Saxon Rules

Guess I'm late to the party for all the Saxon polls, but I've been on a total Saxon binge lately! Working on putting together their discovery...really missed the boat on this band, but glad it's still sailing!

Better 37 years late than never!

Glad you are digging 'em. It took me until a decade ago to enroll in the Saxon Army.

I checked out about "Crusader" time and remained oblivious till a co-worker was blasting "Metalhead" just after the 9/11 event. Then our crazy Johnny B. was liquidating and gave me a hell of a deal on some mid period Saxon just after I packed up and got to Montana. Since then I've filled in the blanks in their studio catalog and am of the opinion that they are one of the better metal bands around today.

Unleash the Beast is still my favourite. But I own all of them and listen to all the discs quite frequently.

Lari wrote:

Unleash the Beast is still my favourite.

Haven't heard that one yet, but it's on the way...

James B. wrote:

I checked out about "Crusader" time and remained oblivious till a co-worker was blasting "Metalhead" just after the 9/11 event.   Then our crazy Johnny B. was liquidating and gave me a hell of a deal on some mid period Saxon just after I packed up and got to Montana.  Since then I've filled in the blanks in their studio catalog and am of the opinion that they are one of the better metal bands around today.  

I checked out at "Destiny" and remained oblivious 'til I read the review in BWBK for "Lionheart." Picked that one up at the time amd absolutely loved it! But I never looked further, for whatever the reason, 'til I saw them last year, then read Ult's reviews and checked out some youtube clips...

Great band. I got into them in 2008! Never too late.

Witchfinder wrote:

ditto.

I dig them!

Witchfinder wrote:

x3

Great band. I need to get more of their releases. Everything I've heard from them is gold.

For some reason I could never get into them. Most of my friends loved them when we were kids, but they just never did much for me. I have one vinyl, and one CD, and still can't seem to get into them. I respect them as a band and I know they put out quality music, just not my cut of tea I guess.

Saxon - is like Motörhead, to me.
They deliver the goods. Tough road band.
I'd love to read a book if Biff wrote one.
I saw a Facebook post of all Motörhead releases...
Same with Saxon...a loyal, tough, world-wide fan base.
Biff is a tremendous lyricist too.

Saxon are a fantastic Metal band, been listening to them for 25+ years. My favorite album is Power And The Glory.

Wrecked Neck wrote:

For some reason I could never get into them. Most of my friends loved them when we were kids, but they just never did much for me. I have one vinyl, and one CD, and still can't seem to get into them. I respect them as a band and I know they put out quality music, just not my cut of tea I guess.

What do you have, and have you heard them lately?

candlemass wrote:

Wrecked Neck wrote:

For some reason I could never get into them. Most of my friends loved them when we were kids, but they just never did much for me. I have one vinyl, and one CD, and still can't seem to get into them. I respect them as a band and I know they put out quality music, just not my cut of tea I guess.

Whatnot do you have, and have you heard them lately?

I have The Inner Sanctum on CD, and Denim and Leather on vinyl.

Inner Sanctum is pretty Good, but you should check out Metalhead and Lionheart!

A few more arrived in the mail this weekend; "Forever Free", "Dogs of War" and "Unleash the Beast."

All good, but not great. This reminds me of old school Saxon, "redneck biker rock!" Again, not bad, and a few really stand out cuts, but nothing like what they've been doing since "Metalhead." Lots of Nugent/AC/DC sounding stuff, I swear Biff sounds a lot like Bon Scott on a few. They didn't totally abandon that sound, two tracks on "The Inner Sanctum" and one on "Sacrifice" have that feel to them. For the most part though, they left that image behind and became a serious metal band w/"Metalhead", and had they not, not likely I would've given them a second glance...

Ladies and Gentlemen...this is Spinal Tap!

candlemass wrote:

A few more arrived in the mail this weekend; "Forever Free", "Dogs of War" and "Unleash the Beast."

All good, but not great. This reminds me of old school Saxon, "redneck biker rock!" Again, not bad, and a few really stand out cuts, but nothing like what they've been doing since "Metalhead." Lots of Nugent/AC/DC sounding stuff, I swear Biff sounds a lot like Bon Scott on a few.

I feel this applies more to Forever Free than the other two albums you got. Especially Unleash the Beast has more power metal in it than biker rock.

I should spin Dogs of War again. I remember liking it, but right now I could only name the Great White Buffalo and the title track off of it.

"Great White Buffalo" is the best track on that one for sure, even if it is the title of a song from a certain artist I mentioned...

"Unleash the Beast" has some shades of what was to come, perhaps a transitional album...

I wonder if there was more to the firing of Graham Oliver than the band let on, w/the addition of Doug Scarratt the band went from a "back woods pig roast biker party band" to a serious metal band, cranking out one killer lp after another! You look at what "Oliver/Dawson" has been doing and it's more of the same as when Oliver was in the band, at least on his last few w/them, and not near as good...

candlemass wrote:

Guess I'm late to the party for all the Saxon polls, but I've been on a total Saxon binge lately! Working on putting together their discovery...really missed the boat on this band, but glad it's still sailing!

I have a similar experience: back in the 80s all I had was the s/t, but I did not care for it much ( unlike today where I love it ). Some years ago with the advent of streaming I started listening to them and since then I became a fan.

I have the Carrere Years CD box set
Carrere Years Box set Digital
EMI Years Box set Digital

I did not quite like the latest albums at least not as much as the the albums from s/t to Crusader.