. It's fast and heavy, I just find it less memorable than the rest of the tracks I guess. Still decent though. I guess some metal fans may be put off by 'Suzie Hold On', 'cos it's kinda poppy - but I love it. Weirdly I think there were plenty of metal bands putting out good pop rock singles around this time. Tracks like this, Judas Priest's 'Evening Star' and Def Leppard's 'Hello America' all come to mind, and I unashamedly like them all. This was before bands were trying to be edgy all the time. I suppose it was appropriate to end the album with a speed metaller, and that they did with 'Machine Gun', which is a frantic, fun conclusion.

This is an excellent album, and I don't wanna go all elitist but this is a go-to record for me when I just want to hear some actual fucking heavy metal, if ya know what I mean. There's no bullshit going on here - just pure, blue-collar, meat and potatoes metal. No pretentious prog written in weird time signatures, no guitar virtuoso wankery, no detuned breakdown riffs... you get the picture. I will admit that I'm having a hard time giving this thing any more than a 9/10 though... oh, all right, a 9.1/10 it is then! What I mean though, is that this is a legit metal classic, but the songs aren't outright amazing. It's the consistency and accessibility that makes it so awesome. 

Adam's rating: 9.1/10


STRONG ARM OF THE LAW         1980         (EMI)
- Standouts: Everything!

Essentially a continuation of Wheels of Steel, released just seven months later. That sounds crazy by today's standards, but it wasn't entirely unusual for a band to release two records the same year in those days. You gotta keep the momentum going! There's plenty of debate over which of these two albums is best - hell, there's plenty of debate over which three albums is the best if you include the next record, Denim and Leather. But I'll get to that one when I'm done with Strong Arm of the Law. 

In terms of the songs, you're getting the classic, storming opener 'Heavy Metal Thunder' to begin with. With a title like that, you already know what you're getting yourself into. Sure, the lyrics are kinda cliché now, but back then it was cool and original to sing about how proud you are to be metal! 'To Hell and Back Again' is a speed metal classic that I think could just about qualify as proto-power metal. There's just something about this awesome track that gives me later European power metal vibes. Can't pinpoint exactly why, but it's definitely to do with the riffs. The title track is one of my absolute favourite Saxon tunes - it's a heavy mid-tempo number, the riff is amazingly catchy and the song in general is just one that I will never skip over if it comes on in a shuffled playlist.

'Taking Your Chances' - more metal excellence, great riffs with a slightly groovy touch as well as some fantastic melodies in the pre-chorus. Underrated, should be a regular in the live set. Oh, and '20,000 Ft.' - a really cool speed metaller that can definitely be compared to Motorhead, but Biff's vocals obviously give it the Saxon flavouring. '20,000 Ft.' fades into 'Hungry Years', which brings the tempo down once again, and is a rock-solid, bluesy but heavy track. It's probably the weakest song on this album for me, but I still like it a lot. 'Sixth Form Girls' is dumb, but it's fun as hell. The poppiest song on here for sure, but that boogie riff has always been irresistible to me! 'Dallas 1PM ' explores the assassination of JFK in it's lyrics, and musically it's kind of a simple, mid-tempo plodder with a very repetitive structure. But it's very memorable and manages to keep me interested from start to finish.

Until now I always used to stick this one exactly on par with Wheels of Steel. I had no preference over either record. Well, having just listened to Strong Arm of the Law again, I'd say that maybe I find this one to be ever-so-slightly stronger now. It's a track shorter, but the songs and musicianship just feel a tad more refined this time 'round. And the production is a tad crunchier and fuller too, heavier. Despite this, I still dunno if I can call this a 'masterpiece'. It's too straightforward and unambitious to have really had an impact on the way people write heavy metal music. Like Wheels of Steel though, it is one of those records that immediately comes to mind for me when somebody utters the words 'heavy' and 'metal'. And that is still quite an achievement in it's own right. Saxon are heavy metal personified.
Adam's rating: 9.1/10


DENIM AND LEATHER         1981         (EMI)
- Standouts: I like it all, but 'Play It Loud' is definitely weaker.

I like to think of Wheels of Steel, Strong Arm of the Law and Denim and Leather as a kind of trilogy. All three of these albums were released within a short space of time, they all have similar production, and they're all comparable musically. Yep, this album is once again chock-full of old-school, riff-laden, straightforward heavy metal - with good hooks and melodies thrown in for good measure. 'Princess of the Night' is a fantastic opener, great riffs and very memorable lyrical matter; the princess in question is a metaphor for a steam train that Biff used to watch go by when he was a little kid growing up. 'Never Surrender' - another molten metal classic. Catchy chorus, unmistakeable riffs - you really can't go wrong. 'Out of Control' is a more laid back melodic affair, but it slots in well after 'Never Surrender'. 'Rough and Ready' is a deep cut for sure, this is just as catchy and heavy as any of the better-known tracks from this record. 

'And the Bands Played On' is one of their catchiest anthems ever, with it's simplistic, but absolutely infectious guitar melodies and vocal lines. It's just a great song, and I can't really criticise it for what it is. 'Midnight Rider' has some groove to it's mid-tempo, steady riffs, and again, the chorus is just memorable as hell. The speed picks up again with 'Fire in the Sky' - although I wouldn't call it pure 'speed metal', more like speedy rock n' roll metal! The title track concludes the album, and if that title didn't give it away, is a call to arms anthem for metalheads. The 'denim' and 'leather' referencing the preferred attire for the metal subculture - heh, still relevant to this day then. I always loved how upbeat and positive this track is, like it's basically just celebrating heavy metal in general. I might not look like much of a metalhead these days unlike when I was a teenager (though I do still rock the typical black band t-shirts on occasion), but I still get a kick out of the metal scene and I still attend metal concerts and festivals to this day. And I think I always will to be honest, it's a special scene with friendly people (save for the occasional elitist neckbeard) - the average person just won't understand the appeal of heavy metal, but if you get it, then you get it. Anyhow, the weakest track for me has always been 'Play It Loud', and I think that's because it tries a little too hard to be an AC/DC song - of course, it could have been a coincidence that it sounds the way it does, but the similarities are hard to ignore. Still a good track, don't get me wrong, just not a standout as such.

This will likely always be my least favourite of the trilogy I like to consider Denim and Leather to be part of, but I literally find it to be microscopically worse than Wheels or Strong Arm! I remember picking this up during my college days, whereas the other two I'd been listening to since school - so that probably has something to do with my opinion of it. But really when you look at album rankings for this band online, it's not rare to find this record above the other two, and vice versa. After this album, this band were never quite the same again. It's difficult to explain... like, the Saxon that exists today is a different beast to the Saxon at the height of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal era, as well as the Saxon during the mid to late 80's - yet, aside from a few missteps here and there (watch out!), they've generally almost always sounded like the Saxon you've always loved. Like I said, it's hard explain, but you'll find out what I mean if you carry on reading the rest of these reviews. 

Adam's rating: 9/10


THE EAGLE HAS LANDED - LIVE         1982         (EMI)

A lot of fans consider this live album to be one of the greatest things among the entire discography, and in general The Eagle Has Landed is highly regarded in the world of heavy metal live records. I think, depending on which version you own, it's actually just a tad overrated. It pains me to say that, because I'm a huge Saxon fan. See, my copy is a 1999 Classic Rock reissue which is a direct copy of the original 1982 LP. Don't get me wrong, the music here is great; Biff's on top form, the songs are usually a tad faster and even more energetic than their studio counterparts, the production is totally acceptable (maybe the guitars could've been beefed up a tad in the studio however...) and as a whole the album's always a fun listen. Well, I never was too keen on the way the band would always (and still do) stretch out 'Wheels of Steel' to 8 minutes or longer, but aside from that there's nothing really to complain about in terms of the actual performances here. The trouble is, it's 10 songs and falls just short of 45 minutes in total length.

I've always felt this album could've quite easily been a double. For a lot of people, the initial run from the debut album up until Denim and Leather is peak Saxon - and that's exactly what's being represented on The Eagle Has Landed. And while every track on here is a classic, there's still a whole lot more from this period that you won't be hearing anytime soon on The Eagle Has Landed. That is, unless you bought the 2006 remaster which added 6 more live cuts from the same era that were not featured on the original LP. This version is available on Spotify and is definitely superior by comparison - if this was the edition I actually owned, it'd be an easy 9/10.

As it stands though, I'm rating my copy of the album, and while I do still consider this to be a classic live album that's 100% worth your time, it's not quite a definitive one for me sadly. It's one of those records in the collection that I could really do with updating by buying one of the newer reissues.  
Adam's rating: 8.2/10


POWER & THE GLORY          1983          (EMI)
- Standouts: 'Power and the Glory', 'Redline', 'Warrior', 'Watching the Sky', 'Midas Touch', 'The Eagle Has Landed'

Like I said in the Denim and Leather review, things would start to change somewhat after those last three albums. In the case of Power & the Glory, I feel that the music had gotten a little more intricate this time around. Although this is quite obviously a heavy metal album, it doesn't quite have the simple, blue-collar roughness that the previous three albums had. The band have gotten slightly more technical with their instruments on these songs, and Jeff Glixman's production is radically different to the dry, gritty, almost punk-like sounds of the last bunch. Of course, the production was still great for those previous one's, but Power & the Glory has a much more larger, metallic sound. Frankly, I like the production on this album just as much, for different reasons. Simply put, it works just as well for this record.

And as for the music, many of these tracks are drop-dead classics that are as good as any of the best material from before - the opening title track for example, fucking rules. This is a metal anthem in the same vein as 'Strong Arm of the Law' or 'Heavy Metal Thunder', but the actual playing is better and more impressive, and the song features more interesting guitar parts and transitions when compared to the simplicity of a lot of their past song structures. Oh, it also starts with a killer riff that Iron Maiden would totally rip-off a year later, on '2 Minutes to Midnight'! 'Redline' is a very catchy, fun biker anthem with a heavy, groovy, but also kinda boogie-like riff that sticks in your head. 'Warrior' is a severely underrated slab of metal - dumb lyrics (but still fun), but the riffs are once again totally awesome.

We do get some experimentation on here - 'Nightmare'. It's true, this song has a blatantly obvious commercial sheen being a melodic ballad and all, but it's not a wussy power ballad by any means. It's just a nice, poppy, hard rock number with a cool atmosphere. I hate the lyrics to 'This Town Rocks'! Biff can be wildly inconsistent with his lyrics sometimes, since this track has an aura of Spinal Tap stupidity about it. Thankfully the music itself is solid, and heavy. 'Watching the Sky' is another underrated song, full of great riffs and nice melodies. It's a shame that it fades out just as it goes into this cool, slow jam. That always bugged me. The main riff to 'Midas Touch' is upbeat and heavy, but has a slightly proggy nature as it transitions in and out of almost ballad-like, mellow parts too. I really dig this track as well. The album's closer, 'The Eagle Has Landed' is probably the first 'epic' number the band ever recorded, with lyrics about the moon landings. The first couple of minutes are an atmospheric jam with some excellent guitar leads, and when the song gets going properly, it's a moody, slow-building slice of heavy metal, and I think it's an incredibly solid track overall that had great potential in the live setting. I could totally see them improvising all over it, but I've never heard them play it live sadly. Uh, that is until they played Bloodstock in 2021, and they did perform it, and I was present! I was very drunk, so I don't remember too much of the set.

In general, I almost never see anybody put Power & the Glory in the same league as Wheels of Steel, Strong Arm of the Law or Denim and Leather. But every time I play this thing, I can never understand why. I mean, I'd say I still like those albums more, but just barely. It's still in the same ballpark for sure, and the production is arguably heavier with the songs having more to them. It has it's own strengths and weaknesses. Also, a lot of people don't like the album cover - I always thought it was metal as fuck!

Adam's rating: 8.8/10


CRUSADER          1984          (EMI)
- Standouts: 'Crusader', 'Sailing to America', 'Set Me Free'

Okay, now we're starting to run into some problems! Like Def Leppard, management wanted them to conquer America, so they got a guy called Kevin Beamish to produce them (who produced a number one REO Speedwagon record). Unlike Def Leppard however, Saxon probably lost more fans than they gained with Crusader - at the time at least. Personally, I've never outright hated this record, but it is hugely inconsistent. Some of the songs are great, others not so great. It's inconsistent as hell. I will say that I don't think the production is as bad as some fans make it out to be. Yeah, it's glossier, shinier, more reverby than anything that came before, but it still manages to be relatively heavy-sounding overall. I know that Steve Dawson said Beamish was a wanker and claimed that his production took a lot of the power out of these tracks (according to the Heavy Metal Thunder documentary that is), but I honestly don't think the production is flat-out bad. It's glossier than it should be, yes, but it's not horrid. 

Nah, the real problems stem from a handful of dodgy songs themselves. I mean, how can Dawson claim that a wussy song like 'Do It All for You' was powerful and heavy before Beamish touched it?! FYI, 'Do It All for You' is not the worst power ballad I've ever heard - in fact, I wouldn't even say it was 'bad' full-stop, just mediocre and out of character for the band. 'Rock City' is just fucking terrible though. Embarrassing, throwaway 80's glam pop metal. Many fans hated this album back in 1984, but it also seems to have gained a lot of them in more recent years - I always see praise for 'Just Let Me Rock', and I have no idea why. I guess people just find it to be fun. Me, I find it to be dumb. It sounds more like something Twisted Sister would have recorded when they were at the height of their commercial success. 'Bad Boys (Like to Rock n' Roll)' is obviously an epic fail in the lyrical and vocal department. With a title like that, how can it not be?! Musically though, it's alright I suppose. 

Fortunately, there's a few good to great songs on Crusader. The title track for instance, is considered to be one of their best songs ever, and it still makes it's way into the live set most days. This track is ambitious, heavy, melodic, epic, lengthy... just a classic on all levels. It's a shame they had to take away from some of the brilliance with that retarded "Who dares battle the Saracen?" quote, spoken in an electronically-modified 'evil' voice! This is pure Spinal Tap dumbassery. 'A Little Bit of What You Fancy' is also really stupid lyrically, but the song will rock you with it's speed and energy. Also, even though 'Sailing to America' is essentially a melodic hard rock song with pop melodies, I've always found it to be a really nice track with some splendid guitar melodies and very well-implemented backing vocals for the chorus. 'Set Me Free' was originally a song by the Sweet, a band that a lot of artists like to cover it seems. I'm unfamiliar with the original, never really checked those guys out - but this is a fairly good, rockin' cover either way, and it fits in rather well with the rest of these songs. 'Run for Your Lives' is pretty good too. Yeah, the harmonised vocals during the chorus are annoying, but the riffs and guitar work are great throughout the song.

Apparently I initially gave Crusader a 5/10, but having just listened to it again, I wouldn't say it was quite as mediocre as I thought it was for so many years. The actual music is generally decent throughout the majority of the record, but the often laughably stupid lyrics combined with the questionable production holds it back. Like I said at the start, the production isn't awful, but it's not really doing the songs any favours. Honestly, this is a weird album. The band just sound uncomfortable on tracks like 'Just Let Me Rock', 'Rock City' and 'Bad Boys (Like to Rock n' Roll)', like they knew they were trying to be something they're not. Thankfully there's enough riffs and licks here and there that Saxon in their purest form still seep into most of the songs, even if not fully. 

Adam's rating: 6.3/10


INNOCENCE IS NO EXCUSE          1985         (EMI)
- Standouts: 'Rockin' Again', 'Call of the Wild', 'Devil Rides Out', 'Rock 'n' Roll Gypsy', 'Broken Heroes'

If you were to judge this album purely by the packaging, you'd be forgiven if you were to assume Innocence Is No Excuse is to be a complete catastrophe. The album cover is a close up of some girl's face, holding an apple to her lips - about as un-metal as it gets. And then on the back of the case (well, on the back of my 2010 EMI remaster that is) is a photo of the band wearing some of the stupidest getups I've ever seen. Each member looks just as ridiculous as the other. Paul Quinn and Nigel Glockler are dressed like low budget cowboys, Steve Dawson looks like a reject circus acrobat, Graham Oliver resembles a long lost Bee Gees member while Biff has some weird Mexican/drag queen hybrid costume going on with that poncho and headband.

On the visual front, this album is a disaster then. Surprisingly enough however, the music itself is actually rather good. Far better than it should be! It's like they carried on trying to appeal more to the mainstream, only they evaluated what didn't work on Crusader, and amended it. I will admit that the production is still very much typical '80's arena rock' affair, but at least Biff's not embarrassing himself by singing about how "Bad boys like to rock n' roll", or why you should "Just let him rock"! Nah, he's now embarrassing himself by wearing the stupidest shit he could find in his wardrobe! But seriously, the music here is very nearly solid from start to finish.

'Rockin' Again' seems like an odd choice for an opener, as it's quite a slow-building, moody track, but once it gets going, it's a very memorable, strong and pretty heavy song. The title kinda suggests it to be a party rocker (to me at least), but this couldn't be further from the truth. Good stuff. 'Call of the Wild' is cool too - really good, hooky singalong chorus, and heavy riffs that actually sound to me a bit like very early power metal. 'Devil Rides Out' has some fun, groove-laden riffage on it. Quite a simplistic number, but in a good way - similar to how albums like Wheels of Steel and Denim and Leather were. 'Rock 'n' Roll Gypsy' is surprisingly very good too. Yeah, this one's definitely got more radio potential than any of the others I've talked about so far, but it's just a good, catchy, melodic number that's heavy enough to still sound like Saxon. You're also getting 'Broken Heroes', which is an extremely underrated ballad among the Saxon catalogue. It has a gloomy atmosphere, and strays away from any of the usual cringey 80's power ballad traits, so therefore it's great! 'Everybody Up' is a serviceable, fast track. The polished production doesn't really do it any favours, but at core it's a good song. I like the galloping rhythms of 'Raise Some Hell', which is another solid slab of metal. And closer 'Give It Everything You've Got' is really not a weak note to go out on. The chorus is pretty cheesy, sure, but the song is very upbeat and energetic, and the guitar solos are sweet.  

Obviously it's not all great. 'Back On the Streets' might not be suffering from the lyrical problems of the weaker Crusader tracks, but it does still sound like the weaker Crusader tracks. In short, it sucks. Typical cheesy 80's pop rock garbage, so of course they released it as a single! 'Gonna Shout' isn't exactly up there either. It almost sounds as if Saxon were trying to imitate Def Leppard's Pyromania with those backing vocals, but it just comes off as lame to me. And to be honest, this isn't exactly an album I turn to regularly when I want to hear some Saxon. True, when I do listen to it, I tend to enjoy it quite a bit... however, I just feel that if I rarely feel the urge to hear a particular album from a band, regardless of that album's overall quality, then it must not be truly great.

Yes, this is still Saxon treading into radio metal territory, but not in a bad way. Honestly, if the production had more grit, you probably wouldn't dare slap the 'mainstream' label on songs like 'Call of the Wild', 'Raise Some Hell' and 'Devil Rides Out'. Don't get me wrong, many of these songs are hooky and shiny enough to qualify for radio airplay, but somehow the band actually pulls it off for the most part on Innocence Is No Excuse.

Adam's rating: 7.8/10


ROCK THE NATIONS          1986          (EMI)
- Standouts: 'Rock the Nations', 'Battle Cry'

Strangely, the production on this album has more bite, and is more in-line with the first bunch of records than it is Crusader or Innocence Is No Excuse. The songs however, have gotten worse again. On the surface of things, it feels like they listened to their hardcore fans by ditching the glossy sounds of the last two records, but continued writing songs that they thought would have a chance of giving them American radio airplay. To be fair, not every song on here is sketchy. 'Battle Cry' is a genuine classic, with some awesome drum work, galloping metal rhythms and heavy riffs. And I don't mind the title track either - it does it's job well enough to function as a decent, fun stadium anthem. 'You Ain't No Angel' is not a bad mid-tempo number either. I always liked it's squealing guitar introduction, and some of the riffage on it is kinda cool. 

But then of course, you've got crappy pop rockers like 'Waiting for the Night', which is full of 1980's rock clichés. Yeah it's catchy, but for the wrong reasons! And you just know a song called 'We Came Here to Rock' is gonna suck before you even hear it! I wasn't around in the 80's, but surely even rock fans and metalheads back then were cringing at these kinds of song titles?! Well, I will say that this track's intro is kinda cool at least. 'Running Hot' starts off okay, but the chorus is fucking lame and ruins the rest of it for me. 'Empty Promises' is not necessarily the sound of a band trying to appeal to the mainstream, but it is definitely an uninspired bore-fest, and that wannabe Peter Frampton-esque talk box guitar solo sucks!

The weirdest thing about this record is the fact that Elton John of all people, plays piano on 'Party Til You Puke' and 'Northern Lady' (he was recording an album in the same studio as Saxon, around the same time)! Well, I guess if Elton offered to play piano on your album, you wouldn't say no would you? 'Party Til You Puke' is a party rocker that I can tolerate because at least it's self-aware, unlike 'We Came Here to Rock'. And Elton does at least give it more life with his piano playing. 'Northern Lady' on the other hand, is yet another clichéd 80's rock ballad. Not even Elton could save this one!

This was the only album that Biff played bass on. Steve Dawson was fired after Innocence, so Biff took over bass duties in the studio. Apparently he was already a decent bass player before he could sing. Nice little factoid for you there. What isn't nice though, is Rock the Nations as a whole. At least Crusader could still boast a few classics - Rock the Nations can only boast one ('Battle Cry'). Most of these songs aren't terrible full-stop, just generic, lacklustre 80's radio rock/metal, and the album as a whole just isn't that good. 

Rock the Nations ain't rockin' me that's for sure (sorry).  
Adam's rating: 4.8/10


DESTINY          1988          (EMI)
- Standouts: 'Ride Like the Wind'...and that's it.

Saxon decided to stick a cover song at the beginning of this album - Christopher Cross' 'Ride Like the Wind'. Weird choice of song on paper, but even weirder is the fact it actually works in Saxon's favour. It's essentially a heavier, richer version of the song, with more of a stadium rock kinda vibe, and as a result has become one of the band's better-known songs. 'Red Alert', the last song on the album is pretty good riffs-wise and is listenable overall, although the transition at the end is pretty stupid.

But that's where the legitimately good parts end.

Destiny is a fucking atrocious record! You'd think after all the criticism they were getting from releases such as Crusader and Rock the Nations that they'd go back to basics and start writing, well, HEAVY FUCKING METAL songs once again! Nope, instead they were still obsessing over transforming Saxon into this shiny radio rock band in 1988, and saying "fuck you" to their original fans and earlier records. They even looked like idiots around this time with all that hair spray! Paul Quinn was receding around the time of the debut album and wearing baseball caps, so where's all that extra hair come from?! Maybe 'Where the Lightning Strikes' could have been decent without the super slick production of this album. 'For Whom the Bell Tolls' features some great metal riffage, but then the band fuck everything up with that wussy pop chorus, and it takes away from the power this song holds. Could have been a great track if they'd kept the chorus metal. 'I Can't Wait Anymore' is a fucking terrible, embarrassing pop rock ballad that tries so hard to sound American it's just flat-out insulting to us Brits. 'Calm Before the Storm' starts off promisingly, but when the chorus kicks in it's one of the lamest, fakest, keyboard-drenched pieces of shite this band have ever written.

'S.O.S.' is like a Europe parody, only it's not funny nor was it intended to be a joke. 'Song for Emma' tries to be all moody and atmospheric with those synths, but it falls flat on it's face - because it's yet another shitty plastic pop ballad/anthem. And then there's 'We Are Strong' - as soon as this song starts with those obnoxious, 'Final Countdown'-style keyboards, I want to turn it off. Instead, I sat through it's entirety again for the first time in about five years, and it might just be the worst song on this album. That's all you need to know about this one. 'Jericho Siren' has one of the most annoying chorus vocal hooks I've ever heard. 

I wouldn't be surprised if this is one of the worst albums in my collection (right now I can think of a few that are definitely worse - Def Leppard's X and the Lou Reed/Metallica Lulu collaboration come to mind). I've listened to it in full maybe five times in the past twelve years, and I really wanted to turn it off after three or so tracks. But hey, if I'm redoing this whole page, then I've gotta sit through Destiny again! It's not a good sign when the best song on this album is a fucking Christopher Cross cover! The reason why this gets a 2.2/10 is because I genuinely like 'Ride Like the Wind' and the fact that there's a few riffs and ideas here and there on the record that are definitely what you'd expect from Saxon - shame they're so few and far between that the majority of these songs are total train-wrecks to sit through! Avoid, avoid, avoid. Did I say avoid?
Adam's rating: 2.2/10


SOLID BALL OF ROCK          1991         (Virgin)
- Standouts: 'Altar of the Gods', 'Baptism of Fire' 'Overture in B-Minor/Refugee'

Thank fuck they never sank any lower than they did on Destiny. It was their darkest hour, and they had a steep hill to climb if they wanted people to take them seriously again. So in 1991 we got Solid Ball of Rock, and on first inspection it seems as if the boys were back for real this time. The opening title track is a strong anthemic slice of traditional heavy metal. Not as good as their early anthems of course, but a hell of a lot better than what they were doing on the previous two. 'Altar of the Gods' however, is just great full-stop. When Saxon does speed metal they normally do it really well, and this track is no exception. Uh, well, that spoken word part that comes in after about a minute and a half is unnecessary, but musically it's awesome. 'Lights in the Sky' is good too - fairly unremarkable, but heavy enough to be metal and hooky enough to be catchy. Gotta love the thrashy speed metal of 'Baptism of Fire', which is probably the best track on this album. It has a great, melodic pre-chorus bridge section that balances out the rest of the song's heaviness. 'Overture in B-Minor/Refugee' is a decent ballad, maybe the best since 'Broken Heroes'. Probably one of Biff's best vocal performances in a while, as well. You're also getting a cool albeit short bass instrumental in 'Bavarian Beaver' - this was the first album to feature Tim 'Nibbs' Carter, who's remained as the band's bassist ever since. 'Crash Dive' is a nice, heavy way to end things on.

It seems as if they weren't entirely done with trying to find a hit on Solid Ball of Rock though, sadly. 'Requiem (We Will Remember)' is a pretty corny anthem with a poppy, hard rock feel. It's nowhere near as bad as the bollocks you heard on Destiny, but it's not exactly that good. 'I Just Can't Get Enough' really isn't great either, for the same reasons as 'Requiem'. Again, not completely unlistenable, nor is it the worst ballad/anthem Saxon ever penned - it's just never going to make into a playlist for me. I find 'Ain't Gonna Take It' to be pretty boring too. It's not trying to be super mainstream or anything like that, it's just a really generic, mid-tempo filler piece. 'I'm on Fire' (which is not a Bruce Springsteen cover!) I sort of like overall - the guitar work is nice on this one, the intro has a slight touch of Van Halen about it. But it still has a slightly poppy rock sheen going for it (one of the guitar melodies blatantly rips off Boston's 'Peace of Mind', so that's probably why)... though I'd say it works in it's favour for the most part, thankfully. 

One thing that's worth mentioning is the fact that the production is on point once again. This is the best-sounding album since Power & the Glory, so even the more commercial songs on here aren't as bad as they could have quite easily been. All in all, this album doesn't make up for the Rock the Nations and Destiny failures, but it is most definitely a step in the right direction. There's a few great tracks on here as well as some filler. Again, not a lot of these songs are regular playlist listens for me, so it ain't gonna be making the 7/10 grade any time soon. But the band were at least gaining their dignity back once again!
Adam's rating: 6.7/10

BEST OF SAXON          1991          (EMI)

This is obviously a compilation, and the only reason I have it in my collection is because I bought a used copy of the 2002 Heavy Metal Thunder album, and the seller bundled this in with it. I got zero reason to actually listen to this, seeing as I've already owned every one of the albums that the tracklisting draws from for many, many years. What's on here is all good stuff (naturally), but why 'Wheels of Steel' was left off is baffling. I mean, how did 'This Town Rocks' make it on here, but 'Wheels of Steel' didn't?! So yeah, I basically own this purely to make my collection look bigger.


FOREVER FREE         1992          (SPV)
- Standouts: 'Forever Free', 'Hole in the Sky', 'Iron Wheels', 'One Step Away', 'Nighthunter'

Damn, this band really were inconsistent with their album artwork throughout the 80's and 90's! I always hated Forever Free's album cover, with the altered band logo (or lack thereof). The UK version of the record actually featured Warhammer 40,000 artwork, with a Space Marine biker on the cover, and like all Warhammer art, it kicks ass! And yet despite the fact I live in Britain, I've never seen a copy of the supposed UK release for sale, not even online! The good news is that this is the turning point in Saxon's career when they finally pulled themselves together after that rough patch of previous albums. Ask the band and they'll tell you that Solid Ball of Rock was the turning point, but I disagree - that record still had the occasional glimmers of 'Americanness' about it.

The first two tracks on Forever Free are excellent - the title track is a fantastic biker anthem with a soaring chorus. 'Hole in the Sky' is a grinding slab of speed metal. 'Just Wanna Make Love to You' doesn't exactly sound like a Saxon number title-wise, and that's 'cos it's not. It's a cover of an old Willie Dixon/Muddy Waters blues song from 1954 - an odd choice for this band, but it's really not that bad. I will admit that it's considerably weaker than the first couple of songs, but the band do their best to metalize it. 'Get Down and Dirty' isn't exactly mind-blowing, but it is still a pretty fun rocker with kind of a party vibe. 'Iron Wheels' is the band getting back to their British working class roots, with some nice acoustic guitar work. This is a very strong working-man's ballad, and a far cry from crappy, sissy ballads such as 'Do It All for You' or 'Song for Emma'. 'Iron Wheels' is what Saxon are all about when they're not trying to rock you, paying tribute to their English working class heritage!

After 'Iron Wheels' we get another heavy, riff-laden number in 'One Step Away'. And 'Nighthunter' is really cool too; another speedy, thunderous and heavy song, and a high point of this CD. I also get a kick out of 'Cloud Nine', which is a fast metaller with a fun, rock n' roll feel. In terms of duff moments, 'Can't Stop Rockin'' is a pretty dull and uninspired anthem. Not horrendous or anything, just really generic. 'Grind' definitely has some arena rock-feels, but most of the riffs still manage to be nice and heavy. Not sure that almost funky jam in the middle was a good idea though! Again, an okay track, but not great either. The production is big and bassy - I always thought the guitar tones could have been sharpened up a tad, but overall I think this is a pretty decent-sounding record.

Very good album! It's not one of my all-time favourites by any stretch of the imagination - I would say that only 'Forever Free' and 'Iron Wheels' really qualify as classics, but the album as a whole is listenable and mostly enjoyable from start to finish. And chronologically I think this is the best since Innocence Is No Excuse.   

Edit: For the hell of it, I went on eBay just now and can see a CD copy of the UK version with the Warhammer artwork. It's £69.99, buy it now. Fuck that!

Adam's rating: 7.7/10


DOGS OF WAR          1995          (Virgin)
- Standouts: 'Dogs of War', 'Burning Wheels', 'Big Twin Rolling (Coming Home)'

More traditional heavy metal from the dark days of traditional heavy metal! I say 'dark days' because in the 1990's grunge and alternative rock had overtaken metal in the mainstream. Sure, we got a resurgence during the late 90's, with, uh, nu metal, but the less said about that particular subgenre the better! Still, there was plenty of metal to digest from new and old bands during the 90's, it just wasn't in your face so much like it was in the 80's. Dogs of War continues Saxon's brand of heavy metal and features some totally killer artwork - but in terms of the songs, there's definitely something missing here... 

The album's title track acts as the opener, and it's quite a catchy and heavy metallic anthem. Not one of their best, but a good way to start this thing off nonetheless. I do prefer the fist-pumping metal of 'Burning Wheels' however, it's a deep cut in the discography. 'Big Twin Rolling (Coming Home)' is a fun track with a bouncy, boogie rock kinda riff to boot. Like Eliminator-era ZZ Top on steroids. 'Hold On' is quite a nice and melodic hard rocker, but not in a way that sucks like some of those mid-late 80's Saxon tracks did. I will say that some of the guitar and vocal melodies remind me more of Def Leppard than Saxon, but I dig it either way. 

'The Great White Buffalo' - this one features a killer, doomy guitar riff that I can't get enough of. The rest of the song is kind of like the band in autopilot, but not a bad song at the end of the day. 'Demolition Alley' is comparable to AC/DC, but still manages to keep the old-school Saxon vibes in place. Hey, I just remembered criticising 'Play It Loud' from Denim and Leather for the same reasons! Only difference is that Denim and Leather is a far stronger album overall and the weaker a song is among a better setlist, the more it stands out as an anomaly. That's my excuse. And hey, the blues jam at the end of it is pretty cool. 'Walking Through Tokyo' is slow and sleazy - and frankly some of the riffs are on the lazy side - but the very catchy chorus makes this one enjoyable enough overall. 'Yesterday's Gone' ends this album on a positive note.

One of my biggest gripes with this album is it's almost constant mid-tempo pace that never seems to end - yeah, 'Big Twin Rolling (Coming Home)' is kinda fast, but where's the speed metal? Oh, and 'Don't Worry' is weird too. It all seems fine until the chorus kicks in; seems like Biff took note of all the alternative rock around him in the mid-90's and tried to incorporate it into a Saxon tune. Naturally, it sounds totally off. I mean, I can't help but listen to the main hooks in 'Don't Worry' and then look at the 100% heavy fucking metal Dogs of War album cover artwork and feel somewhat disconnected from the music! Meh, still better than the utter wank, wannabe-Europe keyboards of Destiny I guess. Not too keen on 'Give It All Away' either. Very mediocre, mid-tempo heavy metal with no personality.

I suppose it is kind of disappointing that Dogs of War turned out this way considering how good Forever Free was. I do think the production is superior thankfully, with crunchier guitar tones and a crisper overall sound, but the songs - while decent - sadly just aren't as good. The album cover is misleading, frankly! I was kinda hoping this album would grow on me hearing it again in 2022, but I actually feel it's gotten slightly worse with time (I initially scored it a 7.2/10). I guess the important thing is that this is still a metal album first and foremost, and you can't accuse them of revisiting the tragic sounds of a record like Destiny. Dogs of War was the last album to feature one half of the guitar duo, Graham Oliver, but according to Wikipedia he was just credited and didn't actually play on it. Maybe that would explain the lack of any faster songs?
Adam's rating: 6.9/10

THE EAGLE HAS LANDED - PART II          1996          (SPV)

A very fun chapter in The Eagle Has Landed live series. Recorded during the Dogs of War world tour, it's 2 CD's of ballsy, meat n' potatoes heavy metal from the mid '90s. The bulk of the tracks here are from Solid Ball of Rock, Forever Free and Dogs of War, and aside from a small handful of obvious classics ('Crusader', 'Princess of the Night', 'The Eagle Has Landed', 'Denim and Leather' and 'Wheels of Steel'), it's thankfully a very different package to the original Eagle Has Landed. It doesn't feel like a '90s rehash of it's classic predecessor, hence I urge any fans out there to go and track down a copy if you haven't already.

Moreover, these performances are great. It's guitarist Doug Scarratt's debut with Saxon (Graham Oliver had departed by this point in time) who fits the band like a glove. What's more is that although I do like Forever Free a fair bit, I was never the biggest fan of Solid Ball of Rock or Dogs of War. Both those records were solid, if underwhelming in my opinion. Live however, the songs all sound brilliant. Even the big, pompy power ballad 'Requiem (We Will Remember)' is a lot of fun in the live setting. It's really cool to hear the hugely underrated blue collar anthem 'Iron Wheels' too. Such a great tune. And as for the production, the guitars are big and there's a lot of reverb, giving the effect of a large venue setting - I don't imagine the band were playing particularly large venues in the '90s given where classic metal was in that period of time (the mid-2000's was when Saxon once would once again rise to the top of the metal food chain), but the way this thing sounds suggests otherwise. Maybe they just cleaned everything up in the studio and enhanced it all? Either way, it's a fine sounding album.

I'm gonna be awkward and contrarian about this, but I enjoy this album more than I do the original The Eagle Has Landed. It's a combination of the fact I always thought the length of that original LP was too short and also the fact that those songs are all Saxon staples that they almost always perform live. On Part II you're getting a long list of rarely-played '90s cuts that all sound great here, and as a Saxon fan, I just get more novelty out of this one more so than it's '80s predecessor. It's not essential for casual fans, but for serious fans it most definitely is.

Adam's rating: 8.5/10


UNLEASH THE BEAST          1997          (SPV)
- Standouts: 'Unleash the Beast', 'Terminal Velocity', 'Circle of Light', 'The Thin Red Line', 'Ministry of Fools', 'Bloodletter', 'Cut Out the Disease', 'All Hell Breaking Loose'

With Graham Oliver gone and guitarist Doug Scarratt taking over as Paul Quinn's new partner, I've always thought of Unleash the Beast as a sort of new era for Saxon. From here on out it's smooth sailing! Ever since this record, Saxon have had this modified, ever-so-slightly modernised take on their iconic brand of metal. When you listen to this album or pretty much anything that's followed, what you get is a sound that is 100% Saxon through-and-through, only with a sound that to me doesn't age. I love albums like Wheels of Steel, Denim and Leather and Power & the Glory, but when you listen to those records, you can tell immediately that they've come straight out of the 80's in terms of both the music itself and the production - and the fact they hit the scene when heavy metal was still a new and under-developed genre. Unleash the Beast and beyond however, have that traditional sound with a slightly-expanded approach to the songwriting, and much clearer, modern production. Am I saying I like the newer stuff better than the oldies? Not necessarily. But I think these albums won't ever sound that dated because they epitomise traditional heavy metal - the same can be said for some of the new Judas Priest records such as Firepower or Angel of Retribution.

Uuh, yeah - anyway, you get the title track to begin with (after the little atmospheric introduction, 'Gothic Dreams' that is). This is a totally awesome track that's fast, melodic and heavy... and it even features a mini-breakdown towards the end that manages to not suck! 'Terminal Velocity' is a fine mid-tempo, fist-pumping crowd-pleaser in the old-school Saxon sense, only with a more modern flair (in a way that it only benefits from). 'Circle of Light' is a powerful, heavy piece of melodic metal, and 'The Thin Red Line', despite being built around a very straightforward, rhythmic guitar/bass riff, is a perfect driving song. It's simplicity actually works in it's favour. I love the melodic guitar riff that accompanies the catchy 'Ministry of Fools' - again, this is melodic traditional heavy metal the way you'd want to hear it. Great lyrics too, with Biff telling you not to listen to politicians. Sound advice.

Moving on to 'The Preacher', which starts off quite moody and atmospheric. Once it gets going, the main riff has an upbeat AC/DC-quality about it, but coupled with the dramatic chorus and darker intro, this is a good track overall that meshes it's elements quite well. 'Bloodletter' kicks ass, Saxon in speed metal mode just doin' their thing. 'Cut Out the Disease' is a really damn heavy mid-tempo riffy affair, with some really cool, harmonic guitar parts during the chorus. I'm not entirely sure if this is true or not, but I heard that 'Cut Out the Disease' may be about Graham Oliver, who was fired from the band for selling a live album without the band's permission (Donnington: The Live Tracks). Amazingly, 'Absent Friends' manages to be decent overall too, despite being an acoustic ballad! True, 'Iron Wheels' worked really well on Forever Free, but given that 'Absent Friends' is much more personal to Biff, you'd expect it not to work. While this isn't one of my favourite tracks on the record, it's a nice break from the the rest of the album's heaviness. More importantly, it's not cheesy. To end this album, they wrote another speed metal number with 'All Hell Breaking Loose', which is also the most old-school style Saxon track on the album. It made complete sense to go out with a song like this.

Happy to say that unlike Dogs of War, I find Unleash the Beast to be every bit as good as it ever was. From this point on, Saxon have been unbelievably consistent with the quality of their albums. I mean, obviously if you don't like this album for whatever reason (if this is the case, you need to re-think your musical tastes), then you probably won't like anything that would come later. Yeah, they're not breaking any new ground on Unleash the Beast, but it also has zero filler on it, unlike a lot of records in general. When I got to the end of hearing this album once again, I realised that there wasn't a single track that I felt the urge to skip - and given that this thing has a fifty-three minute run-time, that's pretty impressive. Quality heavy metal from start to finish.
Adam's rating: 8.7/10


METALHEAD          1999          (SPV)
- Standouts: 'Metalhead', 'Are We Travellers in Time', 'Conquistador', 'What Goes Around', 'Song of Evil', 'All Guns Blazing', 'Prisoner', 'Piss Off', 'Sea of Life'

Weird to think that less than ten years prior to the release of the superb Unleash the Beast, Saxon were prancing around the stage singing Christopher Cross songs like a bunch of moronic posers, promoting the atrocious album known as Destiny! Thank god they got that out of their systems!! The appropriately-titled Metalhead is a fine follow-up to Unleash the Beast. That album had a slightly foreboding aura from the album cover to the music itself; Metalhead, if anything, builds upon this. I'd say this is the darkest Saxon album. Not dark in the same way as something like Celtic Frost's Monotheist, or anything by Type O Negative - this is pure Saxon heavy metal, but with an added layer of atmosphere that I can't really describe properly without you hearing the record for yourself.

After the short, atmospheric keyboard introduction (which in a way reminds me of 'The Gates of Hell' from Black Sabbath's Headless Cross) we're treated with the title track. This is one stompin' slab of mid-paced metal with some of the heaviest riffage Quinn and Scarratt had ever come out with at the time. The guitars in general sound as if they've been tuned down lower than usual on many of these later Saxon releases. 'Are We Travellers in Time' is a very underrated, moody and heavy sci-fi influenced track. 'Conquistador' is top-notch speed metal, and comes with an acoustic, Spanishy finger-picked guitar intro. Cool shit, and when this track gets going, it's a blazing cut. I really dig 'What Goes Around' too. It's kind of slow and simplistic, but it's really catchy and sticks in your head. And despite being more hooky than any of the last three tracks, it's still heavy and oddly moody in it's own right. 'Song of Evil' is not as evil as the title suggests (nor as cheesy as it sounds, for that matter), but it is pretty damn heavy! And like 'What Goes Around', the chorus is actually really catchy again.

'All Guns Blazing' is another very strong speed metal number that is a sharp contrast to the one/two-fret detuned riffs that all the nu metal bands were churning out in 1999. Yep, this is fucking metal, man! 'Prisoner' is more upbeat than any of the other songs, with a melodic riff to boot - but again, this tune still has it's own elements of heaviness. It's the most accessible song on Metalhead, but it's great for that reason. 'Piss Off' is a stupidly heavy song, and thankfully the lyrics aren't as edgy as the title. It sort of looks like it could be a punk song on paper, but that couldn't further from the truth. The final track, 'Sea of Life' is an epic-length, progressive number with plenty of heavy and mellow transitions throughout, as well as the use of clean guitars and a diverse vocal performance from Biff. It's great.

I really like this album. Always have done, to the point where it comes near the top of the discography for me. I can't really think of any serious issues with it. Well, 'Watching You' is my least favourite song here, but I can't really explain why because it's still decent. I guess you could argue that in terms of this album's production, the rhythm section (specifically the bass) is buried a little and the guitars are a bit too prominent in the mix - but these guitar tones are beefy as hell and sound fantastic anyway. I will also say that as good as this album is, there's a strangely depressive atmosphere surrounding it, and it never leaves me feeling happy and upbeat by the end of the playtime! It's not fun like the early stuff was, but this certainly isn't a bad thing either. And no Saxon album is gonna completely blow you away (unless you've literally never heard metal before in your life and like what you hear) - but that's okay, 'cos what Saxon are good at is writing great metal. Other bands might have a masterpiece in their discography, but I'll bet they haven't released as many good albums overall as Saxon.  
Adam's rating: 8.9/10

DIAMONDS AND NUGGETS          2000          (Angel Air)

A compilation CD for the serious fans and collectors out there. There's 19 tracks here in total - some of them are live cuts such as 'Stallions of the Highway', 'See the Light Shining', 'Freeway Mad', 'Stand Up and Be Counted' etc. from the earlier days. All of these are enjoyable as you've come to expect - Saxon were always a top-notch live act regardless of which lineup or era. The main draw of this disc however, is all the unreleased studio content. There's Power & the Glory leftovers here that weren't featured on any of the later reissues of the album until BMG touched it in 2018 (I think); 'Turn Out the Lights' for example, is a fine heavy rocker with some nice pop melodies throughout. 'Coming to the Rescue' is a nice and straightforward driving song with a catchy rhythm, while 'Make 'Em Rock' is a heavy burner with some blazing lead guitar work that I'd love to have seen on the actual album it was left from.

There's also some really early recordings on here, from the pre-Saxon days of Son of a Bitch and Coast. 'Ann Marie' for example, is a nice ballad with some acoustic/electric guitars on it, but it also transitions into a fast and heavy rocker. Sort of reminds me of early UFO circa Phenomenon? Aside from Biff's vocals of course. 'Lift Up Your Eyes' is a short and sweet heavy number that again kinda gives me UFO and Thin Lizzy vibes, mixed with classic Saxon of course. The Coast oldie 'Walking' is a bluesy, kinda funky '70s ditty that I dig a lot. 'Ain't Glad to Be Alive' is a fun studio track that sounds like it could've featured on Saxon's self-titled debut. 

Other than the Power & the Glory rarities which I can confirm would appear on the latest reissues, I'm not entirely sure how much of the content on this CD is only available here. I think a good chunk of these tracks are still exclusive to this CD from what I can gather. Most of the old Saxon albums have been reissued many times across the past few decades, some with more bonus content than others... I have old and newer reissues in my collection, some with bonus tracks, some without. Either way, I get a kick out of Diamonds and Nuggets. The live tracks are fun as you'd expect, the Power & the Glory cuts are nice, I find the pre-Saxon material really interesting and the sound quality is really good. Maybe I'm just a sucker for '70s rock - because those early tracks are much more inline with hard rock than heavy metal... but they're strong songs regardless. Even the booklet is great, with lots of notes from Graham Oliver and Steve Dawson, plus photos and more liner notes.

Fanboys like myself will lap this up. Tons of cool shit here. The only problem is it's kinda expensive these days. I bagged a copy for £12 on eBay recently which I thought was reasonable, but I've seen it go for twice that price.

Adam's rating: 8/10 

KILLING GROUND          2001          (SPV)
- Standouts: 'Killing Ground', 'Court of the Crimson King', 'Coming Home', 'Dragon's Lair', 'You Don't Know What You've Got', 'Deeds of Glory', 'Shadows On the Wall'

There's more metal greatness to sink your teeth into on Killing Ground. As with the last few records, this one begins with a short introductory track consisting of battle sounds before kicking off with the title track. The title track in question is awesome; a stormin', chuggin' number with some killer riffing, an anthemic chorus and a tolling bell to set the mood. They follow this up with a dramatic cover of prog rock legends King Crimson's 'Court of the Crimson King'. Seems like an odd decision to stick a six-minute cover song so early into an album (the original was over ten minutes long however), but Saxon really do it justice and perform it in a way that doesn't obviously sound like a cover - that is, if you were unfamiliar with the original of course. I owned this album way back in my teens and never listened to King Crimson until my early twenties, so when I originally heard this song I didn't realise it was a cover. Then we're given 'Coming Home', which is structured around a very bluesy, catchy riff and is a nice little tune that I've always enjoyed. One of the best tracks on here is certainly 'Dragon's Lair', which to me has an old-school power metal sound going for it. It's melodic, speedy heavy metal at it's finest. 

'You Don't Know What You've Got' has some tasty bluesy chops in it's riffs, like 'Coming Home' - only this track is a lot heavier and features a bit more groove. 'Deeds of Glory' is classic Saxon speed metal. The chorus has a big, singalong quality. 'Running for the Border' is another very heavy, mid-tempo track with a more modern-sounding, groove-laden riff. But it works, so that's all that matters! 'Shadows On the Wall' was always a bit weird to me when I was younger, but has grown on me over the years. It is made up of many ballad-like segments, but also features these detuned breakdown riffs complete with distorted vocals. Is it a ballad? I dunno, but I like it either way. Killing Ground ends on 'Rock is Our Life', which sounds like it could be a cheesy Crusader anthem, but thankfully it isn't. It actually has some awesome, bangin' riffage on it, and the lyrics are more in line with a classic anthem such as 'Denim and Leather' than 'Rock City'. 

Complaints? Erm, not a lot really. 'Hell Freezes Over' is definitely a solid hard rocker but not one that I would stick on a Saxon compilation - it sounds kinda tired. Also, I still like the songs on Metalhead and Unleash the Beast slightly more overall, but I find Killing Ground to maybe be a tad more varied musically which is cool in it's own right. I think the production on this one is better than either of the last two as well. The drum sound in particular is stellar, as are the guitar tones. And Biff Byford's vocal performance hasn't dipped in quality one bit. Again, there's not a bad track on here. Some are stronger than others of course, but overall this is yet another album that's well worthy of your time. It's exactly what I look for in a Saxon album.   

Adam's rating: 8.5/10

HEAVY METAL THUNDER          2002          (SPV)

- Standouts: 'Crusader', 'Backs to the Wall'

One of those discs full of old songs newly re-recorded. Normally I have a hissy fit when these things are released as I find them to be lazy for the most part. I just reworked my Suicidal Tendencies page prior to this one, and their discography is littered with these kinds of releases. Like, imagine how many new fucking songs we could have had from them instead! However, I can actually justify Heavy Metal Thunder because despite their age, Saxon are easily one of the hardest-working metal bands in the world, constantly recording new albums and touring. You tend to get a new Saxon album every two to three years, which really isn't a long time to wait at all compared to a lot of bands these days. So really, Heavy Metal Thunder is a nice little bonus release to me. As far as the music is concerned, they went back and re-did songs from the debut up until 1984's Crusader. And to be fair, these are decent versions too. I still prefer all the originals, and I always will - but the modern, crunchy, beefed-up production really adds a new level of heaviness. Plus, Biff's voice may not be the same as it was in the 80's, but he still sounds great now for different reasons. And I really like the new version of 'Backs to the Wall', originally from the debut. That album was always lacking sonically, so it's cool to hear this one alive in the twenty-first century. Also, I enjoy the new version of 'Crusader' because, again, the production on that album was rather slick and glossy. On top of this, the band also threw in a second CD featuring five live tracks from a 2002 show in the US, plus a music video for 'Killing Ground'. This is the version I own. However, if you pick up the 2015 reissue, the original bonus CD has been replaced with a different one - a full concert recording of their Bloodstock gig in 2014. I was actually there for that performance!

All in all, this is a neat release. Not essential, but worth it for the fans. My main issue however, is the fact they played it safe and re-recorded all the popular classics from Wheels of Steel, Strong Arm of the Law etc.. I'd have preferred it if they'd looked at the less popular songs from the albums that generally didn't go down so well with the fans and critics. I'd have liked to have heard some of the Rock the Nations stuff with more balls. And honestly, some of those god-awful Destiny songs sucked mainly because of the horrible 80's synths/keyboards, as well as the production. If they re-worked them for this release, maybe they could've been decent. Just seems like a missed opportunity. Ah well.

Adam's rating: 7/10

LIONHEART          2004          (SPV)
- Standouts: The whole album.

This is a much-beloved record amongst Saxon fans, and for good reason. Opener 'Witchfinder General' might just be one of their hardest, fastest - and quite possibly best songs ever. The drumming on this track is incredible. 'Man and Machine' is a no-bullshit, heavy chugger - fairly straightforward stuff, but in the best way possible. The epic title track comes with it's own intro track to set the mood ('The Return'). 'Lionheart' itself is an excellent slice of traditional heavy metal, with tons of melody. To me it almost sounds like a 'Crusader' for the twenty-first century, with better musicianship and some ripping guitar solos. 'Beyond the Grave' has some more modern elements in it musically - it takes a while to digest as a Saxon song, but it's definitely grown on me over the years. This track was released as a single, which seems odd at first - but the song is really hard to forget, so maybe it wasn't such an odd choice after all. Of course, the band put 'Justice' and 'To Live by the Sword' next; both are heavy as hell and really help the album flow better. The former is more mid-tempo listening, while the latter is a phenomenal speed metal number.

I really like the little acoustic piece, 'Jack Tars'. It serves as a nice prologue to 'English Man O' War', which is probably the most old-school sounding Saxon track on Lionheart. The riffing on this track sounds like it could've come straight from an album like Power & the Glory, which is awesome! 'Searching for Atlantis' has a ballady chorus, but also comes with some crunchy, tight riffs and plenty of atmospheric, moody verses. Like 'Beyond the Grave', it's Saxon honing their style for the modern metal scene. I'll admit that I find 'Flying on the Edge' to be slightly less exciting than the rest of this album, but it's an extremely heavy note to go out on, and given the overall quality of this record, it really doesn't bring it down for me.

Lionheart is an outstanding album among this massive discography. The band really outdid themselves on this one, giving 101% - and it shows in the songs. I mean, the last three albums were all great stuff, but the actual playing on Lionheart is one step above those records. In my opinion, this is one of their finest achievements.

Here's a pointless ramble: annoyingly, all the Saxon albums from Solid Ball of Rock up until 2007's The Inner Sanctum seem to be out of print these days, and as a result are kinda pricey to buy. I wasn't aware of this until I started re-writing this page in 2022. I think I had every Saxon album by around 2011 - I say that because I saw them live that year when Call to Arms was released and was deliberately trying to get hold of all the studio albums I didn't have at the time - everything was in wide circulation and easy to buy for a reasonable price then (and then I come to the realisation that this was ELEVEN years ago now!). But man! It's weird looking at all this stuff on eBay and Discogs etc. now and seeing how expensive some of these CD's are today. Basically all of the 80's albums are currently in print as reissues/remasters, but I have really old pressings of Wheels of Steel, Crusader and Power & the Glory that are kinda rare and expensive today. Fortunately, basically all the albums reviewed on this page are on Spotify, but yeah... it is nice to actually own a physical copy of everything!

2024 edit: it looks like the majority of these albums I've just spoken about were reissued by BMG in 2023, if I'm not mistaken? So that ramble is now kind of irrelevant as all these CD's are currently back in print and widely available, but they weren't at the time I wrote the review!  Anyhow, I'm keeping my ramble as a time capsule. 

Adam's rating: 9.1/10

THE EAGLE HAS LANDED - PART III         2006          (BMG)

The third chapter in the live The Eagle Has Landed series. Like Part II, this one is also a 2-CD affair, packed full of various performances spanning their 2004/2005 European tour. To my ears, the sound quality and production on Part III is a tad rawer and less cleaned-up than it's '90s predecessor, but is still lightyears away from bootleg-quality. Every instrument is audible and the album still sounds great, just for different reasons. In terms of the actual tracklisting, well, they've done a good job here. Disc one is made up entirely of old-school Saxon 'bangers from the debut and all throughout their '80s records. While there are some predictable and obvious picks in disc one ('Wheels of Steel', 'Never Surrender', 'Crusader', 'And the Bands Played On' etc.), there's also a nice number of slightly lesser-played oldies on here too. You're also getting absolute classics such as 'Redline', 'Warrior', 'Stallions of the Highway', 'Frozen Rainbow' and 'This Town Rocks'. So even for the die hard fan who's heard or seen 'Wheels of Steel' performed a trillion times, there's even a nice selection of deeper old-school cuts on disc one to digest here. Just to clarify, the fact there are some regulars upon this disc is not a bad thing in any way, I just always appreciate hearing any sort of less obvious choices when it comes to live albums.

Speaking of lesser-played songs, aside from 'Broken Heroes' and 'Solid Ball of Rock' - both of which I take zero issue with - the second disc is made up only of songs from Unleash the Beast, Metalhead, Killing Ground and Lionheart, and is my favourite disc of the 2 because of this. The oldies are timeless for a reason, but I honestly do believe that basically every Saxon album from Unleash the Beast onwards is just as enjoyable and important to the band's legacy, and I listen to them just as much as I do the old stuff. My favourite track from this half of the record is the performance of 'Court of the Crimson King' - the original King Crimson rendition is brilliant, but it really is mad just how well this works as a Saxon number too. The Lionheart numbers sound great live too, particularly the moody 'Beyond the Grave', the masterful 'Searching for Atlantis' and the bruising 'Man and Machine'. Finally, it's really cool to see 'Are We Travellers in Time' from Metalhead on here. That album has been a favourite of mine ever since I first picked it up about half my life ago. Oh, and shout-out to 'Dragon's Lair', originally from Killing Ground... it's yet another unadulterated Saxon deep cut, and it's old-school power metal glory never gets old for me.

All in all, I'm giving this a slightly higher score than Part II, but it's only because I like the tracklisting more overall. Both are awesome... this one is just that little bit stronger! Here's hoping for a Part IV in the future...

I feel like I'm committing blasphemy by admitting that the original Eagle Has Landed is my least favourite of the 3, but at the same time I really couldn't give a toss if the original is generally considered to be their best live effort. I'll bet you 100 quid 90% of people who think the original is best have never listened to, or were even aware that a Part II and III even existed.

Adam's rating: 8.7/10

THE INNER SANCTUM          2007          (SPV)
- Standouts: 'State of Grace', 'Need for Speed', 'Let Me Feel Your Power', 'Red Star Falling', 'I've Got to Rock (To Stay Alive)', 'If I Was You', 'Going Nowhere Fast', 'Attila the Hun'

Ah, 2007! It was my final year of school, and I was already a huge metalhead at this point. However, it was a time when I was still collecting discographies of my favourite bands. It was either spend the money I was making from my paper-round morning job on more albums from my favourite bands, or buy a few of those here and there plus other albums from bands I hadn't heard, in order to keep discovering new music. Anyhow, Saxon were one of my favourite bands by 2007, and I had already owned the debut album up until Power & the Glory, plus a compilation. But I hadn't heard anything they'd done from the 90's onward at that point. I remember asking for the 2007 album The Inner Sanctum for my birthday, which was brand new at the time (it came out on 5th March 2007 according to Wikipedia, my birthday is in April) and getting great reviews in the magazines I was reading at the time, like Classic Rock and Metal Hammer. I ended up getting the limited edition version of the album, which came with a bonus DVD called A Night Out with the Boys (it was basically a concert video). I played this album to death for about a year, and it was easily my favourite of 2007. It's also the album that really made me go out and collect all the Saxon material. 

'State of Grace' is the power metal-esque opener, that drips with atmosphere and melody, but also boasts a powerfully heavy chorus. A brilliant opening track. Two speed metal numbers come next, 'Need for Speed' and 'Let Me Feel Your Power'. 'Need for Speed' is very cool, and more in line with the band's earlier speed metal tracks such as 'Heavy Metal Thunder' or 'To Hell and Back Again'. But 'Let Me Feel Your Power' is definitely my favourite of the two - this track just kicks ass on all levels and is an all-out assault to the senses. It's also the only song I've heard the band play live from this album. I first saw them at Sonisphere festival in 2009, but Into the Labyrinth was already out at that point so they weren't really focussing on Inner Sanctum by then. Well, 'Red Star Falling' is an excellent, heavy and brooding ballad about the downfall of the Soviet Union and the communism that went with it. To keep things interesting, they throw a rock-solid, fun metal anthem in with 'I've Got to Rock (To Stay Alive)'. I remember the single version of this track featuring Lemmy doing guest vocals with Biff, but this rendition just sounded strange from what I remember. I'm a massive Motorhead fan, but I rarely ever wanted to hear his hoarse, gravelly vocals on anything but his own songs!

'If I Was You' is an extremely catchy, heavy and... punky single? The lyrics are great, discussing gun laws, and there's just something about the nature of this track that has a punk-like sensibility to me. It's not the riffs or anything like that, it might be the chorus. Great track either way. I always used to consider 'Going Nowhere Fast' to be the filler song on this album, but hearing it again today I think it's actually quite a nice, retro-style Saxon metaller. 'Ashes to Ashes' is the weakest track on here in reality, but even this is still a fun, simplistic anthem with a good singalong chorus at the end of the day. The last song is 'Attila the Hun'. If you hadn't already guessed, it's about Attila himself (duh), and it's also the longest song on the record with it's eight minute length. It's not quite as proggy as you'd expect it to be at that length - I mean, it does have a few transitions here and there, but for the most part this song is 100% heavy, and pretty awesome if I say so myself.

I always used to say that this was my favourite of the more recent Saxon material, but I have to admit that this isn't necessarily the case today. I think I was just saying that 'cos it was the first of the newer Saxon albums that I heard, and it left an impression on me back then. Lionheart is definitely better. That said, this is still an excellent album with zero duff songs on it... yet again. 

Edit: By the way, I did own Machine Head's The Blackening in 2007. How I could I avoid it? It was one of the most overrated things in metal, ever. I, the greasy teenager in 2007, remember being sick of all the other greasy teenagers telling me The Blackening was the best metal album not only of '07, but also the best in years! Dude, it was like, the best since Trivium's Ascendency (another hugely overrated album of the time...)! Idiots.

Adam's rating: 8.9/10


THE VERY BEST OF 1979-1988          2007          (EMI)
This is a three-CD compilation that covers the years from the eponymous debut album up to 1988's fucking abysmal Destiny. The sound quality is superb; it sounds as if all these tunes have been remastered, plus it's kind of cool that some live numbers were thrown in too. The first disc consists of tracks from the first three records. The second revolves around Denim and Leather, Power & the Glory and the live album The Eagle Has Landed. Then of the course, the third disc is really patchy because it features songs from the inconsistent Crusader, the surprisingly decent Innocence Is No Excuse, the sub-par Rock the Nations and the abomination that is Destiny. Would I actually recommend this collection though? Honestly, probably not.

Seriously, if you like old-school metal but you're not actually a die-hard Saxon fan (yet), just go out and buy Wheels of Steel, Strong Arm of the Law and Denim and Leather right now. Hell, grab Power & the Glory too while you're at it. They're all essential albums, and there are still plenty of classics missing from them on this compilation (where the fuck is the actual song 'Denim and Leather'?!). Then listen to the remaining albums the rest of these songs are taken from on Spotify, YouTube or wherever, and decide if you want to buy 'em. If your already a fan and have cash to blow, then pick it up I guess. It looks nice in the collection after all. Then you should listen to and buy their newer stuff, because all of it is fucking awesome!


INTO THE LABYRINTH          2009         (SPV)
- Standouts: 'Battalions of Steel', 'Demon Sweeney Todd', 'Valley of the Kings', 'Slow Lane Blues', 'Hellcat', 'Coming Home (Bottleneck Version)'

Like The Inner Sanctum, this album begins with another fantastically melodic, power metal-y opener, 'Battalions of Steel'. Must admit, I don't quite enjoy it as much as I do 'State of Grace', but it's still a great track that sets the mood right for Into the Labyrinth. To balance things out, the band immediately go into a fun and straightforward anthem with 'Live to Rock'. Again, very comparable to 'I've Got to Rock (To Stay Alive)', and nearly as good too, if a little too simplistic. 'Demon Sweeney Todd' is about as thrashy as Saxon gets. This track is as appropriately barbaric as the iconic fictional character that the lyrics discuss. 'The Letter' is a brief interval for the epic-sounding 'Valley of the Kings', which has a slight symphonic edge going on. 'Slow Lane Blues' almost feels like a sequel to 'Strong Arm of the Law' in terms of it's lyrics. It's obviously inferior to 'Strong Arm', but is still a solid mid-tempo, gritty number. 'Crime of Passion' is one of the heaviest songs on here, and chugs along at a steady tempo. 'Hellcat' is more great speed metal and contains one of the best, catchiest riffs on the album. I do really enjoy the bluegrass sounds of 'Coming Home (Bottleneck Version)' - that was a surprisingly bluesy song from Killing Ground, and it actually works really well in this ragged, unplugged rendition here too. It's different for the band, and it's fresh.

Strangely enough, I remember this album being a lot better - like, only marginally weaker than The Inner Sanctum. Hearing it in full again for this updated review however, I actually found myself enjoying it slightly less than any of the last five records. It's a bit all over the place musically and I feel it just doesn't flow all that well at times. And there's definitely a few weak spots on here. I think 'Voice' is a little tired and uninspiring, and I can't really tell if it's trying to be a ballad or not. It's just not memorable. And I'm not entirely sure why they gave it it's own mini introductory track, 'Premonition in D Minor'. Whatever. 'Protect Yourselves' is really slow and heavy, but again, is a definite filler track that does little to stand out. I never used to be all that keen on 'Come Rock of Ages (The Circle Is Complete)', but thankfully this one's grown on me over time, thanks to it's chorus.

This album ended a streak of great Saxon records, but is still pretty damn solid for the most part. I guess you can expect the odd hiccup here and there when you release new music as frequently as these guys do. 

Adam's rating: 7.9/10


CALL TO ARMS          2011         (UDR)
- Standouts: 'Hammer of the Gods', 'Back in 79', 'Mists of Avalon', 'Call to Arms', 'Chasing the Bullet', 'Afterburner', 'When Doomsday Comes (Hybrid Theory)', 'Ballad of the Working Man'

Call to Arms has a deliberately more stripped-back, vintage feel in terms of it's production. I welcome this - there's been no issues production-wise for decades of course, but it's refreshing to hear something that sounds a little closer to their old stuff from the early 80's than the meaty, chunky production of the last few albums. As for the songs, 'Hammer of the Gods' is one more excellent speed metaller to add to the list. This is modern Saxon with a rawer production. 'Back in 79' is almost an anthemic tribute to themselves! But it's a much-deserved celebration if anything, and a fun arena rock song. 'Surviving Against the Odds' is very good too, with some nice grooves in the riffs. 'Mists of Avalon' is a very melodic metaller with some very pleasant vocal and guitar melodies throughout. Also of note on this track, is the added keyboard use. They're kept to a minimum, and only used when necessary. In short, they only improve this track's atmosphere. I guess I was expecting the title track to be some kind of anthem. Well, it sort of is, but it has several slow-building, brooding segments of it's own. The lyrics are great, and deal with the experiences of a frontline soldier - very fitting given the album artwork features Lord Kitchener himself. 

'Chasing the Bullet' features some very simplistic riffs - but they're simplistic in a good way. Very catchy, very infectious. And some of those guitar leads are very much in line with AC/DC. Every now and then you hear a Saxon tune that clearly draws inspiration from AC/DC, whether it be a riff, a lick, or the entire song as a whole. This is one of the better ones. 'Afterburner' is probably the fastest and most aggressive track on Call to Arms. The mid-part of the song, with it's solos, is very melodic however, and breaks up the intensity of the rest of the track. Perhaps the most musically interesting song on this record is 'When Doomsday Comes (Hybrid Theory)'... why does that repeating guitar/keyboard riff sound so familiar? Oh yeah, it totally resembles Deep Purple's 'Perfect Strangers'! Turns out that Don Airey actually provided any of the keyboard work on this album. This is the only track where the keyboards really play any major role in a song, and even has a solo on it. I guess if Deep Purple's not your thing, you probably won't enjoy 'When Doomsday Comes'... but Purple are basically my favourite band alongside Sabbath, so I do. And anyway, if you don't dig Deep Purple, then, ya know... just go home. 'Ballad of the Working Man' has some fantastic, Thin Lizzy-esque guitar riffs and harmonies written all over it. This is one of my favourite tracks on the record, an excellent rocker. 

In terms of filler, well, 'No Rest for the Wicked' is marginally weaker than the majority of these tracks. It's heavy, sure, but that weird grungy intro/outro doesn't really sit that well with me. Not a bad song by any stretch of the imagination, just nothing special. Also, I don't really see why they felt the need to end with an orchestral version of the title track. It's honestly not that bad, with the strings giving the song a more dramatic effect overall, but I still prefer the normal version. To be fair, I kinda see this as a bonus track more than anything. Really though, this is another fine album from the Saxon camp. It's not really as heavy as some of the last few, but it does have a decidedly old-school quality that actually makes it stand out among the more recent material. Oh, I also saw them live way back in 2011, touring for this album. It was a pretty great show.

Adam's rating: 8.2/10

OLIVER/DAWSON SAXON - MOTORBIKER          2012          (Angel Air)

- Standouts: 'Motorbiker', 'Just Another Suicide', 'Nevada Beach'
Oliver/Dawson Saxon?! Is that some weird tribute band to the early days of Saxon, when Graham Oliver and Steve Dawson were still members? Well, sort of. When Graham Oliver was fired from Saxon in the mid-'90s, he and Steve Dawson reunited and performed as Son of a Bitch - which was the band that Saxon originally formed out of. They even released an album in 1996 (Victim You) with Pete Gill back at the drum kit, but it wouldn't be long before Oliver and Dawson would start performing under the Oliver/Dawson Saxon moniker. I'm assuming they did this to differentiate themselves from the actual Saxon band (as well as not getting sued...) whilst still making it quite clear that 2 of the original members of Saxon were a part of this project and performing Saxon songs live themselves.

Anyhow, jump to 2012 and Oliver/Dawson released a new studio album of original tracks. Literally every ODS release prior was some sort of live recording featuring only Saxon classics. Sadly, Pete Gill doesn't play on Motorbiker - but to be fair to Graham and Steve, it doesn't sound to me like they were desperately trying to recapture the sounds of Wheels of Steel or Denim and Leather, despite almost always focusing on tracks from the first 6 Saxon albums in the live setting. To me, the album is a straight-up heavy metal record with some old-school and modern(ish) touches here and there.

I do have a major issue with Motorbiker sadly. I'm really not convinced by John Ward's vocals. True, he isn't trying to imitate Biff Byford in any way whatsoever - he very much does his own thing, which is respectable. But his vocals are insanely gravelly, but not low-range - and he just sounds quite jarring to me at times. It's like his voice is compatible on some songs, such as the title track, 'No Way Out' and (surprisingly) the melodic ballad 'Just Another Suicide'. But then on others such as the up-tempo 'Whippin' Boy' and the plodding 'Sinternet', he really gives it his all and manages to sound terrible in the process. It almost sounds as if he's actually damaging his vocal chords at times. The man strains his voice a bit too far sometimes, and occasionally has this uncomfortable gargle in his voice box. Either he was way past his prime in 2012 or he actually damaged his vocals recording this album. It's a shame because like I said, there's times where I dig his vocal style and he definitely suits the music.

And that's the good thing about this album - the music itself is rather good overall. Not spectacular, groundbreaking or game-changing in any way, but solid. Oh, I will say that 'Nursery Crimes' kinda sucks, but that's only because of the stupid kiddie rhyme recitals throughout the track, but 95% of this album is pretty decent musically. The guitar riffs are heavy and detuned, which is of course a more modern trait of metal, but the old-school vibes are still there within the songs. There's also a ton of good riffs to sit through on almost every track, and while the style of music is still, at core, similar to what Saxon have been doing since Unleash the Beast in 1997, Motorbiker doesn't sound like a deliberate parallel to Saxon despite the ODS brand. And that's good, because it gives me more reason to actually listen to this thing. It's not a superior alternative to Saxon, but then it doesn't really sound like Saxon to me anyway.

With those dodgy vocals however, it's really difficult to give this a 7/10 or above. With a different vocalist it probably would've been. The music's good - like I said, the riffs are there, but also the production is crunchy, Graham Oliver's guitar solos are nice, and the music as a whole does it's job as a rock-solid heavy metal record. No, it still isn't as good as the vast majority of Saxon's latter-period catalogue, but at heart these are still enjoyable songs. It's just a shame I'm really on the fence with the vocals! For that reason, I kinda forget ODS are (or should I say were - Steve Dawson retired from music in 2021) even a thing. I've had this disc in my collection since it was released or thereabouts, but I haven't listened to it much in all those years. 

So in conclusion... it's not a waste of time, but it's not really worth your time either? Yeah, I'll just leave it at that.

Adam's rating: 6.3/10

SACRIFICE          2013          (UDR)
- Standouts: 'Sacrifice', 'Made in Belfast', 'Warriors of the World', 'Guardians of the Tomb', 'Stand Up and Fight', 'Night of the Wolf', 'Wheels of Terror', 'Standing in a Queue'

Honestly, it feels as if we've gotten to a point where you can just assume that pretty much anything new this band releases will be decent at the very least. And I'm totally cool with that! They might not be completely blowing me away with their music, but 90% of the time what they do give us is nearly always great. And that includes 2013's Sacrifice. After the short introduction ('Procession'), the title track kicks things off. This song is heavy as hell, featuring some absolutely killer, pummelling riffage from Quinn and Scarratt. As soon as this song begins, you can already tell that Sacrifice is gonna be a heavier record than Call to Arms. The production is beefier and more modern once again, so the vintage style of Call to Arms was a one-off more than anything. Anyhow, the title track kicks fuckin' ass, 'nuff said! 'Made in Belfast' manages to be a really heavy mid-tempoer, but it also has some little acoustic quips in there to add more melody when necessary. Nice track, as is 'Warriors of the Road' - the first biker anthem in a while and an appropriately fast and heavy song that deserves to played loud.

'Guardians of the Tomb' cashes in on the Aztec feels of the album cover with that weird, ancient-sounding introduction (sorry, I'm really drawing a blank on how to describe it properly...)! The bulk of this song is prime Saxon though, and as heavy as the rest of this record. 'Stand Up and Fight' - probably one of the most generic song titles of all time (do a Spotify search) - is one of the most straightforward, no-frills metal songs on this album that does it's job just fine, which is to pace the record nicely. 'Night of the Wolf' is a ballad, I guess? It has some ballad-ish melodies, vocal structures and a few acoustic touches in it for sure, but really this is an exceptionally melodic slab of traditional heavy metal. The good shit! 'Wheels of Terror' is as heavy as you'd expect it to be, and 'Standing in a Queue' is this album's dose of old-school, fun Saxon. 

My least favourite track on this album is probably 'Walking the Steel'. As usual, it's really not bad at all - Saxon don't dare risk doing anything stupid on their albums these days, but it does plod along a little too slowly for my tastes, and the riffs aren't anything to write home about. But aside from this, Sacrifice is one more excellent album for the band to add to their list.
Adam's rating: 8.5/10


BATTERING RAM          2015          (UDR)

- Standouts: 'Battering Ram', 'The Devil's Footprint', 'Queen of Hearts', 'Destroyer', 'Eye of the Storm', 'Top of the World', 'To the End', 'Kingdom of the Cross'

I'm immensely enjoying listening to the Saxon catalogue in full again (well, mostly), but I am getting pretty tired of writing about it at this point. So let's not beat around the bush, let's dive right into 2015's Battering Ram. It's the second Saxon record to be produced by in-demand metal producer Andy Sneap. I've noticed that a lot of hardcore metal fans seem to criticise Sneap's production these days, calling him overrated. I dunno about that. Like Sacrifice, this album sounds just as good, if not better than anything else that Saxon have made across the last few decades. Battering Ram is as crunchy and heavy as I'd like the band to sound - I mean, he's no Rick Rubin... and thank fuck for that!

The songs are as great as ever. The opening title track is one of my favourite Saxon tunes full-stop, absolutely awesome stuff. Those riffs man, those riffs! And that dual-guitar harmony! I also love 'The Devil's Footprint' - this song is crushingly heavy in the verses, but the chorus adds melody that this band pull off so well. The goofy spoken-word intro sort of feels like a throwback to 'Crusader', but it works. 'Queen of Hearts' is a heavy, chugging number with tons of atmosphere and some cool, if kinda janky rhythms. Again, great track. 'Destroyer' is largely built around a riffy groove, but the chorus and bridge parts definitely hearken back to golden-era Saxon. Biff almost sounds like Rob Halford at the end! Haven't heard him scream like that before! 'Hard and Fast' isn't an entirely accurate description of what to expect with this number. 'Hard', yes. 'Fast', not really. Still a cool song though, as is 'Eye of the Storm'. This is another extremely heavy song by this band's standards. A bit cheesy lyrically, but not in a way that makes me cringe.

'Stand Your Ground' is a much-needed, and solid speed metal track. I say 'much-needed' because the last bunch of songs were really heavy, but bordering on slower tempos. I wouldn't say label 'Stand Your Ground' one of the better speedy tracks from the last bunch of records, but it's still quite difficult to find anything majorly wrong with it. Maybe that weird, synthy guitar mid-section break is unnecessary, but meh - another good song overall. 'Top of the World' is more of a melodic hard rock song than it is heavy metal (well, aside from the guitar solo and riffs which accompany it), but I still dig it a lot. It's catchy and keeps things interesting with this record. 'To the End' starts off with some absolutely massive riffs, but then quickly morphs into something of a hard rock ballad - and an enjoyable one too. Saxon are one of those bands who do ballads fairly well overall. Sure, they've got crappy ones such as 'Do It All for You' and 'I Can't Wait Anymore', but they've also got decent ones such as 'Iron Wheels' and 'Red Star Falling'. I guess you could say that generally their post-80's ballads are decent overall. 'Kingdom of the Cross' is an odd choice of album closer. It's largely a spoken-word narration affair - sort of sounds like the prologue to a fantasy movie or something (it actually discusses World War I battlefields... it's the delivery of the dialogue that makes it sound like a Lord of the Rings narrator). Honestly, if another band wrote 'Kingdom of the Cross', I'd probably argue that the powerful words should have been sung instead. But 'cos Saxon wrote it, it actually works for me!

I'm not sure if 'Three Sheets to the Wind (The Drinking Song)' is a bonus track or not - I think it is. If so, it's the weakest track on the album. Given the title, I was expecting it to be some silly piss-take track, but it's kind of just a generic rocker at the end of the day. Harmless, but not as good as the rest of the album. Still, it ain't affecting my overall opinion of this record, which is that I prefer it to Sacrifice. It's crazy how many records this band have churned out, and the fact I'm still not getting bored of their brand of metal! That is a hell of an achievement! 

Adam's rating: 8.7/10


THUNDERBOLT          2018          (Silver Lining Music)

- Standouts: 'Thunderbolt', 'The Secret of Flight', 'Nosferatu (The Vampire's Waltz)', 'They Played Rock n' Roll', 'Predator', 'Sniper

Like I said in the last review, now I'm really getting tired of reworking this page! It has nothing to do with the quality of the music of course - if anything, I appreciate Saxon now even more than I already did. But goddamn it, writing twenty-plus reviews for a discography that isn't exactly what you'd call 'diverse' is a big ask, frankly! Whatever, here's Thunderbolt from 2018. It's another high-quality slice of traditional heavy metal from one of the masters of this trade. The title track is a predictably awesome, heavy, punchy number that sort of reminds me of Judas Priest's 'Firepower'. Saxon's album title tracks almost always seem to be awesome, 'Wheels of Steel', 'Strong Arm of the Law', 'Denim and Leather', 'Power & the Glory', 'Crusader', 'Forever Free', 'Dogs of War', 'Unleash the Beast', 'Metalhead', 'Killing Ground', 'Sacrifice', 'Battering Ram'... you get the picture. 'Rock the Nations'... okay, maybe not that one.

'The Secret of Flight' has a big, epic quality, and some really nice melodic guitar leads throughout. 'Nosferatu (The Vampire's Waltz)' is another cool song - again, it takes the 'epic' route and tries to be as atmospheric as possible with the church organ intro and choir-like vocal harmonies. Combined with the heavy riffs, it works really well. Then there's the Motorhead tribute, 'They Played Rock n' Roll'. To be fair, this track could pass off as a bog-standard Saxon number if it weren't for the title and lyrics, but when you listen to closely to the riffs, there's definitely plenty of Motorhead influence going on. Johan Hegg of Amon Amarth guests on 'Predator', providing his signature growls to accompany Biff's trademark vocals. To be honest, I was expecting this track to be an epic fail because I felt Johan's drastically-different vocal style would clash too much with Biff's, but this song crushes. I still like it as much now as I did when this album first came out. 'Sniper' somehow manages to remind me a little of a slightly slowed-down Annihilator, which is actually really cool. 'A Wizard's Tale' has some really inspired riffage throughout, and 'Speed Merchants' is an ass-kicking, old-school fast metaller.

In terms of the weaker stuff on here, I'm not that keen on 'Sons of Odin'. It's not bad by any means, it just sounds a bit like a wannabe rendition of Black Sabbath's 'Heaven and Hell' to me. Also, 'Roadies Song' is a bit generic, but still listenable. I don't enjoy Thunderbolt quite like I do Battering Ram or Sacrifice, and I think that's due to the lack of faster songs. I mean, you've only really got 'Speed Merchants' in that regard. That said, the majority of this CD is still really damn good as you've come to expect from this band at this point in time.

Adam's rating: 8.1/10

THE EAGLE HAS LANDED 40: LIVE          2019          (Silver Lining Music)

You know in my Eagle Has Landed Part III review when I hoped for a Part IV, well it turns out there sorta is! And it's this - The Eagle Has Landed 40: Live. The '40' part refers to the band's 40th anniversary however, and not the 40th anniversary of the actual Eagle Has Landed live album. I remember this being released in 2019, but not really reading into it or really inspecting it's contents properly. Until very recently, I thought it was just a reissue of the original 1982 record with an added bonus live disc or 2 thrown in for good measure. But if it was a 40th anniversary of said album, then it should technically have been released in 2022, not 2019! So why I didn't pick up on that is a bit of a mystery to me. Maybe I can't do maths? Well, I did always suck at maths in school...

Either way, it's now early 2025 and I finally bagged myself a sealed CD copy just a few days ago!! I have to say, I'm very happy with it too. It might as well have just been called The Eagle Has Landed Part IV because it features 3 whole discs of live Saxon greatness recorded between 2007 and 2018. So it picks up right where Part III left off. There's songs from practically every era across the entire package, and the tracks in question were recorded all over Europe (plus a handful in the States) in that span of time - from Sheffield, London, Berlin to Zoetermeer, San Antonio and Manchester!

Disc 1 has a bunch of songs from one of my favourite modern-era Saxon records, 2007's The Inner Sanctum. 'State of Grace' is as blistering as ever, 'Red Star Falling' moody and dramatic as it should be and 'If I Was You' is such a catchy, punky number that deserves to played more often live. To be honest, it's nice to have any live material from The Inner Sanctum, that was the first Saxon album I got hold of as a new release way back in '07. Anyway, this first live disc also features cuts from 2009's Into the Labyrinth - including the scorching 'Demon Sweeney Todd', and it also covers others from the 2011 album Call to Arms. Jeez!! Has it really been 14 years since Call to Arms dropped?! The second time I saw the band it was on that tour!! There's a few oldies on here too, the most notable ones being 'Machine Gun', which is a Wheels of Steel classic that rarely see's the light of day on stage, so that's super cool to hear. Also 'Rock n' Roll Gypsy' from Innocence Is No Excuse... such a great single that I'd be all for seeing a comeback for in their live sets.

Disc 2 enters 2013's awesome Sacrifice album - ah!! This band have so many good records!! So you're getting numbers like 'Sacrifice', 'Night of the Wolf' and 'Stand Up and Fight', but the bulk of this CD is actually mostly older stuff. Signature regulars like 'Denim and Leather', 'The Eagle Has Landed', 'Power and the Glory', 'Dallas 1PM', 'Crusader' and 'Princess of the Night' which I never tire of hearing, but there's also a deep cut with the speed metal blazer 'Conquistador' from '99s Metalhead. This is a fantastic tune, and here it eventually drifts into a Nigel Glockler drum solo. Truth be told I'm not a huge fan of drum solos, but I can take this one. I think the first disc is a tad stronger than this one overall because plenty of these tracks are of course, scattered throughout a lot of the bands' other live albums. But it's still a highly entertaining listen for a serious fan like myself.

Disc 3 has songs from 2015's Battering Ram and 2018's Thunderbolt on it, but also a few more tunes spanning the back catalogue. Really cool to see 'Killing Ground' on here, plus 'This Town Rocks' is fun. Also '20,000 Ft.'... in fact, '20,000 Ft.' features Andy Sneap guesting guitars; at this point he was the band's producer, and since this was 2018 I think he might have also been filling in for Glenn Tipton live with Judas Priest as well. There's a couple of other guest collaborations too - the band cover the 'Ace of Spades' with Motorhead's most legendary guitar player 'Fast' Eddie Clarke (RIP) lending a hand! Very cool. Motorhead's longest-serving guitarist Phil Campbell also guests on Saxon staple '747 (Strangers in the Night)'. And of course, Battering Ram and Thunderbolt crackers 'The Secret of Flight', 'Nosferatu', 'Battering Ram' and 'Eye of the Storm' etc. are all prime Saxon; basically any songs from what I like to call Saxon's 'modern era' (i.e. 1997's Unleash the Beast onward) almost always slot in comfortably alongside anything they wrote back in the old NWOBHM days.

Another super strong package here all in all. Hell, I might even call this my favourite of the entire Eagle Has Landed saga for the sheer volume of content alone. There's songs from a huge list of albums here, old and new (well, depending on what you consider to be 'new' anyway) and it's really difficult to find any major flaws in this package. The fact I got my copy brand new in an eBay auction for just £7.99 is nuts. I think it roughly retails for around £20 on average brand new? I know that the vinyl version comes in a massive box and is 5 or 6 times more expensive... I think part of the reason I never really looked into buying this thing for so long is because I only ever saw the big fancy LP set and it's scary price, and not the CD release. I'm sure it's a great set if you're willing to fork out a lot of money, but since I only occasionally buy vinyl there was no way I was ever gonna prioritise it. Anyhow, yet another tip-top live offering from the British metal machine.

Adam's rating: 9/10

INSPIRATIONS          2021         (Silver Lining Music)

- Standouts: 'Evil Woman', 'Speed King', 'Problem Child'

When a new Saxon studio release comes out, 99% of the time I pick it up whenever I can, but with Inspirations, I didn't pick it up until 2023. The reason being is that it's a covers album, and I don't remember the last time I was ever excited by these things. Anyhow, I did eventually bag a copy for £4, and bought it mainly for collection purposes more than anything else. Now that I've actually sat down and listened to this thing, it's not really that bad, just predictable. I can sort of get behind and justify the band making this record however. They don't owe any of us anything; Saxon tour all the fucking time and we get a new studio album from them basically every two to three years - and these guys have been around forever. Less than a year after Inspirations, we got 2022's Carpe Diem. And as of 2023, they've just done another covers album, the cleverly-titled More Inspirations.

So anyway, this disc is predictable because of the bands covered. The whole tracklisting takes inspiration from the band's own influences and the sort of covers they were performing when they started doing gigs in the '70s. Well, except for 'Bomber' that is, which I'm guessing was included because Saxon toured with and opened for Motorhead on their Bomber tour back in 1979. The rest of the songs however, mostly cover tracks from the '60s and early '70s. This means you're getting the expected covers of songs from the usual roster of bands - all of which have been covered by others a million times before.

Examples include the Stones' 'Paint It Black', Led Zep's 'Immigrant Song', the Beatles' 'Paperback Writer' and Thin Lizzy's 'The Rocker'... all of which are played competently here, if a little generically. The good news is that with Biff behind the mic, you can automatically tell that this is Saxon performing these oldies. Also, I think Paul Quinn and Doug Scarratt's guitar tones are recognisable enough too. It's just that they don't really do anything fresh or exciting with any of the tracks, save for possibly the guitar solos... which is either a good or bad thing depending on who you ask. Me, I like a cover to differentiate fairly significantly if possible - a good example of this would be Van Halen's take on 'You Really Got Me'. But at the same time, pretty much all the music here is harmless because they don't drastically alter the original structure of the music. Favourites for me include Deep Purple's 'Speed King' - not necessarily because Purple are my favourite band of all time, but because they chose a classic from one of the greatest heavy albums of all time (Deep Purple In Rock) that generally isn't covered all that often. So not every track on Inspirations is an entirely predictable choice, generally speaking. Obviously Saxon don't have keyboards and organs in their music either, so Jon Lord's contributions have been replaced with more screaming guitar solos. For the same reasons, my other choices include the AC/DC cover 'Problem Child' and Black Sabbath's 'Evil Woman', which in turn, was also a cover of the band Crow.

Deep Purple also made a covers album in 2021, Turning to Crime. Weirdly, I enjoy that one more-so than I do this, probably because they cover a lot of '50s and '60s R&B, folk and country-type stuff on it, which was less predictable overall. With Inspirations, I was comfortably familiar with every track before I heard it. Yeah, 'Speed King' and 'Problem Child' aren't especially obvious choices to cover from those bands, but every band covered here I could see coming a mile away. Still, for what it's worth, there's a lot worse ways to spend thirty-six minutes. I just don't see myself dedicating another thirty-six minutes of my time to hearing Inspirations again soon.

Adam's rating: 6/10

CARPE DIEM          2022          (Silver Lining Music)

- Standouts: 'Carpe Diem', 'Age of Steam', 'The Pilgrimage', 'Dambusters', 'Remember the Fallen', 'Super Nova', 'Black is the Night', 'Living On the Limit'

How. Do. They. Do. It?? It's 2022 and Saxon are back with another great record - Carpe Diem!! There's bands I enjoy more overall than Saxon, but there's few that I respect more than them. Been listening to this album fairly regularly since it's release at the start of February and been enjoying the hell out of it. I mean, I do kinda expect to enjoy the hell out of a new Saxon release these days. I don't know if that's a good thing or not, because if they do release something disappointing at this point, then it's gonna be really disappointing given the massive streak of quality material these past few decades. Like most of the more recent albums, Carpe Diem begins with the title track, which is an expectedly thunderous and powerful number that isn't without it's hooks. The "They came, they saw, they conquered" line in the chorus almost feels like a throwback to 'Warrior' from Power & the Glory. 'Age of Steam' is also a solid number with enough crunchy riffs as well as enough melody to leave you feeling satisfied. 'The Pilgrimage' is another excellent, melodic track to add to the list of other solid ballads in recent years. There's definitely a hint of 'Crusader' in it too, which is cool. To contrast 'The Pilgrimage', they follow up with 'Dambusters', which is a very strong speed metal track. I don't currently have a favourite track from this album, but this one is up there for sure.

Whatever your thoughts are on the COVID-19 pandemic, 'Remember the Fallen' is all about it. Of course, when such subject is bought up it often gets political, and politics is something I try to leave out of my blog. It's one of the easiest ways to stir up shit and lose friends. Musically however, 'Remember the Fallen' is prime Saxon metal. So is 'Super Nova' for that matter - another fine speed metaller. This track really sounds like it could fit on Metalhead to me, for some reason. Maybe it's the moody break in the middle. 'Black is the Night' most definitely contains one of the heaviest riffs Paul and Doug ever came up with! That riff alone makes this one a standout! The album closes with 'Living On the Limit' - more great speed metal with some awesomely melodic guitar harmonies in the middle. In terms of the tracks I'm not so keen on, they include... erm... 'Lady in Gray' I guess. But even then, I still sort of like it. I guess the symphonic-y touches don't really do it for, but the song is still heavy in it's own right. 'All for One' isn't perfect either, possibly bordering on filler. But it's still a decent enough, anthem-like old-school metaller that I can still sit through and enjoy without feeling the need to skip most days. 

So yeah, if you enjoyed anything this band has done in the past twenty-five years, then you should definitely be checking out Carpe Diem. Here's hoping we get another album out of 'em in another two/three years time, but if this ended up being the swansong, then I'd still be more than satisfied. In terms of ranking it, I like it more than Thunderbolt, but no more or less than Battering Ram - hence the score.

Just for the hell of it I treated myself to the collector's boxset thingy for this album. You get the album on vinyl as well as a digipak CD copy and a flag - and it all comes packaged in one of those nice big LP boxes. I love the album artwork - it reminds me of some of the illustrations in school history books that I was reading when I was a kid. 

Adam's rating: 8.7/10

MORE INSPIRATIONS          2023          (Silver Lining Music)

- Standouts: 'The Faith Healer', 'Chevrolet'

As you can tell from the title, this is another covers album, and a follow-up to 2021's Inspirations. Like the previous covers disc, it's Saxon covering '60s and '70s rock songs. Also like the previous covers disc (or basically any covers album recorded by any other artist for that matter), I pretty much never reach for it when I'm in the mood for some Saxon. I think I only listened to Inspirations maybe 3 times in total, and haven't listened to it since I reviewed it last year... seems odd that I've probably heard More Inspirations around 6 times now then, the reason being that I keep attempting to write this review and get fed up after a couple of paragraphs. So this is my final attempt at reviewing More Inspirations! 

Despite my feeble attempts at actually writing anything about this CD, it's really not a 'bad' listen as such. It's no better or worse than Inspirations, meaning the songs chosen are all good ones originally, and Saxon's renditions of them are all performed satisfactorily. But that's it. For the most part, the band don't do anything particularly interesting or exciting with any of them, yet there's nothing to really whinge about here either. A couple of these performances are pretty cool, actually - I quite like their take on the Sensational Alex Harvey Band's 'The Faith Healer', probably because I wasn't all that familiar with the original, and the cover is pretty damn slow and heavy in a good way. Also the ZZ Top cover of 'Chevrolet' is pretty fun if I say so myself.

The rest of the songs here are just alright though, like I said. I love the Who's 'Substitute', but the rendition featured here is a bit tired-sounding, as if the band were bored when they recorded it. And yet I still think it's kinda listenable all the same - I don't feel the urge to turn it off despite the fact it's not particularly fun or interesting. The Uriah Heep oldie, 'Gypsy', has been cut down and streamlined - it's missing that cool intro but Saxon have still managed to make it work without it. Rainbow's 'Man On the Silver Mountain' is a golden-age '70s metal classic... Saxon's take on it is just... okay once again. The original has Ritchie Blackmore and Ronnie James Dio on it, so it's never gonna be topped. The decision to cover Cream's 'Tales of Brave Ulysses' is certainly more original than yet another cover of 'Sunshine of Your Love', but the '60s psychedelia of the original recording is somewhat lost here... but again, it's really not terrible either.

A few things I want to add - firstly, this and 2021's Inspirations should have been released as a 2-CD double album. Together they feel more complete and for some strange reason I could see myself having more reason to listen to them if they were released as a single package. Secondly, I just don't think Saxon are a top choice for this sort of project. The only legitimately great covers they ever did were Christopher Cross' 'Ride Like the Wind' for 1988's woeful Destiny (one of, if not the only good thing about that abomination...), and also their underrated take of King Crimson's 'Court of the Crimson King' from 2001's Killing Ground. With these 21st century covers albums however, they prove that they can still cover songs competently, but nothing more. The final point I want to make however, is the fact that once again, as a die hard Saxon fan, I'm not offended in any way by this disc. In 2018 we had Thunderbolt. In 2021 we had Inspirations. In 2022 we had Carpe Diem. In 2023 we had More Inspirations. And now in 2024, we've just had Hell, Fire and Damnation. Saxon are not a young band in the slightest, yet I bet they tour and record more than 99% of other metal artists in general. 'Nuff said.

Adam's rating: 6/10

HELL, FIRE AND DAMNATION          2024          (Silver Lining Music)

- Standouts: 'Hell, Fire and Damnation', 'Madame Guillotine', 'Fire and Steel', 'There's Something in Roswell', 'Kubla Khan and the Merchant of Venice', '1066', 'Super Charger'

I've said it a billion times before, Saxon have been one of the most consistently great bands in heavy metal history. Aside from those 2 covers albums (which felt like just a bit of fun anyway), practically everything they've done since 1997's Unleash the Beast has been great. And there's been a lot of freaking albums in that span of time. And here we are in January of 2024, with yet another brand new album of original material, Hell, Fire and Damnation.

The only real notable change this time around is the fact that this is the first album in the entire discography to not prominently feature founding guitarist Paul Quinn. He stepped down from touring last year, presumably due to age which is completely understandable. Instead, the Diamond Head mastermind Brian Tatler was brought in to fill his shoes. What did surprise me however, was when I received my copy of this album in the post and took it out of the Amazon packaging, the photo of the band on the back of the digipak actually features Tatler and not Quinn. Turns out Brian is now a fully-fledged member of Saxon. Paul plays on a couple of tracks here ('Fire and Steel' and 'Super Charger'), but seems to have retired from Saxon almost completely. So I'm still getting used to seeing Brian in place of Paul! Worry not however, because the switch-up in guitarists doesn't appear to have had an effect on the band's music. And Brian Tatler is a legend in his own right; Diamond Head are awesome, and come from the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement just like Saxon did - so he's a perfectly suitable replacement. And the band's other guitar player, Doug Scarratt, has been present since 1995 so I'm fairly certain he knows what he's doing at this point in time.

With Hell, Fire and Damnation, we're treated to more molten metal, Saxon-style. It starts with the cheesy spoken-word intro 'The Prophecy' courtesy of Brian Blessed (!), before kicking off with the big, anthemic and truly heavy title track. Like every damn Saxon album for last 30 or so years (!!!), it's a perfect way to begin the record. Even better is 'Madame Guillotine'. This is a mid-tempo number with a lot of melody, and some really damn catchy guitar parts and vocal arrangements from Biff Byford. It might be my favourite track on the album right now, I find myself continually feeling the urge to repeat it once it's over. Meanwhile, 'Fire and Steel' is another fine addition to Saxon's long-list of great speed metal numbers.

Biff documents the Roswell incident on, erm, 'There's Something in Roswell'. It's another mid-tempo stomper, heavy riffs and the works - but Biff's vocals and lyrics are definitely the highlight of it for me. 'Kubla Khan and the Merchant of Venice' is interesting lyrically once again; apparently Kubla Khan was a poem written in 1797 - I was completely unaware of it, but it and this song both deal with the subject of Marco Polo, so Biff's once again really thought about his words. As for the music on this track, well, it's prime up-tempo, speedy Saxon, with an anthemic chorus to go with it. I also like 'Pirates of the Airwaves', which is all about pirate radio, is a catchy, straightforward number - but I don't know if it stacks up next to the previous tracks sadly. '1066' on the other hand, is great stuff once again. Biff's fascination with history once again continues on this Norman-Saxon document if the title didn't give things away. Musically it's tip-top, with tight, almost thrashy heavy riffing and memorable passages throughout. 'Witches of Salem' is another solid, old-school cut with some bluesy guitar licks here and there, but is overshadowed a tad by the fury of 'Super Charger', which concludes the album.

In the end, Hell, Fire and Damnation is another highly enjoyable addition to the impressively-long Saxon catalogue. It doesn't break any new ground for the band, so there's nothing on here that will really blow you away - but as a Saxon fan I can honestly say it admirably continues their legacy. It's also the shortest album since 2013's Sacrifice, but this is no bad thing. Nothing on here really qualifies as filler, even if some of the tracks are definitely stronger than others. And lyrically this might be the best Saxon record in years. Production-wise, things have once again been handled by Andy Sneap. Some metalheads are getting tired of Sneap's presence on so many bands' offerings these days, but if you ask me he's in-demand for a reason. This album sounds great because Sneap knows what he's doing. Overall I think I liked 2022's Carpe Diem that little bit more, but Hell, Fire and Damnation is gonna stay in rotation for me for months to come.

Adam's rating: 8.5/10

Closing thoughts on this discography:

Saxon are, in my opinion, the ultimate NWOBHM band. Iron Maiden are probably most peoples' pick, which is fair enough - but Saxon had 2 albums under their belt before we got Maiden's debut (although Wheels of Steel hit the shelves just days before, according to Wikipedia!). Some of Saxon's early '80s works are absolute classics of heavy metal. But for me, this band are also the poster boy for a legacy act releasing some of their best material in the latter-stages of their lengthy career. As much as I love albums like Strong Arm, Power & the Glory etc., I actually find myself listening to everything from Unleash the Beast to present more than I do the old stuff. As of 2024, we're talkin' a whopping 12 studio albums that are all fantastic. Sure, they fucked up with Destiny. Rock the Nations is pretty bad too, also Crusader and Solid Ball of Rock have their problems, but for the most part this catalogue is awesome. One of my absolute favourite metal bands.