I stumbled on a couple of older Saxon albums the other day (The Power & the Glory and a live one, The Eagle has Landed) and despite being a NWOBHM act, as a prog fan I quite liked them. Any fans around PE? Where to go next and is their newer stuff recommeded? I did read somewhere that their drummer Nigel Glockler is a prog fan..
Get as many as you can, Saxon number among that rare breed, along with, for example, Motorhead, The Smiths, and Nick Lowe, that have never made a bad album. Personally I prefer the later albums, especially the last two. Saw them live at a three day metal festival in August, and they were the best band there.
Oh, thanks hugely PeterG. I will of course invest in their discography. Funny you said just that, that the band being sort of rare.. To be honest that is exactly what I feel listening to them. And it's quite astonishing that these legends are still going strong. Well, off to order...
Wheels Of Steel, Strong Arm Of The Law, Denim & Leather
Man I played those to death back in my teens.
Ian
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Gordon Haskell - "You've got to keep the groove in your head and play a load of bollocks instead"
I blame Wynton, what was the question?
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Curious, any views on their very first? Apparently from 1979
It's pretty different from the later albums. A bit of a curiosity but I happen to really like it. It's sort of like what "Rocka Rolla" is to the Judas Priest discography. I wouldn't get it before the albums Nogbadthebad mentions, but it's worth a listen. Almost a bit "proggy" in places.Originally Posted by Hour Candle
I picked up one of their more recent albums “Call To Arms” from 2011 and it did not really click with me. Not sure why as I like most of their older stuff.
As you're collecting their discography make sure you pick up the "Saxon- Heavy Metal Thunder" Blu-Ray. It contains an in-depth history of the band with interviews with people like Lemmy and Lars Ulrich, as well as many members past and present. You also get a classic live set from 1981 and a full show from 2008, along with other extras. The running time is 5 hours. Essential viewing for any fans of the band!
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-Cozy 3:16-
Wheels of steel
Strong arm of the law
Denim and leather
Saxon
Power and the glory
It's a little "immature" but I find a charm in the bad production, the somewhat clumsy playing and its clearly displayed 70s roots. Note that it also features their "proggiest" moments in epics like "Rainbow Theme / Frozen Rainbow" & "Militia Guard" (two of the best songs they ever did), that are not very representative of the direction they took with Wheels of Steel.
I like 'The Very Best Of Saxon', it's a 3-cd set which has 6/8 tracks from the debut, 7/9 tracks from Wheels Of Steel, 6/8 tracks from Strong Arm Of The Law, 6/9 from Denim And Leather etc. with lots of non-album/live stuff, so a significant amount of their Carrere/EMI output is there.
Failing that get anything with '747 (Strangers In The Night)', that's a killer track.
waddaya mean playED.....I still play them to death!
+1
I hate you mind reader types!
Common sense indcates the first 4 studio albums and the first live one as the essential saxon. From then on it's always risky to say what is good and what it isn't. I like Crusader, Dogs of War, Unleash the Beast. The live Eagle III is good to as the Live over Wacken.
He played in the latest lineup of GTR (or Nerotrend) and also for Bob Fripp's minx Toyah.
Glockler played on Steve Howe's Turbulence solo album, as well as a couple of the John Payne-era Asia albums.
In an interview with Glockler, he said " I’m really into bands with keyboards – Genesis, early King Crimson, Camel and the like; in fact, my favourite keyboard sound-wise is the Mellotron – “Snow-capped” from the album is full of it! I used to go out looking for albums or new bands that had mellotrons, if I saw it mentioned in the line-up on the album I’d buy it!"
When asked about his drumming idols: "Then I got into an Italian band called PFM (it’s mellotrons again!) – their drummer, Franz Di Cioccio, was unbelievable, and he was using a big kit with a full range of toms. I’d never seen this before – I had to have a similar kit – this is where I discovered the melodic side of drumming. I used to sit on my kit in my bedroom at my parents house, wear headphones, and play along for hours to PFM albums, with everything in the kitchen downstairs flying out of cupboards. My mum and dad were great for putting up with it! Phil Ehart from Kansas was another great fave. Then I got into Neil Peart, Simon Phillips, Phil Collins, Terry Bozzio et al – all drummers that combine rhythm and melody. For pure groove in rock music though, I don’t think you can beat Phil Rudd of AC/DC – amazing! Will Kennedy, who was in the Yellowjackets, is outstanding – he grooves like a mother…! There are some superb players out there, in all forms of music. I almost forgot Chester Thompson, Alex Van Halen and Bill Bruford! – the list goes on and on!"
On working with GTR: "We, SAXON, were touring the States at the beginning of 1987 – I was fed up with the management and was desperate to leave anyway, so I had a phone call at breakfast one morning (we were somewhere in Wisconsin) It was GTR’s management on the phone and I was offered the gig there and then! Quite how they found me I don’t know, but they’d been tracking me down for around four hours trying to find out where I was! The tour finished a week later and I found myself in a rehearsal studio two days after that with Steve Howe and others! The bass player, Phil Spalding, who I’d been in Toyah with, had recommended me for the job. Eventually, we ended up recording the second GTR album, with Geoff Downes from ASIA producing once more, and we only needed a couple more weeks to finish the album when Arista Records pulled the plug – there was obviously a lot going on behind the scenes as the “Wakeman, Bruford, Anderson, Howe” album came out several months later. I think this was being planned in secret by the management as the Trevor Rabin YES was having a lot of success. It was such a shame: the first GTR album went gold in the US and this second one was even better! Unfortunately, it will never see the light of day! “Hungry Warrior” and “No-One Else To Blame” were such great songs and wound up on a Max Bacon solo album. Now you know why it’s such a shame that the whole second GTR album will never come out. It was all this good! Max has got such a great voice. But I did get to meet and work with Geoff – we became good friends – and that’s how I ended up doing some tracks on the ASIA album “Aqua”, plus others that ended up on the “Archiva” albums.
I don’t know what had happened between them and Steve Hackett. When I joined we had Robert Berry playing second guitar and keyboards. I never really found out why he left. I’m a big fan of Steve’s playing, both solo and with Genesis and GTR – in fact, I’ve got most of his solo stuff here at home, and Gensis are one of my favourite bands."
And playing with Toyah and Robert Fripp: "The Toyah album I was involved with was before Robert and Toyah met. However, a few years later, Toyah rang me up, saying Robert and her were putting a band together and was I interested? I went down to Bournemouth, in Dorset, where they were routining this new material but it wasn’t really my thing: we played some stuff for a couple of days, and it was great to play with Robert and Trey Gunn, but it was a little too off the wall for me."
Totally disagree with that. The Saxon catalogue is solid throughout, which is something I would never say for Maiden, Priest, Sabbath or Metallica, to name just four of the biggest metal bands.
Don't overlook their last few albums, which kick plenty ass and are as strong, if not more so, than anything they've done over the last 20 years. Their latest Battering Ram is excellent!
I agree most of their releases are great with the exception of "Innocence is No Excuse" right?
I saw them live in September, and they were amazing.
Even that has its gems though - Rock n Roll Gypsy, Call of the Wild, Rockin' Againwith the exception of "Innocence is No Excuse" right?
But also perhaps Saxon's most boring song - Broken Heroes, and their lamest hair metal song - Devil Rides Out.
I always liked Broken Heroes! But I can see, compared to most of their other material, that it can be seen as a tad boring. Certainly different, for them.
Reviving this thread. Although I've listened to other bands like Maiden and Priest for a long time I never really checked out Saxon until recently. I did see them open for Judas Priest on the Firepower tour but wasn't familiar with their material at the time.
So far in sampling a good chunk of their albums I like their early stuff quite a bit so I picked up a set called "The Carrere Years" which has all their albums from 79-84. The EMI albums from 85-88 sound like a mis-step with the commercial songs and processed drums, a sign of the times I guess. Then a lot of their newer albums seem quite strong.
I actually got their latest in the mail first "Hell, Fire & Damnation" and am quite enjoying it. Since they have Andy Sneap as producer it sounds quite good as well. Biff can still belt it out and I like the historical lyrics, and the instrumentalists are all top notch.
As far as the newer ones I will probably get Thunderbolt next; enjoyed the songs on that one.
I honestly think their new one ranks right up with the best they have ever done. I have always found Saxon to be very inconsistent over the years. They have written some great stuff, but have also written a lot of filler. "Hell, Fire, & Damnation" is pretty much banger after banger.
Yeah it's pretty consistent all the way through, and doesn't overstay its welcome.
I saw they are playing up in the Poconos near where my mom has a summer house. Uriah Heep is joining them (I'm guessing as an opening band but not sure).
Do not suffer through the game of chance that plays....always doors to lock away your dreams (To Be Over)
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