The 1981 Listening Post - Saxon - Denim & Leather

 Saxon - Denim & Leather

#477

By Rob Slater

October 5 1981

Saxon

Denim & Leather

Genre: Smack Dab in the NWOBHM (New Wave Of British Heavy Metal).

Allen’s Rating: 2.5 out of 5

Rob’s Rating: Solid 4.25 (was a 3.75 on the first listen.)

Highlights: 

Princess of the Night

And The Band's Played On

Fire in the Sky 

Denim And Leather

        

My first rock concert in 1981 was Cheap Trick at the Paramount in Seattle. You can read the somewhat fictionalized version of the long strange drive to the concert in the back of a carpeted, seatbeltless Chevy Van here: “The Swamps of Jersey” (mashed together with several other concert experiences over the last 40 years as part of my collection of {eventually} 100 short stories and a pandemic frame story built around them.) Promoting this album, Saxon opened for Cheap Trick at least on the leg of the tour that I saw. Kind of an odd pairing. 

I remember two significant things about their show. The first was the lead singer grabbing the guitarist’s crotch and later taking a sweaty towel and rubbing it on his own crotch before tossing it out into the audience. I was a sheltered 13 year-old boy from a small town and I thought they were loud and gross. Definitely nowhere near as cool to me as the KISS records Cheap Trick tossed out. The second thing was that the guitarists could spin their guitars like ZZTop. The unison double spinning guitars was cool until about the third time!

Mostly what I remember is that I really didn't like them. I wasn't ready for anything that loud, having only just discovered Def Leppard's On Through The Night and a year or two away from realizing that I loved the Scorpions, Judas Priest, and Iron Maiden. So when I saw this album and realized that it was for the tour I saw them on, I decided to give them another chance. Glad I did.

The first side opens with Princess of the Night. Cool song. Sounds totally like Maiden thematically and aurally. Pretty cool; an old train that used to bring the narrator his mail is long gone. Vocals sound like a combo of Rob Halford and Bruce Dickinson.

Never Surrender also sounds like a Priest/Maiden. Nice interstitial guitar work and understated leads. 

The next three songs, Out Of Control, Rough And Ready, and Play It Loud, run together for me, but not in a bad way. I was hammering, sawing and nailgunning to them. Seemed especially appropriate. In the LP days, I would have definitely gotten up and flipped it over.

And The Band's Played On was their first single for the album. It kicks off side two with power.  Written about the original Monsters of Rock Tour 1981. There are band name and lyrical nods for all the bands that played what was not expected to be a continuing tour!

Midnight Writer (Midnight Rider. TYVR [Thank You Voice Rec.]. That’s an awesome Author’s Blog title. Midnight Writer. I think Dokken had a song with the same title. Midnight Rider not Writer.) follows strong, though more rock and less metal.

Fire in the Sky really rocks. Apocalyptic. Sorry I gave Saxon short shrift.

Denim And Leather is a tribute song to all the fans of NWOBHM who made the wave happen. Pretty catchy if also a little cheesy.

https://open.spotify.com/album/40v5zR6YBrjhkodFEjZcKs?si=o32iR61dQFycoF76bvOXNQ

The 1980 Listening Post - Saxon - Strong Arm of the Law

Saxon - Strong Arm of the Law 

#349

by Paul Zickler

Saxon

Strong Arm of the Law 

Genre: More British Metal!

Allen’s Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Paul’s Rating: 4.25 out of 5

Highlightes: 

To Hell and Back Again

Strong Arm of the Law

20,000 Ft

Sixth Form Girls   

OK, I admit it. I honestly cannot listen to ‘80’s British Heavy Metal without picturing Spinal Tap. It doesn’t matter that the blokes in Saxon are obviously quite good at playing their instruments, all I can picture is Nigel turning his amp up to 11. It also makes no difference that the lead singer’s voice is only a couple degrees of grime away from Roger Daltrey, I still imagine David St. Hubbins head banging ridiculously to Sex Farm Woman. It’s my fault, metal fans. I was ruined on your genre forever by Christopher Guest and Michael McKean. That being said, this is a WAY better album than that other one I reviewed a few weeks ago by (checks notes) Samson. See, the band names are almost identical, so you can’t really blame me, right? 

I do know people who took this music extremely seriously, and for all I know they still do, but I just can’t. When the singer sings “I’m on my final journey To Hell and Back Again,” and the guitarist plays that power chord super fast over and over, it’s all I can do not to smirk. But yeah, these guys aren’t bad at all. I can totally picture them cursing Margaret Thatcher as they get pulled over by the “motorway cop” in “Strong Arm of The Law.” The solo that follows that story is actually melodic and semi-creative for awhile. And at the end, when the cop has to let them go, and they drive off triumphantly remembering “the gig we played that night,” I’m all like, “You go, British rockers! Stick it to the man!” I can even type that without giggling. Really. 

These songs are basically blueprints for parody, though. “20,000 Ft” describes the thrill of flying in an aeroplane. “It’s just like making love / When you’re up above / Riding in my bird of silver steel,” he sings over a double bass drum barrage of speed. And of course the song ends with airplane sound effects. What else would it end with? 

There’s also the requisite “I like to bang teenage girls” tune, “Sixth Form Girls,” which contains the immortal/immoral lines, “Just sixteen, teenage dream / Sixth form can’t get out at night / They keep them in, it’s an awful sin / Should set them free and let them roam.” I should add that the song in question is actually pretty fun and catchy, with one of those riffs you could learn to play on guitar and sound half impressive. 

 OK, so it turns out Harry Shearer met and hung out with these guys before he co-wrote Spinal Tap. I just read that on Wikipedia. I honestly did not read that before I started this review. I feel totally vindicated now. I should add that Saxon’s bass player said, “[When] we all went to see This Is Spinal Tap, I didn't recognise Harry. I was too busy laughing my head off. But some of the other guys didn't see the funny side.” So yeah, it makes sense that I would find the band that inspired Spinal Tap both ridiculous and very listenable. 

Rock on, Saxon! We salute you!

https://open.spotify.com/album/31rQ8a12b01IJ2tTFcM1bW?si=RARXHpeDT-iNhbrZyts3zA

The 1980 Listening Post - Saxon - Wheels of Steel

Saxon - Wheels of Steel


#207

by George Chastain

May 3 1980

Saxon

Wheels of Steel

Genre: Generic Heavy Metal 

 Allen’s Rating: 4 out of 5 

 George’s Rating: 1 out of 5 

George’s Highlights: Suzie Hold On

By George Chastain Jr. 

 I think I should start off this review by saying I know very little about music or music history. As I read other reviews, I realized that I am unaware of a lot of artists, the tools of their trade and their music. When my brother, Sheff, told me about the listening post, I thought it was a great opportunity to become educated…and then I got Saxon. If I may, a brief story. In 1983, my brother, our friend Steve, and I went to US Festival. It was a 3 Day musical event where up to 10 bands played each day. Day One – New Wave, Day Two – Heavy Metal, and Day 3 – Rock Day (Think U2, David Bowie). Steve and my brother went all three days. I skipped Day 2 and went and visited friends at UCLA. I was not going to Day 2. The point of this story….I got SAXON! Ok, well, I consider myself to be musically eclectic, so who knows, I’ll give it a shot. Plus, my motto has always been every good band has some bad songs, and every bad band has some good songs. Maybe I’ll find a song or two to put on my playlist. I have always disliked Heavy Metal for two reasons. One, no one would ever call me a good singer. I would not be confused with Pavarotti or Frank Sinatra, so when I feel I could sing a song as well as the lead singer of the band I am listening to, I have little or no use for the band. Now, I do like the music of singers who are not terribly good vocalists, but in those cases, they are typically doing something very interesting with their music, their voice is unique, their lyrics overcompensate, or other musical elements rise to overshadow the vocals. I do not find this the case in heavy metal. Second, the heavy metal guitar sound to me is typically self-indulgent and done for the sake of a screeching guitar and not to propel the song forward. Just an opinion. So, to the review. I loved Saxon’s drums and rhythm guitar section, and when Motorcycle Man started, I thought, “Hmmm, maybe this will be ok.” Then, Peter Byford opened his mouth, and all hope was lost. I could have been the lead singer of Saxon, and I CAN’T SING. I truly hate his vocals – very whiny and with limited range. The lead guitar was fine, but nothing special and pretty generic. The standout throughout the album was the drums and rhythm guitars. Several songs reminded me of Sammy Hagar’s Standing Hampton, just not as a good and with far worse vocals. While I like the rhythm guitars and drums, all but 2 of the songs were interchangeable. There was not a lot of musical variety. The biggest change up was "Suzie Hold On," which is why I guess it is a highlight for me. Did I mention yet that the lyrics lacked complexity? Here are some examples: “Ya gotta stand up, stand up for your rights,” “We can make it, you can break it, stand up, stand up be counted,” and “She’s got wheels, wheels of steel, She’s got wheels of steel, Wheels of steel, My my my my wheels of steel.” If they say, “Strangers in the Night” one more time, I’m going to hurt someone. I had a headache after listening to this album. It’s sad, though, because I believe if the band had a better lead singer and some creativity with lyrics, song variety, and lead guitar, this band would have been fun because the drums and rhythm guitars were so kicking. 

 https://open.spotify.com/album/6EGEGr4oY0PsV6yGBxeQ8J?

The 1986 Listening Post - Saxon - Rock the Nations

Saxon - Rock the Nations

#435/2114

October 13 1986

Saxon

Rock the Nations

Genre: Mediocretal 

3.25 out of 5

Highlights:

Party Til You Puke

Word is Elton John was recording in the same studio and popped in to play piano on…”Party Til You Puke”. (Also on the last song, “Northern Lady”.)

That should suffice for the entire review of this hollow piece of mediocrity, except that’s the best song on the record. 

I get what they are going for, but it all sounds so calculated that it’s impossible for me to truly enjoy. So much seems to have promise and then it all peters out when the actual songs takes shape (“Running Hot” is a great example of this).

https://music.apple.com/us/album/rock-the-nations/717114516

The 1985 Listening Post - Saxon - Innocence is No Excuse

Saxon - Innocence is No Excuse

#222/874

June 24 1985

Saxon

Innocence Is No Excuse

Genre: Glam Metal

2.75 out of 5

Highlights:

Everybody Up

I’m always leery when bands write songs about “rock” or “Rockin’ Out” or something about “rock”. I feel like that’s AC/DC’s territory and they are the only ones allowed to dance in that arena. They’ve kind of always been forthright that that is their thing and they are bereft of a lot of other ideas so, we need to let them have that. If Saxon was going to bring something more to that party I’d be less leery. But they don’t. It’s just more lunkheaded metal. 

Oh man…it’s still on…it’s all soo…pedestrian. 

Ultimately, they can’t decide if they are ACDC or, judging by the “Hot for Teacher” ripoff, “Give It Everything You’ve Got”, Van Halen. 

Doesn’t matter. They aren’t as good as either. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/innocence-is-no-excuse/717114919

The 1984 Listening Post - Saxon - Crusader

Saxon - Crusader

#78

April 16 1984

Saxon

Crusader

3.25 out of 5

You know why this record sounds so good?

Two words. Sound. City. 

It’s that magical mixing board + a solid rhythm section, laser focused licks that help propel this record despite the tired subject matter and songwriting. Case in point: “Bad Boys Like to Rock and Roll”, which kicks ass musically and sonically (although it’s a wee tinny) but the song craft is middling Kiss, at best. I mean, is there anything more Paul Stanley than Saxon’s “Rock City”? 

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/crusader-remastered-bonus-tracks/693422650

The 1983 Listening Post - Saxon Power and the Glory

Saxon - Power and the Glory

Saxon
Power and the Glory
2.5 Stars

Saxon sounds more and more like an Iron Maiden knock off and alternately a Metallica wanna be and then they’re Twisted Sister. Or they’re AC/DC.
They don’t seem to have any identity of their own.
They are making me weary.