Its that time again. Always willing to give Saxon a chance. I spent the obligatory tenner today.
Now forgive me, have I got a duffer here? No albumn, since Tanks eponymous albumn, has had me reaching for the graphic equaliser as much. If this is genuine, the production is dire. I've played it on 3 cd players with no joy and now on the iPod with Electronic(!) setting on the EQ. Vocals are really tinny, guitars weak as piss and all drounded out by the hi hat. Reminds me of the time my brother recorded a Gillan concert off the tele with a dictaphone. As we all know the modern concert hall is the car, where I listen to most music, and its virtually unlistenable in there ( 6 speaker system).
Compare Unleash the Beast. Really crisp and clear. Hmm.
1.State of Grace. Never a big fan of Gregorian chant, specially half way through. Plinks along. A dire opener. Skip to the next track. 0/10
2. Need for Speed. Ok riffs and speed ,weak bridge, guitar solos dont match. I wish Biff would pack in the vocal harmonies. 5/10
3. Power. Er, quite a powerful song. Its great until 1.47min into the track when it slows down and gets very lost . Should be a nice fast guitar solo there. 7/10
4. Red Star Falling (asleep). Zzzz.Very much like Sea of Life and I never liked that. Press the skip. 0/10
5. Got to Rock. Great simple riff, great base, shouting non harmony vocals, great solo. A corking track. Why the fuck cant Saxon do this more often? A solid track unfortunately spoilt by the baked bean tin production. 10/10 if I produced this!
6. If I Were You. ( I'd sack the producer). Nothing like Bon Jovi. Good song, but Planet Rock still wont play it. 7/10
7. Nowhere Fast. Another full off good riffs and bass. Good vocals. Slightly weak solo. 8/10.
8. Ashes. Bit slow, up and down. Peculiar chorus, bizarre (non Gregorian) chanting. Could grow on me . 5/10
10. Atilla. Great start but then goes anyhow. Up and down, loses the plot and gets too long. Goes array at 1.52 with the poncy vocals and fucking harmony! Lost again at 2.50 with more chanting? Great opening riff spoilt by some weak bridges and general faffing. 4-5/10
11. Single Version. Why? I like the gun at the start, then fuck me! the producer did record this one with a dictaphone. Dire production.
An OK albumn, better offering the Lionheart which IMHO was and is awful. Howvever I reckon I'll listen to this very rarely as the sound is truely awful. Elements of classic Saxon but some awful stuff too. And I feel this has been Saxons problem in that they do too much stuff. Cull the last 3 albumns and you'd get one Killer albumn. But then I dont have the school fees to pay.
Now forgive me, have I got a duffer here? No albumn, since Tanks eponymous albumn, has had me reaching for the graphic equaliser as much. If this is genuine, the production is dire. I've played it on 3 cd players with no joy and now on the iPod with Electronic(!) setting on the EQ. Vocals are really tinny, guitars weak as piss and all drounded out by the hi hat. Reminds me of the time my brother recorded a Gillan concert off the tele with a dictaphone. As we all know the modern concert hall is the car, where I listen to most music, and its virtually unlistenable in there ( 6 speaker system).
Compare Unleash the Beast. Really crisp and clear. Hmm.
1.State of Grace. Never a big fan of Gregorian chant, specially half way through. Plinks along. A dire opener. Skip to the next track. 0/10
2. Need for Speed. Ok riffs and speed ,weak bridge, guitar solos dont match. I wish Biff would pack in the vocal harmonies. 5/10
3. Power. Er, quite a powerful song. Its great until 1.47min into the track when it slows down and gets very lost . Should be a nice fast guitar solo there. 7/10
4. Red Star Falling (asleep). Zzzz.Very much like Sea of Life and I never liked that. Press the skip. 0/10
5. Got to Rock. Great simple riff, great base, shouting non harmony vocals, great solo. A corking track. Why the fuck cant Saxon do this more often? A solid track unfortunately spoilt by the baked bean tin production. 10/10 if I produced this!
6. If I Were You. ( I'd sack the producer). Nothing like Bon Jovi. Good song, but Planet Rock still wont play it. 7/10
7. Nowhere Fast. Another full off good riffs and bass. Good vocals. Slightly weak solo. 8/10.
8. Ashes. Bit slow, up and down. Peculiar chorus, bizarre (non Gregorian) chanting. Could grow on me . 5/10
10. Atilla. Great start but then goes anyhow. Up and down, loses the plot and gets too long. Goes array at 1.52 with the poncy vocals and fucking harmony! Lost again at 2.50 with more chanting? Great opening riff spoilt by some weak bridges and general faffing. 4-5/10
11. Single Version. Why? I like the gun at the start, then fuck me! the producer did record this one with a dictaphone. Dire production.
An OK albumn, better offering the Lionheart which IMHO was and is awful. Howvever I reckon I'll listen to this very rarely as the sound is truely awful. Elements of classic Saxon but some awful stuff too. And I feel this has been Saxons problem in that they do too much stuff. Cull the last 3 albumns and you'd get one Killer albumn. But then I dont have the school fees to pay.
