Saxon - Inner Sanctum (Bonus Dvd)
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Free Music Notes for Inner Sanctum (Bonus Dvd)
Free Music Review: Saxon's second wind
Hit: 4 Stars
It's funny, but Saxon, despite being active for the better part of the last three decades seems to really have hit their stride in recent years. The band's glory days may be long behind them, and their lineup shattered, but with their last few albums (2001's Killing Ground, 2004's Lionheart, and now 2007's the Inner Sanctum), Saxon has reached a musical peak not seen since their benchmark New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) albums.
It's refreshing to see a veteran band that isn't content to rest on their laurels and deliver the same stale albums over and over again. Saxon is rocking with all the energy of a much younger band, and that energy is the driving force behind albums like the Inner Sanctum. This is a tight, professional album that recalls both the seminal NWOBHM movement as well as today's more refined power metal sound. Driving anthems like "Need for Speed" and "I've Got to Rock (To Stay Alive)" would not have been out of place on Wheels of Steel or Denim and Leather, and epic tracks "Red Star Falling" and "Attila the Hun" are worthy of NWOBHM peers Iron Maiden.
Anyone who may have written Saxon off in the 90's would do well to pay attention to what the band has been up to recently. Call it a metal revival, or maybe just the band's second wind. Whatever it is, the result is a string of fantastic metal albums that no classic metal fan should be without.
NOTE: There are a couple of different versions of the Inner Sanctum. The European version features a radio edit of the song "If I Was You" as a bonus track, while the US version comes with a bonus DVD that features outtakes, live material and other behind the scenes footage. Given its lower price tag, the US version is probably the way to go.
Free Music Review: Like A Fine Wine..
Hit: 4 Stars
Saxon's newest album is a nice dose of straight ahead, no foolin' around, nothing overly fancy, no B.S. heavy metal. Some may translate it to boring, bland, and been done before. But in a metal scene that finds so many of it's bands trying to get more epic, more progressive, more, more, more, an album like this is refreshing. While I like bands like Blind Guardian, Symphony X and Rhapsody, sometimes I just get in that mood where I want to say, "just shut up and rock!" Ya know? Those who have enjoyed much of Saxon's music for the last ten years or so should really enjoy this one. Or of course if you enjoy their classic period, but through modern recording technology, this one sounds quite a bit heavier, and there's nothing wrong with that, is there? Saxon do seem to be getting heavier over the years, and Inner Sanctum has some of the heaviest stuff they've done to date. Even at 56 or so, Biff sounds strong as a horse. Hell, he may sound better now than he ever did! The dvd on this edition is a rockin' bit of fun, and shows Saxon on their previous tour(where they played strictly 80s tunes and charged 80s prices for their shows and tshirts! How many bands would do something like that, eh?). The band come across as a fun, humorous and ego-less bunch of guys who truly love what they do. I tell ya, it's such a damn shame that these guys can be so unappreciated in the U.S. while jackasses like Korn pack the concert halls. Anyhow, Saxon show no signs of slowing down or going down the crapper, and judging by this new cd, they have lead in those pencils. I hope they don't call it quits any time soon.Free Music Review: Another great Saxon album!
Hit: 4 Stars
Back in the mid-80s, Saxon, along with Iron Maiden and Def Leppard was supposed to become one of the biggest bands of the NWOBHM movement, and while Iron Maiden and Def Leppard achieved worldwide fame and fortune by going in completely opposite routes, Saxon chose to pander to the hair metal crowd and alienated most of their former fans along the way. Surprisingly the band turned their sound around and has been quietly releasing consistently great Metal albums since their return to form album "Unleash the Beast" in 1997.. that's 10 years.
Most new Metal bands don't last that long!
Their new album, Inner Sanctum pretty much follows the same style and sound of their previous four CDs, without any signs of watering down their heavy sound, slowing down or altering their to fit in with the new metalcore crowd.
Saxon sticks to the type of music they practically invented in the early 80s: Pure, Classic NWHOB Heavy Metal.
With the exception of the album opener, "State of Grace" the rest of songs in this album can't really be considered modern Saxon classics like "Travellers in Time" from Metalhead or "The Thin Red Line" from Unleash the Beast, but, nevertheless, the songwriting on this CD is far better than most of what passes as metal music these days and it is consistent enough to make this album an enjoyable release that will please any Saxon fan.
Free Music Review: Saxon Are Back!!
Hit: 4 Stars
This is one of the best albums Saxon has ever released. Lionheart was a solid album, their best album in years, but The Inner Sanctum takes it to a whole new level. The music and the production are incredible! There is not one bad track on it. It is a shame that Saxon never achieved the global success of their counterparts, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and Def Leppard. Saxon started off great, but going into the the mid 80's, they tried to curb their sound into more comercial appeal and that was a mistake. Because of that, it seems that most people wrote the band off and never gave them another chance. Going into the 90's and then the new decade, Saxon have been releasing top level albums. I would place Saxon multi-levels above most of the drivel that current American heavy metal bands are making, which is just screaming and noise. Here is a band that has been around for almost thirty years and hardly anyone knows about. It is a real shame because in a perfect world, these guys would be huge!! All the good music is in Europe, especially Germany. If you like this album and group, check out some other bands like Helloween, Primal Fear, Iron Savior, Gamma Ray and Hammerfall among others. You will not be disappointed.Free Music Review: The Saxon Charge rages on
Hit: 4 Stars
Showing no sign of slowing down, the older the Saxon boys get, the more they rock. This is solid, straight in your face, metal with all the subtlety of a jack hammer. With precision they rip through their paces with energy and seem to be having fun doing what they love. As one of the pioneers of the NWOBHM, it's too bad that Priest and Maiden get so much of the attention when the Saxon catalog is full of quality material. Not everything is excellent but there are a lot of gems through the last two plus decades of music they have put out. This one melds the classic sound without sounding dated. The song, Ashes to Ashes, is the best example of this in my opinion with a perfect tempo,heavy rhythm section that is stellar, some cool lyrics, and great guitar riffs being scorched. This may be the best beginning to end album they have done with no dogs to be found. It's time to kick out some real metal and Saxon brings the charge. I give it 4.75 stars.