Review by Tymell for Saxon - Strong Arm of the Law (1980)

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