Reviews list for Saxon - Strong Arm of the Law (1980)

Saxon were on a roll in 1980. After a lacklustre debut album hadn't really gone anywhere the Yorkshiremen shed the more rock-oriented aspect of their sound and sharpened things up for its follow-up "Wheels of Steel". This, aided by the unlikely chart success of the lead single "747 (Strangers in the Night)", thrust them to the forefront of the burgeoning NWOBHM scene. Obviously surfing on a creative high and not wanting to lose any momentum "Strong Arm of the Law" hit the streets a mere five months after its predecessor and only a couple of weeks after their appearance at the inaugural Monsters of Rock festival at Castle Donnington, an event that was pivotal for the rock and metal fraternity here in England and which added extra impetus to the metal explosion taking place across the country.

"Wheels of Steel" was an album with some incredible peaks, "747..." and the title track in particular being NWOBHM classics, but taken as a whole I think "Strong Arm.." is the more consistent record with fewer dips in quality than its predecessor. Side One is a collection of four cracking staples of NWOBHM glory with riff after riff of headbanging magic, kicking off with the uptempo, fist-pumping anthem to metal fandom, "Heavy Metal Thunder" the band stick their sword in the ground and say, "on this we make our stand, who's with us?" Biff's nasal vocals soar over everything with his tales of life on the road that paint a picture of a band that genuinely love their fans and really get a kick out of bringing metal joy to a country that in those days was stuck in some very grey times. Saxon have always come over as a really genuine bunch of fellas who would probably still play even if no one came to see them and who don't need drugs because they get high on playing for their fans, as they say on the title track, and that integrity is yet one more reason to get on board with these plucky Yorkshiremen.

Side Two is bookended by two fantastic tracks in "20,000 Ft" and the Kennedy assassination-themed "Dallas 1 PM", and although "Hungry Years" is a decent, if somewhat basic track and "Sixth Form Girls", despite being a bit cringey lyric-wise, has a great main riff and an unpretentious solo, these two feel like a bit of a dip when sandwiched between two such monsters in the band's repertoire. "Dallas 1 PM" in particular sees the band stretching their wings with a little more ambition in the songwriting. The throbbing bass intro and opening bars of the riff remind me very much of The Sensational Alex Harvey Band's excellent "Faith Healer" and the solo that begins after the sample of the assassination commentary is one of my favourites from the band. This, when coupled with the striking subject matter, makes "Dallas" a bona fide NWOBHM classic and is a fantastic way to end the album on a high.

Saxon may not have had the publicity of some of the more notorious metal crews over the years and may even be seen by some as being a bit naff, but these guys were writers of great riffs, consummate entertainers and all-round good guys, which may have seen them overlooked by the more image-conscious metal fans, but the loss is their's, not Saxon's. I saw them play live many times in the early 80s and they were genuinely one of the brightest lights of the NWOBHM and deserve the respect of metalheads everywhere.

Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and Saxon.... Yeah one of these things is not like the other ones is it? That's a pretty distant third place. Now despite being a long way behind those legends, Saxon did carve a name for themselves, because every once in a while they had a "747-Strangers in the Night", "Denim and Leather", "Wheels of Steel", "Princess of the Night" or "Crusader" songs that are just so damn good that the band could punch far above their weight, and actually hang with the big boys on occasion, but you know what all of those songs have in common? None of them are on this album. Here you just get Saxon in their essence, which is a mid-tier throwaway NWOBHM band, and I'm still salty as fuck that they didn't play "Crusader" when supporting Priest on the Firepower tour.

First thought listening to this album was, I wish I was driving because this feels like a solid road trip album. Unfortunately it's too damn cold and icy at the moment for the full experience but I may have to try again with this once it warms up to try it out. I had a good time, but unfortunately nothing stood out to me. I feel this is more of a 3.75 record, but not quite a 4 star so.. 3.5 it gets. I see the love, but it just feels like a good time. Not one of those I'm going to keep coming back to this party but I will have have nothing negative to say about it when trying to reminisce but also won't have any specific moments to reflect back on for me. The hooks are fun, good solos, good dance-able headbanging beats, and I even enjoy his unique voice but even listening again for something to stick out to talk about positive or negative I just really can't find specifics. I feel if I listened to this enough I would be able to sing along to every song while I am on that aforementioned road trip and then immediately forget the lyrics as soon as it ended until I turned it on again.

Anyone else have those albums, that you've listened to more than you realize but when trying to explain or talk about the album it just completely leaves your thoughts until it shows up in your playlist or disc collection to be put on again to then just be put back in it's sleeve for the next spring cleaning? I have a few that unless you pointed out and we agreed to put it on I would have forgotten what it even is. I've listened to Saxon a handful of times over their near 45 year discography and still have that positive emotional reaction but couldn't tell you anything they've done. Sorry guys, too much metal but this is still a good time. 

Wheels of Steel was a bonafide classic, and Saxon wasted no time in following it up with Strong Arm of the Law just 5 months later. So it's no surprise that it isn't any radical departure of sound. Saxon still have the same crisp, riff-driven crunch, the same sense of hard rocking wild abandon, and Biff's energetic vocals leading the charge.

If there's a slight difference, it's that Strong Arm feels like it leans a little more heavily onto the rocking side than the (at the time) emerging metallic force, and for me that makes it the marginally weaker of the two, but it's a minor quibble. If Wheels was the A-side, this is the B-side, and there's still plenty of killer material here.

"Heavy Metal Thunder" is a true, 100% metal anthem, and can proudly sit alongside others from the era of the genre's true eruption. "20,000 Ft" is just so much fun with its funky sort of bounce. The delicious bass rumble of "Dallas 1pm" evokes the motorcade heading towards the infamous assassination, and the sudden cut to near silence works beautifully like sudden shellshock, while the following solo work has a mournful tone to it.

These sort of tracks are solid, vintage Saxon, but there are a couple of weaker numbers too. "To Hell and Back Again" relies a bit too much on repetition of its main line: it essentially does the same thing as "Thunder" and "Strong Arm" do, but just not as well. "Hungry Years" has a great little groove to it, but not much else, and it wears a bit thin by the end.

As a whole, Strong Arm eases off the gas just a tad from Wheels of Steel, tending more to cruise than belt down the highway, but both are perfectly enjoyable and solid early metal albums. Everything here announces itself with a burst of confident riffing, and this carries across as you listen. It's hard not to get swept up, whether the song's subject matter is something momentous or mundane, you just can't help but match the enthusiasm of Saxon themselves.

Choice cuts: Dallas 1pm, Heavy Metal Thunder, 20,000 Ft, Taking Your Chances

In the beginning there was nothing. Then, depending on your mindset, there was either a big explosion or some omnipotent entity did some serious DIY work. Either way, eventually there was rock music (took a few years regardless of your evolutionary viewpoint) and rock music dominated most of the 70s. Stadiums got sold out by the likes of Zeppelin and as the end of that decade came about a couple of now legendary acts like Motorhead and Priest had already become well established with their heavier style of rock - music that we all know to be heavy metal.

As the 80's rolled around the NWOBHM (New Wave Of British Heavy Metal - just in case anybody has their head up their arse) was already gathering pace nicely. If we speak of a "first wave" then Saxon are an inevitable necessity in any such conversation. Although I have read reviews that suggest they were early progenitors of speed metal (the fuck?) Biff and the rest of the Barnsley Bikers took the melody of rock, retaining it's simplicity and catchiness yet at the same time combining it with plodding riffs and thumping rhythm to please the metal loving hordes.

"Strong Arm Of The Law" was released in 1980, the same year as the band's previous effort "Wheels of Steel". The latter mentioned album was rightly praised by fans and journos alike, yet on reflection (and more importantly in comparison with "Strong...") wasn't as accomplished as the follow-up record that landed in September of that year. For all the talk of classics from the "Wheels.." album such as the now legendary "747 (Strangers In The Night)" overall the album was still only the recording of a band on their second release and still retained a degree of filler whilst they developed their sound further. "Strong Arm Of The Law" was a band in fine form, completely assured in their delivery of some very memorable NWOBHM. If we want to talk classics then look no further than opening track "Heavy Metal Thunder", a song written for live performance if ever the was one. Lets also mention "To Hell And Back Again", "20,000ft" and the title track also.

The thing is when I was in the record shop yesterday and I saw a vinyl copy of "Strong Arm Of The Law" I was smiling, even before I got my grubby little digits around it. It is one of those albums that retains such a memorable fondness in my mind that the very sight of it lifts the mood. No pun intended, but it is Saxon's strongest album. It is well written, well produced and incredibly consistent. The individual pieces of the band work at their best also. The performances of both Quinn and Oliver are precise and balanced, never quite to the point of refined yet somehow never shoddy either. The most familiar aspect to Saxon for me has always been Biff's unique vocal delivery. Blunt and curt almost in delivery yet never cumbersome or clunky, on "Strong Arm..." he is as distinctive as ever.

So there you have it. Seven quid lighter than I was this time yesterday but managed to pick an absolute gem with that few quid and what is more pleasing, is that as well as it clearly having been well looked after by the previous owner (not a skip, scratch or jump on either side), at some point someone has written "headbanger" on the inner sleeve which pleases me greatly.