Rank These 3 NWOBHM Bands...

Since the turn of the century:

Saxon- Killing Ground, Lionheart, The Inner Sanctum, Into the Labyrinth, Call to Arms, Sacrifice, Battering Ram, Thunderbolt

Judas Priest - Demolition, Angel of Retribution, Nostradamus, Redeemer of Souls, Firepower

Iron Maiden - Brave New World, Dance of Death, A Matter of Life and Death, The Final Frontier, Book of Souls

These are of course the studio albums since 2000; I chose not to include the Live albums as we all know how great these 3 are in concert. So, my ranking goes like this:

1.) Saxon - They get the nod b/c the sheer amount of output and the quality this late in their career is awesome. All 8 studio albums are excellent as are the 3 Live offerings (CD and DVD) and the re recording of the classics on Heavy Metal Thunder. I seem to never get tired of hearing them, I thought at first it might be that I have only been a Saxon fan for a decade and not 3+ decades like Priest and Maiden. But, then I realized that I have lived with the newer material for nearly all the same amount of time.

2.) Priest - 3 studio albums out of the 5 are excellent and Nostradamus is good. I give them a lot of credit for attempting a concept double album 30+ years into their career. The only real misstep in my eyes was Demolition, but even that's still a pretty decent album. Ad in a few real good live offerings and some amazing Live shows on DVD, and they sit firmly in second place.

3.) Maiden - I felt they started so strong after the reunion with Bruce on Brave New World, but have seemingly dropped down a notch with each successive release. I find that I don't reach for any of their output other than BNW. The problem is that there is moments of sheer brilliance, but they are few and far between. The other two bands just have more consistency and I reach for their albums as a whole; not just a scattered track here and there.

So, there we go. Remember, it's only since the year 2000 that we should focus on and not the whole discographies. What say you my Metal brothers?

I'd probably pick Saxon first. Then Maiden. 3rd would be Priest.

Priest/Maiden/Saxon. I'm just not a big Saxon fan.

I can see now, clearly, how much I'm an 80's guy.
I only have 3 releases - out of all those mentioned.
Two from Priest, one from Saxon, none by Maiden. Thus my ranking.

I came very close today - buying Inner Sanctum -
Instead I bought " Join The Army " S.T

Priest is not a NWOBHM band. They are a first generation band like Sabbath.

Iron Maiden (I like this Proggy era the best).
Saxon
Judas Priest

Saxon has been the most consistent. No experimentations, just pure heavy metal releases. I would rank them first, followed by Priest (Nostradamus was awesome imho), then Maiden.

Saxon edges Maiden by a hair then Priest.

Saxon, Priest and then Maiden. Priest shouldn't be on this list because they aren't NWOBHM.

Saxon has been consistently good to great and Maiden has mostly sucked since about 1988.

Saxon has to be first. Lionheart is amazing, Sacrifice too, and they've made a lot of their best work in this millennium. They are also the most prolific band of the group.

Iron Maiden a clear second. I didn't love the last two, but A Matter of Life and Death was great and so was Brave New World. Dance of Death is another favourite (but by God that album cover is horrible!).

Priest is hit and miss. Demolition, Angel and Nostradamus weren't their best moments, but I really like the last two, especially Firepower. Still, these guys haven't kept up with the other two bands quality-wise. They do have got the most varied catalogue, in the noughties or just all-time, so that's a positive and keeps up my interest.

Not sure Priest is really a NWOBHM band really. I think they are more a part of that 1st wave of British heavy metal, like Sabbath, Led Zep, Purple, Rainbow, UFO and Heep, for instance.

Maiden, Priest, then Saxon. Not a fan of Saxon really. I don’t own a single album by them.

Thrasher73 wrote:

Not a fan of Saxon really. I don’t own a single album by them.

SACRILEGE!!!

The best 21st century album by this group of classic British heavy metal bands is Saxon's Lionheart. A Matter of Life and Death is right up there, too.

Thrasher73 wrote:

Maiden, Priest, then Saxon. Not a fan of Saxon really. I don’t own a single album by them.

You should really give them another shot, especially in this era noted, I'd start w/"Lionheart!"

the sentinel wrote:

Since the turn of the century:

Saxon- Killing Ground, Lionheart, The Inner Sanctum, Into the Labyrinth, Call to Arms, Sacrifice, Battering Ram, Thunderbolt

Judas Priest - Demolition, Angel of Retribution, Nostradamus, Redeemer of Souls, Firepower

Iron Maiden - Brave New World, Dance of Death, A Matter of Life and Death, The Final Frontier, Book of Souls

These are of course the studio albums since 2000; I chose not to include the Live albums as we all know how great these 3 are in concert. So, my ranking goes like this:

1.) Saxon - They get the nod b/c the sheer amount of output and the quality this late in their career is awesome. All 8 studio albums are excellent as are the 3 Live offerings (CD and DVD) and the re recording of the classics on Heavy Metal Thunder. I seem to never get tired of hearing them, I thought at first it might be that I have only been a Saxon fan for a decade and not 3+ decades like Priest and Maiden. But, then I realized that I have lived with the newer material for nearly all the same amount of time.

2.) Priest - 3 studio albums out of the 5 are excellent and Nostradamus is good. I give them a lot of credit for attempting a concept double album 30+ years into their career. The only real misstep in my eyes was Demolition, but even that's still a pretty decent album. Ad in a few real good live offerings and some amazing Live shows on DVD, and they sit firmly in second place.

3.) Maiden - I felt they started so strong after the reunion with Bruce on Brave New World, but have seemingly dropped down a notch with each successive release. I find that I don't reach for any of their output other than BNW. The problem is that there is moments of sheer brilliance, but they are few and far between. The other two bands just have more consistency and I reach for their albums as a whole; not just a scattered track here and there.

So, there we go. Remember, it's only since the year 2000 that we should focus on and not the whole discographies. What say you my Metal brothers?

My sentiments exactly!

Priest (probably my favorite band), then Maiden (though I cant say I like their current prog metal approach, Book of Souls was pretty good). Only Saxon album I own is Denim and Leather, which is good, but I wouldnt know where to go from there (I used to own Lionheart, but for some reason it didnt click with me at the time).

Thanks for the great responses brothers, As always, a lot of good thoughts and opinions. I guess we will have to agree to disagree on Priest as NWOBHM. Haha. I have always associated them with the second wave b/c they were so prominent in the movement and so influential (look and sound) to so many other bands (from all nations). Also, when the term was coined by a Sounds journalist to describe the rise of new British Metal bands of the mid to late 1970's that's pretty much describing Priest right there, So, that's my reasoning.

That Candlemass is a smart guy! I like him.

I am a bit surprised at how many of our regulars here don't indulge more on Saxon. It's never to late to jump in.

Thanks again, guys.

Saxon, Priest, then Maiden. Maiden has been coasting for quite some time now.

I've never heard any Saxon song that blew me away.

Witchfinder wrote:

Priest shouldn't be on this list because they aren't NWOBHM.

True.

Although I do remember someone here once said he considers British Steel to be NWOBHM, but none of the albums before or after it. Strange.

Required Fields wrote:

Witchfinder wrote:

Priest shouldn't be on this list because they aren't NWOBHM.

True.

Although I do remember someone here once said he considers British Steel to be NWOBHM, but none of the albums before or after it. Strange.

Sabbath's first two Dio era albums certainly rode that NWOBHM wave quite alright.

UNCLE SAXON'S KICKASS CDS wrote:

Thrasher73 wrote:

Not a fan of Saxon really. I don’t own a single album by them.

SACRILEGE!!!

Yeah I know, Haha. Really I don’t have anything against them I just never have bought any of their albums. Maybe one day I’ll check them out. It was a long time before I ever got into Priest.

I don't think that you can say such and such a band aren't NWOBHM. All three bands were in existence for a good five years before that movement hit but it catapulted all of them to a new level (to varying degrees)

Anyhow it would be Priest, Saxon,.............................................................................Maiden

Boris2008 wrote:

I don't think that you can say such and such a band aren't NWOBHM. All three bands were in existence for a good five years before that movement hit but it catapulted all of them to a new level (to varying degrees)

Anyhow it would be Priest, Saxon,.............................................................................Maiden

Priest formed in the 1960s.

I love Iron Maiden's output since the 2000's, a band that at this point has a lengthy recording career, has moved forward with a more prog influences finding their way into their newest songs.

As far as consistency, I would say Saxon. Their late 80's and early 90's they seemed to have had a musical identity crisis, til they found their way back and the band has been releasing killer material that is just as good, if not better than some of their classic material.

Judas Priest, I love Judas Priest, a major major fan, but 'Demolition' was a disaster, 'Nostradamus' is not horrible, actually its a good album, but not a great album. I admire that this many decades into their career they are willing to try something new, but I felt that overall as an album it did not work.

So my list would be Iron Maiden, Saxon and Judas Priest.