A Sexy Saxon Metal Journey
This blog post is the unrolled, uncluttered and updated version of my #SexySaxon Metal Journey 🔗
It is settled, my next metal journey will be Saxon!
Oh boy, they have an extensive catalogue, I guess this will take ma a while. Nontheless, I will listen to all of their studio albums in chronological order, starting with their 1979 self titled debut Saxon.
Saxon
First note: Is it just me or does Stallions Of The Highway have a very Motörheady vibe?
▶️ Stallions of the Highway on YouTube Music
Wheels of Steel
Round 2 of my #SexySaxon metal journey: we are now in 1980 and the name of the album is Wheels Of Steel.
Still sounds very Motörheady. Or does Motörhead sound Saxony? The doublebass near the end definitely has serious Overkill vibes.
▶️ Motorcycle Man on YouTube Music
Why do the vocals in 747 sound so different? Do they have multiple singers?
You can tell that I don't know anything about Saxon 🫣
▶️ 747 (Strangers in the Night) on YouTube Music
Strong Arm Of The Law
My #SexySaxon metal journey continues with their 2nd 1980 release Strong Arm Of The Law, the 3rd Sacon album.
Heavy Metal Thunder is a banger, I can tell! Still has strong Motörhead vibes, I guess that will stay?
▶️ Heavy Metal Thunder on YouTube Music
Denim And Leather
4/23 is Denim And Leather from 1981
Princess Of The Night sounds oddly familiar. I don't have it in my lastfm history, so I guess I must have heard it somewhere else? 🤔
▶️ Princess of The Night on YouTube Music
Seems to me that with Denim And Leather Saxon changed their vibe slightly, also, it feels less Motörheady. Rough and Ready is a good one by the way:
▶️ Rough and Ready on YouTube Music
Power And The Glory
5/23 is Power And The Glory from 1983.
Seems like the Motörhead vibes are gone now and Saxon found their own style. Or is it the other way round? Let me know what you think! I really like those deep dives. Esp. in chronological order, you can hear the evolution of the band's sound and style.
▶️ Power and the Glory on YouTube Music
So far, I hear early Power Metal. You can clearly tell that Saxon had a new drummer on this record. A lot of the Motörhead resemblance was actually because of the drumming, reminded me a lot of Phil Taylor. Nightmare has a bit of a hair metal vibe to it. Very interesting record so far! Maybe even the best on my #SexySaxon metal journey yet.
Crusader
6/23 on my #SexySaxon metal journey is Crusader, released in 1984, the year I was born (so it has to be a good one).
Ooh, the title track starts niiiice! I guess with Crusader we are deep in Saxon's Power Metal phase that started with Power And The Glory? Did I get this right?
Innocence Is No Excuse
7/23 is Innocence Is No Excuse from 1985 and it has a very different album cover compared to their other ones. With Rockin Again it starts very 80ish, which, of course, makes sense, given that we are in the 80s 😂
▶️ Rockin Again on YouTube Music
Yep, Saxon's Innocence Is No Excuse is as 80s as its album cover.
▶️ Innocence Is No Excuse on YouTube Music
Rock The Nations
8/23 is Saxon's 1986 release Rock The Nations
But before I start, a word on Innocence Is No Excuse: I bet this one was very controversially received by their fanbase. It was fun though.
Now onto Rock The Nations. I have this weird feeling that it will suck...
▶️ Rock The Nations on YouTube Music
Ok, Rock The Nations doesn't suck, but it doesn't stand out either. Feels like an add-on to Innocence Is No Excuse. But Party Til You Puke is actually funny 😂
▶️ Party Til You Puke on YouTube Music
Destiny
Hmmmpf... no, I didn't like Destiny. I can see why people might like it though.
Solid Ball Of Rock
10/23 we fast forward 3 years and are now at Saxon's 1991 release Solid Ball Of Rock. God, I hope they changed the direction, the previous 2-3 albums were... meh. The title track sounds very promising so far!
▶️ Solid Ball Of Rock on YouTube Music
Oh yes, Solid Ball Of Rock sounds much better compared to their mid/end 80s stuff. Looks like they needed this short break. Are there any veteran Saxon fans in here? How did you feel about the album when it came out?
▶️ Baptism of Fire on YouTube Music
Forever Free
11/23 of my #SexySaxon metal journey is Forever Free, which continues the path taken with Solid Ball Of Rock. Edgy, I like it 🤘
▶️ Forever Free on YouTube Music
Oh, I just learned that Forever Free was (partly) recorded in Vienna, Austria.Looks like Saxon pretty much flew under the radar in the 90s. What a shame, Solid Ball Of Rock and Forever Free are really fun 🤘
Dogs of War
12/23 is Dogs Of War and I am now halfway through Saxon's huge catalogue on my #SexySaxon metal journey. Will there be another mid-decade style change like in the 80s?
Burning Wheels sounds like a good one 🤘
▶️ Burning Wheels on YouTube Music
Ok, Saxon's Dogs Of War is not bad, but it feels like they lost the momentum they gained with their previous albums. From what I read, with Dogs Of War and their next one, Unleash The Beast, they reached their low point in popularity.
Let's hear why...
Unleash The Beast
13/23 of my #SexySaxon metal journey is Unleash The Beast from 1997.
The intro hints a bit of a gothic theme. The title track starts with a fine, very old-school riff 🤘
▶️ Unleash The Beast on YouTube Music
While all hell is breaking loose with Saxon's All Hell Breaking Loose on my #SexySaxon metal journey, my thoughts on Unleash The Beast:
This one rocks hard! Much better than its predecessor. I have no idea why it pretty much flew under the radar. I didn't like the ballads though, but the closer is killer track!
▶️ All Hell Breaking Loose on YouTube Music
Metalhead
14/23 Metalhead marks Saxon's last record of the 20th century.
From what I learn from Wikipedia, things started to improve record sale wise... Seems like the 90s were a tough time for Saxon. The title track Metalhead starts off great!
I really like that with Metalhead Saxon got much heavier. Piss Off for example is a great heavy tune 🤘
Killing Ground
15/23 is Saxon's first album of the 21st century. It is called Killing Ground and was released in September 2001.
Let's see if Saxon continues their heavier path in my #SexySaxon metal journey. The title track is killer! I hear doublebass, nice! 🤘
▶️ Killing Ground on YouTube Music
Dragons Lair is 🔥 This one goes directly into my "Heavy" playlist.
Saxon fun fact: Killing Ground was their first album that entered the French charts. Sacre bleu! 🥖 🇫🇷
▶️ Dragons Lair on YouTube Music
Lionheart
16/23 on my #SexySaxon metal journey is Saxon's 2004 release Lionheart.
I really like what they did from Metalhead onwards, let's see if they continue this path.
Fun fact: the title is refering to Richard the Lionheart, who was once captured in a castle in 🇦🇹 .
now playing Witchfinder General, which is an absolute banger 🤘
▶️ Witchfinder General on YouTube Music
The Inner Sanctum
17/23 now onto Saxon's 2007 release The Inner Sanctum, wich is their first album to enter the UK album charts since 1988s Destiny.
Slowly but surely I am approaching the later phase of Saxon, still 5 records to go in my #SexySaxon metal journey though. Anyways, now playing Need For Speed.
▶️ Need For Speed on YouTube Music
I'll be frank, after almost 3 days of listening exclusively to Saxon, my motivation fades a bit. Boy, they do have an extensive discography.
Anyone here to cheering me on?
Here's Attila the Hun coming for you:
▶️ Attila the Hun on YouTube Music
Into The Labyrinth
18/23 is Into The Labyrinth from 2009. This is Saxon's first album that entered the Austrian charts.
This is the second in a row that doesn't contain a title track. Can a song called "Batallions of Steel" be bad? I don't think so, so here you go:
▶️ Batallions of Steel on YouTube Music
Call To Arms
19/24 is a Call To Arms in my #SexySaxon metal journey!
The opener Hammer Of The Gods sure takes no prisoners, Saxon really knows how to open an album 🤘
This one did NOT enter the French charts (come on 🇫🇷 ) after 4 consecutive entries, but ranked 18 in Germany (hell yeah 🇩🇪 ), which meant an all time high in (major) charts since 1985!
▶️ Hammer Of The Gods on YouTube Music
Oh, that's a good one:
▶️ Afterburner on YouTube Music
Sacrifice
20/23 on my #SexySaxon metal journey is Sacrifice
It starts off with a tribally intro and then BOOM 💥
What a great title track!
Battering Ram
21/23 is Saxon's 2015 release Battering Ram
I was supposed to see them in 2016 at this very tour, supporting Motörhead. Well, that sadly never happened...
And what a fucking shame that is, because Battering Ram is something else, WOW! Honestly, I did not expect this in my #SexySexon metal journey!
▶️ Battering Ram on YouTube Music
Thunderbolt
22/23 Thunderbold from 2018 is the second to last album on my #SexySaxon metal journey
The last albums, espacially from Call To Arms onwards have been absolutely fantastic 🤘
▶️ Thunderbolt on YouTube Music
What a nice hommage to Lemmy and Motörhead. 🤘
▶️ They Played Rock And Roll on YouTube Music
Carpe Diem
23/23 Here we are, Carpe Diem, the grand finale of my #SexySaxon metal journey!
This has been a long ride, it took me 3 full days of exclusively listening to Saxon.
▶️ Grand Finale on YouTube Music
#SexySaxon metal journey: Epilogue
This was intense, 23 Albums in 3 days is no joke. Esp. when you need to work too 😂
My conlcusion: Saxon is awesome!
How could I miss this for so long? Biff has an incredible voice!
The only albums I didn't like were the ones their "hair metal" era in the 80s.
Power & the Glory was one of my favourites, also Call To Arms and Battering Ram were absolute killers.
I guess I need some days off until I do another deep dive. But I will do anohter one! 🤘
Update (2025-11-19)
Hell, Fire And Damnation
Hell, Fire and Damnation was released about a year after I finished this metal journey. I immediately liked it, although I found some of the themes and lyrics a bit weird (looking at There's Something in Roswell). It ended up being #23 on my AOTY of 2024 list, which was actually good. Overall I liked it much better than Carpe Diem and it continues the streak of very strong albums that started with Afterburner.
Where are we today?
I didn't listen to Saxon much following my metal journey with the exception of Hell, Fire and Damnation of course. However I kept returning to the songs Afterburner and Battering Ram a couple of times.