Saxon

Curious, the title track of the album Solid Ball Of Rock is not written by some of the band members.
 
Being a long time Saxon fan, Destiny has always been one of my least favourite Saxon albums. Definitely not an album to get you into Saxon if you're not already a fan. Simply put, it just doesn't sound like Saxon to me. I think they were trying too hard to break into the American market and changed both their look and their sound to do so. A move which ultimately failed.

And I am kind of glad it did fail, as they returned to their British heavy rock sound soon after.

I remember at the time, both "Innocence is no excuse" and "Destiny" were considered relatively weak efforts among the limited press I read and comments from my mates (with Innocence running out of steam on side 2 and Destiny being too polished)

That said I saw them on both tours and they Friggin rocked. I saw Innocence in Cardiff, Wales and Destiny in the Hammersmith Odeon, London. Without all the studio polish Destiny came across MUCH beefier (although I always disliked the drummer... I thought he looked arrogant. And guess what, a few years back my band at the time supported Oliver/Dawson Saxon and he was on drums. And yes, my initial opinion remains unchanged after talking to him. Although Dawson and Oliver were great, really down to earth)

So Destiny is a weaker album from a band I love, which always puts a positive bias on things. Saxon has had some stellar output both before and after. Some of this centuries output is amazing (just listen to tracks like Call to Arms, State of Grace, The Thin Red Line, Lionheart, Killing Ground, Conquistador, Battalions of Steel etc)

Edit: just realised this is the wrong thread!
 
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Hey @Welsh Phantom , since you are a long time Saxon fan, I'm curious to know what you think about the album Innocence Is No Excuse (1985) ?

I think it's one of the best albums from the band as a whole piece and very underrated one.
 
Kalata said:
Hey @Welsh Phantom , since you are a long time Saxon fan, I'm curious to know what you think about the album Innocence Is No Excuse (1985) ?

I think it's one of the best albums from the band as a whole piece and very underrated one.
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It's underrated to an extent, but I prefer most of the other albums, although it is better then Destiny. I think this is largely due to the 2nd half of the album being weaker, so the last thing you remember is filler. Tracks 1 to 6 are all great, plus "Everybody Up", but there are 3 tracks that go nowhere.

At the time of release I was somewhat disappointed, although the gig was excellent (really glad I got to see Steve Dawson on bass)

Over the years I have come to appreciate the album more however, even the 3 filler tracks.

Oh, and as a spotty teenager I LOVED the album cover. I met all the guys after the show and got the program signed (Biff signed it as BIFF 85, which is neat). I asked Steve Dawson "who came up with the idea of the album cover?" and he just laughed and said "some pervert" lol. I seem to remember the girl is a separate pic, with the apple being added later ;)
 
Welsh Phantom said:
Without all the studio polish Destiny came across MUCH beefier
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This is a very common statement heard when a band puts out an album considered "sterile" and then plays it live. Think of Virtual XI, or Hot Space by Queen - same thing. Interesting.
 
Since I re-listened to all of the Saxon albums not so long time ago (and I'm bored), here is my favorite songs from their all albums:

Saxon: Rainbow Theme/Frozen Rainbow, Stallions Of The Highway, Backs To The Wall
WOS: Motorcycle Man, 747 (Strangers In The Night), Wheels Of Steel (See The Light Shining, Machine Gun)
SAOTL: Heavy Metal Thunder, To Hell And Back Again, Strong Arm Of The Law, 20,000 Ft. , Dallas 1 PM
Denim And Leather: Princess Of The Night, And The Bands Played On, Denim And Leather (Never Surrender, Midnight Rider, Fire In The Sky)
P&TG: Power And The Glory, Nightmare
Crusader: Crusader, Just Let Me Rock (A Little Bit Of What You Fancy, Do It All For You, Rock City)
IINE: Rockin' Again, Call Of The Wild, Back On The Streets, Devil Rides Out, Rock 'N' Roll Gypsy, Broken Heroes, Everybody Up (Gonna Shout)
RTN: Rock The Nations, Battle Cry, Waiting For The Night, We Came Here To Rock (Northern Lady)
Destiny: I Can't Wait Anymore, S.O.S. , Song For Emma, From Whom The Bell Tolls (Calm Before The Storm, Ride Like The Wind)
SBOR: Solid Ball Of Rock, Altar Of The Gods, Requiem (We Will Remember), Lights In The Sky, I Just Can't Get Enough (I'm On Fire)
FF: Forever Free, Iron Wheels, Can't Stop Rockin'
DOW: Dogs Of War, Burning Wheels, Hold On, The Great White Buffalo
Unleash The Beast: Unleash The Beast, The Thin Red Line, Bloodletter
Metalhead: Conquistador, Sea Of Life
Killing Ground: Killing Ground, Dragons Lair, Deeds Of Glory (Rock Is Our Life)
Lionheart: Lionheart (Searching For Atlantis)
The Inner Sanctum: State Of Grace, Need For Speed, Red Star Falling (Let Me Feel Your Power)
Into The Labyrinth: Battalions Of Steel, Valley Of The Kings (Live To Rock, Demon Sweeney Todd)
Call To Arms: Mists Of Avalon, Call To Arms (Hammer Of The Gods)
Sacrifice: Guardians Of The Tomb, Stand Up And Fight, Night Of The Wolf
Battering Ram: Battering Ram
Thunderbolt: Thunderbolt, Speed Merchants
 
I respect it. There's some good picks on there. Is Sacrifice a good album? It's probably my least listened to Saxon album. Curious if it's worth revisiting.
 
Dityn DJ James said:
I respect it. There's some good picks on there. Is Sacrifice a good album? It's probably my least listened to Saxon album. Curious if it's worth revisiting.
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I had it in my car all last week (I've been doing one album a week through the complete discography). Definitely a grower.

I now have the Sacrifice tour live album on in my car this week (St Georges day Sacrifice - live in Manchester). Really enjoying it.

Back to your question, like most albums by bands you enjoy, play it enough and you will find things to really appreciate ;)
 
Dityn DJ James said:
Is Sacrifice a good album? It's probably my least listened to Saxon album. Curious if it's worth revisiting.
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I would say it's a very strong album with a solid production. Definitely worth revisiting. ''Guardians Of The Tomb'' and ''Night Of The Wolf'' are the best songs IMO, but I also think every song on the album is good.
 
Dityn DJ James said:
Listening to Guardians of the Tomb right now, it's pretty good! Say @Welsh Phantom is that Sacrifice live cd worth checking out? The setlist on it looks alright.
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Definitely. There is a really good atmosphere with the crowd and all the in between song bits from Biff are left in (something I wish Maiden would do, rather than edit out Bruce talking). Good energy and a great sound too!
 
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