Saxon - Power & the Glory (1983)^{Release ID: 3992}

Most serious metal fans would be well aware of the impact that NWOBHM heavy-weights Saxon had made on the global metal scene by 1983. They’d released four studio albums in just four years (at least two of which are regarded as genuine classics of the NWOBHM) plus an excellent live album in 1982’s “The Eagle Has Landed: Live” so expectations must have been extremely high for everyone involved with the band when it came time to record their fifth studio album; 1983’s “Power & The Glory”.

I don’t think anyone would have expected the band to move dramatically from their tried & tested sound as they’d shown very little tendency to do that since the progressive leanings of their debut with only subtle changes to their sound & their appeal marketed primarily off the back of their quality song-writing & performances. While Saxon had achieved remarkable success around the world though there was one market that they’d still yet to crack & that was the USA. Listening back now I can imagine that Saxon & their management must really have been genuinely frustrated that they’d missed the boat there despite releasing so much high quality material & this brings us to a topic that will continue to raise it’s head over the next year or so; the apparent demise of the NWOBHM movement.

In a nut shell 1983 would be the final year for the New Wave. The cause of its eventual dissipation? The commercial ambition of a large portion of it’s more senior players. In a short period we would see so many of the New Wave’s greatest bands releasing albums that were drastically less extreme & decidedly less metal than the fast, energetic hard rock & heavy metal of their early releases. And sadly…. only Def Leppard would have any major success in this undertaking. So what has this got to do with Saxon? Well unfortunately Saxon would be one of the protagonists to fall into this trap & “Power & The Glory” is the record where critics claim they can start to hear the band taking that cheesier direction & as a result it’s widely regarded as a step down from the band’s previous three albums. Now whether this is a fair assessment of the record’s merits is quite a point of contention. Personally I’ve always been able to hear the influence of commercial hard rock bands like Van Halen in Saxon’s sound & I honestly don’t think there’s any more of that on “Power & The Glory” than there was before other than an increase in the more commercially directed backing vocals. But what there’s less of is the higher tempo metal numbers that the NWOBHM cut its teeth on & I categorically believe this to be the reason that “Power & The Glory” is less highly praised than albums like “Strong Arm Of The Law” or “Denim & Leather”. Don’t get me wrong. The reaction to “Power & The Glory” was still largely positive. It just wasn’t as gushing as it had been previously & I suspect the timing of the release was a significant factor in this given that bands like Venom, Mercyful Fate, Metallica & Sodom were already pushing the genre into a more extreme place than it had ever gone before. Perhaps Saxon just sounded fairly tame in comparison? Personally though I don’t mind the fact the this record is less metal than Saxon’s last couple of albums at all. To be honest I didn’t think Saxon’s first two albums were genuine metal releases anyway! To me it all comes down to the quality of the song-writing & musicianship as well as the strength of the production. I don’t care that there are only a few faster metal numbers on this album because the song-writing is stronger than ever before & that includes the ballads & moodier material.

New drummer Nigel Glockler does an excellent job at filling the shoes of former drummer Pete Gill. In fact his performance is one of the real highlights here along with the flashy dual guitar solos of Paul Quinn & Graham Oliver. The production is often unfairly criticized but I can assure that there’s very little wrong with it. The slower numbers are just as good the faster ones & there’s only one real failure across the tracklisting in the obvious live audience gee-up song “This Town Rocks”. The most iconic song on the record in the opening title tune “Power & The Glory” & Saxon have made a habit of picking their album titles from the song with the most anthemic & hook-driven chorus & this one is no exception.

If you listen to "Metal Academy" podcast then you'll likely know that I absolutely call ‘em like I see ‘em & to be fair this will be one of my more controversial calls but I can honestly say that “Power & The Glory” just edges out “Strong Arm Of The Law” as my favourite Saxon album to the time. That’s right people! Shall I give you all a few moments to compose yourselves? …………..OK……. I guess I’d just like everyone to go into this album with an open mind because there are far too many metal purists out there that think less metal equals less quality & that’s just missing the point entirely.