What saxon albums are the best?

[Max]

I first heard a saxon song last week (killing ground) and its the best bloody piece of music iv heard in my life.
So i want to know wich saxon albums are the best , and if im better off getting a best of album like heavy metal thunder.
thanks for your help metalheadz

[Militia guard]

You're unlikely to get the same reply from members on this site, as some (like myself) are old school and others intothe new stuff.

Personally, I think you'll be hard pushed to beat Wheels of Steel and Strong Arm of the Law.
There are a few "best of's " available, which will probably give you the complete spectrum of Saxon from early 80s to early Noughties.

Whatever you get, you won't be dissapointed though:)

[seakrieg]

My favourite was always 'Power & The Glory'...though noone else seems to agree! They're all great...except....for me, 'Destiny' doesn't have the required crunch that Saxon normally has. But that's just a personal opinion. :)

[Bosnian Witchfinder]

The 4 truly killer Saxon albums that you should start with:

Strong arm of the law
Lionheart
Wheels of Steel
Inner Sanctum

Some more good ones:
Unleash the Beast
Denim and Leather
Metalhead
The eagle has landed series

Avoid these, some good songs but mostly bland:

Destiny
Crusader
Rock the Nations

[Fabs]

IMO, definitely get Unleash The Beast and Inner Sanctum.
And get Heavy Metal Thunder because it's more than a best of, it's re-recordings, MUCH better sound than the classic albums, which are gold, but as a new fan you might get disappointed with the old sound.

I don't see any need to avoid Crusader, especially not the limited edition.

Well, in the end, you'll have to do what every other hardcore fan does and simply get them all :-)

[Metal_dude]

Power and the glory are truly one of threre best!

[gra396]

solid ball of rock,unleash the beast both r very good or if your a older saxon fan go 4 wos or strong arm:) :) :) :)

[tim 747 sykes]

as fabs says get heavy metal thunder ... it has some of saxons best songs and gives you a good grounding .... then pick out the songs you like from that and buy the albums the songs are featured on
soon you will have a collection of saxon albums probably about 17 or 18 lol

[Cat of Peace]

Power and the Glory is very good and has a brilliant production by Jeff Glixman! But in the old era it's better Strong Arm of the Law.
For new stuff I suggest you The Inner Sanctum and Killing Ground.
Anyway I like all Saxon albums more or less, except Rock the Nations...

[lemmyswart]

get Heavy Metal Thunder because it's more than a best of, it's re-recordings, MUCH better sound than the classic albums,





spot on with heavy metal thunder, if you pick up the inner sanctum as well you wont be dissapointed:)

[Black Lagoon]

Best ones have to be

Unleash the Beast
Wheels of Steel
Inner Sanctum
Denim and Leather

Ones to miss until you want everything

Rock the Nations
Forever Free

[Fabs]

Ones to miss until you want everything

Rock the Nations
Forever Free

I feel like if the good tracks from those two albums would be thrown together with a better production than especially Forever Free had, we would have another very strong album.
Rock The Nations has some fantastic songs on it imo.

Fabs

[toyotaTRD]

Denim and Leather
Wheels of Steel
Innocence is not Excuse
Unleash the Beast
Inner Sanctum

are top for me.

[Paxoman]

'Lionheart', 'Inner Sanctum' and 'Unleash The Beast' are the best of the 'newer' albums. 'Wheels Of Steel' and 'Strong Arm Of The Law' (you can get both of these albums along with bonus live songs on one cd) are best of the older albums.

As for best of albums, as already said, 'Heavy Metal Thunder' are re-recordings of the older songs, so would be a good place to start. And the new 3 disc 'Very Best Of, 1979-1988' is great value at around £7-£8.

[ComingHome]

I'd say "Heavy Metal Thunder" and "Inner Sanctum," as well.

"The SAXON Chronicles" is a top-notch, killer, crushing live performance at the giant Wacken metal-fest in Germany in 2001. Production-wise, as good as the best concert DVD's out there, I'll bet. Sound is amazing!

[Fred B]

For the post classic material (1990 to the presant )Lionheart is one of the best records The band has ever recorded. Inner sanctum the new one is a solid record but Lionheart is better written and solid from start to finish. Personally i was disappointed with the Killing Ground record. Metal head and Unleash the Beast are much better records to start with before Kiling Ground.

Classic material tends to sound dated by the production so your best bet is to get Heavy metal thunder to hear the classic songs as hard and powerful as they are meant to sound. Power and the Glory has always been my favorite classic record and compared to Wheels of Steel, Strong Arm of the Law and Denim and Leather has aged the best as far as the production is concerned. Great Music to discover you will have a blast

[Deathrasher]

My very favorite album is Innocence Is No Excuse LP! Man, all the songs on this album are great, but the best ones are Call Of The Wild, Back On The Streets Again and Rock 'N' Roll Gypsy! You're probably out of your mind if you don't wanna headbang when listening to Call Of The Wild, I always get big chills when the chorus starts with the guitar melody! The covergirl is also beautiful. Besides that Strong Arm Of The Law LP competes with Innocence Is No Excuse about my very fave Saxon album. When I was 8 years old and my father gave the LP I was hooked! More "rocky" album than Innocence Is No Excuse = Catchy songs, Biff's vocals, just amazing! After all it's really hard to say just a couple, because now I'm not mentioning albums like "Denim & Leather" and "Wheels Of Steel" among the newer ones, all of them are great! You can't go wrong with SAXON!

First post by the way! :)

[US_crusader]

well I tell ya! I just got "the very best 1979-1988" 3 disc set, and it's great!! especialy for the new guy AND the price WOW! 16.99 USD from Amazon, I have all the old stuff on LPs so now I have just 3 CDs for the car plus the new CDs, BTW you can't go wrong with Lionheart...............Hell get them all like the rest of us :p

[SAXONATOR]

ground and sanctum are my personal number 1 albums

all others are also my personal number 1 albums :D

[kat]

Inner Sanctum I Love The Song Need For Speed! :d

[stemerson]

All the saxon albums are excellent but i prefer the live releases such as

THE EAGLE HAS LANDED!


118

[moofish747]

My favourite was always 'Power & The Glory'...though noone else seems to agree! They're all great...except....for me, 'Destiny' doesn't have the required crunch that Saxon normally has. But that's just a personal opinion. :)I agree ! 'Power and the Glory' is my all-time favorite as well. Followed closely by 'Denim and Leather', 'Strong Arm of the Law', 'Metalhead', and 'Lionheart'.

[the trooper]

I think you should definitley get Wheels Of Steel,Denim And Leather and Strong Arm Of The Law.Out of the more recents I would reconmend Killing Ground,Lionheart and The Inner Sanctum.

[Necratim]

the albums that stand out most for me are Metalhead, Lionheart, Killing Ground, Strong arm of the law.

[KimmoJ-9]

...But mine is reason why... mine is just to do or die...:(

[CrusaderTom]

INNER SANCTUM!!! red star falling is an awesome song!

[AB 65]

For me ,
Old Era:
Wheels of Steel
Denim and Leather
Strong Arm of the Law
Power and the Glory

New Era:
Unleash the Beast
Metalhead
Lionheart
The Innner Sanctum

Ones to try later:
Innocence is no Excuse
Crusader

One Saxon album I didnt get on with was Killing Ground , dont know why , just didnt.

[spandex'd Beefheart]

as of yet I not heard Killing Ground-Forever Free and Heavy Metal Thunder ( Remastered oldies.) But my favs are WOS.SAOTL,D&L and Lionheart.
I think Destiny is underated, Love Red Alert,awesome track and also play the first album alot. As for the worst, and only poor Saxon album,excluding the three above which ive yet to hear, its got to be Rock the Nations...very disapointing-although the title tracks quite good....

[sirlemonhead]

Please don't overlook Solid Ball of Rock. It's tied as my favourite Saxon album with Unleash the beast :)

[spandex'd Beefheart]

Please don't overlook Solid Ball of Rock. It's tied as my favourite Saxon album with Unleash the beast :)

Yeah that is a good album, One I need to buy again as mine ( which was on tape) got stolen while i was at work.....so good the thieves couldn't resist it ... I used to particularly like Nibs' Barvarian Beaver...... Even if I have spelt it wrong...

[sirlemonhead]

Yep. It's a really solid album (arf arf)

If I had to pick one weak track, it'd be Ain't gonna take it..I always skip that one.

[Bosnian Witchfinder]

Yep. It's a really solid album (arf arf)

If I had to pick one weak track, it'd be Ain't gonna take it..I always skip that one.

i like that song, great solo, good stomping riff

[matteo]

Hello mate

i'd start with The eagle has landed, probably the best single-lp live album all-times (alongside Judas priest Unleashed in the east), then go with Strong Arm of the law and Wheels of steel. If you add Denim and leather you'd get their best stuff ever.


Matteo

[TheLightOne]

My favourite SaXon album is Unleash the Beast.
But I must say that SaXoN is that kind of band which never disappoints the fans!

[moofish747]

I would say it might be easier to say which ones to AVOID at first. All of their albums are pretty good to excellent except for 4 in my opinion. I prefer the heavier, rougher Saxon. The albums I would say to get LAST would be the 3 albums in a row from 85-88, which were decidedly more commercial affairs and were overall a 'softer' version of Saxon.

They are:

Innocence is No Excuse
Rock the Nations
Destiny


the other one i would say to avoid is from the early 90's:

Forever Free

that one just simply has inferior material and sounds really like an unfinished, thrown-together demo tape to me.

The above 3 from the late 80's DO contain some really good songs; it's just they are generally more 'poppy' sounding and less aggressive sounding albums. The production is actually quite excellent on Innocence(maybe a bit too polished), but really only half of that album and the others contain material strong enough to be worthy of the Saxon name IMO.

Just my humble opinion since I generally like the heavier stuff. However, if you like your metal in the more AOR commercial vein, dive right in to those.

I would personally recommend getting EVERYTHING ELSE first, and saving those 4 for last. Even a dyed-in-the-wool 'banger like myself can enjoy an occasional guilty pleasure every now and then! lol :)

[Schreihals]

It's difficult to name the favourite album. Mine might be Unleash The Beast, Killing Ground, Power And The Glory. Although I love The Eagle-Trilogy the most.

It's a good point naming the ones prefered the least. In my case it's about the same:

Crusader (none of the songs is as good as the title track)
Innocence is No Excuse
Rock the Nations

I think Destiny is simply great when looking back although I must confess that I wouldn't have been very excited if they'd release an album like this NOW... Yeah and Forever Free is not very good.

[XRWoody]

I note that a few people critisice Innocence but I have to say that I think Broken Heroes is one of the best Saxon tracks ever recorded. I like the album as well.

I dont often listen to Rock The Nations though
:)

[tim 747 sykes]

well said woody , broken heroes is a much maligned classic which sometimes gets an airing on tour
as is the thin red line ( my personal fav as well as sea of life ,oh and iron wheels live version) , and arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr brain meltdown

[Schreihals]

...I think Broken Heroes is one of the best Saxon tracks ever recorded. I like the album as well...
:)

Definitely! I like all the Saxon albums. Although (as posted by me above) I would be disappointed if they'd release somthing like "Destiny" or "Innocence" today.

[Nick_the_VII_Saxon]

if you want to listen to songs as killing ground, you shall try to find:

dogs of war 1995
unleash the beast 1997
metalhead 1999

those albums are dead heavy

well mostly from 1995 (Doug and Nibbs being from the younger generation they gave Saxon a younger personality). For my part, we can't compare this change really, 'coz played lvied, you can't see no difference, Saxon is Saxon

see you

[Nick_the_VII_Saxon]

totally agree with moofish747

[Heavycelli]

Wheels of steel
Unleash the Beast

[moofish747]

I do think "Broken Heroes" is a great, classic Saxon song. However, I think that and "Devil Rides Out" are really the only songs on "Innocence" worth bothering about IMO.

Crusader is a bit better to me, but still only half of it is any good IMO. Of course the song "Crusader" and a few others, but half of it is sub-par IMO.

Rock the Nations, Destiny, and Forever Free only contain a couple good songs each IMO, and are definitely at the bottom of the pile in my book.

I also happen to think Dogs of War is slightly overrated. I think the title track is great, and "The Great White Buffalo", but really a few of those songs are just too commercial for my tastes. "Don't Worry"? "Hold On"? UGH! sounds like Bon Jovi to me!:eek:

[Bosnian Witchfinder]

I do think "Broken Heroes" is a great, classic Saxon song. However, I think that and "Devil Rides Out" are really the only songs on "Innocence" worth bothering about IMO.

Crusader is a bit better to me, but still only half of it is any good IMO. Of course the song "Crusader" and a few others, but half of it is sub-par IMO.

Rock the Nations, Destiny, and Forever Free only contain a couple good songs each IMO, and are definitely at the bottom of the pile in my book.

I also happen to think Dogs of War is slightly overrated. I think the title track is great, and "The Great White Buffalo", but really a few of those songs are just too commercial for my tastes. "Don't Worry"? "Hold On"? UGH! sounds like Bon Jovi to me!:eek:

burning wheels is a great song, i dont know why saxon play dogs of war at every gig, its not a big crowd favourite and theres much better songs such as UTB

[Edumalavida]

i dont know why saxon play dogs of war at every gig, no one really likes itSorry Bosnian, that's one of my favourite Saxon songs ever. I still remember when I first heard them playing that number alive, with the crowd singing the lyrics all along the song (here in Spain!) and me getting mad going to the front of the stage!

[Nick_the_VII_Saxon]

hahahahaha... haaaaaaahahaha no one likes it you mad! Dogs of War is dead good. I think Forever Free is also a good album, better than Destiny and Rock The Nations, indeed witrh less VERY GOOD songs, but really, all Saxongs are good or very good. Don't you like Party 'Till You Puke for instance? what a guitar play! Andf what I like in Saxon, is that they can play anything (exept for rap ad thigns that aren't actually music for sure). Blues rock'n'roll heavy metal hard rock... well that's a mixture of anything brillant.

[Saxon Chick]

Sorry Bosnian, that's one of my favourite Saxon songs ever.

I like it too! It's a cracking song! They don't play it at every gig, anyway!

[Nick_the_VII_Saxon]

right yeah

[SAXONATOR]

"killing ground" - easy choice......

it´s the very first time i saw them live

i will NEVER forget as the lights went out 6 or 7 years ago - and i saw the damn band which i adore since my 14th year of life for the first time on stage - as they assembled in that damn bochum tube - then the intro played - goosebumps-intro - undescribeable feelings..... i better stop now....

i could bite my ass that i didn´t managed to see them earlier...

with "inner sanctum" they broke every guinness record they ever made - doubtless !

but MY favourite album will ever be the one mentioned above... :cool:

[Bosnian Witchfinder]

I like it too! It's a cracking song! They don't play it at every gig, anyway!

they play it far more often than they play Lionheart, killing ground, unleash the beast, all of which are far better title tracks

[Saxon Chick]

all of which are far better title tracks

In YOUR opinion, of course! :rolleyes: :D

[Nick_the_VII_Saxon]

that's what I was to say
anyway, Saxon guys have been giving to each of us one's own opinion and likes on each albums and songs, which comes from their great power to perform always good songs and variety. Damn thanks, they are still performing into METAL !!!

[mtt]

Strong Arm of the Law, closely followed by Lionheart. I've been listening to Saxon since the early 80's and I find it amazing that one of my fave albums by them was released in 2004. Damn they can still rock!

BTW--I feel Dogs of War is one of the worst--"Walking Through Tokyo"?!?!?!?! What were they thinking?

[Edumalavida]

There's something great about Saxon music: almost everyone of their albums are really enjoyable. For example, I do like (yeah, I do!) "Lionheart", but I think is one of their weakest albums from the last stage, whilst there are people like mtt who's got it as one of his favourites. This is something fantastic!

[Nick_the_VII_Saxon]

that's the first I see someone dislikes Dogs of War really !
walking through tokyo is a brillant solo though
don't be silly, they were thinking about their fan in Japan

[Cat of Peace]

I like Dogs of War, especially the first 6 songs. I think Hold On has a Bon Jovi refrain too, but it's wonderful and above all is not Bon Jovi but Saxon playing! I would like to hear that song live! I dislike Demolition Alley...it's not bad, but I don't feel very excited when I hear it...Walking through Tokyo is amusing and reminds me a bit of...Kashmir by Led Zeppelin!
Broken Heroes is one of my favorite number! But generally speaking Innocence (in my opinion) is not one of best representative Saxon album. It's one of the my "stupid album" category, that is a very amusing album that actually is made up by catchy song quite commercial and childish and turn you into an addicted! You know it's stupid, but you can't help listening to it!:) In that category I put, for instance, The Final Countdown by Europe.

[moofish747]

My personal favorites:

Lionheart
Power and the Glory
Strong Arm of the Law


I say go buy these three first.

[mtt]

walking through tokyo is a brillant solo though
don't be silly, they were thinking about their fan in Japan

I do understand what the song was about, and appreciate the sentiment, I just think the song was overproduced and..well, silly.

[Bosnian Witchfinder]

I like Dogs of War, especially the first 6 songs. I think Hold On has a Bon Jovi refrain too, but it's wonderful and above all is not Bon Jovi but Saxon playing! I would like to hear that song live! I dislike Demolition Alley...it's not bad, but I don't feel very excited when I hear it...Walking through Tokyo is amusing and reminds me a bit of...Kashmir by Led Zeppelin!
Broken Heroes is one of my favorite number! But generally speaking Innocence (in my opinion) is not one of best representative Saxon album. It's one of the my "stupid album" category, that is a very amusing album that actually is made up by catchy song quite commercial and childish and turn you into an addicted! You know it's stupid, but you can't help listening to it!:) In that category I put, for instance, The Final Countdown by Europe.

Hold on is such a good song! You are right, it's Saxon doing Bon Jovi, but better. well, maybe

[Judas Is Rising]

I liked Wheels Of Steel, Dogs Of War and Killing Ground. I have yet to hear the rest (didn't like Lionheart too much). The Eagle Has Landed Part II is amazing, the band still had their momentum and triumphantly returned with Dogs Of War after their mediocre followup "Forever Free" to Solid Ball Of Rock.

[XRWoody]

I am afraid that I cannot agre with your assesment of The Eagle Has Landed Part II, I think its very poor.
Part 1 is much better in my view, or even Part 3.

[moofish747]

I would contend that a band's best album would have to be one that is consistent all the way through; no filler, no throwaway tracks. Therefore, in my humble opinion, Lionheart tops the list for me. I defy anyone to find a bad track on the album, or any "naieve rock songs", as Doug likes to call them. Lionheart packs a punch all the way through, and is solid metal to the bone. The closest anything comes to a naff track IMO would be "Flying on the Edge". It just treads too familiar of a lyrical theme similar to 747, about being stuck on a plane, being late for a show, etc. It's really not that exciting the 2nd time around IMO. However, the stomping riff and killer guitar sound save the track somewhat. I think all their other albums contain at least 1-2 throwaway tracks. Not so with Lionheart. I think it's amazing a band could be making it's best material this late into their career. Cheers to Saxon and I can't wait for a new album and hopeful US tour!!:D

[XRWoody]

Nice post Moofish.
I was going to disagree as I feel that Lionheart weakens towards the end but reading your posting I find it difficult to argue against you. Fair enough.
For me, The Inner Sanctum is better and, overall, the song quality is higher in my opinion.

We aint a million miles appart though :)

[moofish747]

I quite like The Inner Sanctum and do think it's a strong album. I think it's a bit more varied than Lionheart, and perhaps captures the entire spectrum of the Saxon sound over their whole career a little better than any album so far. It's quite balanced and varied; you've got fast ones, slow ones, metal, rock, melodic, heavy, etc. However, I think the tracks "Going Nowhere Fast" and "Ashes to Ashes" aren't really that great. Not crazy about "Need For Speed" either, but it's not bad. At first I didn't like "I've Got to Rock" because I'm not a huge fan of 'naive rock songs', but have to admit it has grown on me a bit and I enjoy it as a guilty pleasure. Too bad they didn't write that one in the 80's when they were trying to go commercial and break America--I think that one may have done the trick! I just prefer the heavier Saxon releases like Lionheart and Metalhead; I don't think the above songs can compete with the material on those albums and actually weakens The Inner Sanctum a bit IMO. To each their own though, and that's one of the reasons I think Saxon maintains their popularity; there's something for everyone. Rock, metal, fast, slow, heavy, melodic--you name it, Saxon can do it!

[XRWoody]

Funny; I didnt think I liked "naive rock songs" either, but I liked "I've Got to Rock" from the moment I heard it (I posted an album review on here before the album release date) and I now rate this as one of my all time favourite tracks.

So if that is a "naive rock song" then I must like them after all ?

I do agree with you about Saxon and the variety of their music but its the anti-rock or anti-Saxon brigade that just cant see it.

I still prefer IS to LH but its a close run thing, I have Lionheart twice; the standard CD (with patch no less) and a special boxed version with a DVD and a key ring holder/ribbon/neck thing.

By the way, further compliments on your second posting, again, well written.

[moofish747]

I am afraid that I cannot agre with your assesment of The Eagle Has Landed Part II, I think its very poor.
Part 1 is much better in my view, or even Part 3.Agreed there! TEHL is one of the greatest live albums ever IMO, right up there with Unleashed in the East, etc. Part 2 or 3 just aren't nearly as strong in my book.

And thanks for the compliments!