Saxon is on a ride releasing their third album just 6 months after the second one. This time spending some more time in the studio achieving higher level of production than previously. They continue the example set on "Wheels Of Steel" but up it another nudge on all fronts. My opinion is that this is the purest (old school) metal they ever did in the early era. They basically fire on all cylinders and use their skills to the max. Still it is not as creative and progressive as say Iron Maiden, the new up and comers in the charts, but they do what they are best at to the max of their abilities.
They certainly still have their traditional rock basics in place at all times, their style of metal is basically to be understood as the fastest and hardest thing rock'n'roll can be, without going into pure metal as we may understand it now. Growing up discovering this kind of musics back in the early 80's was like a revelation to me. It had the structure of rock music but had that energetic edge often missing in other types of "rock" at the times, which was either "simplistic" new wave or radio friendly teeny stuff. Punk would be the closest thing, while I personally had a hard time identifying with the attitude back then. 40 years on, it seems very innocent :-)
The title "Heavy Metal Thunder" says it all and is very reminiscent of the previous opener ... some ambient sound morphing into a memorable heavy riff. It is not very complicated, it is just hard-hitting riff-based rock. Very catchy, and live audience "sing-a-long" friendly !!
The rest of the album straight follows the same formula. Quite incredibly, while it is true, it still seems that it is quite diverse in creating various little variatons here and there. Just when it seems to come to a mid-tempo pace, the next track becomes even faster with another rip roaring riff - like "20.000 Feet" ... The variations within each track, seem to fit the actual speed and structure of the track so that variations seems integral and not "just" there to secure diversity out of concern.
In "Hungry years" they go for a "The Jack" (AC/DC) kind of feel and succeed while still stay Saxon. The players seem to have a lot of enthusiasm and energy and fun playing, each adding little bits here and there. A great mid-tempo hard-rocker with glorious guitar and drum work. Even the largely instrumental, somewhat generic sounding closer "Dallas 1 PM" - has a lot a of lovely crunchy guitar base riffing and hard hitting drumming. In fact the overall sound on the album is some of the best I have heard from this era. It has a natural palet to it that sometimes is steered away fro in other metal bands to sound more metallic or progressive. Saxon stay true to the old guard of naturally sounding instruments, which suits me fine. That is a main reason to listen to them imo.
An absolute must have album, probably their best. Surely in the top 100 even 50 of all time metal albums. Go get it now :-)
Tracklisting:
- "Heavy Metal Thunder"
- "To Hell and Back Again"
- "Strong Arm of the Law"
- "Taking Your Chances"
- "20,000 Ft."
- "Hungry Years"
- "Sixth Form Girls"
- "Dallas 1 PM"