SAXON SURVIVOR 2012 RESULTS: Lionheart triumphant

Satisfied with the results

  • Total voters
    3
Frozen Rainbow
Power and the Glory
Sailing to America
Witchfinder General
State of Grace
Battalions of Steel
Demon Sweeny Todd
Call to Arms
Ballad of a Working Man

Hmm, in hindsight, I regret one of these votes, perhaps even more. You could call this an over-cautious reaction to the Bloodletter vote, but if someone else would have voted for that one as well, it could have been voted out. Didn't want to let that happen, without any protection.
 
Format is explained at the top and bottom of this thread:
http://forum.maidenfans.com/threads/saxon-survivor-2012-call-to-arms-round-1.24091/

Eliminated last round: Frozen Rainbow, Sailing to America, State of Grace, Witchfinder General, Call to Arms, Ballad of the Working Man

And thanks to Foro bringing down the hammer late, we've eliminated enough tracks to bring in the last remaining songs.
After 19 albums and four playoff rounds, the finals are upon us.
 
Sailing to America is a nostalgic favourite, Witchfinder General kicks serious metal ass and I have a real soft spot for Ballad. But their time had come.
You guys missed the boat, however, on Call to Arms.
It might not have made my top 10, but it was a contender. One of the band's best vocal melodies — so poignant and so fitting of the topic matter. The orchestration adds to its natural power, grace and gravity.
I love the Blood Brothers feel, and it is close to the same calibre of song.
Too soon.
 
Apart from Witchfinder I agree with most of the rest you said (though I wouldn't rate Call to Arms that high). Before this survivor started I had no clue but now I also have come to like these songs and will surely not forget them. I also have a bunch of songs which went way earlier (when this is all over, I'll mention the ones that deserved a higher place imo).

In the end we have:
10 songs from the 1980s
10 songs from the 1990s
6 songs from this century

I am glad that this confirms my idea that Saxon has become less strong in the last decade, but at the same time I had rather seen some Killing Ground songs instead of Into the Labyrinth material. And I am very curious about the upcoming album. Call to Arms was a step in the better direction.
 
And The Bands Played On
Crusader
Broken Heroes
Ride Like The Wind
Battalions Of Steel
Demon Sweeney Todd

Difficult choice, this is a very strong group of songs.
 
Vap said:
And The Bands Played On
Crusader
Broken Heroes
Ride Like The Wind
Battalions Of Steel
Demon Sweeney Todd
Click to expand...
+
Power and the Glory
Metalhead

Batallions & Demon are indeed the weakest of the recent material, but Crusader is a controversial choice. I still join you because I like And the Bands Played On and all the other 1980s songs (bar P&G) a bit more. So that vote is just an attempt to protect (some of) the others.
 
As you say, tough choices in a strong group.
But since Foro has already voted against Demons and Battalions, I have to put in a good word for each.
Demon is in the same frantic Priest-style vein as Bloodletter, with a better chorus.
Battalions is an excellent piece of power metal with the heart that genre often lacks.
If it goes, it will be my highest-ranked song to be cut, and Demon isn't be far behind.

EDIT: Guess I should have typed faster.
And wow, you may have killed Crusader. :bigsurprise:
 
Do you actually mean Batallions is your favourite Saxon song? It sounds very unoriginal to me. Maybe not for Saxon, but I think it really sounds like standard done-to-death power metal, with a Nightwish touch (keyboards).

Bloodletter has great singing. On Demon Biff sounds voice sounds way worse to me, both the vocal melodies and the voice itself. Also the whole song is way less melodic, absolutely not a better chorus. Where are the beautiful, haunting guitar lines? All gone. Solos are also inferior. Everyone to their own taste, these are just my two cents.
 
It looks like you guys have a different take than I do on the least good songs of this group.
But I still see some hope for a good top 10.

And it is hard to vote strategically with two wild card voters popping in and out randomly.
 
I'm sad cause all my favorite songs apart from Red Star Falling are out :( So I'm not sure whether to vote or rage quit :P
 
Forostar said:
Do you actually mean Batallions is your favourite Saxon song? It sounds very unoriginal to me. Maybe not for Saxon, but I think it really sounds like standard done-to-death power metal, with a Nightwish touch (keyboards).

Bloodletter has great singing. On Demon Biff sounds voice sounds way worse to me, both the vocal melodies and the voice itself. Also the whole song is way less melodic, absolutely not a better chorus. Where are the beautiful, haunting guitar lines? All gone. Solos are also inferior. Everyone to their own taste, these are just my two cents.
Click to expand...

No Battalions is not my favourite Saxon song, just close to the best of those (soon-to-be) eliminated.
It's right there with Call to Arms and Terminal Velocity at the cusp of my top 10.
But as I said on an earlier thread, there's not much to choose from between those songs and ones I've already voted for, like Bloodletter. It would be like 88/100 versus 82/100.

Your comments about the Labyrinth songs are probably fair. I don't listen to much power metal — generally, I find it soulless. Maybe Battalions is only slightly different, but that difference is enough to make it click for me. You are right in your vocal comparison between Bloodletter and Demon. I disagree on the melodies, but, as you say that is simply a matter of taste.
 
I guess with no one else stepping in, mine is a wasted vote.
I can't save the three that are going, can't kill the next four I have in line.

I would have picked Crusader as the favourite to win this Game. As the game went on, I realized it was not going to be my top choice, but I never dreamed it would be out this early.
Losing Wheels and Thunder in the quarters might shock some observers, but you can chalk it up to Run to the Hills Syndrome. But Crusader not making Saxon's top 20 is like Rime missing the cut for Maiden's - blasphemy.
I guess when you only have three players you're going to get some eclectic results.
 
I also tend to say it's blasphemy but in the last six months I have discovered the complete discography and have come to appreciate many other songs as well. The freshness of discovery might have attributed.

And certainly: such a small number of people in this last phase....
This survivor, one of the longer ones in the history of this forum deserves more attention.
 
And The Bands Played On
Broken Heroes
Ride Like The Wind
Give It All Away
Hammer Of The Gods
 
Time to get aggressive and shake a few apples from the middle branches.
Four songs whose time has come: Red Star, Hammer, Midas and Bloodletter
Nine (including a few I'm praying you guys won't vote for) to protect the rest.
 
mckindog said:
Nine (including a few I'm praying you guys won't vote for) to protect the rest.
Click to expand...
You've only protected two songs from your favourite album, in this stage with so many songs left. A bit more careful from now, OK? ;)

What a destruction. Some of my favourite remaining 1980s songs gone and Give it All Away and Hammer of the Gods were top 10 candidates for me.

Mists of Avalon then.

I could have send some more to kingdom come, but I restrained myself for tactical reasons.
 
Sad to see Give It All Away go. That said, I never expected to come this far in the first place and it's probably not a top 10 song.
Broken Heroes and Ride Like the Wind would have contended for my top 10 before this Survivor, but other songs have passed them. They deserved to go.

Red Star, Bloodletter, Ministry, Circle, Midas, Princess, 747
 
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