Saxon

These three albums - brilliantly remastered, repackaged and with added bonus tracks – show exactly why Saxon are so highly revered by their fans and so criminally underestimated by most of the mainstream critics.
A band who have sold in excess of 23 million albums, had a whole series of top 40 albums in the UK and in the US and were a stated influence on bands as diverse as Metallica, Motley Crue and Dream Theatre.

‘Denim And Leather’ was released at the peak of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) in 1981 and was the last album with the original line-up (drummer Pete Gill left the band after suffering a hand injury). It is absolutely classic metal and if there is a track that better epitomises the genre than ‘Princess Of The Night’ I haven’t found it – fast pace, screaming vocals and a killer riff all building to a massive guitar solo that just tears through your backbone like a reapers blade. And that is just the opening track! The album comes with a set of tracks from the ‘Denim And Leather’ tour of 1981 including a killer version of ‘Midnight Rider’.

‘Power & The Glory’ saw Saxon revitalised after a couple of years of non-stop touring and a new drummer in Nigel Glockler. The album has the same recipe as previous releases but Glockler seemed to have added energy to the back line – not that it was short before. Again, this comes with a copious set of bonus tracks from the recording sessions and alternate takes.

The third of the trio ‘Crusader’ has, if anything, even more intensity than the other two. Biff Byford’s vocals even more gruff and dominant. The band were at a creative peak and driving hard and fast – ‘A Little Bit Of What You Fancy’ absolutely demonstrates what they were about.

All three albums come in beautiful hardbacked packages, complete with lyrics and rare photos. Hee essential albums for the aficionado and a great introduction to a classic band.