Welcome back to the CD Odyssey, where for the second time in three reviews we visit the world of heavy metal. Climb aboard, and careful of the edges – they’re sharp.
Disc 1540 is…. Power and the Glory
Artist: Saxon
Year of Release: 1983
What’s up with the Cover? Amazing band logo? Check. Wicked colour scheme? Check! Ultra-cool Viking android? Er…no.
This “lasers out of his hands” guy is the cheap Wal-Mart knock-off of that ultra-cool Viking android action figure you wanted. The imposter toy your mom brought home because she couldn’t afford the brand name version. Sure you try to work it in with whatever other action figures you’ve got, but you do not bring that piece of shit to Show and Tell. You definitely do not put it on your heavy metal album cover.
How I Came To Know It: I have been a Saxon fan since my brother introduced me to them when I was a kid. My brother is quite a few years older and had a job on a commercial fishboat. He’d come in after a month away with a swack of cash and would buy twenty or more records at a time. When he went back out on the water, I’d ask to borrow what caught my fancy. This record was one of those.
As for my more recent foray into buying them on CD, ten years ago I thought I was done with Saxon and bought a “Best Of” package. At the time I thought that was all I’d ever need. I even expressed this exact plan when I reviewed it back at Disc 382. Ladies and gentlemen, I was wrong. I apologize to any Gods of Rock that I have offended, and I am glad to be rediscovering my love for this band.
How It Stacks Up: My reinvigorated love for this band has translated into me buying a swack of their original albums over the past few months. I have five so far. Of those five, “Power and the Glory” is solid, but not one of my favourites. I rank it at #4.
Ratings: 3 stars but almost 4
Saxon is a band defined by their furious energy, and while “Power and the Glory” may be uneven in places, from best track to worst that energy never flags.
The album starts with the title track, which is a good indication of what you can expect to hear the rest of the way. The song opens with a killer guitar riff, and quickly moves to singer Biff Byford belting away. From then on, the two are locked in a frantic dance. Riff railing away, and Byford’s vocals responding, just as sharp around the edges and powerful as the guitar. This song also features a bass line that adds a whole separate but complementary element. Steve Dawson’s bass is not content to simply add low end to the guitar, either. If the guitar and vocals are the canvas under full sail, Dawson’s bass is the shark circling the boat just below the surface.
Another standout (and favourite from my youth) is “Warrior” which is a song about Vikings. Saxon, like a lot of metal bands, like history. This song is about Vikings, but unsurprisingly given the band’s name, the tale is told from the perspective of the Saxon farmers fearing their approach. This tune features the furious drumming of Nigel Glockler, recently added to the band and holding his own. His playing is staccato and sharp and keeps everything high energy. In some ways, Saxon remind me of bluegrass, as they consistently lean forward on the beat, without ever falling over the edge. Of course, there’d be no drum in bluegrass – just a mandolin. But I digress…
In addition to songs about soldiers and Vikings, Saxon has songs about UFOs (“Watching the Sky”) the moon landing (“The Eagle Has Landed”) and mythology (“Midas Touch”) as they show their fanciful side. They also handle very traditional rock subjects like driving very fast (“Redline”) and rockin’ out (“This Town Rocks”).
Throughout the songs are on the surface very riff dependent. It is easy to think that, because they tend to announce themselves with churning guitar, but the more you listen the more you pick up the nuance of blues and sixties prog. It is mostly beneath the surface, revealing itself more and more on multiple listens.
My copy of this record is from a remastered set put out in the late oughts. I love the production, and I’d even be OK with the bonus tracks provided, if they had just put them on a separate bonus disc. Instead, in addition to the original eight song record, there are nine more bonus tracks, including a host of demos. They are generally interesting, but sometimes I just want the original record without having to sift through all the other hoopla.
This is a minor quibble though. For the most part this record did for me what it always has; it made me bang my head and like it. I felt invigorated every time it came on. It was great for a run, great in the car and great just sitting her writing this review.
I don’t know what I was thinking expecting a “Best Of” record was going to satisfy my love for this band, but reader it did not. “Power and the Glory” is only a middle-of-the-pack Saxon record, but I still loved every minute of it. I can’t wait to grok the rest of my recently expanded collection.
Best tracks: Power and the Glory, Warrior, This Town Rocks, The Eagle Has Landed
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