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

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