On to the next Saxon 1986's completely disappointing 'Rock the Nations'. The songs are ok but again to calculated for a band who early 80's recorded a string of classic albums without giving a toss what was trendy or not.

'Rock The Nations' tries to straddle a fine line between who they were and also being a band that writes radio friendly songs, songs with big chorus that you can hear a mile away. The song 'Rock the Nations' is a typical Saxon anthem with a great deal of gloss slapped on, 'Battle Cry' which comes closet to Saxon of old, and 'We Came Here to Rock' which sounds like Biff and the boys studied those Twisted Sister albums too closely. 'Party til You Puke' which is a completely in Spinal Tap territory, but that is ok, the band seem in on the joke and Elton John guests on this song as well as 'Northern Lady' which is a really good song.

The songs aren't terrible and they certainly where not the only band that was attempting to break into American market by lighting up their sound. Thankfully this trend would only last one more album, as I stated before not a bad album but it does sound like Saxon where experiencing a bit of a musical identity crisis.

Going back one....I remember that video from back in the day. I just listened for a bit and was struck by the AWFUL DRUM SOUND. I've been looking for a perfect example of horrendous 80's drum production...I think I found a winner.

It's a shame that when they finally started to get some exposure in the States...it was during this era.

Next up is 1988's Saxon album 'Destiny' another album I do not own, if someone could review this album that would be great.



Only 12 more to go, and if anyone wants to take over this thread please let me know.

Maybe when we get to Solid Ball of Rock I could take over though I don't have the BBC album or the live ones and i'm not a worsmith like some of you guys.

After three dissapointing albums, though with a decent moment here and there, Saxon returns with Solid Ball of Rock and seems to be trying to reestablish themselves as the band they started as. The title track smokes with a real classic rock feel, Altar of the Gods is just great Saxon, Requiem might demand you buy a lighter so you can raise it high and Baptism of fire almost wanders into speed metal territory. Throw in Lights In The Sky and I Just Can't Get Enough and the first six songs make for a really great run. Unfortunately song seven, Ain't Gonna Take It ruins the flow and they never quite recover. Overture in B minor has a decent solo but the last half of the album is mostly flat and you get the feel they were still hoping for that big radio hit. So, while not quite a return to form a good enough album that was much better then the last three imo.
Best songs: Baptism Of Fire, Altar Of The Gods, Solid Ball Of Rock

I personally love 'Solid Ball of Rock', sure the lads where still trying to write a commercial song here and there, but for the most part they came ready to kick ass.

The title track is a classic song recounting (in their own way) the story of Jerry Lee Lewis and Rev Jimmy Swaggert.

One night in Louisiana down by highway eighty four
You could hear a strange dog howling right outside his mamma's door
The baby was a killer, the cousin was a priest
The baby upped and said, "I play the music of the beast"

and the cool last verse:

The killer he was born again and saw gates of hell
The preacher found redemption in a Jacksonville motel
The devil takes the hindmost they're running out of breath
They're gonna have to reckon with the chilling hand of death

The rest of the album is like the title describes, 'A Solid Ball of Rock'. The songs are solid and the Saxon boys are not trying to recreate the wheel. A very cool album, not exactly an essential Saxon release but an album I love for its element of fun.

I would say after Rock The Nations & Destiny, Solid Ball Of Rock was a the very least a step in the right direction from what I remember. I really cannot say much about these releases as I am a fan of Saxon, and NEVER listen to the Innocence to Unleash era as nothing exciting came from them in this era (the 90's were not kind for Saxon). Will chime in for Metalhead on.

P.s. I used to have a crush on the gal on the cover of Innocence and the Back On the Streets single.

Solid Ball of Rock isn't anywhere near as good as the early albums but it does have some cool songs on it. Definitely a step back toward the band's roots after losing their way for a while.

I've only got Wheels of Steel and Strong Arm of the Law. They come as a pair but the bonus tracks (which are live), seem to have been lifted from the "Eagle Has Landed" album. Is this true. Also, from what i've heard from these two albums, I really need to check out the rest of their discography.

snooloui, their early 80's stuff, specifically 'Strong Arm of the Law' ' Wheels of Steel' 'Denim and Leather',and live 'The Eagle Has Landed' and are all essential Saxon platters.

Their mid 80's early 90's period was not so good to them, but they have rebounded nicely and have in the last 10 plus years have been releasing strong material.

Well I've just started collecting CDs. So at the moment i'm getting many different artists such as Iron Maiden etc. Will definitively need to get more of their stuff though. Thanks for the help.

All the way back. Finally Saxon decides to just do what they are best at and be happy with it. At least that's what this album feels like to me and other then the Willie Dixon cover of, I Just Want To Make Love To You, every song is solid and while the lyrics still wandered into total cheese territory, there is some great riffage throughout. A powerhouse tune in Nighthunter and a seeming nod to AC/DC on Get Down And Dirty show Oliver and Quinn's dual guitar attack in fine form and that they'd thrown off the monkey of trying to be radio friendly. In '93 to do a song called Can't Stop Rockin' seemed almost brave. Forever Free showed a turning point had been made and Biff and the boys were back. Overall, just a solid Saxon album that is worthy to be in your catalog.

Best Songs: Nighthunter, Get Down And Dirty, Forever Free

I just spent no less than 30 minutes crafting an in-depth post, catching up on my own thread, and the damn interweb gives me the old "Webpage has Expired" crap.

I give up. Saxon rules.

That sucks.

You should always ctrl-a / ctrl-c before pressing 'send', if what you wrote was lengthy. That is to say, copy your post so you won't lose it in case something bad happens. That has saved me a lot of trouble in the past.

Anyway, I'm interested in this part of the Saxon catalogue. I don't have any of the 'forgotten' Saxon albums, but I'm tempted to collect them all, even if they ain't all that good. I will follow the thread, and get back to posting once Dogs of War comes up.

If forever free was Saxon all the way back then Dogs Of War was Saxon dialed to 11. The original sound is in play yet a very melodic album with songs that stick in your head. So many great ones here, Great White Buffalo, Demolition Alley and the title track all being amazingly fired up and showing the boys in great form. Biff sounds in charge and the band sounds more confident then they had in awhile, no tinkering with trying to do arena rock and they left the sappy ballads alone. I love the song, Walking Through Tokyo, but it seems to be the one that leaves many cold. This album would see the Oliver bowing out but it was a stellar one to leave on. I consider this one a total must have in the Saxon catalog.

Is anybody out there, just nod if you can hear me.

Ok, either I can't write or nobody is into the 90's Saxon. Anyways, i'll skip The Eagle Has Landed Part 2 (who has the most live and greatest hits albums, Saxon or Maiden?) and move to Unleash the Beast. A good album but doesn't hold up as well as the last two imo, though it opens with a great title track after a short intro and it's one of their heaviest songs ever and closes with All Hell Breaking Loose with a lot of energy. In between are some good numbers, Ministry Of Fools has a pretty decent chorus and Bloodletter is a speedy number that shows the guitar work they are known for. This album has the line up change of Scarret replacing Oliver on guitar though I don't hear much change as Quinn seems to be the main guitarist and the sound stays intact though it seems a little darker at times and I wonder if he helped with that.. A decent album and one that can be had for a fair price on Amazon.

Sorry, but my Saxon collection is actually smaller than peckerfate's schlong..... thus I can't contribute much.

The cover on this one is pretty cool

Same here Naz, I have huge holes in my Saxon collection, but I am reading the thread so keep posting.

I really could not contribute much in this thread for this era, as though I may not hate it, I find it very 'meh'.

Used Ult's pic with Biff's signature on it. Or Ult scribbled something on there and says Biff signed it, hard to tell.

Metalhead continues in the vein of Unleash The Beast being a little darker overall and seems to be kind of middle ground for many, either they think it was very strong or kind of meh. I remember reading one review that said it was grungy and I wondered what that guy was smoking. Coming out twenty years after their first release I think Metalhead is very strong, though now, looking back and seeing what was coming things would only get better. Not a bad album by anymeans and for the time seemed almost gutsy. Biff actually sounds kind of angry on songs like Song Of Evil and Piss Off and maybe he was tired of mostly being ignored at this point, who in '99 was listening to NWOBHM music except a few purists? Well, the lucky few were hearing some great classic sounding music with the speedy Conquistador which opens with some Spanish sounding acoustics being my favorite and the galloping All Guns Blazing which has nothing to do with Priest other then being a great song, following close behind. Another great title song with some head pounding riffs and dark vocals and Are We Travelers In Time also with the Saxon mid paced sound complete the top songs on the album. The other songs are more then decent enough though I didn't like Sea Of Life at first, being long and very different for them though now I don't mind it so much. So Saxon continued to put out quality albums with this one but looking down the horizon a little we see some great things looming for them.

Sounds like an album I need to add to my collection excellent review of the album, Nazgul.

These can be had for cheap now that they've been rereleased.